My Mother-in-Law Suffocated My Dog for Her Pregnant Daughter

A hundred and four degrees out, and before I left for work I'd made a point of turning on the bedroom AC, because I was afraid the dog couldn't take the heat.

But my mother-in-law pried my bedroom door open by force, shut off the AC, and suffocated her dead.

By the time I got home from work, a dog worth a hundred and eighty thousand dollars had become a pot of soup.

Brenda Abbott, meanwhile, was patting my sister-in-law's six-month belly, looking pleased with herself.

"My baby girl, did you get enough to eat? Mom's not going to let you fall short on nutrition, so don't you worry."

It was a touching little scene between mother and daughter, and neither of them noticed me standing there, stunned.

That dog was the breeding rights my husband had bet his entire net worth on to turn his life around.

A hundred and eighty thousand for one. Three hundred and sixty thousand for two.

And before she died, that dog had a full six puppies in her belly.

I stood frozen in the bedroom doorway, cold all over.

My voice shook. "Where's where's Cotton?"

Such a sweet little dog. I'd only had her a week, and I was already attached.

John said in another month Cotton would have been giving birth.

They said she was a strong one, that she'd gotten pregnant with all six on the first try.

Every time I'd pictured myself helping deliver them, nursing her through how weak she'd be, something warm had spread through my chest.

And now? That thick smell of meat drifting out of the kitchen had already told me the cruelest answer.

Brenda's eyes rolled around, and she let out a fake little sigh.

"You go out and don't even leave the AC on? That dead dog suffocated in here. By the time I found her, the short-lived little thing had long stopped breathing."

She shrugged. "So whose fault is that? If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being careless."

I glared at her, dug my phone out of my pocket, and opened a smart-home app.

The screen showed today's temperature log, clear as day.

8:03 a.m. before I left, I'd turned the bedroom AC on, set to seventy-five degrees.

8:15 a.m. AC running normally.

9:46 a.m. AC turned off manually, method: panel switched off by hand.

I turned the screen around and held it up to her.

"Mom, I turned on the AC when I left. And I made a point of locking the bedroom door."

"So two hours later, who broke my door open by force, and then shut the AC off by hand?"

Brenda glanced at the screen, and a flicker of guilt crossed her face.

Then she squared her shoulders and shot me a vicious look.

"It was me. So what? Running the AC costs money anyway. You've got cash to burn, you'd be better off buying your sister some tonics.

"Besides, one lousy dog so it suffocated, big deal. I used it to build my daughter's strength back up. Lucky for it, really."

She reached out and stroked my sister-in-law's showing belly, her voice suddenly going tender.

Her cold indifference sent my blood running backward in an instant.

Tears slid down my cheeks. Shaking all over, I screamed at her.

"That was a companion dog! A companion dog! How could you be so cruel? How could you swallow her down?!"

Megan Whitney set down her soup bowl and stared at me coldly, her expression cast from the exact same mold as her mother's.

"Sis-in-law, my mom did you a favor and took care of it. Who's the long face for?"

I stared at her in shock. "She she deliberately suffocated my dog! What do you mean, did me a favor?"

Megan gave a cold snort. "Go ahead and raise your voice at my mom one more time, I dare you!"

"This is my brother's house. My mom and I do whatever we want here!"

I nodded slowly. "Fine. In that case, then we'll we'll have John settle this!"

When the call connected, Brenda panicked.

She grabbed Megan's hand, and the ten of their fingers locked together.

On the other end, John Swanson's voice came through.Hey, what's up? You taking care of the dog at home

He never got to finish. Brenda lunged forward and snatched the phone out of my hand.

Johnny! My boy!

She wailed into the phone the second it touched her ear.

Your wife's bullying me! Come home and see for yourself, your mother can't take this anymore!

I reached for the phone, but Megan shoved her pregnant belly in front of me, blocking the way.

She murmured at me, low.Go on, step right over me if you've got the nerve. Come on!

Brenda kept howling.All I did was eat a little of her food, and she's pointing in my face calling me names!

You have no idea how vicious she got! She even said she'd throw me out of this house!

Johnny, your mother's an old woman now. I come stay with you a few days, and this is the kind of grief I have to put up with?

She wailed and wiped at her eyes, the lies coming out so convincing it was a performance.

She's got your sister so worked up she's passed out! Come home now, or your sister and the baby in her belly aren't going to make it!

By then I was sobbing too hard to speak.

I could only rasp into the phone.That's not true, she's lying, John, she's lying! Seven little lives, seven of them

Cotton's sweet little face kept flashing through my mind.

That round belly, the happy wag of her tail when she welcomed me home.

The pregnancy left her worn out, but every day she fought through the exhaustion to stay up with me while I worked late.

Cotton, I'm so sorry. I never imagined they'd do something like this.

I dropped to my knees on the floor in agony, tears splattering across the boards in an instant.

In one small wet patch, it was as though I could see Cotton's sweet face again.

But John wasn't listening to a word I said. He just blew up on the other end.What?! Bullying my mom?

I left you home to take care of my mom and my sister, and you've got the nerve to bully them?

So they ate a little something, so what? Are you even human?

I'm telling you, in that house they eat whatever they want. You try stopping them and see what happens!

Brenda and Megan exchanged a look, both of them grinning so wide they shook with it.

I took the phone Brenda handed back to me, the heart gone out of me.

