Forced to Kowtow to My Husband's Ex-Wife on Our Wedding Day

"What's wrong with you? Why should I bow to your late wife?"

***

On the day of the bride-picking ceremony, the wedding car suddenly changed its route and headed towards the countryside before stopping at the gate of a cemetery.

How did we get here? While I was wondering, the door of the car was opened.

"Bride, get off the car quickly," Garvin's aunt, Catalina Agler, said with a sinister smile on her face.

"What is this place? I won't get off." I refused to get off the car and Catalina's face changed immediately.

"Aren't you going to become a member of the Agler Family? Just bow and pay respects to the late elders of the Agler Family before the ceremony."

What era is this? Why is there still such a custom?

Why doesn't Garvin get off the car too to pay respects to his late elders?

"No, why didn't you tell me about this in advance? You can contact my elders and see what they say."

My face did not look good.

Before getting married, the elders in my family reminded me that the groom's parents might try to intimidate the new daughter-in-law, such as pretending not to hear when I addressed Garvin's mother as mom, not opening the door when I knocked, etc. I thought they were making a fuss about nothing, but I did not expect that Garvin's family started to make trouble before I even arrived at the wedding venue.

I turned my head to look at my groom, Garvin Agler, who had a disinterested look on his face.

"Just get off the car and pay respects to our late elders if I tell you to. It's not a big deal," said Catalina. After that, she called a few more women, all of whom were from her husband’s family and tried to drag me out of the car.

"I've never seen such an immature and ignorant bride. At that time, no woman dared to disobey, let alone bow to pay respects, even if we had to kneel for a whole night!"

Catalina pinched my arm hard and I screamed in pain, but Garvin seemed to be deaf.

"Wait a minute, I need my family to follow me," I said to Catalina after being dragged out of the car.

Surprisingly, as soon as I turned around, there was a car following right behind the wedding car. No wonder the driver drove fast and furious, I thought it was to get rid of the car behind.

"What family? Once a girl gets married, she will only have her husband's family. Stop making a fuss and go now."

Garvin also got off the car, lit a cigarette and leisurely followed behind.

I was wearing high heels and feeling quite uncomfortable being held on my arms by two women.

Halfway through, I suddenly remembered.

“Garvin, your hometown is in the countryside. Your dad and your grandpa's graves are in the countryside. Who’s buried in such a high-class cemetery?”

The two women glanced at each other and one of them said, "You'll know when you get there. No matter who they are, you have to bow, pay respects and ask for their blessing."

I immediately had the answer in my mind.

After walking for a long way, I finally came to a tombstone with the following words written on it, [Tomb of Maria Seraphine, the late wife of Garvin Agler.]

Damn it, you actually tricked me into coming here.

I was burning with anger. "Garvin, what do you mean? If you don't want to get married, then don't get married. What do you mean by asking me to bow and pay respects to your late wife?"

Garvin put out the cigarette in his hand and threw the butt on the ground.

"Anyway, she's also your elder sister. Isn't it right for you to pay your respects to her?" he said casually.

"If you still love her so much in your heart, you can hold onto her image for the rest of your life. Why marry me? Let me tell you, I won't bow to her today."

I took off my heels and tried to leave, but Garvin's mother, Regina Agler, stopped me.

"I never agreed with you being with my son in the first place. My son is a graduate student and you don't even have a high school degree. But Garvin is willing, so I can't say anything."

Garvin's mother was tall and thin, with high cheekbones and a mean look on her face.

"Maria is my former daughter-in-law. She is sensible and filial, but unfortunately, she had a bad fate. She passed away when she gave birth to my eldest grandson. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been your turn to step into our family."

Hearing what she said, I sneered and responded, "I'm not unaware of Maria's situation. She had gestational hypertension during her pregnancy and the doctors advised her to have an abortion to save her life. You couldn't bear to part with your grandson, so you let her endure it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have died."

"What nonsense are you talking about? That's maternal love, don't you understand it?" Catalina immediately refuted me.

"Then when your daughter gives birth, give her an opportunity to express her maternal love as well!" I retorted.

"You ...." Catalina was silenced, not knowing what to say.

I gave her a sideways glance, then looked at Regina and said irritably, "What do you mean by saying all this?"

Regina took two steps closer to me and said coldly, "I asked you to come here today for three main purposes."

"First, Maria is recognized by our whole family as a good daughter-in-law. You should learn from her, respect your parents-in-law, serve your husband and be a qualified and virtuous wife."

"Second, she is a hero in our family. You should recognize her as your elder sister, take care of her parents and visit her grave on your holidays."

"Third, she has already given birth to a boy for our family. You and Garvin can have a girl in the future. If you are pregnant with a boy, you must abort it."

What the hell is she saying!

It's simply unbelievable.

Who do they think they are? Controlling other people's lives as they please.

"Garvin, is that also what you mean?" I asked as I looked at the man who was standing beside me.

"Ophelia, what my mom said is not too much, right? After all, I got married to Maria first, so you should follow some rules as my second wife."

Damn the rules.

I threw directly one of the heels in my hand at Garvin and hit his forehead.

"What are you crazy about?"

The other one, I threw it directly at Regina's head.

"Open your eyes! Do you think you are God, controlling other people's lives as you please?

You really opened your eyes! Did you treat yourself like a prince taking concubines? Go and have fun by yourselves. I don't have to get married!"