Talk

I pulled her hand away and backed off. There was no need to spare her any dignity. "Tell me something, Melanie. Why'd you steal my spot in this care center? My spot, which my family saved for me. And you stole it using my name. Also, why do you have my pendant and bracelet?"

I raised my voice enough for the people around us to hear. Their eyes turned to us, and Melanie did not look happy at all. But then her tears started to fall.

"What are you talking about? My husband got me a spot here because my pregnancy took everything out of me. He got me the bracelet and necklace. They're not yours." Then, she sized me up again and put on a frown. "Are you having prepartum depression because your husband's been abusing you? Sounds like you're being delusional."

I knew the looks around me. They were of judgment.

"Is she sure it's prepartum depression? Sounds like she's hallucinating."

"They say Mrs. Melson's package costs 120 grand. Look at the clothes this woman's wearing. Bet she can't even fork out a tenth of that."

"Either her husband drove her up the wall, or she's jealous of Mrs. Melson. What an unlucky day."

I was in my maternity attire. It wasn't like I was wearing tatters. The insults bounced off me, and I sneered. "I had no idea you were a thief, Melanie."

Without hesitation, I turned to the receptionist. "Hi, did she give you her ID when she moved in? I'd like to know how she was verified."

The receptionist froze. Then, she said, "Mrs. Melson claimed she lost her ID, so we didn't use that for verification. Her husband was with her all the time. That couldn't be fake."

I arched my eyebrow and looked at the receptionist, amused. "Just because he's her husband doesn't mean you can skip the verification process. Do you really think men don't lie? That's sloppy work."

The receptionist opened her mouth, but no argument came. Melanie stepped in, faking innocence and care. "Selene, they're just working here. Why do you go after them? You don't have to do this. You can get a care center within your budget."

Ah, she was making me out to be the villain here. Then, her phone rang. The name on the screen read 'Honey.'

She froze up. Yeah, that was probably William on the other side. A sneer curled my lips. "Well, take it. Let's see how he weasels himself out of this one."

Melanie took the call and put it on speaker. She also put on an act of a nervous lady, but I saw the look in her eyes. She was gloating.

Still, she acted like she was the one being treated unfairly. "Honey, get to the care center now. Someone's saying I'm not your wife, and she is. She said the care center gave her spot to the wrong person, and she's accusing them of negligence."

Her voice started to crack halfway through. William's furious voice tore through the air. "What did that crazy bitch do this time? How dare she try to push you around! I'll be right there. Stay calm!"

Unbelievable

Crazy bitch. He called me that without even hearing the whole story. Now, everyone thought I was the other woman here.

They were staring at me like I was a clown prancing around for their amusement. Some of them even talked to Melanie and told her not to bother with women like me.

Melanie hung her head low and bit her lip. Quietly, she said, "My husband's coming soon. He loves me a lot. 120 grand is big money, but he spent it on me right away. I think you should leave. You don't want things to get any uglier."

To anyone else, she was a thoughtful woman. I knew better. She was trying to humiliate me further. I was clenching my teeth so much, I could crush them.

'Bastards,' I thought.

William did not waste any time coming here. He hurried into the care center and shoved me away. The guy pulled Melanie into his arms and cooed at her softly. "It's okay, I'm here. No one's going to hurt you."

I was severely pregnant, and that push nearly made me fall. Good thing I managed to grab the reception counter, or else I might've gotten hurt or worse. Fury was burning through my chest.

Melanie wrapped her arms around William and shared a deep kiss with him. "You're the best, honey. I think you should talk to her. I can't handle her."

Now, he finally turned his attention to me. There was not an ounce of guilt on his face. He let Melanie go and slapped me hard.

"Do you know no shame, Melanie? All I did was give you more attention at work because you're pregnant, just like my wife is. And now you think you can push her around?"

I held my burning cheek. This was not the man I knew. Before I came to the care center, he pretended to care for me. He soothed me.

Now he hit me, even though I was his pregnant wife. Oh, of course. His impatience began after my pregnancy was confirmed.

He'd always tell me to be a good wife and not start anything because he was already working overtime to support us. And he wouldn't shut up about Melanie.

