My Daughter Died From Amniotic Fluid Blockage, In-Laws Demanded Dowry Back

My daughter died of an amniotic fluid embolism, and the two families held the funeral together.

At the funeral, Colin Gilbert suddenly pulled out a form.

Back where our family's from, there's a custom. After the wedding, the bride has to be evaluated too.

If she fails the evaluation, the full bride gift has to be returned.

A cluster of them stood in front of my daughter's memorial portrait, passing the evaluation form around, talking it over.

"Greedy for food, lazy about work. Points off."

"Infertile. Points off."

"No economic value after marriage. Points off."

In the end, my daughter was rated an "unqualified wife."

Colin announced it in front of everyone. I was to return the full bride gift.

"I know you've treated me like your own son all these years, so I won't ask you for more than I'm owed."

"An eighty-eight-hundred bride gift, plus interest over the years."

"You give me ten thousand total, and we're square."

I looked at my daughter, barely cold in the ground, and felt the blood run backward through my whole body.

Return the bride gift, is it? Fine.

I'd like to see exactly how these accounts get settled!

1.

I threw the evaluation form in Colin's face and shouted.

"Colin, are you even human?"

"My daughter died giving birth, and you're standing at her funeral demanding the bride gift back?"

Shreds of paper drifted down and settled in front of my daughter's portrait.

Colin glanced down and stepped on one of them, pinning it flat.

"Tearing it up won't change anything. This evaluation is what our whole family agreed on. You can't wriggle out of it."

I was shaking with rage, and through my tears I pointed at my daughter's portrait.

"You look at Rachel Acevedo's photo and say that again!"

Colin curled his lip, unbothered.

"Fine, I'll say it. What's there to be afraid of."

"The amniotic fluid embolism was her own body failing. That's got nothing to do with me."

"Everyone else can have a baby safely. Why couldn't she?"

"The baby didn't make it. She didn't either."

"Calling her infertile, is that wrong?"

"You"

I was trembling with fury, and Cornelia Gilbert threw herself in front of Colin.

"Delia Henson, my son's right, isn't he?"

"The dead don't come back. So because she died, our family's losses just don't count?"

Colin straightened up again and took a fresh stack of bills out of his bag.

He slapped them down on the offering table.

The white sheets spread out and covered my daughter's black-and-white photo.

"You didn't believe me when I said she was lazy."

"Take a good look. See how much money she spent all these married years."

Colin jabbed at the first one.

"One mattress. Nineteen hundred."

"One pair of shoes. Three-twenty."

The last sheet, he slammed down hard on my daughter's photo.

"Deposit for the maternity center. Five thousand!"

"No income after the wedding, and she never blinked at buying anything."

"A woman like that, who could afford to marry her?"

Cornelia immediately pulled out a calculator.

The clicking of the keys wouldn't stop in the funeral hall.

"There's the fruit and the supplements during her pregnancy too. Every one of those should be counted in."

Colin's relatives crowded around, pointing at the bills, muttering among themselves.

I looked at their petty, mercenary faces and my teeth chattered with rage.

"Every one of those things was paid for with my money!"

The room went silent in an instant.

But my eyes went red, and it broke my heart to say it.

"Rachel's back hurt so much she couldn't sleep all night. All I could do was buy her a new mattress."

"And the maternity center was because your mother said she had no time to help with the postpartum month, so I stepped in and booked it!"

"And these shoes! Seven months pregnant, her feet so swollen she couldn't even get her slippers on, and she went a whole month before she let herself buy them!"

"Colin, you keep saying she was unqualified. What did you ever do for her as her husband?"

Colin's eyes flickered away.

"It's all just post-wedding spending anyway. What difference does it make who paid?"

"Of course it makes a difference!"

I shoved Colin all the way up to my daughter's portrait.

"Back then, seeing how badly off your family was, my daughter felt sorry for you."

"Other families ask eighteen thousand eight for a bride gift. She'd only take eighty-eight hundred!"

"The day the bride gift came, we didn't keep a single cent. We added to it out of our own pockets and made it up to two hundred thousand for your renovations!"

