Harriet Prescott felt numb as she dragged her feet down the deserted street. The night air was thick with the scent of rain. It was 3am in the morning and somewhere in her mind, she registered that only four cars had passed by her.
It was a mystery to Harriet, why her mind insisted on counting cars when her world had just crumbled before her. Was it a self defense mechanism? Was her mind trying to distract her from the fact that she had nowhere to go?
A sharp pain pierced her gut. Going back to her father's house would be a terrible idea. He had cut all ties with her and strongly forbade her from communicating with any of his family members—Harriet's step mother and step siblings. She didn't even consider then as family to begin with.
The last time Harriet saw her father was a year ago at her mother's twenty years death memorial service. Her mother had died when Harriet was just five years old. Her father had married Sasha Nice, his secretary a few years later. Even though rumors had it that they were already having an affair before Harriet's mother passed away.
Like all stepmothers, Sasha was no different. She was evil and she made Harriet spend most of her childhood alone with the housekeeper. Anytime her father was on business trips, she would forbid her kids, Leonard and Amerie from interacting with Harriet because she was bad luck.
Harriet grew up believing it. Believing she was bad luck so she avoided relationships. Not until she met Damien Shaw in her sophomore year in college and he totally swept her off her feet.
She never thought Damien wanted her for selfish reasons because he accepted her even when her father abandoned her and she had nothing. But she had been wrong! She had been so damn wrong! Damien just took the long process in exploiting her. She had been living a lie for five whole years!
Harriet swallowed back the sickness rising up her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes. Maybe if her mother was still alive, she would've foreseen this from the get go? They say mother's can see the outcome of things even before it happens.
Would she have stopped Harriet from dropping out of college just to have Damien's child? Would she have stopped her from wasting five years of her life in a marriage of deception, when she could've gone back to college and finished art school? Would she have advised Harriet to make a life for herself while helping Damien with his?
And now she was pregnant. After so many years of waiting, Harriet was finally going to have a child. What felt like a blessing to her a few hours ago suddenly felt like a curse. A striking reminder of Damien was probably growing inside of her.
Harriet clutched her chest, trying to catch her breath. She had been walking for an hour now with no destination in mind. Her feets skidded to a halt.
She clutched the handle of her suitcase tighter, her knuckles white from the strain. She barely registered the drizzle that began to fall, the tiny droplets quickly turning into a steady rain. Her clothes clung to her body, her hair plastered against her forehead, but she kept walking, oblivious to the discomfort.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the red light at the intersection ahead. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, accompanied by the screech of tires. She turned her head, her movements slow and sluggish. The sight of the car barreling towards her barely registered before everything went black.
The impact was like a sledgehammer to Harriet's body. She felt a moment of searing pain, her body crumpling like a ragdoll as she was thrown through the air. The world spun around her in a dizzying blur of light and sound before she hit the ground with a sickening thud. Then, there was nothing.
*****
Harriet drifted in and out of consciousness, her mind floating in a dark, endless void. She could hear the soft sound of monitors beeping and the smell of antiseptics. A voice echoed, but she couldn't understand what it was saying.
The pain was constant, and threatened to pull her back to unconsciousness. She tried to move, but her body felt heavy, unresponsive. Panic clawed at the edges of her mind, but she was too weak to grasp it fully.
Slowly, painfully, Harriet forced her eyes open. The world came into focus. Even though the light above her was dim, it made her squint. Her head throbbed and her vision was blurry but she could see a lady in a white robe next to her bed.
The lady leaned towards her bed, her face swimming into view. "Miss, can you hear me? You've been unconscious for two days now."
Harriet's resolve weakened. Two days? Wait, her baby. Is it fine? Did she lose the baby?
She tried to speak, but her mouth felt dry, her throat raw. She could only manage a weak, barely audible moan. Her vision began to blur again. The last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed her again was Damien rushing into the room.
---
When Harriet open her eyes again, the sterile, antiseptic smell of the hospital filled her nostrils, and she heard the steady beep of a heart monitor. Her body ached all over.
