A week of no good communication with Liam because of his tight schedule, and here he is... just freaking out to stop me from having coffee.

"No, Kirsten! Don't drink that!" Liam ran up to me to grab the coffee that Mother Minda just brought me here in the garden area.

"Are you also forbidding me to drink coffee?" I asked calmly. I don't want to fight with him now... I'm not ready to get my body hurt.

He violently grabbed the coffee cup and threw it on the grass. At the same time, I saw behind Liam that his two bodyguards were holding Mother Minda.

Liam was about to turn his back to me when I stopped him. "What's going on? Where are you taking Mother Minda?!"

"In the place where she belongs." To my surprise, he brought his face to me with a bad expression. "There is no problem with you, Kris. The doctor's diagnosis of your womb’s inability to get pregnant was not true."

"H-How? H-How did you say that? You're a doctor, Liam! Doctors can't make mistakes in diagnosing--"

"That old woman confessed to me!" And his finger was pointing in Mother Minda's direction. "I caught her in action. She put some medicine in the coffee you were drinking. And I forced her to tell the truth."

Almost all parts of my body are shaking badly, and I still have the courage to speak. "W-What?"

"She puts abortion pills in your coffee, Kris. Do you remember when you took a positive pregnancy test?"

I nodded. Of course, I remember that. It was one of the happiest days in my life when I found out I was pregnant.

"She mixed the abortion pills you took that day, so you bled so badly. And that's also why the doctor said that the child's attachment to your womb was not strong. It was really not the idea that you can’t carry a child..."

"Because that witch manipulates us."

I was just looking at that old woman who I treasured the most for the past years and served as my mother while living in this house. She's the one I always vented my anger on every time Liam would beat me like a ramshackle piece of toy.

"Mom..." I made my walk towards her direction with my eyes shedding tears for being betrayed by her. "I won't believe in him. You know how I hate him, hmm?" I only whispered just to make sure Liam won't have heard. "I won't believe you really did it unless you confessed. I know you can't do that--"

"Forgive me, dear," and Mother Minda's answer broke my broken heart. "You will also understand my reason why I did that--"

"Then, what's your reason?! Why don't you tell me now?" I felt Liam getting closer to me and he slightly pulled me away from Mother Minda. "I trusted you! I even considered you my mother because of how lighthearted I am towards you and how kind you are to me. Is that all just showing off?! You pretend to be nice to me but you're also one of those demons living in this hell?!"

"How could you do that?! Are you still human? Don't you even feel guilty for what you do? You know that Liam and I want to have children. We have suffered for a long time for a lie that I am the one with the problem so far we have no children!"

"Kris, come in. Get some rest--"

"I hope you carry your sin to hell! You just killed my son, oh! You made me look like a useless wife to Liam because I couldn't give him a son!"

"And now... you're planning to kill my son again now that you know something happened to us? You're an old beast! I can't forgive you no matter what reason you have for doing this to us!"

"Bring her inside."

"No, Liam! I'm not done with that--" My line was cut short by an injection calming myself down. My body suddenly went weak because one of Liam's bodyguards injected me with some pill... and afterwards, everything went black.

*****

The worst effect of the medicine that was injected into me, I might say. It was late at night when I woke up from my deep sleep. And if it wasn't because of Sarah's loud and continuous sobs, I wouldn't wake up. I went downstairs to see the reason why she's crying, and...

"Mom!" I ran over to Sarah and helped her stand up from her kneeling in a basin full of legumes. "What do you think you're doing, mom? Why are you making my daughter kneel on the legume?"

"Not your business anymore."

She turned her back on me when this time, I couldn't control myself to raise my voice at her.

"She's my daughter. Of course she's part of my business!"

"She's not your flesh... nor my son's. I don't have a grandchild as stupid as that girl." Without wasting her time to face me, she replied and afterwards, she went to the second floor.

Even if I want to let myself cry because of her insult to Sarah, I know I shouldn't. I have to be strong for my daughter.

"I'm sorry, mommy..." Sarah pleaded with her tears streaming down her cheeks. "I did my best to get a perfect score in my exam today. I reviewed all night and tried to memorize all the terms I put in the notes."

"But... I still haven't perfected it. I still have two items that haven't been corrected. I'm sorry, mommy!" She cried and came to me and hugged me.

