The Hidden IUD, Raising Scum Family's Brother

Three days after our wedding, my wife brought her three-month-old brother home for us to raise.

To provide for him, she secretly got an IUD to avoid having our own children and emptied our bank accounts to support her family.

Later, when I fell gravely ill, I overheard her parents whispering in my room.

"Why waste money on treatment? Let him die so the inheritance goes to your brother. You can always find someone else."

Too bad for them, I didn't die. And I'm not letting a single one of them off the hook!

I stared at the medical record for my wife's IUD insertion.

I sat by the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony, smoking one cigarette after another.

It wasn't until the last one burned down to my skin that the sharp sting snapped me back to reality.

That morning, while cleaning up my brother-in-law's playroom, I found this hospital record hidden under a Lego set I had bought him.

The record showed that Annie Curtis had the IUD inserted two years ago.

For the past two years, we had been trying to conceive. I had quit smoking, stopped drinking, taken vitamins, and worked out every day.

I prepared balanced, nutritious meals for her every single morning. I took her on vacations to keep her stress-free, all because experts said a good mood helps with pregnancy.

But she had already shut that door two years ago.

I looked through the glass at my wife inside the house.

Annie's figure had softened over the years. She was wearing loose, oversized loungewear, and her once-radiant face now looked pale and sallow.

She was patiently playing with her five-year-old brother, Toby.

The dinner table was a disaster, with Toby's plate and silverware still scattered on the floor.

Usually, I was the one who cleaned all of this up.

The living room was a mess of toys and cartoon books. Used tissues and wet wipes were tossed everywhere by the kid.

Even the expensive wallpaper we had picked out was covered in colorful crayon scribbles.

We had been married for over four years.

I had only experienced three days of peaceDthe time between our wedding day and the day we returned to visit her parents.

On the day we came back, she brought her three-month-old brother into our home.

"Honey, my dad is always away at construction sites, and my mom is too old to handle a newborn," she had told me. "Let's help them out for a while."

I had smiled and agreed, thinking it was only right to help family.

I thought it would be a temporary thing. I never expected it to last five years.

As I was lost in thought, Annie stood up and barked an order at me.

"Lucas, I'm taking Toby for a bath. Clean up the living room."

Toby was still jumping around on his play mat, throwing toy balls at her.

I just watched her silently, not saying a word.

"Did you hear me? I'm exhausted. I want to rest after his bath."

Maybe she really was tired, because her voice was dripping with irritation.

She stared at me impatiently, waiting for an answer. It wasn't until I crushed my cigarette and gave a low "Mhm" that she picked up the boy.

As she turned away, she suddenly remembered something and glared at me. "Don't smoke in the house anymore. Toby is too young to breathe in second-hand smoke."

Looking at her bossy expression, I suddenly wanted to rip her mask off right then and there.

But I knew it wasn't the right time.

I still needed to investigate those strange call logs I had found.

I met Annie right after she graduated from college.

I was on an Amtrak train heading to Chicago for a business trip.

She was moving out of her dorm, struggling with a mountain of luggage and a small potted plant in her arms.

She had her hair in a high ponytail and looked so full of life. Even without makeup, she was stunning. Her seat happened to be right next to mine.

Her bags were so heavy she could barely lift them. I stood up and helped her tuck them into the overhead rack.

With a slight blush, she thanked me. "Could you switch seats with me? I want my little friend to see the window."

She pointed to the succulent in her lap. She said it had been her best friend through four years of college.

In that moment, her smile was soft, and the afternoon sun hitting her face made her look ethereal.

My heart skipped a beat. I agreed to the switch without a second thought.

The train reached her stop all too quickly.

It was the first time I felt annoyed by how fast modern travel was. Watching her pack up, I felt a strange sense of loss.

I helped her with her bags and waved goodbye as the train began to pull away.

She smiled and gave a polite wave. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she fumbled for her phone and shouted, "Let's exchange numbers!"

My hand was shaking when I scanned her contact info.

A few minutes after the train started moving again, I got a text: "So glad I met you!"

Our relationship moved fast and smooth.

From dating to getting engaged, it took a little over a year. Both sets of parents seemed happy.

But during that time, something bizarre happened.

Annie's mother, who was forty-eight, got pregnant. She insisted on keeping the baby despite the high risks of a geriatric pregnancy.

It was her family's business, so I didn't say much. What surprised me was how much Annie supported the idea.

Her father worked on long-term construction projects out of state, often gone eleven months a year. Naturally, the burden of care fell on Annie.

A few months later, we were planning the wedding.

Her parents suddenly demanded a fifty-thousand-dollar "family contribution" fee. They wouldn't budge on the price.

