"Your husband chose me over you, Alea. And now, I'm carrying his child."
Alea stared, wide-eyed, at the two naked bodies entwined on the sofa. Fiona, Alea's mother, naked, was straddling Carlos, her own son-in-law.
Tears slid down Alea's cheeks. Her legs went weak. She was stunned and in shock at the betrayal by her mother and her husband.
Chapter 01 — Midnight Betrayal
The night wind blew in, carrying a cold draft. Alea Rahardja woke when the chill crept over her body.
She turned over and pulled the blanket close. Her hand reached across the bed, searching for her husband's warmth.
Empty.
Alea opened her eyes, still heavy with sleep. Carlos's pillow beside her was still neatly in place. There was not the slightest trace that anyone had slept on it.
"Carlos?" Alea called softly.
No answer.
Her gaze fell on the digital clock on the nightstand. 11:15 p.m. It was almost midnight, yet Carlos still hadn't come to bed.
Lately, Alea had been going to sleep earlier than usual. Her pregnancy had entered the third trimester, but her condition was worrying. The doctor said she had placental abruption and needed plenty of rest. The medication she'd been prescribed made her drowsy.
"Carlos must still be working," Alea murmured.
Carefully, she lowered her feet from the bed. One hand supported her swollen belly while the other gripped the edge of the mattress. The baby in her womb gave a small kick, making Alea wince.
"Don't be naughty, sweetheart. Mommy's just looking for Daddy."
Alea walked out of the bedroom toward Carlos's study. But the light in the room was off. The door was slightly ajar, yet the inside was dark and empty.
Alea frowned.
"Not in the study?"
An uneasy feeling began to gnaw at her. She started down the stairs.
The Rahardja family's big house was silent, but just as Alea was about to reach the ground floor, she heard faint sounds coming from the family room.
Heavy breathing. Then a soft moan.
"Carlos..."
Alea's body froze. She knew that voice all too well.
With unsteady steps, Alea walked toward the family room. Her heart pounded. Her world fell apart at the scene before her.
"Carlos? Mom? What are you doing?!"
Alea stared, wide-eyed, at the two naked bodies entwined on the sofa. Fiona, Alea's mother, naked, was straddling Carlos, her own son-in-law.
Tears slid down Alea's cheeks. Her legs went weak. She was stunned and in shock at the betrayal by her mother and her husband.
"You animals! You're doing this in this house?!"
The two naked people startled.
Carlos quickly shoved Fiona aside and snatched up a robe to cover himself. Fiona, meanwhile, casually reached for a tissue and wiped the thick fluid from between her thighs, without the slightest shame.
"Alea, sweetheart, listen to me," Carlos said hurriedly, stepping closer.
"Don't come near me!" Alea snapped, stepping back. "You're both animals!"
Alea turned her face away, and only then did she notice one more person in the room.
Andrean, Alea's father, sat in a wheelchair in the corner. The old man's face was pale. Tears streamed from both eyes as he looked at his daughter.
"Dad..." Alea's voice was faint.
Her chest tightened even more. Not only because Carlos and Fiona had betrayed her, but because they had dared to do all this in front of the helpless Andrean.
"YOU ANIMALS! YOU MONSTERS!"
Alea lunged at Carlos and pounded him blindly.
Alea burst into sobs with every blow that landed on her husband's body.
Carlos didn't stand by idly. He seized Alea's hands, then forced her into an embrace.
"Calm down, sweetheart! I can explain everything. Please, don't be like this!"
Carlos tried to calm her, but Alea fought back hard, trying to break free.
"Let go! You disgust me, Carlos! I hate you!"
Plak!
A hard slap landed on Alea's cheek.
Alea went still.
Her face was turned to the side. She didn't care about her cheek burning. She looked at Fiona, who had just struck her, with eyes full of hurt.
"Stop this madness, Alea!" Fiona snapped. "How dare you interrupt my pleasure and hit my lover!"
Alea's mouth clamped shut. She stepped backward. She couldn't believe Fiona had hit her and shouted at her.
Fiona was not Alea's biological mother. She was only her stepmother. For five years, Fiona had always been kind to Alea's face. That was why Alea respected her and accepted her as a mother.
Andrean had married Fiona after Arumi, Alea's biological mother, passed away. But not long after the wedding, Andrean had an accident that left him permanently paralyzed.
"Your husband chose me over you, Alea." Fiona spoke without a trace of guilt. "We love each other."
"Fiona, enough!" Carlos barked.
But Fiona only moved closer to Carlos. She pressed her body against him, deliberately trying to hurt Alea.
"Let your wife know, Carlos." Fiona spoke with a sneering smile, "what we do every night while she sleeps."
Alea fell silent.
Every night?
That sentence hurt more than Fiona's slap. Alea understood that what they had done had not happened just once. While she lay asleep, weak, Carlos and Fiona had betrayed her again and again.
"We love each other!" Fiona spoke again. "And you can't separate us."
Without shame, Fiona grabbed Carlos's face and kissed him fiercely. Carlos struggled, but Fiona used all her strength to hold him there.
"YOU MONSTERS!"
Alea's head spun. Her vision blurred.
"ALEA!"
Carlos managed to tear himself free from Fiona. He rushed over in a panic and caught Alea's body just as she staggered.
Alea collapsed onto the floor, one hand clutching her belly while tears kept streaming down.
Before she lost consciousness, Alea managed to look toward Andrean.
Her father was crying.
"Da... ad," Alea whispered.
Then everything went dark.
A few hours later...
Crash!
The sound of something shattering woke Alea. Her head was heavy, but she recognized the room she was in at once.
She was in her bedroom. No longer in the family room where she had caught Carlos and her stepmother together.
"I'm going to divorce that old man, Carlos!" Fiona's voice was sharp. "And you have to divorce Alea too!"
Alea closed her eyes. Her still-weak body stiffened at Fiona's words.
"You're insane, Fiona," Carlos replied. "I will never divorce Alea. What's between us ends after that baby is born."
Baby?
Alea's heart felt as if it stopped.
"No!" Fiona laughed bitterly. "This baby and I need you, Carlos. You can't leave us!"
Alea held her breath. Tears flowed down her cheeks again.
Fiona was pregnant.
And the child was Carlos's.
"Sweetheart, you're awake?" Carlos approached when he realized Alea had opened her eyes. "Does anything hurt?"
"Don't touch me," Alea said hoarsely as she tried to push herself upright.
Carlos knelt before her. "Please listen to my explanation, sweetheart. Give me a chance to speak."
"You're a traitor," Alea hissed, shrinking back to get away from Carlos. "You're both disgusting."
"Good, you're finally awake!"
Fiona came closer, holding something in her hand. Without warning, she threw the object in front of Alea.
Two red lines were plainly visible on the pregnancy test Fiona had just thrown.
"I'm pregnant with Carlos's child. The doctor says I'm eight weeks along," Fiona said, triumphant.
Alea's world collapsed again.
Three years of marriage, and only in the third year had Alea conceived Carlos's child. Yet at the very same time, the woman she called Mom was also carrying her husband's child.
Alea couldn't imagine how long Carlos and Fiona had been betraying her.
"You have to accept this child," Fiona said, looking at Alea with a cold smile. "Get ready to share your husband with me. Carlos will be the father of our baby."
