Chapter 1

“Jordan, if we don’t go now I’ll miss my appointment.” I frowned at Jordan as he stood by the door.

He didn’t move. He just kept staring at me like I just said the most ridiculous thing.

“Jordan…” I warned.

I knew where this was going. He was going to pick her over me again just like he had always done in the past.

He was going to let me burn in a fire and save Karla.

“Karla said she’s having light pains today, I need to be by her side.” He protested.

I sighed heavily.

“But I’m having pains too, Jordan. I need you to–”

“But it’s not related to you being pregnant.” Jordan stated coldly.

“What?” I stepped back utterly confused and shocked.

“You don’t know what Karla is passing through, Mai. Have you ever been pregnant?” He crossed his arms.

“Jordan, that’s not a nice thing to say….”

He nodded slowly. “I’ll take that as a no.” He scoffed. “I’ve been trying to be as nice as possible to you Mai but you’re going too far. I’m not leaving Karla, especially now that she needs me.”

“But I need you now!” I argued.

“And I need children.” He spat back. “And Karla is the closest thing to achieving that. Go to the check up alone Mai, I’m not interested.”

With that he walked back into the house.

I stood by the car with shaky hands.

I knew this was going to happen.

When he had talked about having a child of his own for so long—and we’ve tried everything we possibly could—I decided to have him marry a second wife.

It was okay at first, quite normal honestly. But the moment she took in, it was like Jordan was a different person.

As I watched him walk back into the house I felt eyes on me and looked up.

Karla was there smiling devilishly.

She wanted me out of the marriage and it was  slowly working.

There was nothing I could do or say to get Jordan to love me like how he loves Karla.

No matter what I do she’d always have the upper hand.

I sighed, wiped my sweaty palm on my jeans and got into the car.

Before I could put the car in reverse I heard Jordan’s voice from behind me.

“Wait!” He yelled.

I turned off the car and smiled at him. “I had a feeling you’d change your mind…” I teased.

His eyebrows narrowed. “What? No. You can’t take this car, Karla needs it.”

“Excuse me?” I retorted.

“Karla needs it. She’s going out later today and needs that car.”

“Jordan I’m going for an appointment, I’d definitely be back before then.” My propped tightened on the steering wheel.

He shook his head not even listening to anything I’m saying.

“You’d have to take the bus or the train. I honestly don’t care. Just get out of the car.”

“Jordan…”

He had this scary look in his eyes. “Get down Mai, don’t let me drag you out.”

“You wouldn’t—”

He reached inside the car, grabbed my bag, took out the car keys from the ignition and pulled me out.

“Jordan! Wait….no, wait…I’ll–I’ll get down myself!” I yelled with my arms out.

“Get down. Now.” He ordered.

This time I didn’t call out his bluff, I got down immediately.

He locked the car and tossed my bag to me.

“Aren’t you at least going to give me some money for the bus?” I asked as he turned to leave.

He stopped and turned back to me.

“And why would I do that? It’s not like it’s doing me any good. You’d still be barren even if I give you all the money in the world.”

“Jordan, how dare you say something like that to me? You know the doctors said there was nothing wrong with me–”

“So you’re saying I’m impotent?” He hounded.

Jordan was not the type to throw blames or hurtful words.

Jordan was the sweetest man I knew.

Now…I don’t even know the man standing in front of me with daggers for eyes.

“I didn’t…I never said that…” I stuttered, suppressing the lump in my throat.

His dark eyes squinted even more as his jaw ticked.

“Good, because Karla is a living proof of that.”

He blinked slowly trying to suppress his growing anger before he turned to leave.

I stood there still utterly shocked and embarrassed.

I never expected things to turn out like this.

If I knew he’d turn on me like that, if I knew my own friend, Karla, would have treated me like this, then I’d have rather remained childless in this marriage.

——————

“Mrs Kelly, can you come this way please?”

I followed the nurse into the scan room.

I knew it was a ridiculous thing to do. We’ve tried everything, every single means to get pregnant but it didn’t happen.

But for some reason I felt this could be different.

I took the necessary tests and waited at the reception for my results.

“Mrs Kelly?” The nurse asked, searching for a face to the name.

I raised my hand nervously.

“The doctor will see you now.” She replied with a small smile on her face.

I stood up and steadied my breath.

If I don’t get pregnant now then I’m never going to have that chance again.

Jordan hardly even looks at me, talkless of wanting to have sex.

When I got to the doctor’s office, he was rounding up a conversation with another woman.

When she walked past me I gave her a small smile but she barely returned it.

She looked sad, shaken even.

It didn’t take a hard guess to know the reason behind her sadness.

“Mrs Kelly,” the doctor greeted. “It’s so lovely to have you here. Will Mr Kelly be joining us?”

I shook my head slowly.

He nodded once. “Of course.”

He flipped open a few files till it landed on a page that had my picture and details on it.

I braced myself for whatever news I was about to receive.

“Mrs Kelly, I’m going to be as blunt and honest as possible because you aren’t just a loyal customer but a very big investor in this hospital.” He paused to clear his throat before he continued.

“Nothing’s changed….”

I began to groan but he stopped me.

“But,” he added. “There’s progress. And it seems like you’re in your fertile days now. When was the last time you and Mr Kelly had sex?”

I was taken aback with how blunt he was.

It took me a while to find my voice before I replied. “Last week.”

He nodded. “You need to have sex within this period because these are your fertile days and there’s every possibility of you getting pregnant.”

“What if we don’t?” My voice shook as the last word left my mouth.

The doctor simply closed the file and folded his arms.

“Then, I can’t guarantee another window Mrs Kelly.”

I accepted his response.

No matter how I looked at it this was good news.

This was the chance I’ve been waiting for for years, the chance Jordan had been craving for.

A chance to claim back my marriage and finally stand toe to toe with Karla.

And I was going to grab this opportunity by the throat.

By the time I got to the house I wiped my sweating palms on my jeans and calmed myself.

I was going to break the news to Jordan and we would get down to business tonight.

The thought made me giggle a little as I opened the entrance door.

I entered to see Jordan sitting opposite Karla while holding a document.

“Jordan!” I sang. “Jordan I just got back from the hospital and—”

Tah!

My neck forcefully turned and my cheek stung from the harsh skin contact.

Before I could get the chance to break the news to Jordan, Karla had walked up to me and gave me the quickest most face turning slap I’ve ever received in my life.

I instantly held my hand over my cheek. “Did you just slap me?”

She slapped me again.

This time it was on the other cheek.

“You deceiver!” She yelled.

I wanted to push her to the ground and attack her but her protruding stomach stopped me.

I turned to Jordan instead who was still sitting and tapping his left foot on the ground repeatedly.

“Jordan, are you just going to let her do this?….”

Without turning to look at me he flinged the document to me and its content spilled out in the process.

Pictures of me lay flat on the floor just a few inches from my feet. And these pictures of me had another man in them, doing all kinds of things to me.

My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets

“You cheating whore.” Jordan seethed.