4

“You did what?!” my mother yelled, her eyes wide with anger as she slammed something onto the table.

“I got it, okay? I found that bastard at the club,” Sandra replied, not hiding her defensive tone. “It was easy. He was with that woman... that blonde he’s always going out with. I approached them, flirted a bit, and it didn’t take long before we ended up in one of the rooms.”

“And then? What happened?” my mother pressed, impatience growing in her voice.

Sandra sighed. “Inside, I put the medication in his drink. It worked. He was completely out of it, didn’t know what was going on. We did what had to be done, but...”

“But what, damn it?”

“He insisted on using a condom,” Sandra said, almost spitting the words out. “Even while drugged, he wouldn’t give in. So all I got was his sperm... in the condom.”

My mother snorted. “That’s not a problem! We’ve talked about this, Sandra. We have the syringe, we can do the insemination.”

“I know, mom, I know! But the problem was after...” Sandra started pacing back and forth, her quick steps echoing through the room.

“What do you mean by ‘after’?”

“Daniel was there,” Sandra confessed, her voice softer, almost a whisper.

“What?! What the hell was that idiot doing there?”

“He was drunk, jealous, and saw me leaving the room with the condom in my hands,” Sandra continued. “He started shouting, saying I was crazy, that I couldn’t do that... and, well... he convinced me.”

My mother straightened up. “Convinced you to do what, exactly?”

“To sleep with him.”

The room went silent for a moment. My mother sighed, incredulous. “You’re telling me that after all of this, you went and slept with that idiot? Without protection?”

“I was nervous! He pressured me, and I gave in! Now, even if I do the insemination with the libertine’s sperm, I’ll never know whose child it really is!” Sandra exploded.

“Sandra, you... you ruined everything. Now what? How are we going to fix this?” Upon hearing the story, my mother screamed, cursed, kicked, and raged in hatred.

“She’s my woman, damn it! I won’t let her get pregnant by another guy, end of story! It’s bad enough that she went all the way with him. What happened is unacceptable, and if she has to have a child, it’ll be mine!” Daniel countered, in the same furious tone, his voice choked with alcohol.

“Your woman, my ass! Do you have what it takes to support her? And if she gets pregnant, what the hell are you going to do to support the kid?” my mother retorted in the same tone, and the argument continued, both of them exchanging insults and accusations.

“Enough! This fight isn’t getting us anywhere!” Sandra intervened, shouting louder than both of them in an attempt to silence them. “The damage is done. There’s no going back. At least we still have ‘his material,’ we can find someone else.”

“As if that were possible in such a short time,” my mother said.

And it was true. From what I’d overheard while they were plotting the grand plan, sperm lived for at most six hours outside the human body, and that was only if it didn’t come into contact with oxygen, which would kill it instantly.

As instructed by our mother, Sandra had brought the semen very well packed and in a container, but they’d never find another woman willing to go along with that craziness in such a short time. It had to have been at least four hours since she was with the libertine at the club. Everything they had done was falling apart.

But then, I heard something.

“Ravena.”

I heard my name being mentioned in the kitchen, and a chill ran down my spine, signaling a bad omen. I tried to listen to what they were saying, but suddenly they started whispering, and I had no doubt they were talking about me.

Damn it! What were they plotting?

It didn’t take long before the three of them left the kitchen, stepping into the living room, step by step, like a presence that couldn’t be avoided. The sound of their footsteps seemed to echo distantly, yet so present that my heart raced with each passing second.

A shiver ran up my spine, cold and sharp, as if something dark was about to be revealed.

I couldn’t help it, my eyes were automatically drawn to what my mother was holding... the syringe. It was large, white, and gleamed under the dim light of the room. The metal reflected unsettlingly, as if it were waiting for something. The sight of it made my stomach churn, and before I could process it, a shiver ran through my entire body.

I jumped off the sofa, the sudden movement involuntary, a desperate attempt to escape the scene unfolding before me. My mind was in panic, my body almost paralyzed, as they approached, my mother holding the syringe like an impending threat.

I knew what was coming next. And I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to be there.

Damn it!

“Sweetheart...” My mother’s voice sounded almost soft, affectionate, but something in it was wrong, deeply wrong. Every word felt like a slow poison. “You know that mommy loves you, don’t you?” She moved closer, slow and steady steps.

With each of her steps, the air seemed thicker, denser, as if the room was closing in around me.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to run.

“You also know that everything I do is to keep our family safe,” she continued, her eyes locked on me. The syringe in her hand seemed to glow ominously, as if absorbing the light, waiting.

One more step toward me. I could hear her breathing now, irregular, almost heavy. “So, don’t worry, my dear,” she said, her voice sweet. “Everything I do will always be for our own good.”

The pressure in my chest was unbearable, and the only thing I could do was stare at her.

She stopped in front of me, her eyes never leaving mine, her expression almost melancholic. “And I’m sorry, baby... but it has to be you.”

Those words... They were like a sharp blade cutting through the air, cold, without remorse. I could see in her eyes that she was serious, as if there was no other choice, as if it were inevitable. The pain in my chest was almost physical, the feeling of betrayal so strong I could barely breathe.

My mother stared at me with a dark expression, as if she were making the greatest sacrifice in the world. But I knew... something terrible was about to happen, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

“No way! Forget it!” I retorted.