Chương 1
""I was six months pregnant when my husband decided that my pain was an inconvenience.
The first sound I heard that morning was the bedroom door striking the wall hard enough to shake the picture frame above our bed.
Victor stood there with his jaw tight and his eyes already angry, as if he had walked into the room carrying a fight that had started somewhere else.
“Get up,” he said.
I stared at him for a moment because my body did not understand the urgency his voice demanded.
My back had been aching for days, and the doctor had told me to rest whenever I could.
“Victor, I need a minute,” I whispered.
His expression changed from impatience to disgust.
“A minute for what?”
I pushed myself upright, holding my stomach as the baby moved beneath my ribs.
“Just give me a second.”
He walked closer and pulled the blanket away from me.
“You have been using that baby as an excuse since the day you found out you were pregnant.”
The words hurt almost as much as the sudden cold air against my skin.
I looked at the man I had married three years earlier and tried to find the person who used to bring me soup when I was sick and leave notes beside my coffee cup.
That person felt very far away.
“I’m not asking you to do everything,” I said quietly.
Victor laughed once, without humor.
“That is exactly what you are doing.”
I got dressed slowly because moving quickly made my lower back tighten.
Every step across the bedroom felt like a negotiation with my own body.
Victor watched me like he was waiting for me to fail.
When I reached the doorway, he followed behind me.
The house was already awake.
The smell of coffee filled the kitchen, mixed with the scent of bacon that someone had already started cooking.
His parents were sitting at the table like they owned the place.
They had been staying with us for two weeks after Victor told me they needed help around the house.
Help had somehow become my responsibility.
Helena looked up from her phone when I entered.
“There she is,” she said.
Her voice sounded sweet, but there was nothing kind inside it.
Raúl folded his newspaper and looked at the clock on the wall.
“About time.”
I ignored the comment and walked toward the counter.
Victor sat down beside his mother.
“She says she needs a minute every morning now.”
Helena smiled.
“Pregnancy has made some women very dramatic.”
I reached for a pan.
My hands were already shaking.
Nora, Victor’s younger sister, sat at the end of the table recording something on her phone.
At first, I thought she was texting.
Then I noticed the small red recording symbol.
“Are you filming me?” I asked.
She lowered the phone slightly.
“Relax.”
“That is not an answer.”
She shrugged.
“My friends think family drama is funny.”
The room laughed.
Everyone except me.
I turned back to the stove because arguing with them always made things worse.
That was something I had learned slowly.
Not from one terrible day, but from hundreds of small moments where I apologized for things I did not do.
The first time Victor grabbed my arm, he cried afterward.
He told me he was stressed.
He said his father had taught him that anger was normal.
He promised he would never scare me again.
I believed him because I wanted my marriage to be something worth saving.
I believed him because admitting the truth meant admitting I had chosen the wrong person.
The pan slipped slightly in my hand.
The memory disappeared when Helena spoke again.
“Be careful.”
I looked over my shoulder.
“With what?”
“With everything.”
She looked at my stomach.
“Some people are given blessings and still find ways to complain.”
I turned back to the stove.
The eggs burned.
Victor noticed immediately.
“Unbelievable.”
“I can make another batch.”
“You always have an excuse.”
“I said I would fix it.”
He stood up.
The movement made my entire body tense before he even touched me.
That scared me more than the anger itself.
My body had learned to expect danger before my mind admitted it was there.
“Victor,” I said.
My voice was barely above a whisper.
His face changed for a moment.
Something almost human appeared.
Then it vanished.
“You embarrass me in front of my family.”
“I am trying.”
“No, you are not.”
The room became strangely quiet.
Even Nora stopped moving her phone.
Victor walked toward me.
I stepped backward.
That small movement seemed to make him angrier.
“What are you afraid of?”
I did not answer.
Because the answer was standing in front of me.
My heel caught the edge of the kitchen mat.
The world tilted.
I grabbed the counter, but my strength disappeared.
The floor came up quickly.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
I heard the refrigerator humming.
I heard a car passing outside.
I heard my own breathing.
Then Raúl sighed.
“Really?”
I opened my eyes.
I was still on the floor.
“My baby,” I said.
The words came out before anything else.
Victor looked down at me.
Instead of fear, I saw annoyance.
“Get up.”
I stared at him.
“I need help.”
He looked away.
Helena shook her head.
“You are making this worse than it is.”
My hand moved across the floor searching for anything.
Anything that could change what was happening.
My fingers touched my phone.
It had fallen from my pocket.
I grabbed it.
The screen was cracked, but it still worked.
I opened the only conversation I knew would matter.
Alex.
My brother had always been the person who noticed when my voice sounded different.
Even when I lied.
Even when I said everything was fine.
My thumb moved across the screen.
Help.
Please.
I pressed send.
The message showed delivered.
May you like
That tiny word became the only thing holding me together.
Victor saw the phone.
