Chapter 2

Kate's POV

Two pink lines.

I stared at the pregnancy test, my hands shaking. It had been a month since that nightmare of an interview, and Alex and I had hit rock bottom. We lived like strangers in the same house—him full of guilt, me full of despair.

But now, maybe everything would change.

"Alex!" I rushed out of the bathroom, shouting excitedly. "Alex, come here!"

He hurried out of his study, his eyes still holding that familiar worry and wariness. For the past month, he'd been looking at me like that, as if I were a ticking time bomb ready to explode.

"I'm pregnant." I held up the test, tears in my eyes.

Alex froze, then slowly his face broke into a smile I hadn't seen in ages. In that moment, he became the gentle husband from my memories again.

"Really? Kate, my God..." He carefully embraced me, his voice choking. "Maybe this baby is God's gift to us, a chance to start over."

"Yes," I held him tightly, feeling this long-lost warmth. "We can start over, Alex. Forget all those terrible things."

"I love you, Kate. I'll protect you and the baby." He gently kissed my forehead.

In that instant, I thought it was all over. I thought our marriage had found redemption.

Three days later.

"Alex, Anna wants to see us." Alex returned from Anna's house, his face grave. "She says she received an important divine revelation."

I was preparing dinner, and hearing this nearly made me cut my finger with the knife. "What revelation?"

"About the baby." Alex's voice was quiet, but I heard the unease in it. "She said... she needs to tell us something."

Half an hour later, we sat in Anna's living room. Candles filled the entire room, the air thick with incense. Anna sat across from us, her table covered with crystal balls and tarot cards.

"I'm so sorry to have to tell you this," Anna's voice was full of fake anguish. "But God showed me terrible visions."

She picked up the crystal ball, closing her eyes: "Kate will use this baby as a weapon... I see her at the airport, holding the child, with another man..."

"Impossible!" Alex jumped up. "Kate's not that kind of person!"

But Anna opened her eyes, staring directly at Alex: "Do you remember her ex-boyfriend Daniel? He's in New York now, working at Morrison & Associates."

My blood instantly ran cold. Daniel was indeed in New York, we had indeed had a relationship, but that was years ago.

"Anna, you're insane." I said coldly. "I've never thought about leaving Alex."

"God tells me," Anna's voice became even more ominous, "when a woman loses what she desires, revenge will cloud her judgment. You lost your chance at Morrison & Associates, now you'll use the baby to punish Alex."

Alex's gaze toward me began to change. That suspicion, that wariness, was back.

"Alex, you don't believe this nonsense, do you?" I grabbed his hand. "We just reconciled!"

But his hand felt stiff in mine.

The next few days became hell.

I discovered Alex was checking my phone. Late at night, when he thought I was asleep, he would secretly look through my emails, social media, even call logs.

On the fourth day, I found a small GPS tracker in my purse.

"Why did you put this in my bag?" I threw the tracker on the dining table, shaking with rage.

Alex's face flushed red: "Kate, you've been acting strange lately, I just wanted to make sure you and the baby were safe."

"This isn't protection, this is SURVEILLANCE!" My voice echoed through the kitchen. "Alex, I'm your wife, not your prisoner!"

"Anna said you might..."

"Anna said! Anna said!" I roared. "When did you become Anna Cross's parrot? Have you ever used your own brain to think?"

Just as we were arguing, the doorbell rang. Anna appeared at the door carrying an elegant basket, her face wearing a concerned smile.

"I heard the arguing," she said. "Emotional fluctuations during pregnancy are perfectly normal. I brought some special vitamins that are very good for pregnant women."

She pulled an elegantly packaged bottle of capsules from the basket: "These are European imported pregnancy supplements, they help stabilize emotions and are great for the baby's brain development too."

Alex gratefully took the bottle: "Thank you, Anna. Kate has been emotionally unstable lately..."

"I don't have mental problems!" I screamed. "You're the ones manipulating me!"

Anna and Alex exchanged a look that sent chills down my spine. It was the look two sane people give a mental patient.

Despite my strong refusal, Alex didn't force me to take those vitamins. But two weeks later, I started seeing things that weren't there.

At first it was just mild dizziness, which I thought was a normal pregnancy symptom. But gradually, the symptoms became stranger and stranger.

Shadows in corners would suddenly move, writhing and twisting like living creatures. Figures would flash by outside the window, and every time I rushed to check, nothing was there.

Sometimes I would even hear a baby crying, that piercing wail coming from all directions, drilling into my ears, making me clutch my head in pain.

"Kate, are you okay?" Alex looked at me with concern. "You're very pale."

I wanted to tell him about the things I was seeing, but the words stuck in my throat. If I told him, wouldn't that confirm Anna's so-called "mental instability"?

This morning was even more terrifying. I saw Daniel's face in the mirror. That face I had forgotten for so many years suddenly appeared clearly behind me, wearing a sinister smile.

I screamed and spun around, but nothing was there.

"Kate!" Alex rushed into the bathroom, holding me tightly. "What happened?"

"I... I saw..." I trembled, unable to speak.

That's when I noticed my coffee cup on the sink, with some fine white powder residue at the bottom.

My blood instantly froze.

"Alex," I pointed at the cup, my voice shaking, "what is that?"

Alex followed my gaze, his face instantly turning pale. He frantically tried to grab the cup, but it was too late.

"What did you put in my coffee?" I grabbed his wrist, my nails digging deep into his skin.

"Kate, calm down..." Alex's voice was trembling.

"You've been DRUGGING me!" My voice became shrill. "Those vitamins! You put them in my food!"

Alex's eyes flashed with fear and guilt: "Kate, that's not drugging, those are nutritional supplements! Anna said this way would be better for..."

"Anna! Anna again!" I roared. "Do you even KNOW what that stuff is? You're poisoning me!"

"No!" Alex grabbed my shoulders. "I'm doing this for you and the baby..."

I looked at that twisted love in his eyes and suddenly felt unprecedented despair.

My husband, the father of my child, was personally destroying me while thinking he was protecting us.

"Alex," I shoved him away hard, laughing bitterly, "do you know you're KILLING me?"

His face instantly turned ashen.