My husband h!t me while I was pregnant and his parents just laughed… but they didn’t know that one single message would destroy everything

Somewhere in the distance, Heather’s laughter echoed—faint, almost unreal, like it belonged to another place entirely.

My vision blurred.

The baby moved inside me.

That was the only thing keeping me awake.

“Please… stay with me…” I begged silently.

Ryan paced the kitchen, breathing hard, the wooden stick still clutched in his hand.

—She always does this —Heather said with a scoff—. Crying, passing out… acting like it’s a performance.

“If she were mine,” Derek muttered, “she wouldn’t dare keep this up.”

Nicole stood nearby, still filming.

“This is going to blow up online,” she said under her breath. “Pregnant wife meltdown.”

I tried to move.

I couldn’t.

Then I heard something.

At first, I thought I imagined it.

An engine.

Then another.

Then the sharp screech of tires stopping right outside the house.

Ryan frowned.

—Who shows up at this hour?

Heather moved to the window.

Her expression changed instantly.

The smirk vanished.

—Ryan…

—What?

—I think… someone’s here for you.

Then—

Three heavy strikes against the door.

Not knocks.

Blows.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” a man’s voice thundered.

I knew that voice.

Even through the haze.

Ethan.

My brother.

Ryan rolled his eyes.

—That idiot again.

Derek stood up.

—I’ll handle it.