Roxanne's POV

After graduating, my sister-in-law had a hard time finding a job. I felt bad for her, so I quietly asked someone in our company’s HR department to arrange a position for her.

To protect her pride, I didn’t tell her it was all thanks to my connections.

When she got the offer, she was thrilled and invited my husband and me out for dinner to celebrate.

During the meal, she glanced at my very pregnant belly, eight months along, and took my hand, saying sweetly, "You're due soon, Roxanne. You really shouldn't still be working. Why don’t you pack up and go stay at your family home for a while?"

I frowned and replied, "There are still two months left before my due date. I can still work just fine. Besides, even after the baby comes, I plan to stay in my own home. I’m not looking to move."

But she suddenly snapped, "This place is mine! You were only borrowing it while I was living on campus. Now that I’m working, it’s time for you to move out!"

I stared at her in confusion. I bought this house before I got married. How could she possibly think it belonged to her?

——

Thinking maybe she had her facts mixed up, I patiently explained, "Dale, I bought this house before I married your brother. My name is on the title. It’s legally mine. How could it be yours?"

But she scoffed. “What’s yours and what’s mine? You married my brother, so everything you have belongs to him now! And when you two got married, he promised he’d give me this house!”

That was news to me. I turned to my husband beside me, confused and increasingly frustrated.

But Colin Simmons didn’t even look fazed. He just ladled some chicken soup into a bowl and gently set it in front of me.

"Roxanne," he said softly, "Dale’s a girl living on her own now. I worry about her being out there alone. Besides, once the baby comes, you’ll need help during recovery. But since I’m always busy with work, maybe it’s better if you quit your job and move back to your parents’ place. My parents can also help take care of you there."

My heart sank.

He once told me his family doted on his little sister like she was a precious treasure. I thought that was just affection between siblings, but I hadn’t realized it meant I was disposable in comparison.

Seeing that I didn’t respond, Dale Simmons kept going. "You should be grateful. When you two got married, my brother gave you a fifteen-grand dowry! That money was basically to make up for the house. Otherwise, you’d have nothing. Honestly, dowries are such a backward tradition. He never should’ve given you a single cent.”

I let out a short laugh. “Dale, you really think fifteen grand could buy a house in the city center? You sure have some wild ideas. And don’t forget, you begged your brother for thirty grand as a 'travel fund' the day after we registered our marriage. Just so you know, half of it came from me!”

Colin’s face instantly went pale. Clearly, he hadn’t expected me to expose it right to her face.

Dale, on the other hand, flew into a rage, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She jumped up and pointed her finger right at me. "You shameless woman! You eat our food, so you better follow our rules! Don’t forget you married into this family from out of town. You’ve got no relatives here. If you tick us off, let’s see how long you last!”

Colin’s face darkened with embarrassment. He turned to her and snapped, "Dale! That’s no way to talk to your sister-in-law!”

But she only doubled down. “What did I say that wasn’t true? She’s an outsider! Why should she get to live in my house? I only let her stay because you asked me to. Who knew she’d turn around and try to take it over like some parasite!”

“Dale! That’s enough!” Colin finally lost his temper.

But she crossed her arms and said with conviction, “Tell me I’m wrong. I’ve got a future in a major company, unlike her, stuck waddling around pregnant, not doing any real work. Just wait till the company lays her off. She’ll end up crawling back to the countryside anyway.”

Roxanne's POV

This time, Colin no longer tried to stop his sister. He just turned to me and softly said, “Roxanne, don’t take it to heart. Dale just speaks without thinking.”

Speaks without thinking?

She was yelling about kicking a pregnant woman out of her own home, and that was supposed to be speaking without thinking?

Clearly, she was not planning to keep that job I got her.

I didn’t want to argue anymore, so I simply said, “This house is mine. No one’s taking it from me.”

After that, I walked out without bothering to respond to her shouting behind me.

I had barely sat down at home when the doorbell rang.

To no surprise, it was my mother-in-law, Elvira Simmons, standing at the door with a fake warm smile.

“Roxanne, you’re about to give birth. I came here especially to take you home with me. Go talk to your boss and quit your job. Pack your things and come home with Mom,” she said.

Before I could even answer, Dale slipped in behind her and made a beeline straight for my bedroom.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” I shouted, moving to follow her.

But my mother-in-law grabbed my arm and said, “What else? She’s looking for the deed. That house was always meant to be ours!”

My heart dropped. How did Dale know where I kept the deed? Did Colin tell her?

As I stood there stunned, Dale emerged from the bedroom, holding the property deed in her hands.

I shoved past my mother-in-law and tried to grab it back. But before I could reach her, Dale threw herself to the floor, clutching the deed and wailing like a siren, “Everyone, come look! My evil sister-in-law is bullying me! Just because she’s having a baby, she thinks that gives her the right to steal my house! I’m just a recent college grad. How is that fair?!”

Just then, Colin walked through the door. He saw the scene and rushed to pull me back. “Roxanne, calm down!”

I stared at him, furious. “Your sister’s digging through my things in my house, and I’m the one you’re telling to calm down?”

“She’s still young,” he said weakly. “Don’t lower yourself to her level.”

