After Kenneth left, Sabrina wiped away her tears. She didn’t like crying in front of other people. Getting angry, yes, but crying where someone could see? She had never done that in her entire life, but earlier she struggled to hold herself back. It was difficult for her to remain brave even though she wanted to just die.
As she lay on the bed, her tears continued to flow, and no matter how hard she tried to stop them, she couldn’t. She wanted to sleep to forget everything, but sleep seemed elusive for Sabrina. She tried closing her eyes, but she kept seeing images of Kenneth with another woman.
Even though he denied it multiple times, she still didn’t believe him. It was obvious from the pictures that the two of them were happy together. Kenneth even had his arm around his mistress. He said the pictures were taken a long time ago but she didn’t believe him.
If she weren’t pregnant, she would have confronted the woman and dragged her on the street. The thought crossed her mind as she wiped away the tears that were wasted on a man without honor. If he didn’t want her, there was nothing she could do about it. Yes, she loved him deeply, but she wouldn’t stoop so low as to make him loyal to her.
Never!
After crying her heart out, she went to the bathroom to take a shower. If Kenneth saw her crying, that was enough. She couldn’t let her parents know she was sad, as Brandon might end up hitting the man. She had noticed before that her boyfriend had a short fuse when it came to Kenneth.
After showering, she went downstairs to check on her eldest daughter, Scarlet. She had been playing with her grandmother outside and, based on Sabrina’s estimation, her cousin Arianna was with her too. And her suspicion was correct, so she wondered why Meghan wasn’t there.
“Mom, where’s Meghan?”
“She left, but only for a short while,” Margaret answered Sabrina’s question. “Did you and Kenneth have a fight?”
Sabrina gasped at Margaret’s question and then forced herself to smile. “No, it’s just that I’m in a bad mood today,” she lied to stop her mother’s inquiries.
Margaret secretly raised an eyebrow as she saw the traces of tears on Sabrina’s face. She knew she was lying, but she decided to let it go. When a woman lied, she knew immediately that she didn’t want to share with her whatever was happening between her and Kenneth. She just nodded in agreement, accepting that it was just a bad mood.
“Have you seen Kenneth?” she asked her mother.
“I don’t know where he’s going, but he left a while ago,” Margaret replied.
Sabrina’s heart sank at her mother’s words. Would the man come back? She worried that he might have gone to the woman in the picture. She sighed, realizing that if he did leave for good, he was incredibly weak. Did she have no right to complain about his infidelity anymore?
“I’ll just eat, Mom.”
Food was her only ally whenever she was stressed, so she quickly made her way to the kitchen. She already had an idea of what dish to cook. Actually, she had been craving for fish cooked in vinegar with plenty of garlic and a bit spicy.
Sabrina froze upon entering the kitchen and seeing Kenneth smiling sweetly at her. If that was the case, her mother had lied earlier because surely it wasn’t Kenneth’s soul in the kitchen, smiling sweetly at her.
“Are you hungry? I cooked your favorites,” the man said as he served the food on the table.
She wanted to turn around and go back to where she came from, but she was hypnotized by the smell of the dish he had cooked for her, so she had no choice but to continue inside and swallow her pride. But before she took a seat, she glared at Kenneth as if their argument had meant nothing.
“I also made your favorite lemongrass tea,” Kenneth added as he served the woman, who was still scowling.
She remained silent while starting to eat and ignored the smiling man in front of her. Why did Kenneth have to be talented in the kitchen? She was annoyed as she chewed on the food she swallowed.
If Meghan hadn’t entered, their cold war wouldn’t have been broken. Perhaps her stepsister thought she was okay with Kenneth, so she made a joke and, not wanting to show her true emotions to others, she forced herself to smile.
“Come on, Meghan, join me for a meal.”
“I’m still full, but I was looking for you because another parcel arrived for you,” Meghan said.
As she looked at Meghan’s hand holding a pouch, she was almost deafened by the intensity of her anxiety. And when she glanced at Kenneth, he was also restless like her. “Who is it from?” she asked.
“There’s no indication, but it was delivered by the same person as the one I received yesterday,” Meghan answered.
When Meghan left, Sabrina finally opened the pouch. Her hands trembled slightly, and she felt afraid, but she had to do it.
“Just a moment,” Kenneth stopped the woman from opening the pouch because he was sure that Isabelle was the sender of the documents.
When she heard the man’s voice, it gave her the courage to look inside. “Oh my God!” Sabrina covered her mouth while staring at the pictures of Kenneth. “You’re disgusting!” she said in a soft voice, reproaching Kenneth.
Sabrina retreated from what she learned, unable to contain her tears. The pain in her chest was immense because she believed him when he said he loved her.
“Sabrina, wait!”
“You’re so terrible,” she said weakly, as she had been enduring the pain in her stomach for quite some time.
