I have a younger sister who got married a little over a year ago and is now about to have her first child. Her husband’s family’s finances are not very good, and they still have wedding debts, so when I heard that my sister was going to give birth, I immediately thought of helping her in some way.

But I am a salaried employee, and it is already enough effort to make ends meet. Only one amount appeared in my mind: my wife’s 50,000 pesos. That money was an inheritance that her mother had given to her alone, it was in my wife’s name and she kept it as an “emergency fund”.

Every time I mentioned it, she ignored me: “That money is for our son’s future, don’t touch it!” But now it’s about my own blood, my sister’s birth is no small matter, so I tried to persuade her, then begged her, and even got angry: “Can you stop being so selfish? She’s my sister! She’s going to have the baby by herself, and she doesn’t even have a decent breast pump, don’t you feel sorry for her?” My wife replied coldly: “You talk like I’m a stranger.

But remember? Have you ever asked me what I need since we got married?” I replied sharply, “Is this really the time to talk nonsense? You’re not going to lose everything by giving 50,000 pesos. My sister is your sister-in-law too!” She didn’t say anything else, got up and went to the room.

I sat outside muttering, furious, thinking that I never imagined that by getting married I would see so clearly the pettiness of a woman. A while later, my wife came out. She didn’t say a word. She was holding a small box in her hand and threw it forcefully on the ground in front of me. “Do you want 50,000 pesos? There it is, take it!” I was startled, I looked down… and I was stunned, my hands trembled when I saw that there was no money inside, but… a pile of medical records.

I bent down and opened them one by one, and my eyes clouded as I read them. Infertility test results. Hormone tests. Ultrasounds of an abnormal uterus. The dates on them… were all from the time my wife had been going to the doctor in secret, getting treatment… without saying a single word to me.

And then, the last sheet was a budget for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Estimated total cost: almost 80,000 pesos. She stood there, her eyes red, but her voice was as hard as a rock: “That money… is my only hope to be a mother. I didn’t spend it on myself. I was getting ready to start IVF treatment next month. And you call me selfish?” I was speechless, unable to say a single word.

And he didn’t stop there, he walked over to a closet and pulled out another stack of papers: his job resignation letter, a rejection letter of support from his own parents, and a passbook with only 53,000 pesos. “I don’t have anyone but you. I put all my hope in this. But if I have to give up everything to your family, then… I guess I don’t deserve to be your wife.” After saying that, he walked into the room and slammed the door shut.

The house fell silent, only the sound of my heart screaming. I, a husband, hadn’t bothered to ask about my wife’s tears all this time. I called her selfish, while she suffered in silence for a small dream: that of becoming a mother. I looked at the pile of medical records at my feet, and then I looked at the closed door… For the first time in my life, I knelt, not to ask for money, but to ask for forgiveness.