“Young? She’s already twenty-two!” My voice trembled now. “Even if she were younger, this is my house. What gives her the right to take it?!”

But then, Dale only cried louder. “What do you mean 'your house'? You married into our family, which means everything you own is ours!”

My mother-in-law chimed in, adding fuel to the fire, “That’s right, Roxanne. You’ve got the wrong attitude. We’re all family. Why are you being so selfish?”

I could feel my blood pressure rising. Even the baby seemed to be protesting inside me, and waves of nausea surged through my body.

“I’m telling you now. That deed stays with me, and the two of you need to get out of my house!” I snapped, pointing at the door.

But instead of leaving, Dale rolled on the floor dramatically, still clinging to the deed and screaming, “Look at this! She’s throwing us out! My brother bought this house for me because he didn’t want me struggling at work, and now this woman shows up and tries to take it all!”

The shouting soon attracted attention. Neighbors were now gathering in the hallway, whispering and pointing at me as they listened to Dale’s sob story.

As such, Colin immediately knelt beside her, gently trying to comfort her. “Dale, it’s okay, don’t cry. Look at your eyes, they’re all swollen.”

Then he turned to me and said, “Roxanne, there’s no need to say such harsh things.”

That was the last straw.

He was worried about his sister crying on the floor, but not about his pregnant wife being pushed to the brink?

I let out a cold laugh. “Alright, Colin. Here’s the deal: either you get that deed back right now, or tomorrow, I’ll call building security and have every last one of you thrown out.”

With that, I turned on my heel, walked into the bedroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it behind me.

Roxanne's POV

From outside the room, Dale’s wailing grew even louder and shriller. “That wretched woman! How dare she make my brother treat me like this!”

Then came the pounding on my door.

“Roxanne, open up! Let’s talk this out!” my mother-in-law shouted, slapping the door repeatedly.

The loud noise they made was giving me a splitting headache.

“Roxanne, come on,” Colin joined in. “Let’s just talk calmly.”

Still, I ignored them and shoved in my earbuds, curling up on the bed. My stomach also started to ache. I couldn’t tell if it was from the stress or something worse.

Eventually, the hallway went quiet.

After everything that happened today, I made up my mind. Tomorrow, I’d go to the office and have HR retract Dale’s offer.

Feeling physically exhausted, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next morning, I was jolted awake by the sound of a power drill whining right outside my door.

Then came Dale’s voice.

My stomach dropped. What now?

When I opened the door, I froze in place.

Dale had hired a locksmith, and right there at my front door, they were trying to change the lock on my home.

“What do you think you're doing?!” I yelled. “Changing the locks without the owner’s consent is illegal!”

The locksmith paused immediately and looked at her, confused.

“Wait… didn’t you say you were the homeowner?”

Before she could answer, my mother-in-law jumped up from the couch, got in my face, and shoved me hard. “We are the owners! Stop making trouble!”

As I wasn’t prepared for the force of the push, my back slammed into the wall, and a sharp pain shot through my belly like lightning.

“Colin!” I cried out, clutching my stomach. My voice was trembling. “It hurts—the baby!”

Hearing my call, Colin came running from the kitchen. The moment he saw me doubled over, he snapped at his mom, “Mom! She’s carrying your grandchild! How could you push her?!”

For a second, I felt a flicker of relief. Maybe this time, he was finally standing up for me.

But then he turned to me, his face full of irritation, and scolded, “Your belly’s already this big. Can’t you just stay calm for once?”

Stay calm?

I was defending my own home, and he wanted me to just sit still and let them take over?

I looked at him and thought back to all the vows he made at our wedding. Turned out, none of them meant anything when his mom and sister were involved.

While we were talking, the locksmith finished his job. Dale smugly tossed the new keys up and down in her hand like a prize.

“See this? From now on, this house is mine. Without my permission, you’re not setting foot inside again. You should just quit your job, pack your things, and go home with Mom. Someone there can take care of you, and you’ll be more comfortable. But if you don’t, I’ll tell my brother to drag you back himself. And when you stop showing up to work, your company will fire you anyway,” she sneered.

My mother-in-law clicked her tongue and added with a look of disgust, “If you hadn’t been so stubborn, we wouldn’t have had to waste all this money on a locksmith.”

I leaned against the wall, my hand on my belly as the pain pulsed again and again.

I wondered if the baby could feel this despair, too.

Then I looked at the three of them, so smug, so sure of themselves, and suddenly, I smiled.

Word by word, I said clearly, “Fine. I’ll go resign right now.”

Dale blinked in surprise. She clearly hadn’t expected me to give in so easily.

Meanwhile, Colin’s expression shifted. He looked unsure. “Roxanne, don’t do anything rash…”

“Rash?” I cut him off. “I’m a pregnant woman who just got shoved into a wall and nearly miscarried, and I’m the one being rash? Colin, you just stood there and let your mom and your sister treat your wife like dirt. What kind of man are you?”

But just then, Dale rolled her eyes and snapped, “Oh, drop the act! You’re just going to be a full-time housewife from now on. When my brother tells you to go east, let’s see if you dare go west!”