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My husband Conrad brought an expecting woman to live in our home.
It was my widowed sister-in-law, Susanna.
She’s a very pitiful woman. Her husband Alexander died in a plane crash, and the rescuers still haven’t recovered his body.
"Take good care of her, Abigail" my husband told me. I agreed. Conrad’s brother Alexander has always had a good relationship with us, So, it's our responsibility to take care of his wife.
But ever since Susanna moved in, our lives have become more and more off track.
Conrad used to spend hours in his study working, now seemed to devote his time to Susanna. His gaze never leaving her.
For me, I was exhausted dealing with Susanna's demands. She treated me like her personal maid, with a thousand tough tasks waiting for me every day.
I’ve thought about protesting, but Susanna's tears always stop me. Maybe the expecting widow just needs more patience and sympathy, I told myself that every time.
The only good news these days was that I was expecting. I had been hoping for having a child for a long time.
One day, Susanna purposely dropped a plate at my feet.
The sharp sound of shattering ceramic echoed, and I felt pain in my leg as the fragments exploded at my feet, cutting me.
“Susanna!” I gasped, my eyes widening. “What are you doing?”
But she didn’t answer me. She began to wail, clutching her hands to her chest. Her sobs filled the room, each one louder than the last. “I know I’m a burden,” she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she fell to her knees. “But I promise, I’ll try harder. Please, don’t send me away…”
Just as I opened my mouth to tell her, a familiar voice cut through the room.
“Who dares to send you away?”
Conrad stepped out from behind me. His voice was sharp with authority. The moment he showed up, Susanna stumbled backward and Conrad rushed forward, catching her before she could hit the ground.
“Susanna,” he said, patting her back as she continued to weep. “Are you alright?”
She shuddered and lifted her head to meet his gaze. “I’m fine, Conrad. It was all my fault. I just asked Abigail for some help, and maybe she thought I was asking too much. She must be…tired of having me here. And…I don’t blame her. I must seem so weak—”
Her tears were a weapon, and she knew how to use them. As soon as Conrad saw Susanna crying, he believed everything she said.
“She’s expecting, Abigail. How could you be so cruel? I'm really disappointed in you.”Conrad blamed me.
“Conrad, listen,” I cried, “I didn’t do that, it’s Susanna, she smashed the plate...”
“So what? ”Conrad angrily interrupted me.
His words were like a slap as I stood there, stunned. My throat felt tight, my heart pounding painfully in my chest as I tried to understand how he could believe her over me so easily.
Just as I was about to say something, the metallic taste hit my nose. My stomach twisted. I’d always had a problem with blood, and now, seeing it drip from my leg, I could feel the familiar chill creeping through me, stealing my strength.
My legs gave way uncontrollably, and new shards immediately embedded into my feet and knee. My vision started to blur, and my heartbeat was pounding in my ears, drowning out even the sounds of Susanna’s sobs.
"Hang on, I'll get a doctor," Conrad's voice came through, and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Susanna, don't be afraid, no one can hurt you," he said as he carried Susanna out. It turned out he wasn't talking to me after all, he hadn't even noticed that I was the one who needed help.
Susanna leaned out of Conrad’s arms, watching me struggle to keep my balance and avoid falling into the shards. I couldn’t see her expression clearly, but I’m sure it was a smile.
Conrad left with Susanna, abandoning me, injured and alone.
It must be bile spreading to my mouth, otherwise, why would it taste so bitter?
When I was at the hospital, I couldn't get in touch with Conrad at all. I called him countless times, but he never answered. I having to undergo a stitch-up without any anesthesia. It hurts so much. I desperately needed my husband to be there with me, but he was probably too busy staying with my sister-in-law.
Only Daniel, Alexander’s assistant, showed up to help me.
While I was texting, I had accidentally sent the message to Alexander as well. Daniel handles all messages related to Alexander, so he saw it. The message I accidentally sent to my deceased brother-in-law was more helpful than reaching out to my husband.
Just as I was home, Conrad just walked out of Susanna’s room.
“Abigail?” Conrad’s voice was brisk, tinged with irritation. “Where are you? Why aren’t you home?”
