Mara’s words cut through the dinner-table silence with stunning precision. “Pregnant again. How disappointing.” My stomach dropped as I slowly lifted my eyes from my plate and met my mother-in-law’s cold, sneering expression.
Beside me, Evan shifted in his chair, uncomfortable as ever, but stayed silent the way he usually did. Mara kept going, her voice steeped in contempt. “Another daughter, I assume.
When are you finally going to give my son the heir he deserves?”
I felt the blood drain from my face. This was supposed to be a joyful dinner, a small family celebration for my pregnancy. Instead, Mara had turned it into another public humiliation before the main course was even cleared.
“Mother, please,” Evan muttered at last, but she brushed him aside with one flick of her hand. “Don’t ‘Mother’ me. You’re every bit as weak as your father was.
If you don’t learn to control your wife, she’ll keep filling this family with disappointment.”
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I forced myself to speak. “Zoe is not a disappointment. She’s our daughter, and this pregnancy is still early.
We don’t even know the baby’s sex yet.” Mara rolled her eyes as if I had bored her. “Oh, spare me. With your history, it’s clearly another girl.” Then she smiled the kind of smile that made a room go cold.
“You’ve failed at the one thing that mattered.”
The cruelty in her voice rattled something deep inside me. Evan lowered his head, shrinking into himself under the force of his mother’s words. Rage and hurt flooded through me, but I already knew from years of experience that defending myself against Mara never changed anything.
“I need some air,” I said, my voice breaking as I pushed back from the table. I had to get out before I fell apart right there in front of them. As I hurried toward the patio door, Mara gave a dismissive laugh behind me.
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