بين أحضان الوحش

“I’m pregnant,” Sabina said flatly.

Her words left Alexander and Felicia utterly stunned.

“Wh-what? Is that true? You’re really pregnant?”

Sabina sent something from her phone to Alexander.

It was a copy of her pregnancy ultrasound.

“Sa-Sabina… this…”

“But it isn’t your child. I’m pregnant with another man’s baby, not yours. And that means I’m not barren like you and your mother have accused me of being.”

Several Months Earlier

“Mrs. Morales?”

A courier dressed entirely in black called out just as Sabina stepped out of her car.

Sabina eyed the man suspiciously before finally accepting the thick brown envelope he held out to her.

“What is this?” she asked.

But the man said nothing. Instead, he turned around, walked back to his large motorcycle, started the engine, and rode away, leaving only the fading roar of the motor behind.

“Ma’am, what happened?”

Cintya, her housekeeper, looked at her in confusion.

“Nothing. Take the groceries inside and help me sort them later. There’s something I need to take care of,” Sabina said before walking into the house.

She headed straight for Alexander’s study, picked up a letter opener, and carefully slit open the thick envelope.

Sabina’s eyes widened when she emptied its contents onto the desk.

Her trembling hand reached for one of the photographs.

“What the hell is this?” she whispered.

Every photograph showed her husband, Alexander Morales, with his secretary, Amanda Fillan.

And these weren’t ordinary pictures.

They looked unmistakably intimate.

The first showed the two of them entering the lobby of a hotel together.

The second captured them sitting close together on a yacht at sunset, their arms wrapped around each other.

The third showed them sharing a romantic dinner at an upscale restaurant Sabina often visited with her husband.

“Damn it!” Sabina muttered furiously.

“How could they make these edited photos look so perfect? Do they really think I’m going to believe this?”

She scoffed mockingly before slipping the photographs back into the envelope.

“I need to get rid of this before Alexander sees it and gets angry.”

Sabina reached for a lighter, intending to burn the envelope in the fireplace of Alexander’s study.

But the sudden sound of the door being thrown open stopped her in her tracks.

Quickly, she shoved the envelope beneath a stack of documents.

“What are you doing in here?” Felicia, her mother-in-law, asked.

“Nothing, Mom. I just needed some stationery,” Sabina replied, casually picking up a pencil from Alexander’s desk.

“And what exactly are you going to do with it? Work on the books? Did you forget that you don’t work anymore?” Felicia scoffed. “I’m having some friends over for dinner this Saturday. Help me get everything ready.”

When Sabina didn’t answer immediately, Felicia’s voice rose.

“Did you hear what I said?”

Sabina flinched and quickly nodded. “Yes, Mom. I heard you. Are they the same friends as usual, or are there any new guests?”

“What difference does it make?”

“I just need to know in case any of them have food allergies.”

“None of them do. Just prepare an extravagant dinner, and don’t forget the wine. Don’t embarrass me,” Felicia said before turning on her heel and walking away.

Sabina didn’t realize how quickly the afternoon had slipped away. She was still poring over her notes when an arm gently touched her shoulder.

“Sweetheart, what are you doing in here?”

Alexander had just walked in. He rubbed her shoulder affectionately before pressing a warm kiss to the crown of her head.

“I was looking for you, but Cintya said you haven’t left this room since you came home from shopping. Is something wrong? Did something happen?”

Sabina smiled and reached up to touch the back of his hand.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just doing some calculations,” she said, trying to sound casual as she showed him her notes. “Your mother wants to invite her friends over this weekend, but this is already way over our monthly household budget.”

She complained softly.

Even though they were financially secure, Sabina was still careful with their household expenses. Felicia called her frugal to a fault, but Sabina simply wanted to keep their spending under control and maintain a sensible lifestyle.

Alexander smiled and gently stroked her head again.

“It’s fine. Let her have it. I’ll transfer some extra money into the household account. I’ll also talk to Mom and ask her to stop being so wasteful.”

“But, sweetheart…” Sabina didn’t want her presence to come between mother and son.

“Hey, leave it to me,” Alexander interrupted gently. “I’m going to take a shower first. Then we’ll have dinner together. What’s for dinner tonight?”

Sabina startled slightly.

She had completely forgotten to prepare dinner, first distracted by the envelope and then by Felicia. Carefully, she slipped the brown envelope she had hidden earlier into her bag and carried it upstairs, where she hid it in her private bedroom.