The world stopped spinning entirely.
I had to slap my hand over my mouth to stop the gasp from escaping. I stopped listening by then. Slowly, I backed away from the door, my heart still pounding in my chest so loud that I could hear it in my ears. Betrayal seeped into my bones, gradually eating from the inside out.
No. No. No!
I knew Lucas never loved , and I could live with that fact. But I didn’t think that he would go behind my back and do sothing so...so disgusting. Sleeping with my sister? I didn’t want to believe it, I couldn’t believe it. I would have never done sothing like this to him. As much as I hated this marriage, I would have never betrayed him.
Heat crept up my neck as the bitterness in transford into sothing else much bigger. Anger began to spread inside of like a wildfire I couldn’t seem to control. All I wanted was to push open the door and confront them right this second. But just as I was about to make a move, sothing held back.
My daughter’s face flashed past in my mind, and I halted my steps. My nails dug crescent moons into my palms as I stared at the door inches away from .
No. For the sake of Kayla.
Call stupid, but I didn’t want to ruin this god-forsaken marriage, all because I didn’t want Kayla to grow up in a broken family as I did. I knew how it felt, and I would never want my daughter to experience the sa thing as I did growing up. And knowing Lucas, he would do everything in his power to take my daughter away from .
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I backed away and headed straight to the spare bedroom.
I woke up early the next morning like every other day, preparing breakfast as though everything was normal.
I set the table nicely, an extra set of plates and cutlery for my sister as well. There was cold milk in a jar, freshly baked sourdough bread, chopped fruits, eggs, and glazed honey ham slices arranged neatly.
I was just about to head upstairs to wake Kayla up when I saw the three of them slowly making their way down the stairs, carefully holding onto my sister’s arms. They were all already dressed and ready to leave.
"Good morning, sister," Jessica was the first to greet , and I fought back the urge to utter a snide remark as I glanced at the diamond necklace on her neck.
Instead, I mustered a smile, giving her a perfunctory nod. "Good morning, Jessica." I turned to look at my husband and daughter this ti. "Where are y’all heading to?"
"I’m taking Kayla out for breakfast," my husband answered without even casting a look my way.
An incredulous chuckle slipped past my lips. "I already made breakfast. Go out another day."
I watched as my daughter ran over to my side. For a split second, hope rose in my chest, but the smile that appeared on my lips disappeared just as quickly when she shoved at . "I don’t want to eat your stupid breakfast! I want McDonald’s!"
"I’m sorry, Evelyn," Jessica apologized, but it was only today that I noticed the smugness in his eyes. "I promised Kayla that I would take her out for her favourite McDonald’s breakfast. She had been wanting to eat the hash brown for the longest ti. Isn’t that right, Kayla?" She asked, and my daughter nodded.
Lucas’ eyes finally t mine. "Why are you being difficult? Just pack it up for tomorrow or sothing. Can’t you see that Kayla is sick of your breakfast?"
"Yeah, mommy." My daughter crossed her tiny arms over her chest with a pout on her lips. "Why can’t you be like auntie Jessica? She’s a better mommy than you!"
A breath left my lips as my eyes darted between the three of them. "Fine. Go, go have your breakfast." I plopped down onto one of the chairs and started eating as my daughter’s cheers echoed behind , then the door clicked shut.
It was only when I was all alone that I let the tears co streaming down my face.
***
I spent the next hour or so cleaning, trying to distract myself from the words that had plagued my mind since last night.
What if she finds out that the baby is yours?
The baby.
Lucas cheated on with my sister.
A shrill ring of my phone sliced through my thoughts. I looked over at my brightly lit phone to see that it was Lucas who was calling.
"Hello?"
My husband’s panicked voice ca from the other end of the line. "Co over to the mall right now with Kayla’s dicine. Her condition is flaring up again."
He had barely finished his sentence when I already grabbed everything Kayla needed and rushed down to the mall. I bolted past the crowd to get to McDonald’s, only to see the three of them happily eating their food without a care in the world.
Kayla looked perfectly fine.
"What? What’s going on?" I rushed over to my daughter’s side. "Kayla, are you feeling okay?" I asked, but she only looked at as though I had grown a second head.
"Yeah, mommy," she rely muttered before turning her attention back to the phone in her hands, engrossed in so mobile ga.
What the hell?
"You made it just in ti," Lucas said this ti. "I lied, I know that was the best way to get you here as quickly as possible," he explained when he saw the puzzled look on my face.
"You!" I sneered. "What do you want?"
"Co on, let’s go. It’s shopping ti, Lucas announced before turning back to grab my arm. There was a smug look on his face when he looked at . "You too. We need your help with the bags and...stuff."
For my daughter’s sake, I didn’t want to make a fuss in front of everyone else here. So, I pressed my lips into a thin line and let him pull along.
The first stop was a maternity wear shop.
Turned out Lucas was the one who insisted on bringing my sister out to shop this weekend.
"Are you sure about this? I don’t think I will look good in these maternity clothes," Jessica mumbled coyly, her cheeks flushed pink.
"Don’t say that. You will look good in anything," Lucas was quick to assure her, even reaching out to tuck a piece of stray golden blonde hair behind her ear. "You will be the best mother and the most beautiful pregnant woman to ever exist."
It hurt to hear, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I watched quietly as my husband and daughter enthusiastically went around the shop, browsing rows upon rows of clothes, hand-picking each item carefully for my younger sister.
When it was ti to pay, of course, my husband eagerly offered to pay for everything. After all, he was the CEO of Smith Enterprise, money was never an issue for a man like him.
There was a second stop, a third stop, and even a fourth, all ant to prepare for the arrival of the baby.
Their baby.
I didn’t know exactly how much ti had passed, but only that every minute felt like an eternity, like I was stuck in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Relief flooded as we were finally heading towards the parking lot. I dragged my feet behind them, lugging multiple shopping bags in my hands.
The three of them were happily walking and chatting ahead of . But in the next mont, the chatters died, and they froze only a few steps in front of .
And all I could see was the gun in the man’s hands, pointing right at us.
"Don’t move."
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