I never dreamed of raising my own child to be grade conscious. I don't want to pressure her in her studies and always instill in her brain that she is not allowed to get an imperfect score and grades of at least 95. Although Sarah is not my real daughter, I love her very much and I am proud of her as her mother. She didn't have to finish her school as the valedictorian of her batch just so I could be proud of her.

There is nothing wrong with her. Nothing is missing. The only thing wrong in her life was when she ended up in our family... in Liam's family who had very high expectations for her. That's why my daughter is having a hard time coping up with her grandma's huge expectations... that even if I disobey her to stay up at night with her school, she still continues.

"Get rest, baby. Get some sleep, okay?"

"But I have to study, mommy. I have an exam tomorrow. I have to make up for Grandma and also have good news to tell Daddy."

She struggled to get up from the bed and then she proceeded to her study table, she opened her notes and started reading. Although she's not feeling well because she's still moaning about the painful knee she just knelt on the legume, she still forced herself to study. And as her mother, it's annoying that I can't do anything to free Sarah from this kind of life. She's too young to suffer this kind of life. She should've enjoyed her youth, she didn't burn her eyebrows too early.

When I finally got out of the room, I was planning to talk with my mother-in-law, only to find that my stomach suddenly felt sick. I was feeling like vomiting. I ran into the bathroom here on the first floor and threw up.

"This kind of feeling was familiar..."

Even though I was nervous, I immediately went to my room and took my PT from there. I immediately entered the bathroom and then tested myself if my heart was beating right at this moment. I waited a few seconds and when I was sure I was ready to look at the pregnancy test... I took a look at it.

And I saw two lines.

"I..." I had tears in my mouth. "I'm p-pregnant..."

This is my second time having butterflies in my stomach for receiving good news from heaven. I just hope this time... nothing bad happens. I can't afford to lose a child in my womb for the second time... for Pete's sake.

I held back my own excitement to tell Liam about the success of our sex last time. I would like to find a good time to surprise him with this great news. One more thing, he's been very busy these past few days, so for the meantime, I’d rather like him to focus on his job. Maybe telling my surprise to him can wait.

One of these days, I will be able to tell him about my pregnancy... but I think this time is not so good and so perfect to speak.

"Most of the time, you drink coffee in the morning partnered with ham and sausage," Liam remarked, pointing his finger to my plate currently having plain rice with veggies, and to my drink, I have hot milk. "You're not into healthy foods. What's your reason for making a change?"

"Do you have to always question all the changes you'll notice every time with me?"

"You're acting strange, Kris. That's why." My piercing gaze could not shake his preoccupation with food. "And some changes in your body and routines only result in only two things..." Now Liam was able to look at me. "You've prepared a bigger surprise... which of the two... if it's good news or bad news."

He finally gets up from his chair after chewing the last spoonful of rice on his plate, and quickly commands Sarah to follow him. He didn't even let my daughter finish eating, it was obvious from Sarah's face that she was still very sleepy.

"No, baby. You finish what you eat first. I will tell your dad to wait for you, okay?" I tried to convince her.

"I'm fine, mommy. I'll be late for school. Bye!" And she quickly kissed my cheek before she hurried out of the house.

Sarah just made me heave a long sigh for always being like that. She's always favoring her father to obey, then she just ignores me. Although she's not my daughter by blood, my love for her is pure. That's why I don't hold the child's decision as to why she is more afraid of her adoptive father than me.

Well, I was too kind for her to be scared of.

---

"Oh, Lucile? Liam was just leaving when you arrived. Too bad you haven't caught up with them yet."

I was busy putting away what tools we used for eating breakfast earlier because we also lost a maid here when Mother Minda left when Lucile arrived; she's Liam's younger sister. Among Liam's relatives and part of the family tree, Lucile is the one I can consider to have reconciled with their family. Some of their relatives are almost hot-headed, anti-social and grumpy, but Lucile's personality is a bit different from them. Whenever she visits here or I am with her at their family gatherings, I don't feel out of place.

"He's not the reason why I went here, girl," she said and without a word, she took the spoon I had just washed from my hand to use it to scoop our left caldereta dish. "Because I had a hunch about your GM last night... which for sure you only sent to me because I'm the only one in your phonebook because of my jealous brother." She still laughed after saying that... which is... true.

"Care to explain the content of this?" She raised her eyebrows and handed me her phone, which was the content of the text message I sent to her last night.

The content?

