Love You, Kill You (Male Edition)

Author：Yao Jiu Ling

The funeral of my wife, Nadia Birk, was held on that day. She had just turned 35 this year.

Nadia had been in good health all along, but for some reason, she suddenly developed acute pneumonia. Despite undergoing various treatments for more than a year, her condition did not improve.

A week ago, while working at the construction site, I received an unexpected call from Mona Prentiss, my mother-in-law, informing me that Nadia had fainted for some unknown reason.

I rushed to the hospital, only to find out that Nadia had already been transferred to the ICU when I arrived. Sadly, just one week later, she passed away without leaving a single word to me or our young daughter, Delia Birk.

After Nadia's passing, her attending physician expressed great regret when he shared, "Given your wife's young age and lack of serious illness, she should have been able to survive this ordeal. However, for reasons unknown, she lacked the will to fight for her life. While in the ICU, she repeatedly gestured to the nurse to remove the mechanical ventilator from her mouth, indicating her desire to forego further treatment. In all my years as a doctor, I have never witnessed anything quite like this before."

The idea that Nadia would choose to leave our daughter and me behind simply because she no longer wanted to live was unimaginable to me.

To provide medical treatment for Nadia, I drained all of the family's savings. Despite the financial hardship, I never once considered giving up on her. However, her decision to give up on herself left me with a deep resentment toward her.

During Nadia's illness, I had to work tirelessly to make ends meet while also taking care of her. Working at a construction site meant that I often had to leave work late at night, sometimes as late as two or three in the morning especially when I was busy, and then be up and out the door again by six something in the morning.

For most of the day, Nadia and my six-year-old daughter, Delia, were left at home alone.

Due to Nadia's poor health and the added responsibility of caring for our young daughter Delia, her once voluptuous figure had dwindled down to just skin and bones, making her appear as though she could be blown away by the slightest gust of wind.

One time, I learned from Delia that Nadia had fainted while I was away. As I was concerned for her well-being, I suggested taking Nadia to the hospital, but she refused, insisting she was okay with a smile. It became apparent that she was reluctant to spend the family's money.

Since I was occupied with work and had little time to take care of her, I became increasingly concerned about her well-being.

Just as I was growing more concerned about Nadia's condition, I received an unexpected call from Mona.

The Prentiss family, also my wife's birth family, rarely reached out to me, as they disapproved of my introverted personality.

They also held a negative opinion of Nadia, viewing her only as a source of financial gain. They would only reach out to her when they needed money.

Mona had two sons and one daughter. That meant Nadia had an older brother named Nicholas Prentiss and a younger brother named Nathaniel Prentiss.

Although Nadia was a stubborn woman and rarely spoke positive words, she had a gentle, kind-hearted nature and was deeply devoted to her family.

Back then, despite being just a teenager, Nadia took on the responsibility of caring for her family.

Nadia spent her childhood in the countryside. When she was a teenager, her elder brother Nicholas got a job and had to leave home early and return home late every day. As a result, he couldn't focus on the work in the family's fields. Due to this, Nadia's father, Mark Prentiss, made the cruel decision to force Nadia to drop out of school and become a laborer for the family at that age.

Every morning, she would rise from bed and accompany Mark to plow and tend to the fields. After lunch, she would tend to the cattle, and in the afternoon, she would continue to work on the farm. Even after dinner, she would go to the fields to cut down ryegrass.

Nadia's family raised a dozen sheep at home, and Nadia had the sole responsibility of providing forage for those animals.

Despite being only five feet tall and petite, Nadia had to carry more than 20 pounds of fresh ryegrass back home every time.

Nadia's younger brother Nathaniel was a lazy person who not only eluded from any work at home but also frequently commanded Nadia to do tasks.

If Nadia dared to complain, she would receive beatings from Mark.

One time, Nadia talked back at Mark, and he mounted his horse with a whip, chasing after her to beat her, causing injuries all over her. If other villagers hadn't intervened, Nadia would have died or suffered serious injuries from the beatings.

