ALIRA'S POV

I wouldn't have thought that the three words, capable enough to bring happiness to my life, were also capable of bringing destruction to my life.

"Alira, are you there??" Betsy asked as I realized I was still on a call with her.

"Oh yeah yeah...emm....con.. congratulations Betsy." I said, stuttering.

"You don't sound like you are happy about this news Alira."

The truth was that deep down in my heart, I wasn't happy in the slightest about the news...I mean...I was happy that my sister was pregnant but the news just had to come at the very wrong time.

Betsy, my younger sister got married a few months after mine and although I was shocked and am still shocked about it because I could have sworn she told me she was never going to marry Liam who happened to be my old schoolmate and close friend back In the day.

Life with Betsy was a competition in which she was the only contestant because I had no time to compete with her.

Everything I wanted right from childhood, she wanted it as well and I assumed she was trying to follow her big sister's footprints but I knew otherwise when she surprised me with a huge rock on her finger a few months after my wedding from a stranger we knew nothing about.

"I am really happy for you Betsy...just a little bit tired because it's been a hectic day." I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Hectic day or not, it shouldn't affect your happiness for me sis...I am going to be a mother!!" She said as she squealed happily.

"Trust me when I tell you Betsy that I am happy for you...congratulations to you and Liam."

"Thank you Alira!!! I want to call Mom now and give her the good news...talk to you soon." Betsy said as she hung up the call without waiting for my response.

I sighed deeply as I shut my eyes and got lost in my thoughts again.

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"Alec, it's been two days, I've been worried sick about you!! Where have you been??" I asked my husband as he walked into the house.

"Look Alira, I don't have the strength for your tantrums today...I am a grown man and so I can leave the house and come back any day or anytime I like."

"Alec, you are a grown married man!! You can leave and come back to the house any day or anytime as you like..." I said as I took a deep breath.

I knew arguments weren't going to solve anything and I didn't have the strength for it and so I walked closer to him and placed my hand on his chest.

"What happened to us Alec?? You have been treating me so differently since I announced my pregnancy to you...what's happening ??" I asked with a soft tone.

"Nothing." Alec muttered.

"Alright, what do you want??" I asked.

"What I want Alira is for you to get rid of your pregnancy, can you do that for me??" Alec asked as my hands suddenly dropped down from his chest while I gazed at him with a shocked expression on my face.

I couldn't say anything because my brain wasn't processing anything at that moment and so Alec shook his head and walked away.

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My phone rang again as I snapped out of my thoughts.

This time around, it was my mother calling...what a coincidence.

"Hello mom."

"Alira, where are you??" She asked.

"I am out of the country mom...I came for an important business meeting."

"You should be heading back home by now!! Your sister Betsy is pregnant and needs all the care and assistance she can get from you!!"

"What exactly are you trying to say mother?? That I should travel back home to be a maid to Betsy who literally just announced her pregnancy to me a few minutes ago?? Besides, isn't that the job of her husband??" I asked.

"Why are you such a bitter soul Alira?? Was it your sister's fault that you couldn't keep your own pregnancy??"

And that was the question that suddenly reopened my old scar.

"How can you say such a thing to your own child?? You of all people know very well how I lost my pregnancy mom!! Did you have to rub it in my face??!!" I yelled as tears slipped down my face.

"I only asked you a simple question Alira...anyway, if you aren't coming then stay exactly where you are...you have never been useful anyway." My mother said as she hung up the call.

That was the person who was supposed to be my support system...the one I was supposed to call to inform her of the bad news I heard today just so as to get her words of encouragement but if she could just say such a thing to me, I couldn't begin to imagine what she would have said after I told her about my inability to carry my own kids.

The tears that welled up in my eyes didn't have enough holding capacity anymore to store them as they continued slipping out.

I dialed my husband's number to talk to him and see if it would make me feel better but he didn't pick up his calls...the whole six times I called.