At first, she ignored the pain in her abdomen, thinking it was just dysmenorrhea, and the pain in her back, but when it worsened, she panicked immediately.
“Sabrina!” Kenneth shouted and quickly approached the woman when he saw her bleeding. Sabrina turned pale when she saw the red liquid flowing from her legs, a sign of her womanhood. “Hold on!”
“My baby,” Sabrina managed to say as Kenneth carried her out of the house.
They passed through the living room, where her mother and Meghan were present. Both of them had worried expressions, but she didn’t have the strength to explain. After Kenneth placed Sabrina in the car, he immediately left and drove the pick-up quickly to get to the hospital.
“Baby, just stay calm, okay? Everything will be fine; we’re almost there,” he continued talking even when Sabrina didn’t respond by his side. If the woman was pale, he was even paler. He didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling at the moment.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Sabrina was promptly attended to, and he learned that they examined her pelvic area to see if her cervix was thinning. An ultrasound was also performed to understand her true condition. While waiting for the results, Kenneth was anxious. His apprehension slightly eased when he noticed Meghan and Margaret approaching.
“What happened? Sabrina’s pregnancy is healthy, right?”
Kenneth didn’t know how to answer Margaret’s question because what the old woman said was true. Sabrina’s pregnancy was healthy because she took good care of herself. However, he couldn’t say that the stress from receiving the pictures from Isabelle had affected Sabrina.
“Aunt, let’s just leave Kenneth alone for now. He still seems shocked by what happened,” Meghan interjected because based on what she saw, the man was still confused.
“If you did something to my daughter, I won’t hesitate to call you out,” Margaret warned Kenneth before turning around and heading to the hospital’s waiting lounge.
“Thank you, Meghan,” Kenneth said when Margaret left.
“I don’t know the whole story, but I hope the parcels she received starting yesterday have nothing to do with it,” Meghan reminded Kenneth because, like Margaret, she would find it hard to forgive him if he had done something foolish again.
“Thanks anyway,” Kenneth repeated.
“Coffee? I think you need a cup to calm down a bit. Don’t worry because we’re in the hospital, and the doctors here are good,” Meghan suggested.
Kenneth just nodded because he was still shocked by what happened to Sabrina. She was about to give birth, so it never crossed his mind that she could have a miscarriage. However, when he saw her bleeding earlier, he didn’t know how to calm down.
He had been wanting to enter the room where Sabrina was being examined, but he had been denied access several times. When the door finally opened, he immediately approached the doctor, but he was told to step aside as they were in a hurry.
“Sabrina…” Kenneth called out as the stretcher carrying the woman passed by him. He followed, but when they arrived at the delivery room, he was forbidden to enter.
He felt like he was going crazy as he paced around the lobby, unable to calm down until he learned the true condition of Sabrina.
“Hasn’t the doctor come out yet?”
Kenneth turned to the woman who spoke and she shook her head. “I hope we hear some news soon,” she said to Meghan.
“Just calm your mind. For sure, Sabrina and the child will be fine,” Meghan tried to strengthen Kenneth’s spirit because he had been restless all this time.
Even though he was with Meghan, Kenneth’s mind was still not at ease. He continued to worry about Sabrina’s condition, so when the door opened, he quickly approached the doctor.
“How is Sabrina, doc?”
“Are you Sabrina’s husband? Come in,” the doctor said.
Kenneth became even more anxious as he followed the doctor into the room where Sabrina was. “Doc, is Sabrina okay?” he asked, but the doctor didn’t respond.
When he saw the woman lying in bed with a baby next to her, he didn’t know what to do next. He was excited but also somewhat scared because the baby was still a few weeks away from the due date.
He slowly walked towards the woman, his gaze shifting to the people around him because Sabrina remained still and her eyes were closed, even though she knew he was approaching. When he looked at their child’s appearance, Kenneth suddenly stepped back.
“We did everything we could to save your wife and child, but the baby couldn’t make it. He’s gone,” the doctor said.
Did he hear correctly? His eyebrows slightly raised as he asked, but Sabrina suddenly burst into tears. And as he listened to her cries of grief, he realized that everything he had heard was true.
“Did you really do everything? Then why does our child look like that?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. McBride.”
He looked at Sabrina again, and their eyes met. In that moment, anger and resentment filled her eyes. In an instant, Sabrina’s gaze toward him changed. Love disappeared, replaced by anger. He bowed his head because he couldn’t bear the accusatory stares she directed at him.
“It’s your fault,” Sabrina blamed Kenneth.
She believed that if he hadn’t given her problems, their child would still be alive. When the midwife told her earlier that the baby had died, she felt like she wanted to die too, but then she thought of Scarlet. She had taken care of the child in her womb for months, only to lose her suddenly.
“Sabrina…” Kenneth whispered.
“I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” she screamed nonstop.