After the incident, Nadia refused to get out of bed and went on a hunger strike for three days, causing Mark and Mona to freak, out of concern that they might lose another laborer if Nadia's health deteriorated. Mark reduced his beatings and scolding toward Nadia thereafter.

In order to keep his daughter at home to work on the farm, Mark drove away all potential suitors who showed any interest in Nadia, so she never had a romantic relationship even at the age of 24 or 25.

In Nadia's village, a woman who was in her mid-20s was already deemed to have gone past her prime to get married.

Nadia had always obeyed her parents' instructions, but she eventually realized that she needed to make her own decisions, especially when it came to marriage. So, she secretly followed the ladies who went to work in the city and became a worker in a textile factory.

Soon, at the age of 28, Nadia met me, and we fell in love with each other, eventually becoming a couple.

When Nadia and I were about to get married, her family demanded a betrothal gift of 15,000 dollars, claiming it was for Nathaniel's future marriage expenses. However, such an amount of money could bankrupt a family at that time.

Despite the difficult situation, I was determined to marry Nadia because of her virtue. So, I persevered and searched for all my relatives to borrow money until I finally had enough to fulfill the betrothal gift demand.

On the wedding night, instead of being happy, Nadia burst into tears and told me she was crying because she finally had her own home and was free from her family's control.

At that time, I didn't understand what Nadia meant.

It was only after we formed a family together that I became aware of the kind of upbringing Nadia had.

One incident that I remember vividly was when my wife, Nadia, was pregnant with our daughter, Delia. She was in her sixth or seventh month of pregnancy, and I was unable to take care of her properly as I had to leave early in the morning and return home late due to my work at the construction site.

One morning, Mona showed up at my house insisting that Nadia should return to the Prentiss residence so that she could take care of her daughter during the latter's pregnancy. I didn't know how Mona found out about Nadia's pregnancy, but I agreed because I couldn't be there for her all the time due to my work at the construction site. Besides, I felt more at ease knowing that Nadia would have her mother to look after her instead of being alone at home.

Little did I know that Mona didn't come all the way to the city to take Nadia back to take care of her, but rather because it was the harvest season and the family needed extra labor.

It was difficult to picture Nadia, who was pregnant, carrying bags of corn in the Prentiss family's cornfield from morning until night.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel, my brother-in-law, was idle, spending his day lying in bed and playing video games, without doing anything productive.

The most frustrating thing for me was that Nadia was being thrown out by Mark from the Prentiss residence in the afternoon, even before she could change her clothes after finishing her work. According to Mark, the family did not have enough food to feed someone who didn't contribute, let alone a married daughter.

As the day drew to a close, Nadia found herself with no choice but to return to the city alone while carrying her unborn child and tears streaming down her face. The Prentiss residence was situated around 25 to 30 miles away from the city, leaving Nadia with quite a distance to cover on foot. Luckily, she managed to cross paths with a compassionate driver after walking for 1.25 miles, who offered to give her a ride back to the city. Without his kind gesture, Nadia would have had to walk the entire distance back on her own.

When I rushed home after receiving such news, I found Nadia sitting outside the door, covered in mud and tears. Ever since that moment, such an image of Nadia remained stuck in my head.

Following that event, I made sure that Nadia never went back to the Prentiss residence alone, no matter how sweet the promises made by Mark and Mona sounded.

Due to the hardships Nadia endured since childhood, I was determined to work tirelessly to provide her and our daughter with a good life.

Thanks to my hard work, we bought a home and a shop in the city. Nadia would focus solely on raising our child at home and didn't need to worry about anything else. Our family was full of laughter and happiness.

At the time, Nathaniel was in his 30s and was known for his laziness, causing the girls in the village to not want to marry him. Mark and Mona would often come to our house and pressure Nadia to find a suitable wife for Nathaniel in the city.

