“Ohh fuck! You make me feel like a man, unlike my cripple wife that can’t even get it up”

My husband moaned amidst thrusts, buried deep between our maid’s legs.

I froze by the door as I watched them shamelessly making love to each other while I and my newborn were left unattended.

“I’ll ride you now. Let me show you what you’ll get every day once we get rid of Alice tomorrow,” Mia giggled as she led my husband to the bed and got on top of him.

“Get rid of me tomorrow? What’s going on?”

I thought to myself as I shook with fright, realizing that I had not only caught my husband cheating on me with our maid but also the fact that they were going to kill me tomorrow. Me?

I was shocked. Why would Wesley want to kill me? I literally gave up my life for him. I’m just lucky to be alive till now… barely.

I could have died at the mall three months ago when I threw myself in front of a gun meant for him because he messed with some really dangerous people.

And this was how he repaid me?

He was a gambler, a tragic one at that. I picked him up and cleaned him, gave him a job at my father’s company, and made him promise that he would never go back to that life.

Our life and marriage were great until I found out three months ago that he had relapsed after I took three bullets for him.

I was so broken that I could barely move my hands, the only part of my body left mobile beside my neck.

Tears streamed down my face as I forced myself to leave there and attend to my baby crying bitterly in the nursery.

It shattered my heart that I couldn’t even carry my baby. I was paralyzed and helpless. What kind of a mother was I? I couldn’t do anything right!

I just patted his back as I fed him baby formula, wishing I could hold him properly in my arms. My poor baby deserved more, but I couldn’t even produce breast milk for him anymore.

I couldn’t stop crying as I replayed the scene in my head and it dawned on me that I was very replaceable. Wesley showed the fact that he saw me as a liability and couldn’t stand me. He always treated me with love and utmost care, almost like his love for me increased after I saved his life.

But I couldn’t blame him, after giving birth to my baby eight months ago, I had to battle postpartum depression, which made me unavailable to my husband in the bedroom, but he understood perfectly and never complained. Just when I was recovering, I had that accident that turned my life upside down.

So, I didn’t blame him for satisfying his needs, but I didn’t understand why he wanted to kill me.

“Maybe he wants to send me away tomorrow, to be free of a cripple’s needs,” I said to myself.

It was really cruel that I found some kind of comfort in that, Wesley and Mia couldn’t possibly be plotting to kill me, there were a thousand and one meanings to the phrase “get rid of,”

As if disrespecting our matrimonial bed and leaving me alone in the living room wasn’t enough, they carried their frolicking to the nursery, kissing and moaning just in front of the door.

I adjusted my wheelchair and hid by a corner so they wouldn’t see me.

I could see Wesley’s butt, he was wearing the Zimmerli boxers I gifted him on our one-month anniversary as a married couple.

I felt my heart squeeze, he was only supposed to wear that in our bedroom, with me!

“We can just take baby Aidan as ours when she dies tomorrow. It’ll be such a noble thing for me to do,” Mia sneered and Wesley chuckled.

“I can’t wait to officially make you mine. I can’t stand that cripple hag anymore. She’s lucky I love our son, else, I would have sent him to the same fate as his mom,” Wesley replied with a long hiss.

There it was, the truth I had fought hard to ignore. They really were going to kill me tomorrow. What do I do?

I panicked and shook in fear that I didn’t know when Aidan’s feeding bottle fell from my hand and hit the floor.

Hearing that, they panicked.

“What was that sound?” Wesley asked.

“I’m not sure. It can’t be Alice though, I increased the dose of the poison tonight, to finish her off tomorrow,” Mia said.

“Poison?! They’ve been poisoning me all along?!”

I remained still as they quickly overlooked the noise and left the nursery, heading towards the right, where Mia’s room was. Of course, they would spend the night together.

How many nights have they spent together? When did this madness even start?

I thought long and hard as I tried to pull myself together and think of a way out of this dilemma. I couldn’t sit there and watch them destroy me or harm my baby. I was helpless, but I could still count on my family, my cousin, Hazel, at least.

My parents didn’t approve of my marriage to Wesley but I insisted anyway. It was a shame to call my dad and tell him that my marriage was falling apart, hell no!