I'll never forget it.

That day Colin held the bank card in both hands and knelt in front of all the relatives and called me Mom.

He said from then on he'd honor me like his own mother.

And all these married years, I did treat him like my own son.

When his business failed, I took out my retirement savings to plug the hole.

When he was sick in the hospital, I stayed at his bedside carrying water and bringing him meals.

And now, at my daughter's funeral, he was coming to collect a debt from me!

I hurt so much I couldn't get the words out.

Colin just shook his head, contemptuous.

"I never asked you to be good to me."

"That money was given willingly. You can't pin it on me."

"But the bride gift is my family's, and now the marriage is over, so of course it should come back."

"And the ten thousand has to be in my account before the funeral ends, or don't blame me for taking you to court."

My feet gave under me and I stumbled into the offering table.

My daughter's portrait swayed with it.

I threw out my hands and caught it, and the tears came down all at once.

"Fine. You want to settle accounts."

"Then today I'll settle them with you!"

I was about to tell my people to bring all the transaction records from these past years too.

Colin suddenly snatched my phone away.

"So what? Did any of those transfer notes say 'loan'? If it doesn't say so, then you gave it willingly!"

Cornelia jumped in at once.

"The renovation was for your daughter to live in."

"The startup money, you handed that over willingly too."

"As for the mortgage and the car loan, what married couple doesn't pay those together?"

She bent down, picked up that twelve-thousand-dollar bride gift list, and slapped it hard against my chest.

"This is the only money my family, the Gilberts, put out in cold hard cash!"

"You'll pay it back today!"

Then, as if something had just occurred to her, she turned her head toward the corner of the funeral hall.

"Fine. If you can't come up with the twelve thousand, you can settle it another way."

"Don't you still have a daughter at home? Marry her off to my nephew and call the debt paid."

Emily Abbott flinched, clutching her sister's belongings as she backed away a few steps.

I was beyond furious.

"She's only eighteen!"

Cornelia let out a scornful little laugh.

"Eighteen, so what? I've got no problem with it."

"As long as she can wash clothes, cook, and pop out babies."

Then she waved a hand into the crowd.

A man in his thirties immediately shoved his way out.

Cornelia pointed at Emily.

"See that? Your auntie found you a wife, a whole twelve thousand in bride gift!"

The man's eyes lit up in an instant, drool sliding down his cheek.

"Wife!"

He lunged at her, and Emily jerked back in fright.

But the man paid no mind, grabbing her wrist and yanking her hard against him.

Cornelia not only didn't stop it, she clapped and cheered.

"She won't listen now, but once she's through the door, a good beating will straighten her out."

"Our Bruno's a little slow in the head, sure, but he's got plenty of strength. He'll get her popping out sons in no time!"

Colin's relatives roared with laughter.

Some of them even pulled out their phones to take pictures.

"Inspect the goods first, don't go marrying another one who can't have kids!"

"The sister couldn't produce a child, so maybe there's something wrong with this one too!"

Emily was crying so hard her whole body shook.

I grabbed the metal stand next to the wreath and swung it hard at the man's arm.

"Let go of my daughter!"

The man yelped in pain and released her.

Cornelia, wild with rage, rushed at me and started clawing.

"You owe money and won't pay it back, and you think you're in the right?"

Several of Colin's relatives closed in fast.

The whole group of them shoved and jostled us.

In the chaos, someone yanked open Emily's blouse.

A white button popped off and flew, landing in front of Rachel's memorial photo.

The man's eyes lit up in an instant, and he seized her by the hair and dragged her toward the side room behind the funeral hall.

Emily was terrified.

Her ten fingers clawed at the door frame, and she screamed until her voice broke, "Mom!"

Something in my chest wrenched tight.

Ignoring the pain all over my body, I jerked my head up.

"Colin, make them stop right now."

"Or I swear I'll make you regret it!"

My words made them all freeze.

The man gripping my hair loosened his hold without thinking.

But Colin suddenly laughed out loud.

