Chapter 5 One After Another

It felt like someone had slammed her on the head with a sledgehammer. Pregnant?! “D—Doctor, there must be some mistake, I—I’m not—” “The results are clear, miss,” the doctor patiently explained. He had seen various reactions to pregnancies before, and Tiffany’s was not the first. “You’re a week in term. We can arrange an ultrasound if you’d like confirmation.” So Tiffany did just that and watched as the final hope she had of staying out of the Campbells’ business disappeared just like that. She was pregnant with Mortimer’s child. The report crumpled slightly in her grip. She sat back motionlessly in the chair, feeling overwhelming despair. “What if I don’t want the baby?” The doctor tried to hide his discomfort upon hearing that. “Miss, I understand that being the mother to this child, you have the choice to see it to full term or… not. However, as a doctor, I must caution you to think about your actions and their consequences. Abortion is illegal in this state.” Tears welled in Tiffany’s eyes. If only this had happened before Mortimer had woken up. Things would be so different then. The doctor saw how torn she was too. With a sigh, he advised, “Why don’t you go home and talk about this with your family first? This isn’t the easiest decision to make. Oh, and if you do decide to keep the baby, please make arrangements to admit yourself in a ward here, as you have threatened miscarriage symptoms.” Tiffany’s legs felt like they were pumped with lead as she left the hospital. When she looked up at an apartment building nearby, she noticed all the lit windows and wondered when she could finally find a place to feel safe in. This was a big world, and she felt so small. She sat in the park for a long time before finally calling a cab. “No. 21, Redroof Way, please.” This was her mother’s home, but the person that opened the door for her wasn’t her mother. Instead, it was her Uncle Zach and Aunt Yuna. These two had insisted on living with Tiffany’s mother ever since her divorce from Tiffany’s father, with the excuse of looking after her. But in fact, they were nothing but giant tapeworms depending on Tiffany’s mother for food and a roof over their heads. Zach had a wide smile on his face when he saw Tiffany. “Welcome back, Tiff. You should’ve called, so I could have your mother clean up the place a bit.” He then stretched his neck out to peer around Tiffany. “Are you here alone? No driver? Bodyguard?” “No. It’s just me.” Zach’s smile disappeared in seconds. Yuna, on the other hand, sneered. “You didn’t get kicked out, did you?” “I… No. It’s just…” How could she even begin? “You come home empty-handed today with nothing to show, a month after being married, and you expect me to believe you?” Yuna placed her hands on her waist and scowled. Tiffany’s cheeks were scalding hot. “I’m really sorry. I’ll have something for you guys next time.” “Forget it,” Zach cut in. “We don’t want to get too involved. Just don’t mess up and get kicked out. God knows this house can’t fit a fourth person!” It was as if they owned the place. “Quit it!” Juliana, Tiffany’s mother, called from the stairs. Her voice was stern. “I don’t need you to bother my daughter about whether she wants to live here! If you’re not happy with that, then leave!” Zach and Yuna paled, shutting up instantly, though they still glared at Juliana unhappily. Ingrates, the lot of them. Juliana lovingly caressed her daughter’s hair. “Oh, honey, how are the Campbells treating you? You look so thin. Here, I have some spare cash. Take it.” Tiffany forced a smile on her face. “I’m alright, Mom. Don’t worry. I just wanted to see how you were doing today.” To convince her mother, she even arched her neck to show the diamond necklace resting on her collarbones. “See? Madam Kelly gifted me this when we met. It’s really, really expensive.” “As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters to me.” Juliana believed her without question. Tiffany thought she might burst into tears if she stayed any longer, so she only stayed for another five minutes before leaving. She reached the mansion near dusk. There was no one else in the living room, not even a single domestic worker. “Shall I have dinner served for you, madam?” Monroe’s voice startled Tiffany. She turned around with a hand on her chest as she exhaled. “No, thank you. I’ve had dinner.” She would rather starve than sit at the same table with Mortimer. Monroe seemed to read her mind. “Master Mortimer has already finished his meal and gone to rest. I can have dinner sent to your room instead?” he asked with a smile. “Then… O—Okay, yeah.” The maid quickly prepared her dinner. It was sent to her in under ten minutes. Tiffany had just picked up her cutlery when her phone vibrated with a notification. “Tiff, I’m so sorry about the late message. I need some editing help with this report. It needs to be submitted by tonight. Can you help me out please?” the text message read. It was from her senior. Tiffany glanced at the clock hesitantly. She wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight if she took this job. Another text came in. “It’s 200 dollars. I can pay you half of it right now if you take the job.” “Alright.” Tiffany accepted the offer. She opened up her laptop and started work, not touching her food until late 11 pm that night. She proofread the document two more times to make sure everything was perfect before opening up her email to send it to her senior. Yet, the moment her mouse hovered over the “Send” button, her laptop blue-screened and crashed. It didn’t boot up again. “Damn it!” Tiffany exclaimed internally. The one saving grace was that her laptop had uploaded the document to cloud storage, so all she needed to do was access it by logging into her account from another computer. “Monroe, are there any other computers in the house? I need to use one urgently.” “Yes, but it’s in Master Mortimer’s study.” Ah. Crap.