I was so certain Wesley was the love of my life when I was almost cut out of my father’s will because I gave my shares of my father’s company to him.

I always had my phone in a pouch I had requested to be created on my wheelchair.

So, I simply reached out to it and dialed Hazel’s number. She was the one person I could trust since I didn’t have any siblings or close friends.

Of course, Hazel picked up immediately even though I had called her some minutes past 2am.

I explained my dilemma and fears, and of course, she listened patiently.

“I’ll be there first thing in the morning,”

Those were her last words before I hung up and waited desperately for morning to come.

Even though I had seen and heard it all, it still seemed like a bad dream that I desperately needed to wake up from.

Hazel’s voice made me realize how long I was lost in my thoughts and how bright the sky had gotten, even though it was a little later than 6am.

“Alice dear, are you okay? They didn’t even lock the door!” Hazel hissed as she walked towards me.

Seeing her, I started crying all over again, she held me and consoled me. For a while, I felt better.

“We can’t talk here. Bring Aidan to the living room, they can’t hear us from there,” I said as I wheeled myself to the living room.

Mia’s room was right next to Aidan’s, her primary role was taking care of him. Although Wesley recently laid off the cook and cleaner and gave her those responsibilities, I never knew why.

“You should have just stayed with your parents after the accident, you wouldn’t have been this vulnerable!” Hazel cried as she looked at me with fear visible in her eyes.

“Please, Hazel. This is my home. I just need you to help me figure out a way out of this,” I said with exhaustion.

“We could leave right away since they are both still asleep,” Hazel suggested.

It didn’t sound like such a bad idea, but a part of me wanted to confront him, to ask him why he treated me this way, even after all we had been through, I thought he loved me, but I guess it was all part of his plan to get rid of me.

“We don’t have much time, Alice. I can quickly pack you and Aidan’s things so we can leave,” Hazel said.

“Okay,” I said sorrowfully as I looked around the house, each corner held memories of Wesley and me. We were married for two long years, and we were really happy, or so I thought.

I was married to a monster!

“Wait,” I called out to Hazel who was already on her way to get our things.

“I need to take my vitamins. I take it by 6:45am every day. They are on the dining table,” I said as I pointed at them.

“Okay,” Hazel said as she hurried to grab them.

She was a pharmacist and knew drugs very well. My dose was written on the bottle, so it wasn’t hard to give them to me.

“Where did you get these, Alice?” Hazel demanded as she walked toward me, looking visibly worried.

I blinked in confusion as I stared at the tiny pill she held between her fingers.

“What do you mean? I got them from the hospital, they are vitamins. Why?” I asked as I noticed her hands shaking.

“No, Alice, this isn't a vitamin. It’s thallium, a very potent poison, how cruel,” Hazel fumed in rage.

“They’ve been poisoning you, Alice, and from the look of things, they have been doing it for a while,” Hazel said.

“Oh my God!” My voice broke as the realization hit me like a terror. I took those pills every single morning, and for some reason yesterday, Mia insisted I took three at once, saying it was the doctor’s order.

That explained why I got worse even though my prognosis was good.

“That bastard, I swear, I will kill him myself!” Hazel thundered as she marched towards Mia’s room.

I grabbed her wrist, though, weakly.

“Hazel, no! Please…please, don’t. If he finds out we know, there’s no telling what he would do,” I begged.

Angrily, Hazel pulled her hands away from my grip, visibly disgusted.

“Alice, he tried to kill you, to discard you like a nobody. Your dad was right, maybe he did marry you for money, he’s CEO now, isn’t he?” Hazel hissed.

“I’m angry too, Hazel, I’m hurt, but I can’t fight like this, I’m powerless, look at my condition. Let’s get Aidan out of here first, he’s my priority right now, they can’t have him.” I said.

“Fine, I’ll just pack your things. We must leave before they wake up,” Hazel said.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I wondered who it might be, coming here this early in the morning.

Hazel decided to get the door. It was a dispatch rider that held some documents. “For Mr. Wesley Simmons,”

Hazel dropped them on my thighs reluctantly and headed inside to pack our things. And that was when I saw it, finally, I could piece it all together now.

The first document read, “Deed of Transfer from Mrs. Alice Simmons to Mr. Wesley Simmons.”

