Chapter3

As the bitter taste of the abortion drug coated my tongue, I thought there was no one left to save me.

Then, a furious roar tore through the living room of the manor.

"What the hell are you doing to Evelyn?!"

I forced my tear-blurred eyes open and met the shocked, furious gaze of my husband, Marco.

Seeing my savior, I finally saw a glimmer of hope.

"Marco!" I sobbed, struggling against the hands holding me down. "Please, save our babies!"

Marco lunged forward. He violently shoved my father and Vincenzo aside and pulled my body into his arms.

I clung to his shirt, sobbing hysterically.

He gently patted my back, his voice thick with emotion. "It's over, Evie. Don't be afraid. I'm right here."

Finding my anchor, I cried louder.

Marco loved me, ever since I had taken a bullet for him.

He always went out of his way to make sure I was safe.

Because my phone had been mysteriously unreachable all day, he had rushed straight back to the manor.

After a moment, Marco glared at his parents.

"Dad, Mom, Evelyn is your daughter-in-law! How could you do this?"

He then pivoted to my parents, his voice dripping with disgust.

"And you all. You’re her biological parents. You really just stood there and watched her get tortured?"

My parents and Vincenzo simply stood there, their expressions disturbingly blank.

"Hospital... Marco, take me to the hospital, now!" I choked out.

"They just forced the abortion pills down my throat. If we pump my stomach right now, there's still time to save the babies. Please!"

"I’m taking her to the hospital to get her stomach pumped, right now," Marco snarled at the room, scooping me firmly into his arms.

But just as we took a step toward the exit, that damned myna bird in the cage spoke again.

"End it. End it! End it!"

I panicked. Driven by pure instinct, I covered Marco's ears with my hands.

I looked him in the eye, tears streaming down my face. "Dear, please, don't listen to it."

But I knew he heard it.

Instantly, his gaze shifted. The warmth in his eyes vanished; he dodged my stare and slowly turned his head toward the cage.

"Marco, don't believe it! It's just a bird talking nonsense! Please, don't listen to it!"

I still held onto one last shred of hope. Marco loved me.

He believed in the modern world, not blind superstition.

He would never force me to abort our children over a bird's squawk.

Yet, he said the exact same words as the rest of them.

"Evelyn," he said, his voice completely hollow. "Abort the babies."

His words disintegrated my final thread of hope.

"Marco, do you even know what you're saying?!"

He nodded slowly. "You have no choice."

Smack!

I poured every ounce of my agony into the slap that landed across his face.

I snatched the report from the floor and shoved it fiercely against his chest.

"Marco, they are perfectly healthy twins!

Are you really going to join them and listen to a bird to murder your own flesh and blood?!"

Marco glanced at the medical report. He didn't even flinch.

"Whatever you say doesn't matter. Whether you are willing or not, you will abort."

Hearing his response, I lost all my strength.

"Marco... this is our third pregnancy," I laughed bitterly.

"The first and second ones... they were already butchered by your parents!"

A flash of shock and total disbelief crossed Marco’s eyes. He froze in his tracks.

I had never told him about the previous two aborted pregnancies.

I had always wanted to wait until he returned from his business trips to give him a surprise, only for my babies to be systematically erased by his parents and that demonic bird.

Because I loved him, I feared he would start a violent war with his family if he knew the truth, so I swallowed the trauma and hid it from him.

But now I saw how pathetic my efforts were. I had been deceiving myself. They were all accomplices.

Suddenly, a vicious cramp tore through my abdomen. I collapsed against Marco as bright red blood dripped onto the floor.

The abortion pills had worked; they were ripping my children away from me.

And all five of them let out a synchronized sigh of relief. Even Dante the bird finally shut its beak.

Everyone was celebrating the death of my children.

I was immediately loaded into the waiting medical van.

While lying on the cold surgical table for the D&C procedure, I felt monumental regret.

I regretted failing to protect them.

When I woke up, the darkness outside the window told me it was the dead of night.

I found myself lying in the guest room of Cliff Manor.

Marco was asleep, his head resting on the edge of my bed.

Looking at his face, bile rose in my throat.

I couldn't spend another second in this house.

I quietly peeled the blanket back, slipped out of bed, and walked into the hallway.

As I crept past the doors of the study, I heard the voice of the bird that had ordered the death of my babies.

I didn't care about the consequences anymore.

I pushed the study door open, intent on killing the bird.

But the moment the door swung open, I froze.

I witnessed a scene so deeply unbelievable.

In that split second, I finally understood the horrifying truth.

I finally understood why my in-laws, my parents, and even the husband I loved were all terrified slaves to a bird,

and why my three unborn children absolutely had to die.