"You're actually scared of her?"

"Her husband died years ago. She's just a widow with two daughters."

"Today she's burying her elder girl, and not one person from her side came to pay respects."

"Who exactly is she going to make regret anything?"

The Gilbert relatives roared with laughter.

"So she's just an old woman with nobody behind her, and here she is playing at being somebody."

A staff member tried to call the police and was immediately shoved out by two of the Gilbert relatives.

The doors of the funeral hall slammed shut.

Colin snapped my SIM card in half in front of everyone.

"Let's see who you can call now."

"Mom!"

Emily was yanked by the hair again.

Cornelia kicked me in the shoulder.

My face struck the floor hard, and blood ran red into the white chrysanthemums.

In the middle of the chaos, Colin dropped his voice.

"Mom, tell Bruno to hurry up."

"Sylvia's family only gave me one day. The bride gift is eight hundred eighty thousand, and we're just short the last hundred thousand."

Cornelia was unbothered. "What's the rush?"

"Sylvia's already two months pregnant. Where's she going to run to?"

"You two were together in secret for three years. She waited through all that, didn't she?"

My whole body went rigid.

Three years. Colin had been cheating for three years.

No wonder that ever since my daughter got pregnant, he was always working late, never once going with her to a single checkup.

Cornelia let out a couple of laughs.

"Once Bruno gets the little girl into bed and it's a done thing, you think she'll dare refuse to marry him?"

"The old woman has no son, just this one daughter left."

"Down the line, her house, her savings, her pension, all of it goes to Bruno."

"We pocket the hundred thousand, and we live off her for the rest of her life."

Colin smiled. "You always think of everything, Mom."

I stared at Colin, wishing I could bore a bleeding hole straight through him.

"Who is Sylvia? Have you been betraying my daughter this whole time?"

Colin turned his head, and there wasn't a trace of guilt in his eyes.

"You heard all of it? Then I won't bother hiding it."

"Sylvia is the woman I love most. She's been with me for three years."

"She's carrying my child now, and I have to give her a proper place."

I shook my head, unable to believe it.

"My daughter isn't even cold in the ground, and she died giving you a child."

"And you want to use her bride gift to marry your mistress? Colin, are you even human?"

Colin frowned.

"Sylvia isn't like that poor girl of yours. She's beautiful, she's healthy, and she's the goddaughter of the Henson Group chairman."

"What do any of you have to compare with her?"

Cornelia stepped on my daughter's memorial photo and sneered.

"A woman who couldn't even keep her own baby alive, and she wanted to hold my son back for the rest of his life?"

"She died right on time. Cleared the way for Sylvia."

The goddaughter of the Henson Group chairman?

Since when did Marcus have a goddaughter?

I stood frozen, unable to make sense of it for a moment.

Just then Colin's phone rang.

He glanced at me and put it on speaker, right there in front of me.

A woman's simpering voice carried through the whole hall.

"Honey, the baby and I are still waiting for you at the bridal shop. Did you get the bride gift together?"

Colin looked at me, deliberately pressing the phone close and kissing it.

"Almost, baby."

"Once I'm done with this old hag, I'll come try on wedding dresses with you."

A soft laugh came from the other end.

"That washed-up woman died at just the right time. Saved us a lot of trouble."

Listening to them tear my daughter down, I felt like knives were twisting inside me.

I couldn't take it anymore and lunged at him.

Colin kicked me square in the chest without a shred of hesitation.

My forehead hit the offering table, and my daughter's portrait crashed to the floor.

Colin stepped on the photo and spoke coldly.

"Bruno, what are you standing around for? When it's done, take the cash box too."

"Every bit of money in it goes to buying Sylvia a diamond ring."

Behind me, Emily's screaming and crying tore out again.

I crawled toward her, my face covered in blood.

My fingertips had just touched her shoe.

Then the man wrenched hard and dragged her into the side room.

The door to the lounge was swinging shut, and my heart shot into my throat.

Without a second thought, I jammed my hand into the gap.

Slam!

