5

Days passed, and my condition still had not improved. I just woke up from my sleep in a panic.

I fell asleep for two hours after taking the medicine, until I forgot to pick up Charlie from school.

"Oh my God, what time is it?!" I looked at the clock on the wall in my room. "Gosh! What have I done? Charlie must be crying waiting for me!"

I hurriedly got out of the room. Even though my body felt weak and powerless, I still forced myself.

My heavy steps were forced down the stairs. However, when I had not yet stepped on the first floor, the door to my house opened wide.

I heard Charlie's cry which made me panic instantly.

"Sabrina!" a woman shouted loudly calling her.

"Mom..."

I looked at my mother-in-law who came with Hazel. The woman was now carrying Charlie who was struggling in her arms.

I was silent for a moment. Didn't Nicholas say yesterday that Hazel had an accident? But why didn't the woman look hurt at all?!

Not yet aware of my shock, my mother-in-law approached me with a furious look and raging anger.

"Ohh, this is who you are, huh?! You're being lazy at home while my grandson is crying alone waiting for you in front of the school!"

"Mom, I can explain... I'm not being lazy at home, I'm sick."

"Excuses!" Hazel replied with a sarcastic face. "If you're not good at taking care of Charlie, you should just say so! Not like this to my son!"

I shook my head, not having much energy to defend myself.

"Hazel, it's not like that. I really wasn't lying. I fell asleep after taking the medicine and—"

"You said I fell asleep?!" my mother-in-law shouted, pushing me by the shoulder to get me away from Charlie.

"Could it be that all this time you've been treating my son badly because Charlie is just your stepson?!" Hazel accused angrily.

I tried to continue to deny all the accusations of the two women in front of me, that what they said was not true.

But not with Charlie who was still crying, reaching out his hand to ask me to carry him. However, my mother-in-law and Hazel continued to hold the little boy back.

"Mommy... Huwaa, Charlie wants to come with Mommy!" Charlie shouted, looking at me as if asking for help.

"Don't give it, Hazel! Charlie is your son! She's just an ungrateful stepmother!" my mother-in-law accused me.

My tears could not be held back. I really felt cornered.

Until I heard the sound of a car horn in front of the house. From outside, Nicholas appeared walking into the house. His sharp black irises stared at them one by one.

"What's going on here?" Nicholas asked. His voice sounded cold and intimidating, making me immediately wipe the tears on my cheeks.

Hazel approached Nicholas with Charlie crying in her arms. Her angry face had now changed into a sad and disappointed expression.

"Nicholas, I never thought your wife would treat my son like this! Is it because Charlie is her stepson that she acts as she pleases?!" the woman screamed, suddenly sobbing as if her heart had just been hurt.

Nicholas looked at me who was looking down with a trembling body. Nicholas still didn't know what really happened between them.

"Sabrina," Nicholas called as if asking for an explanation.

"Your wife neglected Charlie at school! She was busy sleeping at home! Imagine if Charlie was kidnapped by bad people! Who would be responsible?!" my mother-in-law snapped, venting her anger.

"If it weren't for me and your mother, how many more hours would Charlie have waited for him, Nicholas? Our son waited for that woman in front of the school gate alone for three hours. Can you imagine how scared our son was?" Hazel snapped sadly.

Hearing their complaints, Nicholas' expression hardened. His eyes were wide open at me who didn't say anything except for his faint sobs.

"Is that true, Sabrina?" Nicholas asked with a clearly tightened jawline.

I stared at Nicholas with a pair of watery eyes. I approached and grabbed my husband's hand.

"It's not like what they said, Nicholas. I-I'm not feeling well... I fell asleep after I took the medicine. For God's sake, I'm not lying—"

"Not lying how?! When we arrived here you looked fine!" my mother-in-law interrupted angrily.

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes too! If you really don't like Charlie, don't treat my son like this, Sabrina!" Hazel said while tears were streaming down her face.

Nicholas pushed my hand away until my thin body staggered back. His face looked scary, his jawline tensed with clenched fists.

"Is everything they said true? You neglected my son?!"

My body jerked; I lowered my head, covering my mouth and holding back sobs.

"I'm really sick, Nicholas... I never lied to you. What they said is not true! I can't be that cruel to our child," my explained, trying to defend myself.

"Our child, our child! Charlie is Hazel and Nicholas' child, not yours!" my mother-in-law shouted in response.

"Let me take care of Charlie if you can't, Sabrina. Don't treat a child like this, my child doesn't know anything!" Hazel sobbed, still making up stories and acting.

Nicholas grabbed my shoulders tightly and stared at me with deep annoyance.

"I didn't expect what you did, Sabrina!" Nicholas hissed.

My voice choked. "Nicholas..."

Nicholas immediately pulled away. He then looked at Hazel and her mother. "Take Charlie with you," he said coldly.

The two women seemed satisfied with Nicholas' decision, then walked out after giving me a cynical smile.

I noticed Charlie screaming at me as if asking for my help.

There was only me and Nicholas left. My cries slowly subsided. The fact that this man didn't believe me at all, even though I had told the truth, made me feel sad.

"I'm sorry," I said softly and sadly. "I just hope you believe that I love Charlie very much like my own child."

Nicholas, who was standing with his back to me, glanced at me sharply with thin lips. The anger that was so obvious from Nicholas made me afraid.

I knew Nicholas loved Charlie more than anything, and the statement that cornered me certainly made Nicholas very angry with me.

"After you neglected Charlie today?!" Nicholas snapped. "You've crossed the line, Sabrina Nathalia!"

After saying that with full pressure, Nicholas walked away without wanting to listen to all the honest reasons from his wife.

I felt unable to support my body. I sat on the floor with my breath rising and falling. My chest was tight.

My tears felt dry, so I continued crying. I covered my face and suppressed the sadness within me.

"I can't take it anymore, Oh God..." I squeezed my dress while kneeling on the floor. "I can't maintain this marriage anymore!"