After My Miscarriage, My Husband Demanded a Million-Dollar Payout

1: 1

At ten weeks, the pregnancy stalled.

My mother-in-law, who had always been so warm with me, turned cold in an instant and left me at the hospital to fend for myself.

By the time I came home from the miscarriage, she had a list ready for me. Ten charges.

Everyone knows electronics are bad for the baby. If you hadn't been glued to your phone the whole time, the baby would still be here.

"You dated all those men before. Were you sleeping around, wearing your body out, and that's why my grandson couldn't hold on?"

"If you ask me, my grandson didn't want to stay in your belly because you refused to change your name to something like 'Son-Bearer.'"

The more she talked, the uglier it got.

"A perfectly good grandson, gone. If your family doesn't put up a million dollars to compensate my son, we're done with you."

I couldn't help but push back.

"The prenatal reports already said it. There's nothing wrong with me. Mom, you can't be unreasonable and pin everything on me."

Hearing that, my husband, Benjamin Vance, snapped. He slapped me across the face and said he was going to teach me how to be a wife and a daughter-in-law.

I slapped him right back.

"A piece of trash whose sperm are only four percent normally formed. Your seed's the problem, and you're blaming me?"

"You think I owe you respect? Fine. Divorce!"

...

I'd come in for a checkup. The doctor ran the cold probe back and forth across my belly, staring at the image on the screen, her expression heavy.

Both my mother-in-law and I felt something was wrong.

My mother-in-law went pale and grabbed the edge of the desk.

"Doctor, is there something wrong with my grandson? We want to save him!"

Something in me turned to ice. I looked at her, unable to believe it.

She wasn't paying me any attention at all, her eyes locked on the doctor.

The doctor seemed to have confirmed it. She set the probe down.

"Ms. Sheridan, I'm sorry. There's no clear fetal heartbeat."

"In plain terms, the embryo has stopped developing."

It hit me like a lightning strike.

How could a perfectly healthy baby just stop developing?

I couldn't accept it. I wanted to ask what had caused it.

But my mother-in-law blew up first.

"What do you mean? My grandson doesn't have a heartbeat? Then save him!"

The doctor had clearly seen plenty of cases like this. She explained patiently.

"The pregnancy has stalled. There's nothing left to save. What we have to consider now is the miscarriage, and the sooner it's done, the better for the mother."

My mother-in-law wouldn't give up.

"Doctor, if we let the baby stay in there a while longer, could it turn around? I'll go home and give my grandson a folk remedy, find a spiritual healer to take a look..."

She clung to the doctor, going on and on.

The doctor was worn thin by her. I tried to pull her away and got a fierce glare for it.

When she heard my mother-in-law say she'd have me drink blessed water, the doctor finally went cold and had to spell it out bluntly.

"The pregnancy has stalled. How many times do I have to say it? The baby has no vital signs. What's in there now is just a lifeless mass of tissue. It's bad for her body, and it needs to come out."

My mother-in-law finally understood the baby couldn't be saved.

Her face went cold toward me in a flash, and she jabbed a finger at me, cursing.

"Can't even hold on to a baby. My family, the Vances, marrying you was the worst luck we ever had!"

Cursing all the way, she dumped me there and swept off.

Facing her about-face, I felt the humiliation of it.

There was only me now. All I could do was force myself to stay calm.

"Dr. Chavez, all my prenatal checkups were normal before this. My preconception reports prove there's nothing wrong with my body, too."

I handed over the thick stack of preconception reports, and I set my husband's on top as well.

"These are my six sex hormones, AMH, the seven thyroid function tests, the routine gynecological exam, the vaginal ultrasound, HPV..."

Dr. Chavez looked at the stack, clearly thicker than most people's, and started reading it seriously.

When it came to getting pregnant, I had been serious about it.

You could say I hadn't just done the standard preconception screening. I'd paid out of pocket for quite a few extra tests on top of it.

I just didn't understand. I'd made all this preparation, all of it just to bring a life into the world, so how could the pregnancy have stalled?

Dr. Chavez went through them page by page. Reading mine took a good while.

When she got to my husband's, three thin sheets, she glanced at them once and set them down.

"Ms. Sheridan, I understand how you feel. A stalled pregnancy can be caused by many factors. I've read your reports. You're very healthy, and there's nothing wrong with your husband, either."

"All I can say is that the timing just wasn't right."

I went through the miscarriage alone at the hospital, with no idea a storm had already been building at home, waiting for me.

2: 2

I dragged myself home, drained to the bone. Benjamin, who was supposed to be working late, sat on the couch with his mother, and a handful of relatives from his side had come too.

At the sound of the door, they all turned at once. They'd clearly been waiting for me.

"Well, look who came back. I figured you'd be too ashamed to show your face."

My mother-in-law's voice dripped with mockery.

I was exhausted.

