The cruel comment was like a slap to the face, and she drew in a sharp breath. Her legs couldn’t hold her up any longer, and she stumbled to the nearest chair.
Pulling his wallet out from the jacket’s pocket, he thumbed through one hundred dollar notes and threw them on the bed. “This should be enough to get rid of the bastard.”
As if protecting the baby from the ugliness of his words, she splayed her trembling hands over her stomach.
“If you dare go to the media about this, I will make your life a living hell. Do you understand?”
The green notes were scattered across the bed and she stared at them numbly.
“Do you understand?” he shouted.
Jumping, she then nodded weakly.
When Graham spun on his heels and stormed toward the door, she didn’t watch him leave; her eyes were too full of tears and broken dreams.
Three months later, Lauren experienced another shock. She had just come back from her doctor’s appointment, excitement bubbling because she heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. The wonders of having a little human growing inside her filled her with such awe she could hardly stop smiling.
After the appointment, she’d planned to meet Jade at a coffee shop not far from campus.
While waiting for Jade’s class to finish she picked up a copy of New Idea, a magazine she’d never admit she enjoyed reading, and flicked through the glossy pages. Her hand stilled on the third page, and the blood in her veins turned to ice.
Beaming up at her from the glossy page was Graham’s handsome face. Sitting next to him was a beautiful woman with emerald green eyes and gorgeous, long, black hair placed neatly over her shoulder. A tiny sleeping baby bundled in a soft pink wrap lay nestled in her arms. The headline read: Graham’s Little Miracle Melts his Heart of Stone.
The magazine trembled in her hands and it fell to the ground. Lauren was pregnant with a married man’s baby!
“Are you listening to me?” Belinda’s agitated voice droned down the phone line, bringing Lauren back to the present.
“No, I wasn’t,” she answered honestly.
She heard Belinda’s scoff. “You always did think you were so much better than me.”
Merely being a decent person made Lauren better than Belinda, but she’d keep that thought to herself. “What do you want?”
She should have askedhow much do you want?The sooner Belinda named her price, the sooner this unpleasant phone call could end. “If you’d been listenin’ you’d know.” “Tell me again,” Lauren said.
She did a quick calculation of how much money she had in the bank and how much she could spare. It probably wouldn’t leave her with very much, but she’d just have to cut back on her spending for a few weeks. She really didn’t need to eat, right? It would be worth starving if it meant getting Belinda out of her life for a few more months.
“Mum’s had a stroke. The ol’ bitch is in the hospital.”
“What?”
“Got your attention now, have I?” Belinda laughed harshly.
Yes, Belinda had her attention, and Lauren tried to process how she felt about the news.
A moment later she came to the conclusion she felt no sadness or despair whatsoever.
Should she visit her in the hospital? No, she’d cut all ties with her mother years ago.
Dorothy had never been a mother to her. She’d never given her a moment of her time and attention. Years of neglect and lack of affection wiped out any feelings Lauren had for her. The grief Lauren should have over the loss, or near loss, of a parent did not exist.
Lauren may not have a relationship with their mother, but Belinda did. Even though they constantly fought with each other Belinda and their mother were always a unit, no matter how unconventional it was. So hearing Belinda sound so unfeeling about their mother’s health showed Lauren yet again how heartless her sister could be.
“If you’d been listenin’ I was trying to explain to you that Mum had a stroke two days ago. They expect me to pay for all this extra stuff, like special care and a bunch of other crap,” she complained. “We both know I don’t have the money.”
Two days. Belinda waited two days to tell her their mother was in the hospital? And probably only mentioned it because she needed the money to pay the expenses.
She asked Belinda how much she’d need. Belinda gave her an exorbitant amount.
