A Shocking Betrayal

On the day of my parents’ anniversary, our penthouse turned into hell.

Glass exploded, bullets tore through the air. My father stepped in front of us, but a gunshot split his chest and he crumpled in blood.

‘Dad!” I screamed-then rough hands dragged me back.

My mother was beaten to the ground, bones snapping under the bat’s swing, her cries piercing  the chaos.

And me-pinned, clothes ripped, their laughter drowning my screams until I prayed for death.

And then-Donald, my husband arrived with my uncle and armed men, firing shots until the  attackers scattered.

Kira!” Donald pulled me into his arms, stroking my hair as I sobbed into his chest. “It’s over. You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”

clung to him, shaking, believing he had saved me.

When I woke up again, I was in a hospital bed. My body ached, my veins cold with the drip of medicine.

But then I heard familiar voices outside my door. It was Donald, my husband.

We can’t let Kira leave this hospital, Troy. Not after everything we’ve done.”

The air froze in my lungs.

The doctor’s voice came next, weary, cracking. “I’ve kept your lies going long enough, Donald. You made me falsify her records. You made me harvest her eggs and sterilize her. And now, after ill of that, you still want her dead?”

Dead? The word slammed into me like a bullet. My blood turned to ice, my skin damp with cold Sweat.

My womb? My eggs? Gone? My body shook, my teeth chattered as if I were freezing.

Donald’s reply was cold. “I don’t care. Lily is pregnant now. She’s the only one I want. Kira is nothing but a whore and I only used her to climb the success ladder.”

The floor tilted under me. My chest constricted until I couldn’t breathe.

Pregnant? Lily? My cousin-the girl I grew up with, the one who promised to stand by me- carrying my husband’s child?