Whenever Nadia declined their requests, Mark and Mona would show up at our doorstep and cause a commotion until we gave them money to leave us alone.

Although Nadia was reluctant to give them money, I believed in the saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so I paid them off to calm them down. Even though life was tough, the safety and stability of our family were always the top priority.

I had hoped that our family of three would live happily ever after, but tragedy struck when Nadia was diagnosed with acute pneumonia. Despite fighting it for a year, she eventually passed away suddenly.

I wished I could ask her why she chose to leave us behind when both Delia and I loved her deeply.

On the day of Nadia's cremation, Nicholas was the only one of Nadia's family members who came. Throughout the years, he was the only one who had shown kindness to Nadia as well.

Despite bringing Nathaniel to live in our house with them, Mark and Mona refused to attend Nadia's funeral, citing the belief that it was too cruel for parents to attend their children's funerals.

Delia and I stood by as Nadia's body was placed into the cremator. When the process was complete, only ashes remained.

I was so overcome with sorrow that I couldn't even cry. All I could do was hold Delia tightly in my arms as she sobbed uncontrollably. Then, I mechanically organized my wife's wake.

While I was busy arranging the meal for the guests, Mona called me unexpectedly. She was sobbing as she said, "Henry, Nadia's gone now. Now that you two are the only ones left, what are you going to do? Your father-in-law has been crying and hasn't eaten anything for the entire day. Please come home after the wake ends, and let's discuss what to do next."

As I got a call from Mona at such a moment, I couldn't help but feel she was venting her frustrations on me. After all, their daughter passed away at a young age because I didn't take good care of her. As a parent, I could understand if they wanted to reprimand me for that.

Upon arriving home with Delia, I noticed the door was slightly ajar. As I stood outside the door, I overheard a disturbing conversation taking place inside.

Nathaniel was speaking. "Mom... I've finally found a girl who doesn't dislike me. I have to marry her this time. When Henry returns, you must kick him and that little weasel out, using any means necessary. You must vacate this house for me to use as a marital home. The girl said if I want her to marry me, I must have a house and a shop in the city."

"Don't worry, Nathaniel! That damned Nadia is no longer here. I won't allow that outsider, Henry, to take over our house, not even in his wildest dreams," promised Mona.

"Ha! Thanks to my cleverness, we moved in here ahead of time. Otherwise, I doubt that your precious son-in-law would have allowed us to stay in this house after the funeral of his short-lived wife," said Mark.

"Indeed. You are quick-witted and clever. Anyway, we need to come up with a plan before Henry returns, Mark. We should seize this opportunity of him still grieving and kick him out," said Mona.

"What other excuse do we need? He caused the death of our daughter, for whom we put in so much effort to raise. He should pay for it with his life. I shall make him pay dearly. Watch and see," Mark said in a vicious tone, causing me to shiver in fear.

It appeared that they were attempting to use Nadia's death as an opportunity to seize our family's assets from me.

I couldn't help but recall how the family had mistreated Nadia before. It made me so furious that I felt like bursting through the door to confront them.

I couldn't fathom how heartless one could be to abandon their flesh and blood and deny her a final farewell. They were the parents and family members of the deceased, yet they were scheming to seize her assets.

This moment helped me understand the inherent selfishness and malevolence present in human nature.

At that moment, I heard Nathaniel ask, "Mom, I heard that when someone dies tragically, their soul may not rest in peace. Do you think Nadia's soul will return to seek revenge on us?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Nadia had always been afraid of your father, even when she was alive, so there's no way she would come back to seek revenge," said Mona.

Her words made my head spin, and I almost lost my balance, nearly falling to the ground while holding Delia in my arms.

The conversation between Mona and Nathaniel left me wondering about its true meaning.

I couldn't help but suspect that they had killed Nadia to gain control of our assets.

However, it was difficult to believe that they would harm their own daughter who shared their blood.