Before this, they hadn't mentioned money. Annie had told me their traditions were flexible and to just prepare what we could.

My parents had already helped me buy the house and the car. We only had twenty thousand set aside for the wedding. This sudden demand caught us off guard.

I asked Annie if we could lower it. I didn't want to make my parents take out a loan just for a wedding gift.

But my normally gentle fianc turned into a different person. She snapped, saying if the money wasn't there, there would be no wedding.

I ended up borrowing from every friend I had. My parents hit up my aunts and uncles. Finally, we scraped the money together.

The shock came on the wedding day.

Her family's contribution to our new home consisted of three sets of cheap bedsheetsDone for winter, one for spring, and one for summer.

My relatives were stunned, but they stayed quiet to save my parents' dignity.

During the family reception, when it was time to acknowledge the parents, my parents handed Annie a check for ten thousand dollars.

In return, her parents handed me a card with exactly sixty-six dollars in it.

At the time, I didn't know.

That was only the beginning.

As soon as her family got the money, her mother sent Annie to the city where I lived.

Since graduation, she hadn't held a real job. She'd only worked a few months as an intern to get her diploma signed.

Annie had a degree in International Trade. It just so happened that a company I worked with was hiring. I knew the HR manager well and pulled some strings.

She was inexperienced and struggled at first.

I even paid an older colleague of hers under the table to mentor her.

I worked in the travel industry.

I spent my entire year's bonus on two luxury European tour packages for her and her mentor just to secure her position.

She kept that job for less than a year.

Right after our honeymoon, she handed in her resignation. She didn't even talk to me about it.

I only found out because the HR manager called me to complain. I was mortified.

She hadn't just embarrassed the person who gave her the job. she had also collected wedding gifts from every single person in that office before quitting.

There was nothing I could do. I apologized to the manager, lying that she had a sudden pregnancy and needed bed rest.

As for the gift money she collected, her parents had already taken the ledger and the cash. There was no getting it back.

After we got married, Annie and I lived with her brother. We had zero privacy. I complained a few times, asking when her mom would take him back.

She told me this brother was a miracle. She said she had to protect the family legacy for her parents.

Her backward way of thinking left me speechless.

I was paying for every diaper, every meal, and every toy. It felt like her parents had just outsourced their parenting to me.

But we were married. I loved her. I couldn't just divorce her because she was babysitting her brother, right?

I thought things would change once we had our own child.

So, we started trying.

I researched everything. I followed every medical tip for male fertility.

But after a year, nothing happened.

I doubted myself and went for a check-up. The doctor said I was perfectly healthy and suggested I bring my wife in.

I brought it up to Annie.

Two days later, she showed me a report saying she was fine.

The date she got the IUD was exactly two weeks after that report.

For a long time, I just thought we were unlucky.

I never suspected her.

Now I realize she never intended to have a child with me.

I finished cleaning the house and went to our room after showering.

Annie was whispering on the phone. When I walked in, she hung up instantly, the smile still lingering on her face.

When we were dating, she used to smile at me like thatDsoft and glowing.

Back then, I would have given her the world just to keep her that happy.

But everything changed after her mother got pregnant. She stopped wanting to spend time with me, staying at her parents' house to help out instead.

I understood that. Family comes first.

Back then, she looked so exhausted from helping them that she looked years older.

I thought marrying her would rescue her from that burden. I didn't care about the high price tag her parents set.

I thought having her in my home would be enough. I didn't realize she was bringing the burden with her.

Memories flashed through my mind like a movie.

Looking at the tired woman on the bed, I felt like she was a stranger.

Had I never really known her? Or did the arrival of her brother change her?

She saw me standing in the doorway and whispered a warning to be quiet so I wouldn't wake Toby.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked.

Her hand paused on the blanket. She acted casual. "Just my mom. She wanted to know if Toby was being good."

"If she's so concerned, why doesn't she take him back?" I shot back with a sarcastic smile.

Anger flared in her eyes. "Lucas, are you trying to start a fight? I don't have time for this. Go sleep in the guest room."

This was always her move. I couldn't say a single bad thing about her family, or she'd trigger a massive fight or the silent treatment.

I didn't move.

She gave me a cold look, shut off the light, and turned her back to me to cuddle her brother.

This was the start of another cold war. She was freezing me out.

The room was dim, lit only by a tiny nightlight. I couldn't see her face.

I shut the door and went to the guest room.

I logged into our shared cellular account to check her call logs.

The call lasted 23 minutes and 17 seconds. It was the same number as before.

The area code was for a city three states away. It wasn't her parents' number.

She was lying to me.