MY BABY.

Elena winced in pain for the umpteenth time as her lower belly shook in pain and stood from where she sat, then walked to the tall standing mirror in her room.

She raised her chiffon top and then stared at her flat belly.

Wondering why her stomach hurt, she poked the lower belly gently and then winced again as the pain hit her.

“Aw!”

“I should go to the hospital tomorrow…” she said to no one in particular after glancing at the wall clock and realizing that it was almost seven in the night.

After she had left Zeke’s company in the afternoon, she had come straight home and had been literally sleeping since then.

The last thing she wanted was to think about the divorce paper that she had received earlier the day as it does nothing than bring tears to her eyes.

Finally, she trailed her eyes to the brown envelope on the nightstand beside her bed and then exhaled.

It was not a dream, indeed. 

Her husband has presented the ‘death note to her.’

As she stared at her reflection in the mirror for as long as only God knows when, a knock came from the door and then the door opened almost immediately which made her drop her clothes abruptly.

“Nina,” she swallowed hard as their middle-aged housekeeper entered.

After staring at her with a bit of suspicion in her eyes, she called, “Mrs. Russo.”

“Yes?”

“You told me to let you know when your husband arrives,” she said.

Elena’s eyes lit up with hope and turned to face the woman fully. “Zeke is back?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay. Okay, thank you.”

Nina nodded her head and stared for a while at her madam who paced around the room, completely forgetting that she might still be standing there before she moved inside fully and closed the door behind her.

“Mrs. Russo.”

Elena clasped her hands together and turned to look at the woman, “Yes?”

“A… are you okay?”

Elena swallowed the lump in her throat before she nodded her head. “Sure. Why do you ask?”

Nina inhaled and shook her head. She knew Elena so well. It has been three years since Elena joined this house and it was safe to say that she knew everything that was going on in the house.

She could say for sure that the Elena that entered this mansion three years ago was no longer the one in front of her.

The woman who has the brightest smile ever, and then prettiest smile now looks ‘odd’. She could swear that Elena was starting to look more than her age. The woman had gotten weary, she rarely smiled. No. She does not even smile anymore.

Maybe the last time she saw her smile was… one years ago?

Still, she did not doubt that the once happy Elena was buried deep inside this wearily-looking woman.

“You know… I am always here for you, right?” She asked.

Elena smiled with so much pain in her eyes and then nodded her head gently. “I know, Nina. I do.”

Even she had missed those moments when she used to sit with Nina and talk and laugh as if she did not worry about anything in the world.

How she suddenly turned this way… she did not know.

Nina nodded her head, dropped her eyes on the brown envelope on the table, and then to her stomach before she looked at her again.

“He is with someone though. I thought I should let you know,” she said.

Elena raised her brows, “Who?”

Nina hesitated for a while before she inhaled and answered, leaving the woman dumbfounded. “Your best friend.”

After Nina left the room, Elena staggered to the bed and settled at the edge of the bed before she palmed her face.

She had always heard about the term weapon fashioned against someone, but what she had never imagined was that she would be meeting the weapon fashioned against her in this lifetime of hers.

“That leech,” she growled in anger.

Zeke would never see her in a good light. Maybe the earlier she realized that the better it would be for her.

If he wanted to talk, or maybe sort things between them for the better, he would not have brought THAT woman to this house while she was still there.

That was the amount of respect that he had left for her and she felt so bitter to know that things were never going to work between her and her husband.

Her eyes dropped to the brown envelope again, she stood up, grabbed it from the nightstand, and then removed the document for the first time since she had collected it from him.

As she read the content, tears laced in her eyes and she tried as hard as she could to control it.

It was when she saw the tears that fell on the paper in front of her that she burst into fresh tears.

“Y…I don’t deserve this… Zeke,” she cried as if he was somewhere listening to her.

Through teary eyes, she looked around for the pen she usually has on the drawer in the room.

===

“Aw!” 

    Elena cried out from her sleep and gently sat up.

She reached out for the switch behind her bed frame and then switched it on while she kept her other hand on her stomach.

It hurt so much more than it had hurt during the day and she raised her head to see the time.

It was past eleven so she knew she had to wait till the next day to leave the house like she had initially planned and then maybe visit the hospital.

When another sharp pain shook her, she screamed and then pulled the duvet away from her body.

However, sighting the bloodstain on the bed, she widened her eyes in horror as the surge of hysteria hit her.

“Shit!” She burst into tears and struggled to get out of the bed.

“Shit, my baby!” She cried as she stood still, her legs wide apart, and then unplugged her phone from the charger.

She browsed through her contact list and then dialed Zeke’s number.

It rang for a while before it ended and when she called it back, it was switched off.

Sluggishly and in pain, Elena dragged her feet to the door, opened it, and then walked slowly to Zeke’s room.

When she got to the door, she hit the door and called his name. “Zeke.”

“Fuck, harder!”

She heard the unmistakable voice of Camila and she suddenly felt her heart squeezed tightly in her chest.

“Z… Zeke!” She ignored the sounds of slapping of butts and the high screams that came from the room.

“P… please,” she sniffed, the pain getting unbearable.

Still, none of them answered her and all she kept hearing was the moans and screams coming from the room.

While she was in pain, they were having… sex?

She turned around gently and began to walk towards the stairs while she browsed through her contact list again.

After a while of ringing, the receiver picked it up, and her low, cracked voice came up.

“Don’t you sleep in the night, Elena?”

“H… help me.”

“Sis?” Aria’s voice came up immediately.

“Come… come here. Hurry.”

“Fuck! What is going on, Elena?!”

“Come. over. here!” She hollered with the last strength in her and then struggled down the stairs.

She could have gone to wake the maids, but, the last thing she wanted was them seeing her in this situation when her ‘husband’ was inside… fucking another woman.

If she could get to the gate safely without passing out, then, she would be fine.

“But… my baby… please…” she sobbed as she walked out of the big door of the living room.

As she dragged her feet to the huge gate of the mansion, she sobbed.

“I… I will make you regret this, Zeke.”

“Y… you will pay for what you’ve done to me this night. I… I swear.”

===

Elena did not know how long she lay on the cold floor outside the mansion, barely hanging on to life before the headlight of the car almost blinded her and made her close her eyes.

The car pulled to her side abruptly, and Aria got down and screamed.

“Elena!”

She rushed to her, knelt beside her, and pulled her to sit gently.

“What is going on? Why are you out… Blood?!” She screamed in horror as her eyes fell on Elena’s white night dress soaked with her own blood.

“H… hospital…” she said weakly.

“Where is Zeke? Why are you here alone?”

“H… hospital, Aria. M… my baby,” she grabbed the tip of her cloth.

“Your ba… Shit, you are pregnant?!”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Aria shrieked as she struggled to pull her sister up and then walked her slowly to the car.

After she had settled her in very well, she rushed to the other side, got in the car, and then drove away with the highest speed possible.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I will kill Zeke anytime I see him!” She threatened, tears laced in her eyes too.