I ended up crying myself to bed and very early the next day, I took the first available flight back to the US.

As soon as I landed, I didn't even go home to drop my things... I headed straight to Betsy's house to be a supportive sister.

I knew the kind of Mother I had so well as to know that she would literally tell everyone that needed to know that I was a terrible person for not coming to see Betsy.

As soon as I got to her house, the door was weirdly opened and I assumed she must have had some visitors.

I walked towards the living room and just before I got there, I overheard Betsy's conversation with my Mother.

"Betsy, you still haven't told me who the Father of your child is...because I remember vividly that you told me Liam was unable to get you pregnant due to some health complications." My mother said as I looked on in confusion.

I didn't understand what was going on and so I decided to stay back and hear more of the conversation.

"I don't think you need to know who the Father of my child is." Betsy said.

"What are you saying Betsy?? You got pregnant by a random man??!!"

"I didn't get pregnant by any random man!! I am not a whore Mother." Betsy bit out.

"Then who is the Father of your child??!!"

"It's Alec."

ALIRA'S POV

"It's Alec." Betsy bit out.

At that moment, it felt like I was being poured ice water and I instantly started shivering.

"Which Alec??" My mother asked.

"How many Alecs do we have mother??"

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that you are pregnant for your sister's husband??"

"He was mine first before he met Alira...and as far as I am concerned, I don't acknowledge that sham of a marriage." Betsy said.

I was patiently waiting for my Mother's response....I was waiting for her to say something...to defend my honor...to call Betsy back to order.

"Well, if that's the case then it's fine...i'm glad you could give him what Alira couldn't give to him." My Mother said as I almost dropped down to the ground.

"Well I kinda have a secret to share with you Mother but promise you wouldn't say anything to anyone." Betsy said.

"Tell me anything dear... I am all ears."

"When Alira was pregnant for the first time, Alec told me about it and said he didn't want his child coming from her and he said Alira was too stubborn to take it out and so I suggested that he did the job himself...he switched her vitamin pills with the wrong drugs which caused her to have a miscarriage." Betsy said.

I didn't breathe.

The moment I heard it, my lungs locked up like they didn't belong to me anymore.

I didn't even move...I couldn't.

My back stayed pressed flat against the wall and my spine was too rigid to bend, too fragile to bear the weight of what I'd just heard.

Every part of me was shaking, but from the outside, I must've looked like a statue molded in disbelief.

I wrapped my arms around myself without realizing it, like I needed something...anything... to hold me together.

My eyes just stared, wide and dry, fixed on nothing.

I couldn't cry too....The tears were there, but shock had wedged itself between me and the ability to feel them fall.

My own heartbeat became the loudest thing in the room and still, I stood there....silent, hidden, unraveling inch by inch.

"As much as that is too extreme, it still serves Alira right for always acting like he knows it all...but what about Liam?? What are you going to do about him??"

"Liam is a fool Mother....he will do whatever I tell him due to his love for me.. he's like my puppet." Betsy said as her and my Mother burst into laughter.

I turned around and went back back slowly into my car parked outside.

"Where are we headed madam??" My driver asked.

"Home." I said.

The drive back home was quiet...but the noise in my head was loud...too loud that it could make one go crazy.

As soon as we arrived, I came down from the car, walked into the house and headed straight to Alec and I's room.

He wasn't around and so I freshened up and sat on the couch in the room waiting patiently for him.

I didn't cry, I didn't get mad...I just sat down still and wallowed through the storm raging inside of me.

Three hours later, I was still in the same spot..I didn't move and I didn't change position and then Alec walked into the room humming a song and smiling like he won a lottery...he definitely just won a lottery indeed.

"What's with the excitement?? Heard some good news??" I asked with a blank expression on my face.

"Oh Alira?? You are back...you didn't inform me you were coming back today." Alec said.

"You haven't answered my question Alec...heard some good news??"

"You are acting strange Alira."

