Although I was suffering from labor pains, my mother-in-law and my husband’s entire family closed the door and went on a trip… when they returned the next day and didn’t find me, they were distraught to see a sign that said: “house sold”.

Despite the agonizing labor pains ripping through my body, my husband’s family locked the front door and left for their vacation. When they returned seven days later, they weren’t shocked to see me; they were horrified to discover the house had been sold.

The pain hit me like a jagged blade plunging into my abdomen, tightening and twisting until my entire body felt as rigid as a stone pillar. I collapsed to my knees and gripped the edge of the sofa, my breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps that barely filled my lungs.

The glass of orange juice I had been holding slipped from my trembling fingers, shattering on the tile and splashing liquid everywhere. Cold sweat matted my hair to my forehead as I gritted my teeth, trying to convince myself these were just Braxton Hicks contractions.

However, the second wave arrived almost instantly, far more brutal than the first, feeling as though a thousand needles were piercing my skin simultaneously. I am Valerie, and I was carrying Dominic’s child, currently thirty eight weeks into a pregnancy that everyone said still had a few weeks to go.