Chapter 2

The next morning I woke to a cramp low in my belly.

I couldn't afford to wait. I grabbed my prenatal file and headed for the hospital.

On the way out I passed a pharmacy and figured I'd pick up a blood pressure monitor first.

But the payment screen kept flashing failed transaction.

I tried another card. Same thing.

Then two notifications came in one after another.

The family medical card Craig had set up through his work in my name had been reported lost, and the joint household savings account we shared had been frozen.

Last night he was still making threats. Today he'd cut off every cent I could touch.

The phone rang, right on cue.

I answered, and Craig asked, smug:

"See the notifications?"

"Dorothy, without me you can't even get to a hospital."

"Open the door now and we can still talk this out nicely."

I hit record.

"You know I'm eight months pregnant and not feeling well, and you cut off the medical card on purpose?"

"Don't use the baby to scare me."

He snorted.

"Weren't you all tough yesterday? Go on, figure it out yourself."

"Sign the house over to Morton James and I'll turn the medical card back on and take you to the hospital myself."

"Otherwise you can just sit at home and rot."

I hung up and pulled the backup bank card out of my phone case.

I'd barely reached the gate of the complex when a group of people cut me off.

Joyce grabbed my wrist and yanked hard.

"Finally, there you are!"

Morton stood behind her, and beside him his fiancée Clara Whitney with Clara's parents.

Clara jabbed a finger in my face and started shouting.

"Dorothy, have you got no shame?"

"Sitting on that house so you're marrying his brother, and because of you Morton and I can't even get married."

I shook Joyce off.

"I bought that house before the marriage. Since when is it yours?"

Clara's mother jumped right in:

"Once you marry, the house belongs to the husband's family."

"You're carrying a James baby. You should be thinking about the James family."

"You're signing that agreement today, or there's no wedding and we're not giving back the fifty thousand in engagement money either!"

Morton panicked and turned to soothe her:

"Ma'am, don't worry, the house is definitely ours."

Then he glared at me.

"My brother supported you all these years. What's wrong with paying him back with one house?"

"My brother said if you don't sign, he shuts off your cards. Let's see how long you last!"

The crowd around us kept growing.

Seeing that, Joyce dropped straight onto the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing.

"Everybody come judge this for yourselves!"

"My son married a shameless woman who cheats on him, and God knows whose bastard she's got in her belly!"

"My son's generous, he let it go, and she wants to grab the whole family's property and throw us all out!"

The comments came flying from the crowd.

"She looks so quiet and proper. How could she do something like that?"

"No wonder the husband insists on divorcing, even with the baby almost due."

Joyce cried harder, then lunged to snatch my prenatal file.

I backed away with my arms over my belly and started filming.

"Every word you say today, I'm keeping a record of it."

Joyce froze mid-motion.

Craig came striding over from a distance.

"Dorothy, how did you upset Mom again?"

He helped Joyce up, then turned to the onlookers with a sigh.

"She's been emotionally unstable since she got pregnant. Please don't blame her."

He came up to me and pretended to straighten my collar.

"You're a pregnant woman. You can't beat me."

"Sign the agreement now and I'll unfreeze the cards right away and take you to the hospital."

"Drag it out any longer, and if something happens to the baby, don't say I didn't warn you."

I raised my hand and pushed him away.

"You're the one who'll be sorry."

I called an Uber right in front of him.

Joyce tried to block me, but the driver was already out, opening the door for me.

The car pulled out of the complex and I immediately texted my best friend, Frances.

I'd barely sent one message when a tearing pain ripped through my belly.

The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"Miss, are you all right?"

"The hospital, hurry!"

The words were barely out when a warm liquid ran down my thigh.