CHAPTER 4: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

Liliana

His lips capture mine passionately as he thrusts into me, and I moan into his mouth.

And then my eyes snap open as I jolt awake.

It's been weeks of me having the same dream every time I close my eyes.

My mind swells with a hundred different feelings I can’t control. Shame that I slept with a man I don’t know because my husband forced me to. Anger that Robert wanted to sell me off again, to who knows who this time. And even more anger that the masked stranger with a perfect body treated me so special only to discard me right after sex.

I barely left the room all day. Today was one of those days, I didn't have the courage to drag myself up to face the mess that is my life.

I don’t want to be an object of pleasure for any man. But Robert doesn’t care.

And me? Why can’t I stop thinking about the masked billionaire and his smoking-hot body from that night?

He was just a stranger who used me for a night. Right?

“Liliana!” Robert’s voice cuts through my thoughts. He sounds… excited. The bedroom door swings open.

He walks in holding red roses. “My beautiful wife is awake,” he grins, sitting beside me as I sit up.

I blink. “Wait. Did you just call me beautiful?”

This must be a good day.

He laughs. “Look, you are my jackpot.”

“Jackpot?”

“Yeah. My ticket out of poverty for life.”

“What do you mean?”

“The billionaire from last night. He wants to see you again.”

My eyes widen as I fight to hide the flush creeping up my face.

“And this time, he’s ready to pay even more. Can you believe it?” He laughs, his eyes shining like he just won the lottery.

I just stare at him, stunned.

How can he be okay with another man sleeping with his wife?

“What is wrong with you, Robert?” I sigh. “Haven’t you paid off your gambling debts?”

“It’s not about the miserly three hundred thousand I owe. I’m talking about setting us up for life.”

My jaw drops. “You owed that much?”

“And in one night, I tripled it,” he snickers, “with your help, of course.”

“How on earth are you even okay with this?”

“Oh, quit your self-righteous act. I got this for you.”

He shoves the roses into my hands. “They’re your favorite.”

It doesn’t move me. “Roses aren’t my favorite. White lilies are.”

“They’re one and the same.” He waves it off. “Now, we need to change your wardrobe. And you need to go to the hospital. They’re insisting on a full medical test before we settle on a price.”

“Settle on a price?” My voice breaks. “What am I, some meat that’s up for sale?”

“Stop whining, Liliana. We talked about this last night. You’re doing this, and that’s final.”

“No. I’m not. I don’t want to be used like that.”

“You don’t have a choice. If we want any more money…”

“We have more than enough. You said it yourself, you owe three hundred thousand dollars, and when you pay off the gambling debt, we’ll still have a whopping seven hundred thousand left. Robert, we don’t need this.”

He scrunches his face. “Look, Liliana. You are infertile. You’re an incomplete woman,” he stresses to shame me. “And if we do this one more time, we’ll have the money we need for treatment. So that we can have our own baby.”

I stare at him, stunned. “Treatment?”

“Yes. Why do you think I’m doing all of this? So we can put all the money into having our own child.”

“But we already have one million dollars. That’s more than enough,” I exclaim.

“You cannot have children, Liliana. It’s been five years. One million dollars wouldn’t even cover your stale womb.”

My breath catches. He sighs, frustrated. “Haven’t I tried? Haven’t I been patient? Loving you for five years, even though I knew you were dried up?”

He leans in. “Do this one thing for me. After everything I’ve done for you, show some gratitude. And do it just this one last time. Good?”

I just stare at him, my chest heavy, but he doesn’t wait for me to answer.

“Good. Now get ready. You have to go to the hospital for their routine checkup.”

***

I’m in the kitchen, finishing up dinner when Robert’s phone rings. He answers, and his face changes in seconds.

“What is it?” I ask, walking over.

He looks at me with rage. “You… whore.”

“Robert, I’m your wife. You can’t call me that,” I retort.

“I can call you exactly what you are. A useless one,” he barks, shouting in my face.

“I… I don’t understand.”

“That was the hospital. From your medical checkup. Confirming that…”

He pauses, his lips fighting the words. “…you’re four weeks pregnant.”

“That’s not… that can’t be right. It’s not possible,” I stutter, my body locking.

“You think you’re going to shame me? Make me out to be a sterile man when you’re the one with the problem?” Robert paces like a wild animal released from its cage. “How dare you hide this from me?”

“Robert, I swear, I didn’t keep anything from you.”

“No. No, I won’t let you embarrass me any further in my own house.” His voice rises. “You cheat on me and you bring back a child from your lover?”

“Cheat on you?” My voice shakes. “You’re the one who sold…”

“Shut up!” he roars.

Tears blur my eyes, spilling as I blink.

“As a matter of fact, you’re leaving this house right now. And I never want to see you again.”

“No, please… I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“You should have thought about that before letting yourself get pregnant. There’s no use for me keeping you now.”

He seizes a fistful of my hair and drags me toward the door. My scalp burns, my breath breaking in short gasps. He yanks the door open and hurls me out onto the wet ground.

I fall hard, my palms scraping against the pavement as the door slams shut behind me.

I push myself up and pound on the door with my fists. “Robert! Please! Open the door! I have nowhere else to go!” My voice breaks into sobs, but the door stays shut.

I keep knocking until my arms ache, until my throat is sore from screaming his name, but there’s no answer.

Thunder rumbles above. I tilt my head back, staring at the heavy black clouds. A drop of water hits my cheek. Then another.

Within seconds, rain is pouring down, soaking through my clothes, chilling me to the bone.

“Robert, please!” I scream again, my voice strained. “It’s cold out here!”

The door suddenly swings open, and relief floods me, until I see his eyes.

“I hope you and that bastard in your womb die in the cold,” he spits with cruelty.

I gasp, clutching my chest.

“Now get away from here!” He shoves me back down onto the wet ground and slams the door shut.

My hand flies instinctively to my belly, as if his words could rip the baby from me. My sobs shake through me as I drag myself up and stagger into the heavy downpour.

Rain lashes against my skin, plastering my hair across my face. My feet slap through puddles.

I don’t know how long I’ve been walking. Minutes. Hours. I can’t tell. I don’t know where I’m going.

All I know is I’m alone. And the worst part? I don’t even know who the father of my baby is.

My mind is spinning. I almost don’t see the road ahead until blinding headlights flood my eyes.

Tires screech.

My scream tears from my throat as I stumble backward and crash onto the wet asphalt.

The driver’s door opens.

“Hey, lady! Are you okay?”

His voice… it’s strangely familiar. But there’s no way I wouldn’t forget a face like this.

I lift my head, shivering from the cold. “Please…” My voice cracks. “Help me.”

He walks up to me, and for a moment, the world goes quiet as we stare, drawn to each other by a force I can’t explain.

He looks at me like he knows me, his voice dropping to a mutter. “You?”