Thank God, I wasn’t that naïve idiot anymore.

“Nelson’s my husband,” I said, playing the part of the desperate wife. “If something happens to me, it’ll affect him too.”

I faked a sense of urgency—and just like I expected, it only made them more annoyed.

Dorothy slammed her hand on the table and widened her eyes in theatrical outrage. “Do you even have a conscience? That’s your husband you’re talking about! You’d drag him down with you?”

“I don’t want that to happen,” I replied meekly. “But if you could just help me out…”

“Then get a divorce,” My quiet father-in-law, Jose, finally spoke.

I held back my smile.

There it is. The words I’d been waiting for.

“Divorce?” I gasped, turning to Nelson with a wounded look. Sure enough, his eyes shifted—thoughtful, calculating. His father’s suggestion had clearly landed.

“But Nelson and I love each other,” I said, my voice trembling. “And I’m carrying his baby. There's no way we'd get divorced?”

I clutched Nelson’s arm like I was begging for a lifeline. In turn, his eyes wavered. He looked torn.

Dorothy jumped in. “Alisha, it’s not that we’re being cruel. It’s just… we really can’t help you. And Nelson—he can’t be dragged down by this. He’s worked for years to build his reputation at work. If you go down, he goes down too. His whole future would be ruined.”

Dorothy's words hit home. I could see it in Nelson’s face—because they were true. He had worked himself half to death just to secure his position. Getting promoted as a public employee was no small feat. He’d spent years clawing his way up.

Now, I could see he was wavering. He was almost convinced.

So, I let a few tears slip down my cheeks. “Nelson… is that how you truly feel?”

Nelson pressed his lips together, clearly about to say something—until Dorothy pulled him aside.

“Don’t be stupid,” she hissed. “I told you from the start, a woman who stirs up trouble is dead weight. If you don’t divorce her and she ends up in prison, that debt becomes yours!”

“But… she’s pregnant,” Nelson murmured.

Dorothy scoffed. “We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl. If it’s a boy, fine—but if it’s a girl, then we’ve really gotten the short end of the stick!”

“You’re young, good-looking and your career’s on the rise. You could have any woman you want. Why chain yourself to this jinx?”

They thought they were whispering. They didn’t know I could hear every word, loud and clear.

After a long pause, Nelson walked back to me with a serious look on his face.

“Ali,” he said, “let’s go to the hospital and find out the baby’s gender. If it’s a boy, I’m sure my parents will be more willing to help. Don’t you think that’s fair?”

I stared at him, pretending to be stunned.

Dan jumped in without missing a beat. “I never said I’d help! If this baby isn’t a boy, well, our family still has me to count on. Worst case, my brother can just find a woman who can give him a son. Simple.”

Now I understood why Nelson was hesitating. It wasn’t out of love—not for me, not for the baby.

He was weighing the odds. If I somehow got through this crisis, he’d still have a legal claim to half my company’s profits. He and his family had already benefited plenty from my business over the years.

He was a deeply selfish man. That had never changed.

Of course, I knew full well the baby I carried was a girl. That also meant: the moment they found that out, the Reeds would toss me aside like yesterday’s trash.

“Nelson,” I asked quietly, “if our baby turns out girl, would you really divorce me?”

He replied, “When disaster strikes, it’s every man for himself, Alisha. You grew up alone—you should understand that.”

***

The next day, we met at the maternity hospital.

Normally, doctors here would never reveal a baby’s gender before birth—it was against their peculiarw policy. But this time, the Reeds had pulled strings. They found some distant cousin who worked at the hospital.

“It’s a girl,” the doctor said.

“But you two are still young,” the doctor tried to lift the mood. “You’ve got plenty of time to try again for a second or even third child. No rush.”

The moment the words left the doctor’s mouth, I saw Nelson physically relax. He even let out a visible sigh of relief.

Just like that, everything changed.