"Am I??"

"Hmm...Anyway I did hear some exciting news but I will share it with you when the time is right." Alec said.

"Our mistress is pregnant right??" I asked with a smile on my face while the smile of Alec's face dropped.

"What?? I..I...d..do.. don't understand." Alec said, stuttering.

"You don't understand??? What part of what I just said do you not understand Alec?? The mistress part or the pregnancy part??" I asked.

"Both."

"Okay, let me carefully explain to you...but before then I have some good news for you." I said as I stood up.

"What good news??"

"I was at the hospital In the UK yesterday and was told by the doctor that I wouldn't be able to ever carry a child...in other words I can't bear children."

"How is that good news??!!" Alec bit out.

"Oh it is for you because that's what you have always wanted."

"Alira..."

"No, let me finish....so after hearing the bad news, Betsy called me and informed me that she was pregnant and so I headed straight to her house from the airport to celebrate with her but I heard something very interesting from her and my Mother's conversation." I said as I began laughing.

"Stop acting like a maniac and tell me what you heard!!"

"Betsy said she was pregnant for Alec and the only Alec I know of is you." I said as I gazed intensely at Alec's eyes.

At first I saw a shock in his eyes and it was quickly replaced by anger.

"That's a bloody lie from the pit of hell!! I am not responsible for her pregnancy!!"

"Oh relax Alec..the party's just getting started...I thought that was the most interesting part of their conversation but she said something else that was more interesting...she said when I was pregnant with our child, you asked her to replace my vitamin pills with something else which led to my miscarriage.... very interesting."

"Alira...Alira..listen to me...I can explain."

"Of course you can...so please explain to me Alec because my ears are itching to hear it." I said with a smile so deadly but full of pains and scars.

Alec opened his mouth severally but empty words flew out.

" I just have one question for you Alec."

"What??"

"Why did you marry me?? Why did you propose to me if you were in love with anyone?? Why??"

"I am not in love with Betsy!! I only fell victim to her desperation, Alira..that is the truth."

"Interesting...so you tricked one sister into marriage and the other into being a mistress even while she's married."

"Alira...wait...that's not..."

"You are free to be with your mistress...I only have one thing to do and that is to report a case of murder to the authorities because you murdered my child and you will pay dearly for it." I said as I walked out of the room.

"Alira...please listen to me!! I swear I didn't mean to hurt you....Alira?? Alira??"

I shut down my heart, my head and my ears as I walked down the stairs because I didn't want to hear anything from Alec's mouth.

I was halfway down the stairs when I felt it.

A presence behind me and then, a shove.

Not a stumble and not a mistake but a push by the hands I knew and force I didn't expect.

My balance snapped out from under me as the world tilted violently.

I didn't scream...there wasn't time.

My breath caught somewhere between my throat and my terror.

The first impact was thunder, the second, a bolt of white-hot pain up my spine and the third... I didn't feel.

Everything slowed as I felt my body crumple at the base, limbs twisted in angles that didn't feel like mine.

I blinked once, maybe twice.

Then... nothing.

Only silence and as I welcomed darkeness.

ALIRA'S POV

I suddenly could hear sirens as it wailed like broken promises.

I felt cold, not from the air, but from the place inside me where something had ruptured.

I was aware of rough hands lifting me, the wheels of the stretcher screeching against the tile, voices blending into one chaotic blur.

"She's bleeding internally! We need to stabilize her!"

"BP dropping....she's going into shock!"

They barked orders as though I were a thing, a body...not a woman who had just been pushed down the staircase of her own home by the man she loved.

But I couldn't scream....I couldn't even blink.

I was trapped within myself, silent and still, like a doll whose strings had been cut.

Then came the quiet.

The ambulance faded and The ER lights vanished.

Time lost all meaning in the coma.

I floated in a thick, endless, black conscious but disembodied state.