I tried to keep my voice down. “Hospital. Where else could I go after bleeding from the plate Susanna threw?”
"What, you're bleeding? " After a moment, Conrad's voice came through, "I'm so sorry I didn’t realize….". His face full of worry and guilt calmed my anger, at least for a moment. “Abigail…I’m sorry. I should have been there for you.”
I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow even to my own ears. “Should have? Conrad, you should trust your wife, at least listen to me! ”
He stepped forward and hugged me tightly, his deep voice vibrating through his chest as it reached my ear. "It’s all my fault. I’ve been stuck in the aftermath of Alexander’s accident. You know how much Alexander cared for us. I feel like it’s my responsibility to look after his wife and child now, for his sake. When Susanna cried, I thought it was you... I misunderstood you..." He sat me down on the sofa, took my hand, and gently fixed my slightly messy hair.
"So it was all a misunderstanding today... " His warmth surrounded me, and the thorn in my heart disappeared.
"There won’t be a next time, I promise. Abigail. You’re my wife. You’re my priority"
"Let’s be more careful with expecting women," he said, caressing my cheek. Before I could respond, his hand moved lower, and his tone turned suggestive. "When you have a child, I’ll be more careful, so can we…"
I quickly swatted his hand away and laughed. "I just came from the hospital! Are you that eager, Daddy?"
He lay down beside me, his voice low. "Do you remember what we talked about before? I want a daughter. She’ll be the cutest little princess, with blue eyes and chestnut-colored hair."
I pushed him away, stopping him from trying to "help" me take a bath. A few more months, and our dream would finally come true. The joy was so overwhelming that I forgot to correct Conrad—how could we, neither of us with blue eyes, possibly have a child with blue ones?
When I pushed open the bedroom door, I thought about how I’d tell him about the baby. Maybe tonight? It's my birthday today. I guessed Conrad would give me the gift he had prepared tonight. I unexpectedly found a freshly painted oil painting in his study, it was of a woman’s back and her smiling profile, someone who looked a lot like me, though it annoyed me a bit, and also a bit like Susanna. But then I noticed the roses next to the painting, with a heartfelt confession. These gifts could only be for me, after all, I’m his wife, his lover.
As Conrad give me my gift, I’d be giving him the baby gift in return.
But when I opened the door to our bedroom, Someone was there.
The light fell on her chestnut-colored hair, making her look as if she were glowing. She stood in front of my vanity, casually inspecting one of my necklaces as though it belonged to her. She turned at the sound of the door, her face breaking into a bright smile, but her blue eyes were filled with indifference. “Oh, Abigail! I didn’t hear you come in.”
It was Susanna. She's in my bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” I asked sharply. “This is my room.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” she said, waving a hand. “This is my room now.”
I blinked, the words taking a moment to sink in. “Excuse me?”
Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Conrad wants me to recover properly, he said I could ask for anything, so I decided I wanted to move into this cozy bedroom. The design’s great, did you do it yourself?”
My pulse quickened, anger rising swiftly. “This is our room. I and Conrad’s. You don’t just decide to move in without even asking.”
Susanna smirked, unfazed by the heat in my voice. “I wasn’t asking. Conrad said I could stay here.”
“Did he?” I said, my tone ice-cold. “I find that hard to believe.”
Before she could respond, Conrad appeared in the doorway, his expression full of happiness as he looked at Susanna. “Happy birthday, Susanna!” he exclaimed, stepping into the room.
I stood to the side, frozen. Shock flooded my system as I watched him pull out the painting from behind his back, revealing it in a flourish, followed by the bouquet of red roses. “I thought you’d like these. I know how much you love flowers.”
There was also a cute little card on the roses. I couldn’t make out the message clearly, but I knew it said, "My eternal love, my forever beauty."
It felt like I was watching a scene unfold from a play that I had no role in. Conrad knelt before Susanna, presenting her with the gifts. “I thought you might like these, too. You deserve to be celebrated today.”
I couldn’t hold back the shocked sound that escaped my lips. “What?”
Finally, his gaze snapped to me, surprise flickering across his face as he realized I was in the room. “Abigail?” he asked, confusion in his features, as if he couldn’t understand what I was doing here, in the room. In his house. In his life.
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