The moment we left the exam room, Nelson's demeanor did a complete 180. The man who used to be overly cautious, always holding my arm and watching every step I took, now walked ahead of me like I was a stranger.

I watched as he leaned in close to whisper something into his mother’s ear. Dorothy’s face lit up, her grin stretching nearly ear to ear.

Dorothy gave me a long, judgmental once-over, then scoffed. “I knew it the day I met you,” she sneered. “You’ve always had that cursed look about you. A total jinx.”

“You killed your own parents and now you’re trying to drag our whole family down with you. Just do the decent thing and divorce my son. We don’t need your bad luck hanging over our heads.”

I’d known better than to expect anything kind from Dorothy, but hearing her throw my parents’ deaths in my face still struck a nerve.

I had long come to terms with their passing—but in everyone else’s eyes, they died in that car crash because I had begged them to take me to an amusement park that day.

Nelson’s family, especially his parents, never let me forget that. They held onto it like ammunition, ready to fire the moment I stepped out of line.

Out of guilt, I had always tried to be patient with them. I told myself I owed them that much.

All of that and for what? So they could keep pushing me further into a corner?

“Mother…” I murmured.

“Don’t call me that,” Dorothy snapped. “I’m no longer your mother. Not ever.”

Dorothy’s face twisted with disgust as she raised her voice, drawing the attention of every passerby in the hospital hallway.

She pointed at me, shouting for everyone to hear. Telling them I was drowning in debt, probably heading to jail—and worst of all, refusing to divorce her son and set their family free.

I wiped at my tears, playing along with her little show.

There were still good people in this world. Some of the bystanders began murmuring, shaking their heads at the scene. Many told me gently that I deserved better—that I should walk away from a family like this while I still could.

Just as I was wondering how to respond, a passerby voiced the very thought I was holding back,

“If they’re getting divorced, they’d better put everything in writing—who’s getting custody, how the child support will work, how the assets are being divided. Otherwise, it’ll just be a mess even after they split.”

Dorothy’s expression twisted into something unreadable. That single comment must’ve struck a nerve.

She went quiet for a while, clearly stewing over something and then—probably thinking she’d had a stroke of genius—she sprang into action.

***

That same day, after confirming the baby was a girl, she gathered every relative she could find.

Nelson brought in a lawyer to “keep things professional.”

So there I was, eight months pregnant, sitting alone at the end of a long table, facing a crowd that looked more like a tribunal than a family.

“Alisha, now don’t say we’re ganging up on you,” Dorothy began, her tone saccharine and self-righteous. “We’re just here to lay everything out clearly, fair and square.”

The Reeds made their position painfully clear here.

Once the divorce was finalized, Nelson would have nothing to do with my business debts. The child? They wanted no part of that either. No custody, no child support—not even a visit.

“If you want to change her last name or whatever,” Dorothy said with a dismissive wave, “that’s your business. We won’t interfere.”

The bottom line was: they were cutting all ties with both me and the baby.

“That’s it?” I asked, stunned. “No emotion, no sense of responsibility?”

“It’s not about lacking emotion,” Dorothy huffed. “You’re the one who brought this mess on yourself. Who starts a business while pregnant and nearly lands themselves in prison? Honestly, who could—or would—stick their neck out for you?”

Dan jumped in like he was auditioning for ‘Most Self-Righteous brother-in-law of the Year’, “Exactly! If I ever owed that kind of money, no way would I ask my parents for help. They worked hard to raise us—it’d be shameful to drag them into debt! Totally ungrateful.”

Then he threw in one more jab, smirking. “Oh, right. You wouldn’t know about that kind of thing. You didn’t have parents growing up.”

Nelson shot him a warning look and Dan finally shut his mouth.

I sat in silence, watching this hypocritical family try to wash their hands clean, pretending to be honorable while gutting me like it was a business negotiation.

A thick packet of legal documents was handed to me across the table. I took it and stared down at the papers in my hands.