My hands shook as I flipped to the next. It was a marriage certificate between my husband and our maid!

I just stared at the documents before me. I didn’t know how to feel, but one thing for sure was that I was totally shattered.

I had been played like a fool. And for the first time, I regretted ever taking those bullets for him.

It was even more shocking how they played their roles perfectly that I didn’t suspect for a second that Wesley was plotting against me.

“Were they really that good? Or did I choose to ignore the signs?” I thought.

Maybe I should have suspected when he insisted on hiring Mia even though there were better options.

“How did you get that?” Wesley’s voice broke through my thoughts as I jolted. And for the first time, I heard anger in his voice. He briskly walked to me and picked up the documents.

I said nothing. I was only disappointed because I and Hazel’s plan could no longer work.

“Mia left you here last night? I’m so sorry babe, I was so tired from work yesterday that I didn’t notice,” he said in a calm voice as he kissed my forehead and started massaging my hands.

I was repulsed by his touch. Those same hands touched, fingered, squeezed, did every imaginable thing to Mia last night, and there he was, using it to massage me.

I pulled my hand away. He looked at me in surprise because he knew how much I loved his massage and his company.

“Did you go through the documents? They are for work,” he said, subtly trying to find out the reason for the change in my mood.

He looked obviously worried, and for good reason.

I just shook my head.

Looking at him standing before me, it was even harder to not confront him. The one person I could lay down my life for saw me as nothing more than an inconvenience that he had to kill to get away from. It hurt so bad.

I hated how pretentious he was!

“I’ll make breakfast for you so you can take your vitamins.

“I won’t let you give her that poison!” Hazel spat from across the room.

Wesley was shocked to see her there, and even more shocked to hear those words from her.

“When did you get here, Hazel? I didn’t know you were coming,” Wesley said, quickly changing the topic.

“Yes, Wesley. I’m here to fetch Alice and Aidan. Uncle Thierry requests their presence,” Hazel said, cooking up a lie immediately.

But Wesley was smarter than that.

“You really think I’m stupid, right?” Wesley said as his expression darkened.

“Babe, it’s very urgent, I just found out this morning too,” I said, trying to cover up.

Wesley knew I was lying. I hadn’t spoken a word to my dad since we got married, even when I was shot, he didn’t come to visit me in the hospital when he learned I was trying to protect Wesley.

“You can’t just come in here and ruin our plan, Hazel,” Mia said as she came in through the front door and locked it, clutching the keys in her hand.

Wesley’s lips curved in a smile as he sat down in front of me.

“I know you know, babe. Quite frankly, I don’t care. You shouldn’t have brought your cousin here, I’ll have to hurt her too,” Wesley said. Mia burst out laughing and Wesley joined in.

I swallowed hard as I realized what was at play here.

“You think we didn’t hear your useless wheelchair coming to the door yesterday? Tell her babe, tell her how we spiced it up, knowing she was at the door,” Mia said amidst giggles as she went and sat on his lap.

“Stop this nonsense at once! How dare you act so shamelessly after everything your wife has done for you?!” Hazel thundered. Even she couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Done for me? I did her a favor by marrying her. She had always been obsessed with me. As for the extra benefits, she chose to do that, I never forced her to,” Wesley said as he kissed Mia.

“This… this isn’t my wife, my real wife is right here,” he said as he kissed Mia’s neck. “Not this vegetable,” he said as he used one leg to push my wheelchair, causing me to fall.

I felt so ashamed and hurt that I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me. What could I possibly do? They had us locked up in the house. Our plan was destroyed.

I thought I was one step ahead, how did they outsmart me like this?

Tears flowed freely down my face as Hazel rushed to help me up.

“Now, let me tell you how this will go. No one is leaving here. You will sign this deed of transfer, then, we will kill you and your cousin, of course. Because Aidan is such a sweetheart, we will keep him.” Mia said in an excited tone.

“We will take good care of him, you don’t have to worry,” Wesley said with a smirk.

What kind of a cruel joke was that? I wanted to scream, to fight, but all I could do was watch as they reveled in my misery.

And now, I had endangered Hazel’s life.

“I can’t die.. not like this,” I said to myself as I made up my mind to do it. I would do anything to stop these monsters from winning!