"Why me… why me…" Ella muttered, her voice cracking as her forehead pressed against the steering wheel. Her breath trembled. Her fingers twitched. Her soul felt like it was collapsing inward. She had parked her car just in front of the house, unable to take another step without breaking.
She groaned softly, her chest heaving, weeping so bitterly at how life had been cruel to her. Every choice, every turn, every person she trusted seemed to crumble into dust. She huffed, wiping her cheeks with her shaking hands.
She whispered, "I don't deserve anything good…" even though the night around her stayed painfully silent.
A knock rattled her window.
"Hey… we need to talk," a voice hissed from behind her glass.
She jerked up, startled, then let out a painful chuckle the moment she saw who it was.
"I thought you changed," Ella muttered, stepping out of the car, eyeing Rita's ridiculously staged sad face. Rita's hands trembled. Her lips quivered. Her eyes glistened with crocodile tears she had rehearsed far too many times.
"I did this for us, Ella. For you…" Rita grumbled as she stood there, trying so hard to appear broken.
Ella didn't speak at first. She paced around her slowly, observing her like someone examining a venomous snake pretending to be harmless.
"Just look at yourself," Ella whined, waving her hands in the air dramatically. "Look at how low you've brought yourself for a man who doesn't love you."
Ella hissed under her breath, stepping closer until her face hovered inches from Rita's.
"I hate you, Rita. I do," she said, her tone low, trembling, and dangerously steady. "I will make sure he never sets his eyes on you ever again."
Rita's eyes widened as Ella pulled her shirt straight, wiped her tears aggressively, and forced a soft smile.
"Now, if you don't mind, I need to see my husband."
"You can't go anywhere!" Rita snapped, snorting as she lunged forward. "If I don't have him, you can't!"
She yanked Ella backward by her hair, dragging her violently.
Ella grunted as she pushed her off with all her strength. Rita stumbled and fell hard to the ground.
"Don't you dare test me," Ella muttered, her voice shaking with rage. "I can be more toxic than you are."
She turned sharply and stormed into the house, heading straight for her room.
Ben was away on a business trip, returning the next day. The house felt too quiet without him, too heavy, too unbearable.
A sudden knock interrupted her silence.
"What is it? I told you to stay away…" Ella muttered, irritated, thinking Rita had followed her.
She opened the door and froze. It wasn't Rita. It was one of the house helps, the same one who had been rude to her on her first stay.
"Oh… it's you. I don't need anything. I'm okay," Ella said, assuming she came to ask about dinner.
"No… no, ma'am. I need to talk to you," the woman whispered, stepping forward as Ella tried to close the door.
Ella narrowed her eyes. "What is it this time?"
The maid suddenly dropped to her knees, clutching Ella's legs, trembling violently as she moaned.
"Ma'am, I don't want to be sacked. It was Madam Rita who threatened to fire me if I told anyone," she cried.
"Tell him what?" Ella asked, confused, her brows tightening.
"The pregnancy, ma'am. The back injury. The miscarriage. Everything was fake," the maid confessed, sobbing harder. "All of it."
Ella staggered backward, clutching her chest. She felt Ben's pain rip through her like a knife. But she didn't flinch. She didn't gasp. She kept her expression blank so the maid wouldn't suspect she was learning this for the first time.
"I can't do anything about that," Ella muttered. "This is something only Ben can handle. I'm sorry."
She closed the door gently and leaned against it, exhaling a long, shaky breath. Sleep refused to come that night. She tossed, turned, stared at the ceiling, paced her room, whispered questions to the skies, begged her thoughts to quiet down.
But the chaos refused.
Her heart throbbed. Her mind raced. Everything felt wrong.
And the night dragged on, merciless and loud inside her soul.