The daughter-in-law gave birth prematurely, the mother-in-law hurriedly came from the countryside to take care of her daughter, but after more than a month her belly was already swollen, the daughter was so shocked that she lost her postpartum weight, when the family learned the identity of the baby’s father, they did not dare to blame her.

The day I gave birth prematurely, I was emaciated and my baby was in an incubator. For a whole month, I had no strength to do anything, all the housework fell on my mother-in-law. She worked hard to take care of me, my grandchild, and even cooked for the whole family. Seeing her work so hard, I felt extremely guilty.

At that moment, my mother-in-law – my husband’s biological mother – hurriedly caught a bus from the countryside. She said:

“The baby is premature and weak. You should go take care of it for a while to feel at ease. And you should stay here so it will be less of a burden.”

Hearing that, everyone was happy. I was even more moved when I saw how much she loved her daughter and grandchildren. Every day she was by my side, asking about every meal and every sleep. Anyone who saw her praised, “A daughter-in-law is truly blessed to have such a mother-in-law.”

But after a month… strange things started to happen. Her belly  was bulging and round  as if she was pregnant. At first I thought I was seeing things, but then everyone in the family noticed.

This news was like a bolt from the blue. I had just given birth, my body was weak, my mind had not yet recovered, and I had to witness such a terrible scene. I  was so shocked that I had postpartum depression, became increasingly thin, and my hair fell out in clumps .

The whole family was whispering, some even whispered:

“Old and still pregnant, don’t know who the baby’s father is.”

Everyone’s eyes were on her, but strangely,  no one dared to say a word of blame . My mother-in-law even quietly avoided it, never mentioning it again.

Just one night, I accidentally heard a conversation in the kitchen between two mothers:

My mother-in-law choked up:  “This matter… if it gets out, the whole family will lose face. But never mind, it’s all for my daughter. This child… is…”

The mother-in-law held her stomach, her voice trembling:  “… I know. It’s because he is the blood of…  my son-in-law  that I can’t abandon him…”

My whole body turned to stone. The world was spinning. It turned out that… during my difficult pregnancy,  my husband and his mother-in-law  had committed a terrible sin, and now she was pregnant with… her own son-in-law.

No one in the family dared to say a word of reproach, because the truth was enough to  destroy both families  if it spread out.