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”.

Gertrude barked out a harsh laugh, her sharp eyes scanning me like a cold predator. “Do not try to play the victim with me, because I know your little tricks far too well.”

“You are just dying of envy because the family is going abroad to enjoy themselves, so you want to ruin our plans,” she continued, tightening her grip on her purse. “The flights and the five star hotel are already paid for, and they are non refundable, so do not even think about stopping us.”

I turned to Dominic, expecting at least a sliver of humanity from the man I had shared my life with, but he refused to meet my eyes. He turned his back to me and muttered, “Come on, Valerie, just hang in there and go to your room to rest, it is probably just a stomach ache.”

“We will be back before you know it,” he added, though a week felt like an eternity when my heart was being squeezed by terror. Another contraction slammed into me, throwing me face down onto the cold floor as a gush of warm fluid soaked through my clothes.

“Dominic, help me, my water just broke,” I screamed, my voice choked and barely audible. “Please, just call an ambulance before you leave.”