The Termination Plot

“At eight months pregnant, I believed my life was a fairy tale. I had a perfect home, a miracle son on the way, and Derek-the husband who worshipped the ground I walked on. Or so I thought. One piece of paper turned my fairy tale into a horror story. A vasectomy certificate, hidden in the back of a drawer in his office. It was dated a year ago-six months before our child was conceived. Panic drove me to his corporate office, desperate for an explanation, praying for a misunderstanding. But the truth waiting for me behind his closed door was sharper than any knife. "I can't believe she still hasn't figured it out," his best friend, Edison, laughed. "She walks around glowing like a saint." "Patience," my husband's voice replied, cold and unrecognizable. "The bigger she gets, the harder she falls. And the bigger my payout. It's all for Else." They weren't just lying. They were betting. They were gambling on my humiliation, treating my life and my unborn child as props in a sick game to avenge his sister. Standing in that hallway, clutching my belly, the woman I used to be shattered. But from the shards, something new was born. Something cold, calculating, and merciless. I didn't flee. I didn't scream. I wiped my face and composed a smile that didn't reach my eyes. If they wanted a game, I would play. But they had no idea that the rules had just changed. I wasn't the prize anymore. I was the punishment.”