The door crushed my fingers.

There was a sharp crack of bone, and the pain drove straight into my chest.

My index finger drooped, useless.

Colin flinched back a step, then his face twisted with irritation.

"What a mess. Blood everywhere."

"Hurry up and drag her out. Don't ruin things for Bruno."

Two of the Gilbert relatives grabbed my ankles and started hauling me toward the door.

I clawed at the frame with my good hand.

My fingers were still trapped in the gap.

Every tug they gave dragged me another inch and blacked out my vision with pain.

But I didn't dare let go. Emily was still inside.

"Mom! Save me, Mom!"

Emily threw herself toward me, sobbing.

The man seized her by the waist and hurled her back onto the couch.

Her head struck the table, and the portrait toppled.

Rachel's black-and-white photo hit the floor and disappeared under a dozen stamping feet.

The funeral wreath beside it went down too.

White paper flowers scattered across the ground like a filthy snowfall.

"Rachel..."

Emily stared at the shattered portrait, and her breathing turned ragged.

She clutched her chest and doubled over in pain.

"Mom, it hurts, I can't breathe..."

Emily's asthma was flaring up.

I couldn't let anything happen to my one remaining daughter.

I jerked my head up and begged.

"We can talk about the money later. Just give her the medicine first!"

Cornelia dug out the inhaler.

She hesitated, then tossed it at Colin's feet.

"Is it even real? Don't tell me she's like her sister, playing dead the second something goes wrong."

Colin sneered and brought his foot down on it.

"Who cares. Asthma won't kill her. She won't behave, let her suffer a while longer."

"Once the deed's done, she'll fall in line soon enough."

Emily's mouth was wide open, but she couldn't pull in a single breath.

Her face went white fast, and her body sagged limp to the floor.

The man's eyes lit up in an instant.

"She's not moving anymore!"

He lunged and pinned Emily down.

One hand held her shoulder while the other started tearing at her clothes.

Riiip.

The mourning dress split at the shoulder.

Emily didn't even have the strength to fight.

All she could do was look at me in despair, tears streaming down.

"Mom... save me..."

"Stop!"

I kicked back like a woman gone mad and shoved the men off me.

Broken finger and all, I forced myself through the gap in the door.

The man was just reaching for his belt.

I threw myself over Emily and covered her with my whole body.

"As long as I'm alive, no one touches her!"

The man swung his fist in a rage.

Again and again it came down on my back.

Blood surged up my throat, and I coughed it all out over my daughter's shattered photo.

Cornelia was still shrieking outside the door.

"Beat her! Beat this old woman till she can't move! Don't hold up Bruno's wedding night!"

Several of the Gilbert relatives charged in.

Someone yanked my hair.

Someone stamped on my hand.

And someone hoisted the toppled metal wreath stand and swung it hard at the back of my head.

Colin stood in the doorway, watching without a flicker of feeling.

"Don't beat her to death. Leave her breathing. Her house hasn't been signed over yet."

Colin dropped his eyes to me, his whole face full of contempt.

"You put a few hundred grand into my startup and you actually think that makes you my savior?"

"My company only landed the Henson Group contracts because Sylvia put in a word for me."

He kicked my bloodied hand aside.

"Your whole family is nothing but dead weight. Once I marry Sylvia, I'll be a son-in-law of the Hensons."

"By then you won't be fit to wipe my shoes!"

I stared at him, a cold spreading through my chest.

He didn't know that every single contract the Hensons gave the Gilberts was signed, in the end, by me.

He didn't know that the Henson family he was scrambling so hard to flatter had answered to me from the very start.

But right now, I had no time to argue any of it with him.

Emily's breathing was fading, and my own mind was starting to blur.

The metal stand came down with a whistle of air.

In the instant before it hit me

The sealed doors of the funeral hall were suddenly thrown open from outside.

Dozens of bodyguards in black swept in and slammed every Gilbert relative to the floor.

A man in a sharp suit strode into the hall.

Colin saw his face and froze on the spot.

"Ch... Chairman Henson?"