I'd just lost the baby, worn out in body and mind, and the last thing I wanted was to fight with her. I turned to go to my room.

But my husband, Benjamin, stopped me.

"Lacey, come here. There are things you don't get to run from."

His tone was ugly.

When I didn't move, he grabbed me and forced me down onto the couch.

Ada gave a cold snort and shoved a sheet of paper across the table.

I looked down.

"A confession?"

Ten offenses listed out in cramped little lines. The whole thing felt absurd.

I'd lost my child. Shouldn't I be the one grieving the most? Instead of comfort, I was being charged with a crime?

I tried to force a smile and couldn't.

All I could manage was to ask coldly,

"Mom, what is this supposed to mean?"

Ada sneered, her finger practically jabbing into my face.

"Which of these charges is wrong, huh?"

"I told you not to be on your phone, not to drink cold water. Look what you brought on yourself. A perfectly good grandson, gone!"

I swallowed my anger.

"How is any of this reasonable? I lost the baby too, and I'm heartbroken. What does that have to do with me not changing my name to have a boy?"

Ada slammed her palm on the table.

"How does it not? You wouldn't change your name, so my grandson felt you didn't value him, and he wouldn't come to our family. That's why he left!"

Her nonsense was so outrageous it almost made me laugh.

But the relatives around us all chimed in on her side.

"Exactly. It's just changing a name, how hard is that? Not an ounce of sincerity. No wonder she can't carry a boy."

Benjamin's aunt clicked her tongue twice.

"If you ask me, this has to do with how many men a woman's been with. Our generation only ever dated one man, and none of us ever had this, what do you call it, a stalled pregnancy? I'd say Lacey played around too much when she was young and wrecked her body."

Watching these relatives go further and further,

I fought back my nausea and slammed the cup down hard on the table.

Bang! "That's enough! Watch your mouths, or don't expect me to keep cleaning up after you!"

I wanted to go to my room and rest, but Ada forced a pen into my hand.

"You sign this and admit your guilt. My good grandson is gone. Your family owes me an explanation."

That put me on guard. I threw the pen aside.

"What are you getting at?"

Ada said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You killed my grandson, so don't you owe my son compensation? You put up a million dollars and we'll call it settled. Otherwise..."

The threat in her voice was plain to everyone.

I looked at Benjamin, wanting him to rein his mother in, but he avoided my eyes.

He'd known about this all along.

The whole point of this circus was suddenly obvious. It was about the money.

I couldn't stay in this house. Not one person here was on my side. I grabbed my phone to leave.

But Ada, watching me like a hawk, wasn't going to give me the chance.

She lunged at me and clamped down hard on my hand.

Three or four relatives closed in to hold me down.

I struggled and refused to let go.

Then Benjamin, who'd been silent for so long off to the side, suddenly spoke.

"Are they wrong? If it wasn't your fault, how would a perfectly healthy baby lose its heartbeat in your belly?"

"A human life. Don't you owe me compensation for that?"

3: 3

I never imagined the man who'd shared my bed for five years could say something like that. In the moment I let my guard down, my hand was pried open and pressed to the paper.

Ada snatched the confession away at once.

Looking at her smug face, and at my husband standing off to the side as if none of this had anything to do with him, I closed my eyes.

Holding on to one last thread of hope, I pulled all my preconception reports out of my bag.

"The doctor said my body is fine. There's no problem with me."

The air went quiet for a beat. Then someone said,

"If it's not you, then don't tell me it's Ben's problem?"

Benjamin, who'd been standing above it all like a bystander, changed in an instant. His face went dark, and before I could react, he slapped me across the face.

"What problem could I possibly have? The baby died inside your belly. Any way you look at it, that's your problem. If you ask me, you had too many boyfriends, lost track of how many times you've miscarried, and that's why you couldn't hold on to this one."

"How did I ever end up marrying a slut like you?"

I was shaking all over with rage.

I couldn't believe the man in front of me was the same husband who'd once treated me with such care.

I touched my burning cheek and laughed out loud.

In my heart, I passed a death sentence on this marriage.

I slapped Benjamin back across the face.

"Divorce."

I turned and walked away, taking long strides.

There was no point wasting a single word more.

I forced my body all the way back to my parents' house.

The moment I stepped through the door, I couldn't stop myself from crying.

My parents panicked at once and pressed me to tell them what happened.

I told them everything.

My father was so furious he grabbed the kitchen cleaver and made for the door to have it out with them. My mother and I held him back.

Mom told me to go rest right away. She said I had to take proper care of myself after losing the baby, or it would leave me with lasting damage.

I pushed myself to rest for one night, and the moment the sky lightened I got up and went back over everything.

I wanted to know exactly how I'd lost my child.

I'd prepared so carefully, and now they'd dumped the blame squarely on my head.

I went through my preconception screening and my prenatal reports over and over.

In the end, my attention settled on Benjamin's test report.

Preconception testing for men is short. There are really only two main items.

