“Put the pills down, Lily.” Axel replied.
“Axel, I just had an abortion.” She said with her voice trembling.
“Yes.” He replied and she let out a gasp as tears welled up in her eyes.
“You still have to take the last pill though.” He replied and she stared at him in disbelief.
“How can you say such a thing? How can you be so cruel and heartless?” She yelled at him.
“Stop overreacting over a little thing. Just take the third pill and let’s get this over with.” He replied and she scoffed, she sniffed and wiped the tears that streamed down her eyes.
“You killed a child. You made me kill a child.”
“It is not a child yet, it was just two weeks old.” He replied with an eye roll and Lily couldn’t help but open her mouth in shock, she was so speechless.
She thought he was caring for her but all he wanted to do was just to make sure the abortion was successful.
“Two weeks old is something. Why didn’t you tell me? You think my opinion is not needed before you abort my child?” Lily yelled.
“Oh, quit with the drama. It wasn’t a child yet.”
“But it belonged to me. I was carrying it. Why would you abort it?”
“I can’t have a child now, okay? A child will ruin my reputation. We have only been married for two weeks, if everyone found out you were pregnant then they would get to the root of how we met. That I picked you up as a slut and got into a contract marriage with you and besides, in the contract, it wasn’t stated that you would get pregnant.” He replied and Lily felt her heart shatter as he said those hurtful words to her.
“You didn’t pick me up as a slut. I am not a slut, I was there because… ”
“At that moment, you were a slut. You were willing to sell your body for money so you are no different from it.” He cut her off and tears fell out of Lily’s eyes.
“You care about your reputation so much more than a life. I went through that pain because of you and you acted like you knew nothing about it. What if something had gone wrong?” She yelled in tears and Axel rolled his eyes.
“I was there, nothing went wrong.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it first? We could have talked about it, we could have worked things out in a… ”
“No. You didn’t need to know about it. We also had nothing to talk about and even if we were to talk about it, you are too dumb to care for a child, you are a child yourself.” He replied and Lily felt her shattered heart broken into more pieces. How can he say such mean words so effortlessly?
“Dumb? I am not dumb. I can take care of myself and care for a child.”
“Really?” Axel asked and walked closer to her.
“Really? You can take care of yourself? You had a fucking nightstand with a stranger and you didn’t even use a pill or check yourself up.” Axel replied and raised his voice at her.
“How was I supposed to know? I have never had sex before, you were my first, I didn’t know how things worked, I am not an expert in that aspect.” She replied in tears and Axel scoffed.
“You made me kill a child, Axel. I feel so horrible right now.” She cried and he picked up the last pill and turned to her.
“I don’t care, you are not in pain anymore, I don’t care. Take the last pill.” He said and stretched it to her.
Lily slapped the pill off his hand and glared at him.
“I am not using any pills.” She replied and was about to walk away but he grabbed her by her arm and pulled her back roughly.
“Go pick up the fucking pill and use it.” He said with a stern look and squeezed her hand, Lily whimpered in pain and looked away from him due to how terrifying he looked.
“Let go of me.” She cried.
“Will you use the pill or do you want me to help you with it?” He asked.
“I will use it.” She cried in response and he let go of her hand, Lily rushed to the pill on the floor and picked it up, she took it and drank the glass of water on the table.
“Open your mouth.” Axel ordered and she did in fear, he confirmed that she had used the pill and he walked out of her room.
Lily broke down in tears and cried loudly, she felt hurt and betrayed. She thought he cared about her, she thought he was worried about her.
She trusted him and did everything he told her to with ease, she felt so horrible she killed a child.
She cried more as she remembered every word he said to her, he called her dumb and a slut. Lily knows she isn’t so bright and she is slow, but that doesn’t mean she is dumb.
Her selling her body was for a good reason, a good reason that had no successful outcome.
After crying for a while, she lay on her bed, she didn’t know why his words hurt her so badly, she couldn’t get them out of her head or stop crying.
Apart from his words, the guilt of taking her life kept eating her up till she finally cried herself to sleep.
*********
THE NEXT DAY
MORNING
Lily woke up feeling horrible, she felt weighed down by a lot of things. She managed to get ready for the day, she wanted to stay in her room but she was hungry.
She walked out of her room and walked down the stairs slowly, she didn’t want to see Axel. She knew herself so well that she could break down in front of him again. She is just so mad at him and hurt by him.
She got down the stairs and surprisingly, she saw Axel’s best friend Max, then Nora. They were both seated next to each other and having a conversation. Axel wasn’t in the room.
Nora noticed her presence and her face lit up.
“Lily.” She called happily and stood up, she walked to Lily and hugged her tightly.
“Hey.” Lily called and hugged her back. Nora pulled away from the hug and stared at her face, she noticed her eyes were swollen a little like she had cried.
“Did you cry? Are you okay?” She asked and Lily smiled a little and nodded in response.
“Hey, Lily.” Max called and waved at her.
“Hi Max.” She replied and he smiled at her. They suddenly heard footsteps from the stairs and Axel showed up in the living room. Lily felt her heart clench in her chest as he showed up.
“Let’s go.” He told Max and walked out of the house without sparing Lily a glance. She fought the urge to cry and breathed out heavily.
“Well, that was awkward.” Nora said and Lily forced a smile.
“Is everything cool between you two?”
“Yeah.” She replied with a nod.
“So, what a surprise. I thought Axel didn’t want you to come visit anymore.” Lily said, trying to start up a conversation.
“Oh, yeah. I am here to prepare you for our family dinner tonight.” She replied with a smile.
“Oh.”
“Well, it’s not really like a family dinner though. We are having it with a family friend. Actually, Axel’s stepmother’s friend.”
“A family friend?” Lily asked.
“Yeah, The McCalls.” She replied and her eyes widened.
“The McCalls?”