She blinked, trying to clear her vision. The room around her was white and clean, the fluorescent lights casting a harsh glow. She felt the cool, crisp sheets beneath her, the IV needle in her arm.
The door creaked open, and she turned her head slowly, feeling the strain in her neck. Damien walked in, his features filled with worry and frustration. He looked disheveled, with dark circles under his eyes.
A knot formed in Harriet's throat and she swallowed hard. Memories of their last encounter flooded her mind. It felt like ages ago. But now, Damien was seated next to her bed like he hadn't been the cause of this. Like he wasn't the one that broke her heart into a million pieces.
"Harriet, why did you leave the house without telling me?" Damien's voice was low.
"Because…" you told me to leave if I couldn't bear to stay under the same roof with your mistress and illegitimate child. "Nothing."
Harriet couldn't meet Damien's eyes. Instead, she buried her face in her palms. She didn't want to see Damien right now, she might break down in front of him and he sure as hell would enjoy seeing her that way. The silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating.
Damien sighed, leaning closer towards Harriet's bed. "You've been unconscious for four days. I was so worried about you…and the baby. Why didn't you tell me about it?"
Harriet's heart clenched. This was it. The reason Damien was here even after he had told her he had never loved her. It was for the baby. Her baby. He didn't deserve her child, he didn't deserve them.
"The baby isn't yours," Harriet lied, her voice barely above a whisper.
"It doesn't matter," Damien replied coldly. "I'm already having them conduct a NIPP test."
He rose to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving Harriet alone again. Her heart sank as the door closed. How had this man changed overnight? How had he been able to keep up the facade for five whole years?
The tears came then, hot and unstoppable. Harriet sobbed into her hands, her body shaking with the force of the grief.
Minutes passed, or maybe it was hours—she couldn't tell. The door opened again, and a nurse walked in. Something about her seemed off. She was wearing a mask, which wasn't unusual in a hospital, but her eyes were cold and oddly familiar.
"Good evening, Harriet,"
Harriet barely registered her words. The nurse approached her bed and adjusted the IV, her movements quick. Harriet watched her through her tears, a sense of unease growing in the pit of her stomach.
"What are you doing?" Harriet asked, her voice hoarse.
The nurse didn't respond. She pulled a syringe from her pocket and injected something into her IV. It took a moment for the apple scent to hit Harriet. Blood drained from Harriet's face as the nurse slowly removed the mask—this wasn't a nurse. This was Melissa.
"What did you inject me with?" Harriet asked, panic rising in her chest as she started to feel dizzy and weak.
"Just a little drug to make you go crazy for a few days," Melissa replied, her lips curling into a tentative smile. "Gives me more time to convince Damien to send you to a mental institution."
Every part of Harriet trembled as she stared at Melissa in shock. Her vision was starting to blur. "Why are you doing this?"
"Do you know how hard I tried to make Damien fall for me?" Melissa's voice was bitter. "How hard I worked to get a place in his life? I'm not going to let you ruin that. He's found out about your child and he wants you back. It's only a matter of time before he throws me out when I've not even settled in. What about me? What about Larry? Sorry, Harriet, you have to go. Once the drug starts to take effect, you'll lose your mind completely for a few days. I'll convince Damien to send you off to a mental institution before the drug wears off, and you're never going to return. As for the NIPP result, I'll handle it. Ciao."
Melissa's words echoed in Harriet's mind as the room spun around her. She tried to reach out, to stop Melissa, but her limbs felt like lead. Her strength was fading fast, her vision slurry. The last thing Harriet saw was Melissa's triumphant smile before everything went black.
Note-* (NIPP means Non-Invasive Paternal Paternity. The test involves taking a blood sample from the mother and a blood sample from the alleged father. Fetal DNA can be found in the mother's bloodstream as early as 7-10 weeks into pregnancy so the dna is the child can be found in the mother's blood.)