Taking Care of His Best Friend's Wife Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Unwelcome Chorus

The doorbell chimed, its familiar sound now an alarm. I knew who it was before I looked through the peephole. My mother-in-law, her face a mask of practiced concern. Behind her, my own parents, their expressions a mixture of worry and grim determination.

The chorus had arrived.

I opened the door. The three of them filed in, filling the quiet space with their tense energy.

"Wan Wan," my mother-in-law began, her voice syrupy with false comfort. She reached for my hands, but I subtly shifted away. "I heard about this... nonsense. A man, his head can be turned. It's a mistake. But a family, that is forever."

I said nothing. I just watched her.

She pressed on, undeterred. "And a child! That woman is carrying a Lu. Our blood. When the baby comes, we will bring it here. It will be raised as ours. You can be its mother. This can all be smoothed over."

The audacity was breathtaking. She was offering me the role of mother to my husband's love child. As if it were a promotion.

My own mother finally spoke, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. "Smooth it over? Your son didn't just make a mistake. He built another family. He used their joint money to buy that woman a home. He let our daughter suffer alone while he played house. There is no 'smoothing' this."

My father stood beside her, a silent pillar of support, his jaw clenched.

My mother-in-law's smile tightened. "Men are weak. They need guidance. It's a woman's duty to keep the family together. To be understanding."

"Understanding?" The word finally broke from me, cold and flat. "He didn't trip and fall into her bed, Mother. He made a choice. Every day, he chose her. He gave her a child. He gave her a home. He gave her the loyalty that was mine." I looked her directly in the eye. "He didn't make a mistake. He made a series of conscious decisions. And that child is the living proof."

The room fell silent. My mother-in-law's mask finally slipped, revealing the frustration beneath. She turned to my parents. "You're encouraging this? To break up a family?"

"My daughter's family was already broken," my father said, his voice low and final. "By your son. We are encouraging her to pick up the pieces and build a new one. Without him."

My phone buzzed on the table. A text from Lu Chen, oblivious to the war council in his living room.

"Mom says she's talking to you. Please, Lin Wan. Just listen to her. Be reasonable. Let's talk about this when I get home. Su Qing isn't feeling well, I need to be here."

I showed the screen to my parents, then to his mother. No one needed to say a word.

His mother finally deflated, seeing the unbreachable chasm. The performance was over.

My mother put her arm around me. "You don't have to be reasonable," she whispered. "You just have to be free."

And for the first time since this began, surrounded by the people who truly loved me, I believed I could be.