After three years of marriage, with no children, my mother-in-law brazenly brought her husband’s pregnant mistress home to care for her. I immediately handed her a document that shattered my husband’s entire family.

Married for three years, with no children, my mother-in-law brought her husband’s mistress to live with her.

Arjun and I have been married for three years, and our love is still deep, but the joy of parenthood has yet to arrive. My mother-in-law, a traditional Lucknow woman, always prioritizes the continuation of the lineage. Every meal, she insinuates that I am “useless” and “cannot have children,” despite Arjun’s attempts to defend me. These words pierce my heart like a knife, forcing me to eat through tears.

One rainy afternoon, my mother-in-law brought home a girl with a large belly named Meera. She calmly announced:

“This is Meera; from now on, she will live here. She carries the blood of Arjun, the eldest grandson of this house.”

Arjun was stunned, and I was speechless. It felt as if my whole world collapsed before my eyes. My mother-in-law asked me to treat Meera as my sister and take care of this “precious womb” together. Arjun looked at me with guilt, but couldn’t muster the courage to talk to his mother.

I couldn’t bear this humiliation. Living under the same roof with the woman who had stolen my happiness, and then seeing her pregnant with my husband’s child—it was beyond my imagination. That night, I packed some clothes, placed my wedding ring on the table, and quietly left. Tears streaming down my face, I told myself to forget everything and start a new life.

A year later, my life had completely changed. I got a new job in Delhi, bought a small apartment, and most importantly, I was settling into a small life.

At that very moment, fate brought us together again. My mother-in-law and Arjun were sitting in a familiar café in Connaught Place, looking quite tired. I went in, my belly already too big for my face.

My mother-in-law looked at me, her eyes so shocked that her mouth dropped open. She stammered:

“You… you… your belly…”

Arjun looked at me, his eyes confused, filled with pity and surprise. I just smiled, a smile of relief and triumph.

I said nothing, just gently placed a piece of paper on the table. It was the DNA test results of Arjun and Meera’s unborn child. My mother-in-law and Arjun trembled as they took the paper. It read:

“Parent-Child Relationship: No.”

The child was not Arjun’s.

The second piece of paper I gave him was the result of a test I’d taken at a clinic in Gurgaon two years earlier:

“Conclusion: Abnormal sperm count, no chance of natural childbirth.”

The doctor had declared Arjun infertile. I didn’t want him to worry, so I kept this secret.

My mother-in-law and Arjun looked at the two pieces of paper, their hands shaking, their eyes filled with tears. My mother-in-law collapsed in her chair, and Arjun rested his head on the table, his face pale. They had judged me, abandoned me, for a truth they themselves didn’t know.

And now I was carrying an angel in my womb—the blood of the man who had loved me unconditionally for the past year. I was gone, leaving behind the people who had once been my family.

Part 2: When they found a way to return…

I thought that after that day at the Connaught Place Café, everything would be over. I had let go of the past, giving my whole heart to the man who truly loved and protected me. I just wanted to live in peace, waiting for the day my child would be born. But fate wouldn’t let me go—exactly a month later, Arjun and his mother-in-law appeared at the door of my small apartment in Delhi.

An Unexpected Reunion

The sound of a knock on the door stopped me. When the door opened, the image of Arjun, his gaunt face and thick beard, standing next to his mother-in-law, the woman who had caused me the most pain in my life, stunned me.

She became emotional, her voice trembling:
“Daughter… forgive me. I was wrong… I was so selfish, thinking only about continuing the lineage and forgetting your feelings.”

Arjun took a step forward, his eyes red:
“I’m sorry… If I’d had the courage to protect you that day, things wouldn’t have turned out like this. I’ve paid the price for it – losing you, losing everything…”

I was silent. My heart felt like thousands of waves crashing against each other. A part of me had once loved Arjun deeply, had once considered him my real mother. But another part clearly remembered the pain and humiliation, the nights when tears had soaked my pillow after he had pushed me into hell.

A plea for forgiveness

My mother-in-law knelt before me. She held my hand, her voice choked:
“My child, give us a chance to make things right. When you give birth, I will take care of you. I know my mistake… I lost the best daughter-in-law of my life.”

Arjun bowed his head too:

I’m not asking you to come back as my wife, but please allow me to be your friend, to see the child, even if he’s not my blood. I want to make amends…”

I looked at him. His eyes were filled with pleading, his face pale, a stark contrast to the proud, cold expression of the past. My heart skipped a beat for a moment. But I immediately remembered the day I’d left home in the rain and wind, the pain of being forced to treat my husband’s girlfriend as my “sister.”

Choose and Face

I took a deep breath, then said in a calm but firm voice:

“Mom, Arjun, what’s past is past—I don’t hold a grudge against it anymore. But forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. I have my own life, a new family awaits me. I can’t go back to the house that buried my happiness. Mom, I wish you good health, and Arjun, I wish you peace.” But from now on, our paths will never be the same.”

My mother-in-law burst into tears, and Arjun collapsed as if he had lost everything. I stood there, my hand on my stomach, where the tiny creature was slowly moving. For the first time, I truly felt strong.

My own conclusion

I didn’t close the door to the past, but I also didn’t let it come back and hurt me again. I could forgive—I could. But I could go back—no.

I slowly turned my back and closed the door. Inside, the warm yellow light of the small apartment spread. I knew a new journey lay ahead of me—the journey of a woman who had been crushed, yet still stood up, finding her worth and happiness.