From: Kris

Stop with the crop top... someone is kickin’ inside my tummy, e. #gm #groupmessage #fblessed

"Besides the baby, do you know anything else that kicks in a woman's tummy?"

Maybe because of the content of my dialogue, Lucile's eyes immediately twitched… as much as her mouth twitched. "You're pregnant? Hey, Kris! Are you really pregnant?!"

I laughed and rolled my eyes at her. "Maybe it just depends on your understanding or belief."

"But… please keep this a secret between the two of us for the meantime," I begged after drying my hand on a clean rag. And by this time, I can now pay my full attention to Lucile. "Until now, I haven't told Liam about this. I want to surprise him and am currently finding the right time to tell this matter."

"So, please… don't tell him about this, hmm? Let me be the one to tell him we're having a baby, please?" I said after that.

"You're too obvious that you have trust issues with me, mars!" She put the spoon used in the sink with a thud, so that it caused an ear-splitting noise. "Well, congratulations. I hope that this time, we will all have a chance to hear your baby cry and I can squeeze her sure fat cheeks."

And while she's fantasizing that moment Liam and I have always been dreaming of, I want to explode with joy. I have to wait another nine months for that to happen... and hopefully this time, there won't be any problems. Nine months is a long time to wait, but I'm always willing to wait as if the time I would have to waste waiting will result in a good thing to happen.

"And by the way..." She had some papers taken from her bag and handed them to me. "These are the papers of the maids who will apply to be here."

I opened them one by one and placed them in separate folders together with their biodata and some important papers. But what made me frown was that at the end, I saw some xeroxes of college diplomas.

"What's this for?" I showed Lucile the photocopy of the diplomas of the applicants. "As far as I can remember, we are not requiring them to finish a college degree just to apply for being a maid."

"But Liam required it." Her eyes rolled like a big tape. "He wants a college graduate to join your housekeeper, so that he can be sure that the one who will be hired is not an idiot. He may have been brought in because of your experience with that witch, Minda. Can you blame your husband for being strict? Hmm?"

"Besides, being a maid in this house equates to huge benefits. 30k a month as the salary of a maid? That's actually for professional wage, Kris!"

I wiggled beyond my belief. It's shocking that I can encounter this, but... yeah, I get that Liam wants to be careful from now on. But requiring our future employee to provide diplomas just to make my husband feel complacent that there would be no harm and violence will happen to us still not making me feel safe... actually.

"Anyway, when do you plan to leave?"

"Why are you so anxious to send me away? Don't you miss me?"

"Insane. If only you could live here with Liam and me..." I smirked as I started to see shining diamonds in her eyes. "Of course I won't allow it. Go to your house, don't make trouble here, tsk!"

"Why!" I literally made her jaw drop. "Maybe you want me to say--"

"Come on. I'll take you outside and go home."

I kicked her out of our house because I knew she had told me what she went to.

"As much as I want you to stay here, I know it's not possible. I hope the next time you visit here, mom will allow you to stay overnight even if it's just one night."

Because the bitter truth is that... Liam's mother doesn't permit Lucile to stay at our house longer than an hour. Maybe sometimes... but only when there are special occasions. When it's just visits like that and Lucile just has something important to say, she must not exceed staying at our house for an hour.

"Maybe in our next life." She laughed and kissed me before finally getting into her parked car.

I waited for her to leave our place completely before I decided to go inside again.

As soon as I'm planning to walk inside after closing the gate, I suddenly heard a strange sound as if something was dropped in the mailbox. As I checked it, I received an email that almost fell out today... and it was a letter from Logan.

Because the only gadget I have as of now is a keypad phone whose only contents in the phonebook is Lucile's number, through these mails only was our communication. I also don't have Logan's number and even if I tried to ask him, I still couldn't reach him because I was so afraid that my husband would catch me and hurt me again... especially in my situation now that there is a baby I should protect.

Kris,

I'm writing this to ask you for an update about my request to you. May I know when you will bring me your husband, Kris? So that I can schedule an appointment, since during this month, I will also be busy with appointments and seminars that I have to attend.

Send me a letter, asap. I'll be waiting.

- Logan

Oh, no. How could I do that now? To this day, my brain is still thinking about what excuse will work, so that I can get my husband to agree to see a psychiatrist. Or at least anyone, as long as they know something about mental health.

I want my husband's health to be fine... but how?