Of course, there was a reason for that. He was cheating on me with her. I had no idea my husband was a fool and a man rotten to his core.

As if God's grace had soothed me down, I demanded, "I'll need you to repeat that again, William. Who is she to you, and who am I to you?"

A hint of panic surfaced in William's eyes, but that did not change his attitude. With his chest puffed out, he said, "You need me to repeat myself? Fine, she's my wife, Selene Tousson. You are nothing but my colleague, Melanie Crossfire. Honestly, you can't just cling to me just because I treat my wife like a queen while your husband treats you like trash."

Discussions and whispers rippled through the crowd.

"I knew it. She's mad. Still, I feel sad for her. Her husband drove her to this."

"But Mr. Melson did nothing wrong. I feel sorry for him. He has to deal with a stalker like her."

Guess he was adamant about defending his mistress. If he thought his story was enough to convince everyone, he was wrong. I pulled out my ID. "My ID proves I'm Selene Toussan. What about her?"

William and Melanie froze up. Melanie tugged on William's arm, pleading for him to deal with me.

William snatched my ID out of my hand and tossed it into the bin. Angrily, she growled, "Enough is enough, Melanie! You made a fake marriage certificate just to annoy me, and now you faked an ID?"

Sister Comes

"Please, have some dignity! Just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you can do anything you want!"

Now, people were giving me weirder looks. Someone even suggested calling the cops. I froze.

William was a careful man. The moment I showed my ID, he thought one step ahead and shut down any chance of me convincing anyone I was his real wife. Now, I couldn't even use my marriage certificate because he said it was fake.

I wish it were.

Melanie heaved a sigh of relief and rested on William's chest. "If your marriage isn't working out, I can suggest some divorce lawyers, but please don't try to steal my husband."

Divorce. She made sure everyone heard that. She wanted me to get a divorce so she could marry William instead.

William kissed her cheek like she was his most prized treasure. He saw me as nothing but trash.

"Now get out of here! I'm calling the cops next time!" He approached the reception. "Hi, can you get the guards here? We'll need to get rid of this crazy woman. God knows if she's going to hurt anyone. I don't want the other moms to get dragged into this."

He lied as easily as he breathed. The crowd agreed with him.

"Yeah, get her out of here! If you let her stay, I'm going to write a complaint!"

The receptionist called the guards and told them to kick me out. The guards grabbed my arms just to make sure the care center looked professional and put their guests' safety at the top of the list.

I frowned and kept moving backward. Melanie, however, had circled around, and she shoved me ahead. I fell to the ground. A stab of pain came shooting up from my belly, and something hot trickled down my legs.

Melanie covered her mouth as she stifled a gasp. "Oh, I just wanted to help. You were wobbling. I didn't mean to make you fall. You saw her, everyone. She's putting on an act!"

I was going white from the agony, and crimson dyed everything below my waist.

William noticed. He froze for a moment, doing nothing. And my heart turned to ice. He was useless. With my trembling hands, I took my phone out and tried to call an ambulance.

William smacked the phone out of my hands. "Don't try to call the cops! You fell down. This is not the care center's fault!"

The pain was getting worse. Everything around me was turning black. "The baby! I need to protect the baby!"

William was not fazed at all. He kicked the phone away. The others did not do anything, afraid that I was another scammer.

I was isolated. I had no one to help me. So I pushed myself up with whatever strength I had left and dragged myself away, but Melanie stepped on my hand, looking smug as she did so.

"Make a statement. Tell everyone that the care center is not responsible for what's happening to you, and I'll get you an ambulance."

The pain was robbing me of my ability to speak. I was already shivering like a woman thrown into deep winter with nothing but thin clothes covering me.

Then, Jessie strode into the care center like a queen. "Selene, my poor sister. I found it! Your husband cheated on you. Bastard knocked up another girl, and their kid was born two months earlier than whenever yours is coming out! And he gave the mistress your slot at my care center! I'm going to whoop his sorry a—"

The last word died in her throat when she saw me. The receptionists went pale as ghosts. "B-Boss…"