The Christmas Contract

I’d been secretly pouring out the glass of milk Sam Kirk gave me every night. Each time I drank it, my head would get dizzy.

At midnight, the sound of the bedroom door creaking open jolted me awake. I opened my eyes, shocked to find that I could see again.

Six months ago, I’d gone blind in an accident while trying to save Sam, but now my vision had miraculously returned.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I turned, wanting to share this unbelievable moment with Sam when I saw her.

His personal assistant, Alisa Morton, was crawling into our bed, wearing lingerie that left very little to the imagination.

I recognized her from before I lost my sight. She had just graduated from college, and in a way, she even resembled me.

However, she was younger and prettier, and the lipstick stains she left on Sam’s collar were always bolder than mine.

Back then, I told Sam, “Either she goes, or I do.”

He didn't hesitate to let her go. I never expected she’d end up in our home instead.

Sam pulled her into his arms like it was second nature. In return, she used her toes to tease him. “Look closely. Who do you really want?”

“Alisa, stop it.” Sam glanced nervously at me as I lay there “asleep”.

She pouted, unsatisfied with his answer. “What’s the big deal? Didn’t you drug your wife’s milk? We’ve done this before. Doesn’t it make it even more exciting doing it while she’s right there?”

Sam didn’t respond. His breath grew heavy as he tore apart her white stockings.

As their bodies tangled, Alisa gasped, “Sam, I’ve been with you for a year now. When are you going to leave your wife?”

He paused.

His voice turned soft, even tender, saying, “Alisa, I can give you anything except marriage. Hazel’s been with me since she was eighteen. When I had nothing, and we lived in a run-down apartment that barely fit a bed and was crawling with roaches, she stayed. She was in that car crash because of me. I can’t betray her.”

Alisa bit down on his neck, her voice teasing. “You love your wife that much? Tell me, then. So, what if one day she finds out the truth and decides to leave you?”

Sam didn’t even flinch. “She won’t. As long as you behave, she’ll never know. She’s blind. Even if she found out, she wouldn’t leave me. My wife has a soft heart. If I beg her, she’ll forgive me.”

I felt hollow. His words hit me like a punch to the stomach.

I still remember waking up in the ICU after the accident.

The doctor informed me then that I could never be a mother. Waking up with my world pitch black, I had asked Sam, terrified, “Why won’t you turn the lights on?”

That day, Sam held me and cried like a child.

We came from a small, conservative town in the Midwest where traditions mattered.

When Sam’s mother, Mary Wendoll, found out, she tried so hard to convince him to divorce me.

Sam had always been a devoted son, but that was the first time he ever argued with his mom.

Mary even got on her knees, begging. “Hazel can’t give you children, and she’s blind now, too. We can’t let the Kirks end like this. If you won’t divorce her, at least find another woman to have a baby with. I’m begging you.”

But Sam stayed firm. “Mom, just give it up. I’ll never touch another woman in this life. And Alisa isn’t blind. From now on, I’ll be her eyes!”

Sam and I had known each other for thirty-eight years, dating for twenty and married for ten.

Mary used to treat me so kindly, like I was her own daughter. However, that was the day I learned no matter how good a daughter-in-law is, it would never be the same.

Still, I didn’t mind. I had Sam, who loved me.