Chapter Four

Ophelia's POV.

~Two weeks later~

“You were with someone that night, Lia,” Nyla said. “I can't shake that feeling off”

“This is the hundredth time we are talking about this,” I sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Then how could you disappear completely for the whole night?” Her voice rose, laced with curiosity and uncertainty. “I searched the whole clubhouse for you”

I repeated the same lie I've been telling her since two weeks ago. “I told you I returned home early”

After a while, the call ended but my heart clenched. I've been lying to Nyla, I've been unable to tell her what happened.

I slipped my phone into my pocket and moved out of the kitchen. My face snapped to the sitting room and I saw Erick's coat on the sofa.

He's back.

For two weeks, I avoided him. We barely talked to each other, even when we slept together in the same room.

He didn't find out about what happened but we stopped being the same.

What was I saying?

We stopped being the same a year ago when I still couldn't get pregnant.

Footsteps echoed behind me and I spun around, smiling nervously at Erick.

“Welcome home” I greeted. “How was work today?”

Erick dropped his phone beside his coat, losing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt at the same time.

“Stressful. Couldn't leave the office even for lunch” He responded. “I'll go take a shower”

I nodded and watched his back as he moved upstairs. I turned back to his coat to take it to the laundry room when his phone lit up with a message.

“I had a really good time today.” The message reads.

A second message followed. “Are we still meeting tomorrow?”

The contact was saved as ‘Rei’ and I frowned.

Was that a client?

Maybe a coworker?

Is that a business partner?

I snapped my face away, turning back to the coat. Erick's messages should be none of my business.

The moment I lifted the coat, something slipped out of its pocket.

It was a receipt.

I bent down and picked it up, face twitching in confusion. It was a hotel receipt, with Erick's name and today's date on it.

Didn't he say he didn't leave the office?

The receipt disturbed me, but I refused to dwell on it. I tucked it back into the pocket, taking it to the laundry room and returning back to the sitting room in seconds.

I served dinner and Erick returned downstairs. He sat across the table, eating like nothing was wrong between us.

“Dinner?” Erick glanced at me. I shook my head immediately, feeling nauseous at the sight of the food alone.

“I'm fine,” I replied.

“I'll be out tomorrow” I settled into a chair across from him. “Probably spending the day with Nyla”

Erick didn't look up from his meal, he only nodded.

I returned to my room but the moment I stepped into the room, something rushed up my stomach. I rushed to the restroom, burying my face into the sink and throwing up.

The nausea started a few days ago. I became so picky with meals, vomiting every now and then.

I didn't want to trust my suspicions, but I knew I would be seeing the doctor by daybreak. Spending the day with Nyla was just an excuse, I didn't want to bring the hospital up in front of Erick again.

By morning, Erick was gone to work as usual. I slipped out of the house quietly, heading to the hospital.

The scent of blood invaded my nose the moment I stepped into the hospital, mixed with the unfamiliar scent of drugs that made me nauseous.

The doctor welcomed me with a professional smile, hearing my complaints and attending to me instantly.

A few minutes later, the test results were processed.

“Mrs. Willow…..” The doctor called. “You are pregnant”

I froze, finding it hard to believe her words. My hands trembled as they hovered over my belly, lips parted in disbelief.

There's a baby inside of me.

Pregnant?

But so suddenly? After four years?

“According to the fertility report in your file,” The doctor continued. “This is medically impossible”

Her words made my head spin, brows furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Your husband can't produce a baby” The doctor revealed.

My jaws dropped and a gasp escaped my lips. This couldn't be real, this had to be a joke.

I should be happy because of the baby, but something far more dangerous tugged at my chest after the doctor's words. I gripped the results tightly and scanned the details slowly.

Two weeks ago, in the clubhouse…..

“No,” I shook my head in terror. “That can't be”

Erick and I haven't gone intimate ever since the incident at the clubhouse. It felt like he had been avoiding me just as much as I had been avoiding him.

My heart hammered in my chest as I muttered. “No.”

It can't be.

This child can't be Diego's.

“It's not possible” I shook my head violently like I was trying to convince myself to believe a truth is a lie.

Erick blamed me for years, made me believe it was my fault but he's infertile.

“He told me he'd inform you himself” The doctor's voice rose again. “And told me not to mention it to you again since he doesn't want you to be upset”

It was suddenly hard to breathe and every revelation threatened to rip me apart. Tears blurred my vision, my fists curling in anger.

I spent four years loving Erick. Every night, I wondered what was wrong with me, but Erick knew.

I trusted him, tried to keep our marriage alive even when it started to fail, but he lied to me.

For four years, he lied.

No, Erick would have an explanation for this.

I stood up from the chair, leaving the doctor's office without a word.

I left the hospital without turning back. The moment I stepped out of the lobby, I paused.

I glanced at my stomach, breath shaky as I placed my trembling hand on it.

The pregnancy was confirmed.

But the heart wrenching thing? I was carrying my father-in-law's child.