Signing the divorce agreement felt like the only way to secure even the faintest future for my child and me.

Three days later, I found myself standing outside the City Hall.

Nelson was already there, waiting. His mother, Dorothy, had come along too—of course.

The entire process moved too fast. When it came time to sign, Nelson didn’t even hesitate.

Just like in my past life—when I was on that hospital bed, hanging by a thread—he didn’t hesitate then either. Didn’t sign. Didn’t save me. Just walked away.

I still remembered the nurses murmuring in disbelief that night. They said it was a matter of life and death and yet my so-called family refused to authorize emergency treatment. I didn’t even have the strength to sign for myself.

Now, as we walked out of the City Hall building, I spotted a woman standing next to Dorothy. A stranger.

Her belly was already showing—she must’ve been four or five months pregnant.

Nelson’s brow furrowed the moment he saw her. “Why did you bring her here?” he asked.

“What’s the big deal?” Dorothy replied, her tone casual and cruel. “You and Alisha are officially divorced. She’s going to be your wife soon anyway. Why hide it?”

Her words hit me like a lightning strike. I stared at Nelson and, in that moment, everything clicked.

“So this was your plan all along, huh?” I said, my voice trembling. “Dump me and give your mistress the upgrade.”

All those questions I had last time: why Nelson had always been so tight on money, why his parents treated me like I was disposable, why they always had something cruel to say.

Now I knew.

They’d known about the affair. They’d even helped him cover it up!

I stood there outside the Cithy Hall, my belly heavy with the child they had so easily cast aside and I nearly collapsed. Thankfully, I managed to forced myself staying upright and evened out my breathing.

God, what a well-oiled machine of betrayal this family was!

“Watch your mouth,” Dorothy snapped. “Shelly isn’t a mistress anymore—and that baby she’s carrying? That’s the first grandson of the Reeds. You don’t get to speak about her like that.”

First grandson. So, the baby was a boy.

In that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. I was so glad I got reborn and another chance at life.

“Alisha,” Nelson said, putting on that tired, solemn expression he always wore when pretending to be the martyr, “don’t think I’m being heartless. The responsibility of this family falls on me. I have to think ahead.”

I looked at him and realized he felt so familiar, yet now a complete stranger.

A bitter smile pulled at the corner of my lips.

Let him talk. He had no idea what was coming. Because today… Dan’s dirty little secret was about to unravel.

Today, the loan sharks were going to show up at the Reeds’ front door.

The amount Dan owed was enough to sink them completely—enough to make them sell everything they owned just to stay afloat.

Without me, they had no way out. And that newly “upgraded” mistress? Shelly was about to join them in their fall from grace.

The thought lifted my spirits.

As I walked away, I heard Dorothy behind me, her tone suddenly sickly sweet.

“Shelly, sweetheart, now our family can finally be together,” she cooed. “Whatever you’re craving, just tell me. I’ll cook it all for you. That baby boy of yours is Grandma’s precious little angel—you make sure to take good care of him!”

I let out a low, cold laugh and gently rested my hand on my belly. My baby… when you’d finally be born, I swear I’d give you the best of everything.

Since I didn’t want the Reeds to suspect anything, I didn’t call a cab. Instead, I walked away on foot, letting them watch me go.

Before I made it far, I heard Dorothy’s panicked voice shouted behind me.

“What are you talking about?!” She was screaming into the phone in her hand, “Loan sharks? That’s impossible—no one in our family would borrow from them!”

“Tell them not to touch anything! We’re coming back right now!”

She grabbed Nelson’s arm, frantic. “Your father said a gang of loan shark broke into the house. They’ve got your brother, they’re beating him and smashing up everything in sight—we have to get back, now!”

Nelson quickly calmed her down, flagged down a taxi and the three of them rushed off clearly in panic.

Just before Nelson climbed into the taxi, he turned and gave me a long, unreadable look…