A Writer's Contract: Twisted Inspiration

“Thank you.” Zara muttered to the taxi driver as soon as she stepped out of the car.

The man flashed her a smile and drove away, leaving her standing with the grocery bag in her hand and her big baby bump.

She sighed heavily and walked to the house. When she got to the entrance door, she tried to open it with her key, but surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked.

Her brows furrowed. “Did someone break in?” She muttered, as she took out her phone, ready to dial the cops number if she found anything suspicious.

She only lived with her husband and they both weren’t seen at home by this time of the day.

She owned a small supermarket two streets away, and her husband worked for a small firm, from seven to nine pm.

She wasn’t feeling too well, so she decided to close for the day and come back home to relax.

Slowly, she walked into the house, at alert. When she got far inside the house, she heard some noises coming from the room three meters away.

At first, she thought she was imagining things, but then she heard it for the second time.

A damn moan.

Her heart skipped a beat when she thought of what it meant, but then she shrugged it off and thought she was overhearing things.

Who would sneak into her home to have sex? It was outrageous.

She hastened her steps towards the room, and when she got to the door, she held the knob and pushed the door open without thinking twice.

Her hazel eyes landed on two figures on the bed, having intense sex. While one was familiar, the other wasn’t.

The bag fell from her hand immediately, the content spilling over the floor.

Her lips parted, but she was too speechless to say a word.

Tears bricked at the corner of her eyes, she couldn’t believe what was happening in front of her.

Her husband having sex with another woman on their matrimonial bed?

It felt like a dream, and she wanted someone to wake her up and confirm she was indeed dreaming.

He pushed the lady off her and grabbed the bedsheet to himself.

“Babe?” His eyes widened.

Zara tried to fight back her tears, but she couldn’t.

If there was a word greater than betrayal, that was how she felt.

“I… I… I thought you would be at the supermarket.” He stuttered.

“I also thought you would be at work.” Her voice was teary.

Her eyes moved to the lady, who looked unbothered about the situation. She laid beside Zara’s husband, naked.

Felix wore his boxer in a haste, and then rushed to her. “It’s not what you think, I swear.” He tried to hold her hand, but she moved back.

Zara couldn’t hold back her tears, she let them fall freely.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she was bereft of words.

She shook her head and walked out of the room.

“Babe!” Felix called as he ran after her. “Please listen to me.”

She turned to him, and the next thing that was heard was a loud thud, caused by her five fingers hitting Felix’s left cheek with full force.

His brows creased into a deep frown. “What is wrong with you?”

“It’s ought to be the other way round, Felix. What is wrong with you?! What didn’t I do for you? What…”

“It’s just a one time thing, I don’t understand why you are making a fuss out of it.” He roared.

Her wet eyes flickered, “Are you being serious right now?”

He didn’t reply, instead, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the guest bathroom.

When they got there, he made her stare at the mirror. “Look at yourself. If you were to be a guy, would someone like this entice you? Would you get the urge to have sex with someone like you?”

For the second time that day, Zara’s heart shattered.

Her eyes moved shakily across the mirror as she stared at her reflection.

Two years ago, she was the opposite of how she looked now; clear skin, tender face, slim thick and curvy.

But now, she looked completely different. She had breakouts, she was now chubby, thick eyebrows, pale lips, fat cheeks.

“I’m pregnant, Felix. It is normal for my looks to change.” She defended, more tears streaming down her cheeks.

Felix let out a laughter, “Cut the crap. I’ve seen lots of pregnant ladies and none look like this.” He emphasized on the last word.

“Stop.” She muttered in tears. “You are hurting me.”

He scoffed, getting irritated by her tears. “You know what… I don’t care anymore. I’m sick and tired of pretending everything is okay, when it is clearly not.”

“What…what do you mean?”

“It’s means I’m sick of this marriage! I didn’t know things would turn out this way, I…” He paused and took a deep breath.

She looked away from the mirror, and turned to him. “We are living okay, we are in love, we have shelter, we can afford food and water bills. Why are you saying all that?”

He didn’t say a word. He observed her for a while and then hissed in frustration. “Forget about what you saw today. Take a good rest, the baby needs it.”

That being said, he headed towards the bathroom door.

She grabbed his hand, making him stop, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Let me go.” He insisted, his words firm.

She shook her head, unable to believe what was happening.

She caught her husband cheating on her on their matrimonial bed, and instead of apologizing, he was gaslighting her.

The whole thing looked like a joke, and she kept wondering if it was the same Felix she ran away from home for or it was an imposter.

She badly wanted it to be an imposter. Because after everything she’d done for him, it would only make sense if he was indeed an imposter.

She sniffled back her tears, and tried to sound strong. “Is everything okay? Are you going through a hard time? This is unlike you, Felix.”

He tilted his head to stare at her, her grip still on his arm.

“I’ve lived twenty seven years on this earth, and I’ve never found anyone as stupid as you.” He spat.

Her grip on his arm loosened. “Fe-Felix?” She was shocked at his remark.

He turned to her direction and crossed his arms. “After we eloped, I thought you’d go back to your family and beg for your right, but now… you got comfortable living this godforsaken life, and you think I’m cool with it?”

Her eyes darted in confusion. Just when she was about to speak, he beats her to it.

“When I found out your dad owns the biggest company in California, I was amazed. I wanted to enjoy part of his wealth and that was why I asked you out. Only for you to act stupid and run away from home just to be with me, leaving all your rights behind… Now you are of no use to me, because you got disowned and don’t even have nothing…”

Zara’s gasped at his revelation. She couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“As if that wasn’t enough, you got pregnant and now our bills are going to get doubled…” He stopped and hit his forehead in frustration.

“You…you never loved me?”

He let out a short laughter. “Not even for a bit… That lady right there, is the one I love. And now that I do not have to pretend anymore, you’ll be seeing her often.”

With that being said, he walked away, and she didn’t try to stop him.

Zara fell on her knees, she was too weak to continue crying. She just stared into space, trying to process what just happened.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her abdomen, and she fell on the bathroom floor, clutching her belly to herself.

She bit her lower lip to stop herself from screaming, but the sharp pain came again, intensified.

“Felix!”