Pregnancy Singleton Causes Misunderstanding

Ryan's dad spoke up, "Actually, the wedding expenses aren't that much."

At this point, Ryan's dad paused, and my parents and I exchanged confused glances, unsure of his meaning.

Then he continued, "The real expense is the house."

My parents' faces darkened immediately.

Ryan's mom leaned back in her chair with a smug smile. "You'll need to cover the house. Ryan showed me Aria's place, and I think it's fine, but we'll need to add his name to the title. Otherwise, it wouldn't feel right for us to live there.

"And you'll need to provide a car as well, nothing too flashy—something in the range of $80,000 should be enough. It's better to keep things modest."

At this, my dad couldn't hold back any longer. "Are you suggesting that Ryan is going to move in with us?"

Ryan's dad reacted as if he'd been insulted. "Ryan is our only son. He can't move in with you."

My dad sneered, "You're offering no traditional gifts, and we have to handle the wedding as well as paying for the house. Now, you want us to buy a car, too. How is that not moving in with us?"

Ryan's mom looked at me with disdain, "Blame your indiscreet daughter. Now that she's pregnant, who else would marry her? If she doesn't offer something, why should my son accept her?"

I had already seen their true colors and was planning to break up with Ryan anyway. So the house, car, and wedding expenses were just empty words—they meant nothing to me.

But these comments were clearly personal attacks. How could I tolerate that?

I snapped, "You think I'm the one who's indiscreet? What about your son? He's just a washed-up loser I used to date.

"And even if I were pregnant out of wedlock, so what? It's a personal choice. Only people with outdated, narrow minds would make such a big deal out of it, and now you're trying to use it to leverage against my family?

"You want my family to pay for everything? Just look at him—he's barely worth my time, let alone any kind of settlement."

Ryan's parents were fuming red with anger. Ryan himself was stuttering, unable to form a coherent response.

I turned to Ryan's mom, lifted my chin with disdain, and said, "See? He can't even get his words out."

Ryan's mom finally lost her composure and started hurling insults at me.

But I'm a screenwriter—I can throw words right back. I matched her insult for insult, and in the end, I came out ahead.

Ryan, stunned by his mother's agitation, turned to me and said, "Aria Campbell, how can you be so vulgar?"

I huffed, "I adapt to the situation. If you think I'm being rude, I can be polite and insult you more eloquently."

Ryan's dad rolled up his sleeves, preparing to strike. "You bitch! How dare you insult my son and my wife! I'm going to show you what's what."

Before he could reach me, my dad intercepted him, "My daughter isn't for you to discipline."

I took the opportunity to hide behind my dad and said, "Ryan isn't my man, and your family isn't my in-laws. Today, I'm making it clear—I'm done with Ryan, and this wedding is off."

I grabbed my parents' hands and said, "Dad, Mom, let's go."

Ryan blocked my path, "Aria, apologize to my parents."

I spat at him. "Ryan, with your parents looking to drain my family dry, you have the nerve to ask for an apology? I'm going to pack your things up and leave them at the gate. You can come by later to pick them up yourself."

Ryan's face was serious as he said, "Aria, are you really going to be this uncompromising? You're your parents' only child, so those things will eventually be yours. We're just using them a bit earlier."

Hearing this, I was disgusted by how he could make such a self-serving justification sound so noble.

I sneered. "The things my parents have will be mine someday, but they will never be shared with you. Freeloader."

Ryan's eyes were red with anger.

Ryan's mom sneered, "Let them go. When her belly gets bigger, she'll come begging us."

Since I wasn't actually pregnant, I couldn't "get bigger".

But I didn't want to argue with them any further. Let them keep dreaming.