The urogenital system, and a routine semen analysis.

Benjamin's report wasn't good. It barely met the standard, but the doctor had said there was no problem, so I hadn't thought much of it.

Now, going over it again, there were clearly plenty of problems.

I stared at one of the borderline values for a while, then started digging up references.

I had a feeling yesterday was only the beginning.

Benjamin and Ada demanding a million dollars hadn't come out of nowhere. It was like they'd planned for it long in advance.

A million. If I walked away from the divorce with nothing, plus my parents' savings, I could just about scrape it together.

They'd worked it all out.

The stalled pregnancy had only sped the process along.

Since they'd already made their move, they'd never let it go until they got what they wanted. I had to be ready before they came at me again.

The more I thought, the clearer my head got.

I took out my phone and hired someone to look into why they were doing this.

A woman's instinct told me Benjamin was cheating.

There was no other way to explain it. He'd turned into a completely different person, as if I were his enemy.

I pushed the questions down. My parents were getting old. I couldn't let them worry any more than they already had.

4: 4

Only a few days of rest, and then Benjamin and Ada were at the door.

Mom and Dad, believing peace kept the household running, invited them in. But the two of them showed no regard for that at all, and started cursing at us the moment they were through the door.

"We thought you were decent people, and it turns out we married a slut into our family..."

They twisted everything.

How could anyone be so shameless?

"Ben, are you just going to let your mother come into my home and make a scene like this?"

Mom was so angry she kept pressing a hand to her chest.

"My daughter was raised well, not so you people could ruin her. If you can't make the marriage work, then fine, get divorced!"

She'd wondered, at first, whether there was some misunderstanding. Now she saw she'd been blind, thinking her daughter had found a good home.

This family really knew how to put on an act.

The moment Mom mentioned divorce, Ada's eyes lit up, and she couldn't wait to speak.

"Fine. Divorce. Pay us a million dollars in compensation, and we can file the paperwork right now."

My heart sank.

Here it was.

And there it was the real intent, finally out in the open. Everything before this had just been the setup.

The instant that figure was out, even Dad was stunned.

"Have you people gone mad for money?"

Benjamin took his time pulling out a calculator.

"Dad, don't blame me for being ruthless. All these years Lacey's been married to me, she never once carried out her duties as a wife. A woman who can't even bear a child, she's no proper woman at all."

"My son died inside her belly. I'm heartbroken, I'm grieving. Asking for a little compensation isn't unreasonable, is it?"

A sharp pain went through my chest.

I bit out through clenched teeth,

"You animal! In your dreams!"

Mom stepped in front of me, shielding me.

"Don't even think about it. The car and the house, split down the middle, that's what's owed to Lacey. You won't get a cent more!"

Benjamin went on tallying it up as if to himself.

"Your family put down four hundred thousand on the house down payment, plus the loan payments after the wedding, plus the car your family bought before the wedding. Work it all out, call it six hundred thousand, and then you give me another four hundred thousand, and we divorce on good terms."

An outrageous demand.

There was no way we would ever agree to terms like that.

Benjamin stood up.

"A million dollars for one life. That's a bargain."

"I'll give you three days. The money hits the account, we divorce. Otherwise, don't blame me for playing dirty."

Benjamin knew we wouldn't agree on the spot, so he took Ada and left.

I slumped down onto the couch.

My heart went cold.

For myself, and for that unborn child.

I even thought that maybe the child leaving wasn't such a bad thing.

At least we'd all seen Benjamin for what he really was.

Of course we didn't agree to Benjamin's terms.

What surprised me was that they did nothing at all.

That only put me more on guard.

I spent a few days on edge, and when nothing happened, I went back to work.

I was going over the project plan with a coworker when a commotion broke out at the door.

"Yes, this is it, this is my shameless daughter-in-law! My poor grandson, how did he end up in the belly of such a vicious woman!"

"If she hadn't wrecked her own body, how could she have failed to keep my grandson! Ours is eight generations of a single male line. I won't have the face to meet my late husband down below!"

Ada had brought people with her and gathered them at the door.

"Everyone, look, this is my daughter-in-law's written confession. Her thumbprint is right here. She admitted she's the reason a life was lost. This is murder, and how can she just walk away without any punishment!"

She held the so-called confession up high.

Once everyone had read what was on it, they turned to look at me, one after another, with strange eyes.

Benjamin came over to me, eyes red, and leaned in close to my ear.

"Lacey, you had your chance to do this the easy way. Let me tell you, no money, and I'll make this city unlivable for you."

"Your parents aren't young anymore. I'm sure they'd like some peace and quiet, wouldn't they?"

He was simply shameless, and an ordinary person would have no way to deal with that kind of helplessness. Maybe they really would just pay to make the trouble go away.

But I was not ordinary.

I smiled.

"Ben, you don't know it, but I've been waiting for you to come."

It was my turn to strike back.