CHAPTER TWO
Amelia sat in the living room, completely still. Her eyes stared blankly into nothing. She'd been like that for twenty minutes or even more, not moving a muscle, until her phone started beeping like crazy. That finally snapped her out of it.
She grabbed the phone. It was her mother-in-law, Lora, calling. The moment she slid her finger to answer, Lora's voice blasted through the speaker. "Amelia!"
"Mom..." Amelia's voice cracked, and that's when she realized she'd been crying. She hadn't shed tears in so long, she'd forgotten how it felt. She quickly wiped her eyes, hoping Lora wouldn't notice something was wrong.
"Michael just told me he wants you to get rid of the baby. Why does he want that all of a sudden?" Lora's voice was sharper now, full of questions.
"I think you should ask him," Amelia said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't know myself."
"He also told me to convince you," Lora went on, "or else he'd divorce you. I thought he was so happy about the baby all this time. Did you do something to make him mad?"
"I didn't do anything to upset him," Amelia insisted. "He just... doesn't want the baby anymore."
"That can't be!" Lora exclaimed. "Wait, is it possible he wants you to get rid of it because the baby isn't his?"
Amelia froze. Her mind raced. She didn't know if what Michael was saying about the sperm mix up was true. But if it was, if she was carrying another man's child, it wasn't because she cheated. It was because there was a mistake during the special procedure they did to help her get pregnant. A mistake with the insemination.
She never, ever thought that now, seven and a half months pregnant, he would suddenly turn his back on her.
Before Amelia could even think of what to say, Lora took her silence as a "yes." Her voice turned cold and angry. "I always knew you were a snake, Amelia Thomas, but I never thought you could be this bad! Our family treated you so well, and this is how you pay us back?"
As Lora kept yelling, Amelia started to feel dizzy. The room spun. The next thing she knew, her eyes fluttered open to a white ceiling. She was in a hospital bed. Outside her room, there was a loud noise, a commotion. She could clearly hear Lora Vicks's voice, just as she'd heard it on the phone before everything went dark. "We treated your daughter like family, but she chose to pay us back like this? We're getting a divorce right away! The Vicks family has good values, and I raised a perfectly good son who treated her so well, and she still wasn't happy! How dare she go out and sleep around! What a shameless woman!"
The hospital door creaked open. Amelia saw her father, Peter Thomas, walk in. He came and sat beside her. Amelia's eyes filled with tears as she looked at him.
A huge wave of unfairness washed over her. She felt like screaming, but she didn't know where to begin. Peter looked at his daughter, his face serious, no trace of a smile. Then he spoke, his words like sharp stones. "Whose child are you carrying?"
Amelia felt like her father's words hit her like a hammer. Now even her own dad thought she had cheated on Michael.
"It's both mine and Michael's child," she said, trying to sound strong.
"Oh, come on, try a different story," her step-sister, Chloe Thomas, chuckled from nearby. Chloe had followed their father in and was standing by the door. "Sis, do you really think everyone here is stupid? We know the Vicks family wants a child so badly. If it were truly Michael Vick's, would they be dumb enough to make you get rid of it? Why don't you just admit what you did? I wonder why Dad always used you as a good example. I always knew the kind of person you really are."
Chloe had never liked Amelia, not even a little. And with this situation, she wasn't holding anything back.
Peter Thomas stared at Amelia, his eyes hard. "Get rid of the child," he said. "Go back to your husband. Apologize to your mother-in-law, and maybe she'll forgive you."
Amelia was beyond shocked. How could her father say such a thing? "Why do I need to do that when I didn't do anything wrong?"
"You really are something..." Peter looked at her, his eyes turning red with anger. "How could I have a daughter like you?" He was so angry, he couldn't say another word. He just turned and left the hospital room in a huff.
The moment her father left, Michael Vick walked in. He stood by the door, just looking at Amelia. "It's simple," he said, his voice flat. "We get rid of this child. You just have to have an operation."
Amelia looked up at him. Just days ago, she thought she was so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. But right now, all she felt was a cold chill running down her spine.
She stared at him, her voice numb. "You're deliberately ruining my name by spreading lies about me because I won't get rid of the baby?"
Michael Vick just nodded. "I just want you to understand that I will never accept that child. No one will ever say it's mine."
"You are so cruel!" Amelia cried, tears welling up again. "These babies are innocent! How can you even think of something like that?"
"Innocent?" Michael scoffed. "It hasn't even been born yet! Women are just too soft-hearted!"
"Alright, Michael," Amelia said, her voice shaking but firm. "Let's get a divorce."
Michael Vick laughed, a harsh, loud sound. "So you plan on having these babies, huh? Fine, we can get a divorce, but you won't be getting the house."
"Why not?" Amelia demanded. "We bought the house together! It's half mine!"
"I can't let those bastards live in a house I bought with my money!" Michael spat.
"Michael!" Hearing him call her babies "bastard" made Amelia's stomach churn. She never wanted to see him again. She couldn't believe the man she had lived with for four years was really this kind of person.
Amelia felt like she was trapped in a bad dream. Michael stood there, his face twisted in a way she'd never seen before, calling her unborn children's terrible names. The man she married, the man she loved, was gone. In his place was a stranger, cruel and cold.
"I can't believe you're saying these things," Amelia whispered, her voice barely there. "How can you be so heartless?"
Michael just laughed again, a harsh, empty sound. "Heartless? Amelia, be real. You're carrying someone else's kids, trying to pass them off as mine. What do you expect me to do, throw a party?"
"They are your children!" Amelia cried, tears finally spilling down her face. "There was a mistake, a mix-up at the clinic as you said! It wasn't my fault!"
"A mistake?" Michael scoffed, stepping closer to the bed. "I told my mother everything. She believes me, everyone will. You'll be the talk of the town, a cheating wife. No one will believe your crazy story about a clinic mix-up."
Amelia shrank back into the pillows. She felt so weak, so tired. "You're doing this on purpose," she said, her voice growing stronger with annoyance. "You're trying to make me look bad so you can keep everything!"
"Smart girl," Michael said with a smirk. "Look, it's simple. Get rid of the baby, and we can talk. Maybe we can still fix this, even with your little 'mistake.' Or, we get divorced, and you walk away with nothing. No house, no money, no good name. Your choice."
He paused, letting his words hang in the air. Amelia could feel her heart pounding, a painful thump against her ribs. She looked down at her swollen belly, at the life growing inside her. How could she give them up? How could Michael even ask?
"I'm not getting rid of my babies," Amelia said firmly, surprising even herself with the strength in her voice. "And you won't get away with this."
Michael's smirk disappeared. His eyes narrowed. "Oh, really? And what will you do, Amelia? You have no family to back you up. Your own father just told you to get rid of the child and go back to me. Your step-sister hates you. And the precious Vicks family? They're on my side." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "You're alone, Amelia. Completely and utterly alone."
Amelia stared at him, suddenly aware of how true his words were. Her head spun with exhaustion. She was alone. Her father had turned his back on her, her step-sister celebrated her downfall, and Michael's family believed his lies. She had no one.