Aliyah

After crying until my throat was raw and my eyes burned, I slowly dragged myself from the couch.

My body felt numb, like it was no longer mine. I bent down and picked up the divorce papers.

There is nothing left for me here.

I looked around the living room one last time, the place where I once dreamed of building a family, and all I could feel now was emptiness.

It's time to leave, not just for me… but for the tiny heartbeat growing inside me.

I pulled the papers close to my chest. I was ready to sign them, end this chapter and begin again but I didn’t have a pen. With a tired sigh, I turned and began climbing the stairs, heading to the study to get one.

My feet felt like lead, every step up the staircase heavier than the last. My head was beginning to ache again. I remembered the doctor’s warning. No stress, no emotional strain.

But how could I avoid that in this house?

Halfway up, I saw Sarah leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs with her arms folded and a wicked smile on her face.

I didn’t have the strength to argue with her. I just wanted to get the pen, sign the papers and go. I tried to walk past her, but she stepped in my way.

“Sister,” she said, her voice soaked with mockery. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me? I’m giving Liam something you couldn’t... an heir.”

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay calm. I didn’t have time for this.

I turned to leave without a word, but again, she moved in front of me.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” she hissed. “You’re just like your pathetic mother. Thinking you could hold onto a man who never loved you.”

I looked at her with fury. I could take the insults, I could take the betrayal, but not this, not my mother.

“How dare you mention my mother with that filthy mouth of yours!” I snapped, rage boiling in my blood as I raised my hand to slap her, but she caught my wrist mid-air, her grip tight and cold. She stared at me with a twisted smile.

“You want to slap me?” she whispered. “Don’t worry, sister. I’ll help you.”

Before I could ask what she meant, she slipped her free hand into her purse and pulled out something small, shiny and sharp.

A needle?

What the hell? My eyes widened, but before I could react, she jabbed it into the inside of my wrist and pulled it out quickly.

“Ahh!” I winced, stumbling back.

“What did you just do to me?!” I cried.

But before I could get an answer, Sarah suddenly slapped herself across the face several times.

My breath caught in my throat as I stared in confusion and shock. Then she screamed so loud it echoed down the hall.

She threw herself backward, crashing to the floor and curled up like she was in pain, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Help!” she cried. “She hit me! She pushed me! She’s trying to kill my baby!”

I froze.

No… no, no, no.

What kind of sick game is she playing?

I looked down at my wrist where the needle had pricked me, and my heart began to race in panic.

Something is wrong. My vision blurred for a second, and my knees wobbled beneath me.

What the hell did she inject me with?

My breathing quickened, but I forced myself to stay upright.

Just then, the sound of rushed footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Liam and his mother appeared at the top of the stairs, their faces twisted in panic.

“What is going on here?!” Liam barked, rushing straight to Sarah.

“She... she tried to kill my baby!” Sarah sobbed, clutching her stomach.

Liam’s eyes shot toward me, filled with fury. “What?!”

“You monster!” his mother screeched, pointing at me like I was some criminal.

“No! I didn’t do anything to her. She’s lying!” I cried, shaking my head as tears rolled down my cheeks. “She slapped herself! She injected me with something! Please...”

“Oh, really?” Liam cut me off, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “So now you are saying she slapped herself?”

He pointed to the red marks on Sarah’s cheek, and all I could do was shake my head helplessly. “Liam, I swear on everything... I didn’t touch her!”

But he wasn’t listening. He never listened.

“This is the height of wickedness,” he growled. “How dare you try to harm my child!”

And before I could say a word, he landed a hot slap on my cheek. The force from the slap made my feet slip. My hand reached out, but there was nothing to grab, and I fell down the staircase.

The crash of my body against the cold marble floor rang louder than anything else. Pain exploded in my belly as I landed flat, and I screamed.

“No... no! My baby!” I cried out in agony, my hands flying to my stomach.

A sharp, tearing pain hit me from inside as blood gushed out of my body.

My body trembled. My vision spun, but I still heard everything.

“You ungrateful idiot!” Catherine spat as she came down the stairs. “You tried to kill my grandchild!" She yelled out as she kicked my belly with her foot.

Pain tore through me like fire. I screamed again, too weak to move.

“Please… stop,” I sobbed. “Please, my baby…”

But no one cared, no one heard me.

I reached out, tried to grab Liam’s leg as he passed by. “Liam… help me. Please. Our baby...” I begged through choking tears.

But he looked at me like I was dirt and kicked my hand away.

“You are so wicked!” he snapped.

Just then, Sarah screamed again, louder than ever.

“My stomach… it hurts!”

Liam and his mother turned immediately.

“No, no, no... we have to get her to the hospital!” Catherine shrieked. “Nothing must happen to my grandchild!”

They rushed to her, cradling her like she was fragile gold, helping her up, her fake sobs filling the air.

And they left... They left me there, bleeding, broken and forgotten.

I curled into myself, crying softly. “My baby… someone save my baby…”

My vision blurred, my hands sticky with blood. I was slipping.

But just as everything went dark, I felt someone lift me gently from the cold floor.

A soft, trembling voice whispered, “Madam… please hold on.”