Chapter 1

Raya

The kicks were reoccurring, the force hitting my face and pelvis as I tried to cover my stomach and the man I thought had loved me kept using me as a punching bag.

"I'm going to punch this baby out of you, you useless bitch. You've been sleeping around, haven't you? That's why you don't have the decency to take the baby to its real father. You thought I would just accept the bastard from you!"

"It's yours William, I'm not..."

"You stupid bitch! You're still going to keep up with that claim, right?!" I felt my resolve letting go as he kept on punching me and slapping me and I felt my eyes widen when I saw a trail of blood flowing from where I laid down the carpeted floor.

"Bitch! You stupid bitch!"

No, no, no, I couldn't lose the baby. Not the baby.

I chanted faintly as the blood kept on flowing from my thighs and I looked up at the face of my boyfriend, who was unrecognizable at that moment. It was like his whole face had morphed into some kind of monstrous being that was out to get me and the person I thought I loved, the person I had thought I could spend the rest of my life with, despite him having so many flaws, stared at me back with murderous intent in his eyes.

I guess this was how it was going to end then.

My world turned into darkness.

****

I gasped awake from the nightmare I had just had, the "not the baby" chant still bursting from my mouth as I felt my hand wrap around my stomach and I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt nothing other than my flat stomach that was churning with anxiety.

There was no blood. There was no blood. Thank God.

"Mummy, are you okay?" I turned around swiftly as the voice of Kyle, my son, filled the room, and he came closer to my bed, looking concerned.

"Yes. Oh my God, are you okay?"

He nodded, "I couldn't sleep because of the rain but when I came in, you were crying and saying not the baby. Which baby?"

I stretched out my hand to him to lift him onto the bed and hugged him tight, "nothing. I'm so sorry you had to see that. I'm fine."

"But you're crying," he said as he pulled back from the hug, and he raised his finger to touch the tear I hadn't even known slipped down my cheek.

I immediately wiped it away, "it's fine. It's nothing."

Even though he was just eight years old, I knew he didn't buy my story or lie as there was something obviously wrong with me, but he let it go and laid down on the bed when I did so too.

It was just 2 am, so we would be able to sleep some more. I didn't sleep again though, even after he started snoring peacefully beside me and I stood up from the bed to pick up my laptop.

It was on my study table by the side of the room and I carried it with some documents to go to the living room. There I worked till it was morning and I didn't even realize I had dozed off until Kyle woke me up later.

"Why didn't you sleep in bed?" He asked.

"Nothing. I just had to catch up on some work"

"Okay"

He went back to his room where I prepared him as much as I could, and I went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast after getting ready for work myself.

"Are you ready?" I asked him after we had both eaten our breakfast of cereal and toast, respectively, and he nodded.

"Okay, let's go then."

We walked out into the hall where my neighbor as well as my best friend, Kendall, stood with her son, Micheal, and she had her daughter, Leah in her arms.

"Good morning", I greeted her, and she nodded.

"Good morning"

"Great night?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Manageable. These two are quite a handful."

"I know right."

Her son and mine played along, oblivious to that.

"Well, I'll see you later then." she nodded, and I headed down the two flights of stairs to where my mini-convertible was parked by the apartment building.

It was a pretty used car with scratches and all that, but it managed to fulfill my daily needs just well.

I waved at my son and Kendall one more time before driving off in the direction of my workplace, and she headed in the direction that the children were going to take the school bus. It was a pretty convenient and easy arrangement for both of us.

I drove into the parking lot of Sterling Foods an hour later, carrying out with me a box of coffee, croissants, cake, and my handbag which I placed over my shoulder and I managed to close my car with my foot before heading into the elevator where I pressed the fifth button.

"Raya, where have you been?" My colleague and work friend Martha asked the minute I walked into the wide space that was the marketing department where I worked, and I cocked an eyebrow.

"Why? I'm not late, am I?"

"Mrs Carson is looking for you"

"What?" I glanced around in an attempt to check the time.

"You're not particularly late, but she suddenly came in so early this morning."

"What? Why?" I whined and dropped my bag before heading to her office and I stopped at the door when I suddenly heard my name.

"Raya? What about her?"

"She's just so annoying. Acting like she's higher than everyone else when she's just a lowly bitch. Like, does she even have a degree? She takes whatever I do to her and hardly gets angry. Not only that, but she also lobbied close to the higher-ups. She's a snake."

"Wow, really. I didn't know that."

"Well, you don't have eyes then. Let's just see how she fares when she starts working for Mr. Sterling then."

"No way, you already recommend her?"

"And got assigned a new secretary too."

"Wow, you're evil" they both chuckled, and I cocked my head puzzled.

Mr. Sterling? Which Mr. Sterling? And what did she mean by that?