Chapter 8

I shouldn't be seen standing, let alone walking into Lane & Harrow Global Holdings, but the urgent email I got  at 6 a.m. left me no choice.

The board needed a document and presentation only I had access to and if ignored, there would be tension.

So I came.

Just to do this one thing.

In and out.

Ten minutes.

But the staff didn't take it easy on me with their backlash. Every pair of eyes swung towards me.

As I walked down the hallway their whispers were what I heard.

“Is she… back?”

“But she literally collapsed last week.”

“With that stomach? She shouldn’t even be here.”

“Did Sebastian force her?”

“I heard he gave her work even after the doctor warned her.”

“No wonder she fainted…”

I kept walking, till I got to my office and just then, Lily stepped in.

“Zara!” 

 “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at home. Resting.”

“I needed to fix something for the board,” I said. “Give me ten minutes.”

“You look exhausted,” she murmured. “Forget it. Email it. Call someone. I’ll do it. What exactly needs to be fixed?”

“The board file,” I said. “The corrected version is on the office drive. Only my login works.”

“They think Sebastian dragged you in,” she whispered.

“He didn’t.”

Not this time.

“Hurry,” she whispered, “before he walks in.”

I sat, logged in, and pulled up the file and went through it  for confirmation ensuring there was no error and I clicked send, praying this would be the last time I walked into this building until the babies arrived.

××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

At 32 weeks. The swelling in my legs made every step a battle. My head pounded, sharp and unrelenting, and the twins’ kicks felt weaker than usual. Panic hit me.

I barely made it to the bed before the pain in my head doubled. My fingers clawed at the sheets, heart beating “Not now… please,” I gasped.

By morning l barely sat before the nurse clipped the blood pressure cuff around my arm.

The machine beeped once. Twice. Then the nurse’s eyes snapped up.

“Doctor.”

Dr. Lennox stepped in immediately, her tone switching from friendly to controlled.

“What’s going on?”

“BP is elevated. Severe swelling.”

The doctor turned to me.

“How long have your feet been like this?”

“Since yesterday… I thought it was normal. But this morning my legs felt tight. And the headache, it kept banging.”

That was enough.

The doctor didn’t sit. Didn’t smile. She was already moving.

“Zara, these are pre-eclampsia indicators. We’re not waiting.”

She pressed the call button. A second nurse entered.

“Urine test, blood panel, and fetal monitoring. Now.”

“Is something wrong,” I asked.

“We’re making sure nothing goes wrong,” but listen carefully, “no office work, no errands, no stress. Your blood pressure is way too high.”

I nodded, eyes burning, hands instinctively covering my stomach.

“I will.”

“Good.. We’re watching you closely from now on.”

Just then,  I was rolled fast into the lab because this pregnancy had just shifted into dangerous territory, and everyone felt it.

I had planned on starting maternity leave at thirty-four weeks, but plans mean nothing when your blood pressure is climbing and the doctor looks you in the eye and says, “Bed rest. Now.”

The collapse at the office was still fresh in my head and the twins tightened inside of me like they were scared too.

So I stayed home and sent the mail for maternity leave.

Pillow behind my back, swollen feet up, doctor’s warning still ringing.

Then my phone rang.

Sebastian.

“Why aren’t you at work?” he asked. No greeting. Just demand.

“Doctor’s orders,” I said. “I’m on bed rest.”

“Fine. Then work from home. I’m sending tasks.”

“No. I collapsed, sir,” I said. “My body needs rest. I’m not taking on any work.”

“No?” he repeated, like he’d never heard it before.

“You’re pregnant, not dying,” he snapped. “This isn’t an excuse to abandon your duties.”

“I’m doing what the doctor said.”

“Then understand this,” he said, voice dropping. “If you refuse working from home, we will only pay you for the days you show up. That’s policy.” He said and hung up.

His office was his only concern, staff's  wellbeing wasn't his priority and never will be.

I stared at the phone for a long moment as I ran my hand over my belly. 

“They come first,” I murmured.

And this time, I meant it with everything in me.

Later that night, Lily called.

“Zara… you won’t believe what happened at the office,” she said.

“Sebastian. Shouted at everyone like he lost it. We were staring at him, we couldn't speak, no one dared to speak, not even Mike. Rumor has it… your absence sparked it.”

My absence? I sank onto the edge of my bed. A storm of guilt and fear raging inside me. I’d done what the doctor said. I needed to rest. I needed to protect the twins. And yet, I was blamed by a man who couldn’t see beyond his own rage.

“Nothing direct about you,” Lily continued. “He’s mad, Zara. Mad in a way I’ve never seen.”

“I… I should have gone back,” I muttered.

“No,” Lily said firmly. “You did the right thing. You can’t push yourself. Not now.”

Sebastian’s anger didn't stop with absence. Tomorrow, it will find another way to reach me.

“Just… be careful,” Lily whispered. “And rest, okay?”

“sure.”

The line went quiet.

I stared at the ceiling. Outside, I could almost hear the distant echoes of Sebastian’s roar. 

Imagined or not but inside, I felt a spark  of determination. Let him rage. Let the office crumble. 

I had bigger battles to fight, and tiny lives to protect. I said to myself. Putting aside every guilt I must have felt.

And one day, he would have to face the truth that working for him was the hardest thing to do.