Somewhere beyond the black curtain, I heard machines...a faint beeping, the shuffle of rubber soles and soft voices murmuring charts and vitals.

She's still here, I told myself.... I'm still here.

My body lay in that hospital bed, plugged into wires and tubes, but my mind and my soul was wide awake, waiting and listening.

The first visitor I had arrived in heels.

I would've known that strut anywhere...my sister Betsy.

"Poor Alira, you always did have a flair for drama." She said with her voice full of venom.

She was standing right beside me and I could feel her presence like a needle under my skin.

"Didn't think it would end like this, though...Did you?" She asked as She chuckled.

The sound was a cruel, satisfying sound.

"You should've minded your business...you were never meant to know....you always had everything and now it's my turn."

Everything? I wanted to scream.

I had a husband and sister who betrayed me, a mother who didn't care about me and a child who never had a chance to be born.

"He doesn't even come in to see you anymore...I suppose you figured that out when he pushed you." She said as her voice dropped to a whisper.

The memory suddenly slammed into me again like a second fall.

The cold push, my heel slipping and the air slicing through my lungs as I rolled down the stairs.

The memories came rushing into my head.

She left with one final kiss blown in mockery.

"Goodbye, sister."

The second visitor I had was unexpected because he was the last person I ever thought would care about me.

He stood beside me as I could feel him place his hand on mine.

"Alira?? I am so sorry about what has happened to you...this was never meant to happen and you were never meant to be here...I've watched quietly from the shadows how my side Betsy and your own mother treats you and whenever I tried talking to Betsy about it, we end up fighting...the truth is that I don't love Betsy....I actually love you." Liam said as my world stilled.

"He loves me??" I asked myself in disbelief.

"Yes..I wish I had the balls to tell you earlier but I just couldn't....Betsy had blackmailed me that if I should leave or divorce her, she would let everyone know I was impotent and was incapable of bearing children and that's why I am stuck in this loveless marriage with her...I wish I had told you how I felt about you earlier Alira...but I feel it's too late now." Liam said as he sobbed and walked out of the room.

I wanted to call his name and give him the comfort he needed...I so badly wanted to tell him it wasn't too late but who was I deceiving?? I had no idea when or if I was going to get out of this.

My Mother didn't come to visit and neither did my friends.

I had read somewhere that you only realize the true nature and intentions of people when something bad happens to you and it was quite unfortunate that it had to be me.

Even my so-called husband, the one responsible for my current condition, didn't come.

Hours passed or days as I couldn't tell...Then came him...the one who's visit I had been weirdly expecting.

His steps were heavier , hesitant and then firm.

"Alira." Alec called as I flinched inwardly.

The sound of his voice used to bring me comfort but now it curdled my blood.

He sat down, sighed, and said softly.

"You were never supposed to find out." He said.

No apology and no remorse.

"I didn't mean for it to go this far but you never made things easy, did you? Always questioning, always watching."

I wanted to claw my way out of the void and tear the lie from his mouth.

He leaned in closer as I felt the shift in the air.

"I don't regret it...you were always in the way...you held me back with your rules, your goodness, and thank the heavens the pregnancy part was out of the way."

He stood, brushing something off his sleeve.

"Now, I have freedom and your sister... well, she's easier." He said as the rage inside me boiled.

I was trembling inside my still body but it wasn't over.

He moved to the machine.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I heard the click, then a slow hiss as the rhythm changed.

My breath grew shallow and my chest tightened.

He's turning off my oxygen.

I was being murdered....Again.

My mind screamed and my soul thrashed.

I begged the universe, the stars, any god who would listen.

Please, don't let me die like this.

Not without a chance to make it right, not without revenge.

The darkness deepened as the machines slowed.

Please....Let me go back.

My lips didn't move, but my prayer echoed into the blackness:

Give me one more chance... Let me remember everything....Let me burn it all down.

Then silence.

The final silence.

But in the stillness, something stirred...Not death.

Something else.

A second chance.