It took me a long moment to steady myself before I spoke.So that's, that's what you said. They eat whatever they want

The tears wouldn't stop, and no matter how my voice broke, my new husband felt nothing for me.

He spat the words out through his teeth.That's right! I said it. That's my own mother, my own sister. What the hell are you?

If they want to eat bear paw today, you make them bear paw. You hear me?

Oh. Okay. I hear you.

That $35,000 golden arowana coming home tonight, I'll cook that up for them too.

After hanging up, Brenda yanked open the fridge.

She bent down and rummaged through it, muttering.Where's the bird's nest? That box her mother brought over the other day, where'd she put it?

Megan waddled over with her belly and pointed at the top shelf.Mom, up there. She hid it on the top.

Brenda fished out the bird's nest, stacked jar by jar, six of them in all.

She carried them over to the coffee table and turned back to smile at Megan.Your brother said it himself. In this house, the two of us eat whatever we want.

And just like that, the pair of them settled comfortably onto the couch and polished off every last bit of the tonic my mother had sent me.

Halfway through eating, Megan suddenly laughed. "Mom, the way my brother chewed her out on the phone just now? I loved every second of it."

Brenda gave a satisfied grunt. "Your brother knows what's what. He knows exactly who his real mother and sister are."

"See? That's the beauty of having a son in your corner."

"You'd better pull your weight too. Pop out a big healthy boy, and your husband's family will treat you like a queen."

The bird's nest tonic gone, Brenda started rummaging again.

She yanked open the fridge, swept her eyes over the shelves, and let out a sudden cry of delight. "Ooh, what's this?"

She pulled a golden durian out of the bottom drawer, turned, and waved it at Megan. "Look at this. She was hiding it in here."

Megan's eyes lit up. "Durian! I love this stuff!"

I'd bought it on my way home from work, the flesh a deep golden yellow, plump in fat little segments.

The two of them didn't hold back, picking it clean.

Not a single bite left for me.

But right then, I had no appetite for anything.

The smell of that stewed meat still hung in the room, refusing to clear out.

I threw open every window, hoping Cotton's spirit could escape faster.

The kitchen floor was covered in her soft white fur.

Such a sweet little Coton de Tulear. She was always lifting that round little face to look at me.

Her small tail used to sweep back and forth across the floor, stirring up little clouds of dust.

It never took long for that pretty little tail to get dirty.

Every time, I'd tap her on the nose and say, "Greedy little thing. Let me peel you an egg."

And now, the life seemed to have drifted out of that pile of white fur, right along with its owner's spirit.

All the old shine was gone, the fur dry and tangled, heaped into a dull little mound.

My legs gave out and I dropped to my knees on the floor, gathering the fur up in my arms.

As if doing that could bring Cotton back, bring back the six unborn little lives in her belly.

Ding-dong. The doorbell rang.

"Anyone home? We're here with the fish delivery, scheduled for eight tonight. Mind opening up?"

I opened the door and directed the workers to set the tank under the spotlights in the living room.

The tank was wrapped tight in thick cardboard.

The workers peeled the cardboard away, and the instant the spotlights hit the water, Brenda and Megan both froze at the sight.

"What is that thing?" Brenda asked.

I didn't bother answering. I paid the workers and saw them out.

Light fell across the fish's back as it drifted lazily through the water, its body well over half a meter long.

The living room was dead quiet, just the faint trickle of water from the tank's filter.

I found myself staring, transfixed, at the fish in front of me.

John had told me it was called an Emperor Green-Skin Chili-Red arowana.

Against the green base, the gold-red and silver blended into a gradient, glinting with a dazzling light. It was breathtaking.

But something shuddered inside me.

I couldn't help thinking, what kind of awful person would look at a creature this beautiful and want to taste it?

I thought of Cotton.

Cotton had been just as beautiful. That round little face, those pitch-black eyes, the way she ran like a ball of cloud rolling across the ground.

It was them. I cut a hard glare sideways at Brenda and Megan.

A low murmur reached my ears.

"Mom..."

Megan kept her voice down.

"I didn't get enough to eat tonight."

Brenda didn't say anything, but she licked her lips.

Megan leaned in closer. "Hey, you think that fish has a belly full of soft little fry, same as the dog did?"

The blood in my body froze solid.

"If it really does... oh, Mom, I'm hungry!"

Megan whined, impatient.

Brenda gave her hand a little squeeze. "Keep it down. Mom hears you. I'll figure something out right away."

The corners of Megan's mouth slowly spread into a grin, her eyes flooding with greed.

Just then my phone rang. It was John.

"Hey, the fish get there? Any fish food? Feed it a tiny bit and see how it does."

I answered in a low voice. "There's no fish food. I'll go out and buy some in a bit."

John pushed at me, irritated. "Hurry up, then. Any later and the stores'll be closed."

"I'm telling you, you'd better take good care of that fish. Bryan borrowed loan-shark money behind his wife's back to buy it."

"The contract with the hotel owner's already signed. I get a twenty-thousand cut, and Bryan clears sixty thousand on the middle."

"If we screw this up, we owe the hotel owner five times the penalty! It's only at our place for three days, so be careful!"

I kept my voice quiet. "Okay, got it. Pull up the home security camera feed and keep an eye on the fish, so nothing goes wrong and gets pinned on us."

"I'm heading out for the fish food right now. You just watch it for half an hour."

Hmph. Half an hour. More than enough time for those two to deal with the fish.