Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On the second day of our marriage, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law had shown up with large and small burlap bags and moved into our house—without telling me a thing.

When I asked Ethan Carter what was going on, he looked at me as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "We're married now, so you're part of the Qin family. My mom and sister are here to stay for a few days—what's the problem?"

"Oh, no problem. Just... next time, could you tell me in advance if something like this happens?" Ethan's expression was so cold that I could only backtrack, swallowing the angry words I'd been about to say.

What could I do? I was so blinded by love back then. When I finally came to my senses later, I 真想 slap myself. This house was bought by my parents—why had I put up with this?

Ethan's attitude towards me had set the tone for how my mother-in-law and sister-in-law treated me.

Since Ethan was so cold to me, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law had quickly figured out how to "act accordingly" and started "bullying others by riding on Ethan's coattails."

Moreover, they weren't just staying for a "few days" like Ethan had said—they had no intention of leaving anytime soon. They'd made themselves at home, acting as if I was the one crashing at their place.

Every day, they demanded that I cook three meals for them, and each meal had to be to their taste.

I preferred light food, but they liked their dishes spicy and heavy. In the end, I had no choice but to accommodate them, adding chili to every meal. Every time the spice made my mouth burn, they'd stand by and snicker.

They also expected me to do all the housework, saying, "Since you don't have a job anyway, you're just lazing around at home—you might as well find something to do."

What shocked me most was that they even handed me their undergarments to wash, and had the nerve to say, "You have to wash them by hand. If you ruin them, you have to replace them."

When I heard these unreasonable demands, I was stunned. They were living in my house, and yet they expected me to wait on them hand and foot?

I couldn't hold it in anymore, so I went to Ethan to complain. But instead of taking my side, he flew into a rage and yelled at me, "Those are my mom and my own sister! You've only been married into this family for a few days, and you're already treating them like this? How dare you?"

"Nora Bennett, let me tell you—if you ever do this again, I'll take my mom and sister and leave. You can stay in this house by yourself!" Ethan threatened me, knowing exactly where my weakness lay.

And as it turned out, he'd guessed right. The moment he said he'd leave, I was so scared that I quickly waved my hands, saying I'd never do it again. Only then did he "reluctantly" forgive me.

With Ethan backing them up, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law had become even more unscrupulous.

They had nothing to do all day, so they'd find ways to "amuse themselves"—one day, they'd team up to play tricks on me and pile more chores on me; the next day, they'd go down to the neighborhood and gossip about me to the elderly residents, calling me a "terrible daughter-in-law" and spilling all my private business.

Ethan had seen all of this happen, but he'd never said a word to stop them.

I felt wronged, but I didn't dare to tell my parents about it. First, it would be too embarrassing to admit I'd been wrong. Second, I didn't want to worry them by letting them know I wasn't doing well.

This oppressive life went on for seven years.

During those seven years, I'd asked Ethan countless times to have a child, but he always brushed me off, saying he wanted to "focus on his career first."

I'd believed him, so I'd had no choice but to accept it. When my mother-in-law insulted me for being "unable to have children," I'd endured it and taken all the blame.

But I never could have imagined that my "cold, distant" husband—who had just told me he didn't want kids—had gone off and had a child with another woman.

Reality is often more dramatic than a TV show.

All because of one disdainful look from him, I'd gone crazy eating papayas to enhance my bust, ended up in the hospital vomiting and having diarrhea, and by some strange twist of fate, had seen him hugging and laughing with a pregnant woman.

The worst part? That woman was far less attractive than me in both looks and figure—she was the kind of person who'd blend right into a crowd.

And the way he acted around her? It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

I'd once thought his coldness towards me was just part of his personality—that he was naturally grumpy and didn't like to smile.

But now, I finally realized the truth: he didn't love me. That's why he was so critical of me, why in his eyes, even my breathing was a mistake.

After watching him gently help the woman out of the hospital, I couldn't help but follow them.

"Driver, please follow that car in front of us," I said, lowering my voice as I got into a taxi.

"Got it! But if you don't mind me asking—what are you gonna do when you catch up to them?" The driver, noticing how pale I looked, couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

I didn't bother hiding it. I stared straight ahead and replied calmly, "Catch them cheating."