Betrayed by her husband

Chapter2

LOUISA'S POV

When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing I heard was the steady beeping of a machine somewhere beside me. A dull ache lingered throughout my body, and when I tried to move, I felt the pull of a needle attached to my arm.

For a moment, I simply stared at the white ceiling above me, struggling to gather my thoughts.

The pounding pain that had been tormenting the back of my head was gone, leaving behind only a strange heaviness.

I couldn't remember how I had gotten there. My gaze wandered around the room, taking in the pale walls and familiar scent of disinfectant. Something about the place felt familiar.

This was the same hospital where I had given birth seven years ago.

The door opened, and a nurse walked inside carrying a file. She looked to be in her late forties, with kind eyes and silver strands beginning to appear in her dark hair.

I pushed myself up slightly. "How did I get here?" I asked.

My voice sounded weak even to my own ears.

The nurse glanced down at the file before answering.

"Mrs. Yale, you collapsed at the hospital entrance."

As soon as she said it, fragments of memory rushed back and the last hope I had for Manuel shattered. I was thinking he brought me here.

I remembered gripping the steering wheel while struggling to breathe. I remembered stumbling out of the car.

"How are you feeling now?" the nurse asked gently.

"My head hurts." The words came out rough and strained. I bit down on my lower lip so hard that I tasted blood.

People looked at me and saw a perfect life. The wife of a powerful businessman and a wealthy woman with a beautiful family.

People spoke to me with admiration. They envied me.

None of them knew my entire life had been built on lies.

"You lost some blood," the nurse said while making notes on her clipboard. "What happened?"

"I fell."The lie came automatically and my eyes watched hers, hoping that would end the conversation, but instead she continued studying my face.

"You seem familiar." She said,

I forced a small smile as I spoke. "I gave birth here seven years ago."

"Really?" She asked, a small emotion flickered on her face.

"Yes," I replied. For several seconds she didn't say anything.

Then she spoke slowly. "Mrs. Yale... I think I remember you.” She continued typing on the system. "If I'm not mistaken, you gave birth to a little girl."

My heart skipped a beat upon hearing her words.

"She had the most beautiful blue eyes and the chubbiest cheeks. I remember her because she looked so much like you."

I stared at her. Surely she had mistaken me for someone else. "I had a boy," I said firmly. "His name is Thomas."

The room fell silent.

For a brief moment, uncertainty flashed across her face.

Then she offered a careful smile.

"Sometimes head injuries can affect memories, Mrs. Yale. It might be best to discuss this with your doctor before you're discharged."

I didn't respond. I just simply lay back against the pillows while she completed her checks.

But her words refused to leave my mind.

The nurse recalls me having a girl. I remembered telling Manuel that the scans showed we were having a daughter. I still remembered how happy he had looked.

Then there had been complications during delivery and I had lost consciousness. When I woke up, there was a baby boy beside me.

Manuel had explained everything away so easily. He said mistakes happened and sometimes scans were wrong. At the time, I had trusted him completely.

Why wouldn't I? He was my husband and the man I loved.

———

Three days later, I discharged myself. Nobody came to pick me up. My father claimed he was out of town; Manuel didn't answer his phone.

As I sat in the back of a taxi heading to Manuel’s corporate headquarters, my phone vibrated. A social media notification popped up. It was a post from Tiffany.

I opened it and I saw that she had posted several photos. In all of them, Tiffany was smiling brightly. And my husband, Manuel, stood beside her with his arm around her waist.

Thomas stood between them and they all looked happy. It was as though they were a perfect family.

I scrolled through the pictures before I checked the caption above.

"A happy family.”

For several seconds, I couldn't breathe and my vision blurred. My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white.

While I had been lying alone in a hospital bed, wondering whether my life was falling apart, they had been spending time together.

As though I had never existed.

By the time I arrived home, the pain in my chest felt unbearable. I walked through the house in silence and went straight upstairs.

The nurse's words echoed endlessly in my mind. You gave birth to a little girl.

The more I thought about it, the more everything seemed to fit together.

My hands trembled as I entered Thomas's bedroom. I walked slowly toward his dresser and picked up his comb.

Several strands of hair were caught between the teeth.

For a long moment, I simply stared at them. My chest tightened painfully.

Never in my life had I imagined I would doubt whether Thomas was truly my child.

The thought alone felt like betrayal. Yet I could no longer ignore the questions.

Carefully, I removed the strands of hair and placed them inside a small plastic bag before slipping it into my purse.

Then I immediately returned to my bedroom and closed the door behind me.

The house felt unbearably quiet. And neither Manuel or Thomas came home that night.

—————

The next morning, Dr. Phillip was at his desk when I came in. He was a friend and my doctor. I trusted him.

"You want a private DNA test," he said, looking at me with questioning eyes.

"Yes. Please no one can know about this" I said. "Please, Phillip” I begged him, the desperation on my face was obvious.

"Give me a few hours," he said, and stood up leaving.

I sat in the small waiting room down the hall and I waited. I prayed I was wrong. I thought about Thomas's face when he apologized and how it looked so much like Manuel and I told myself I was being crazy and paranoid and that the nurse had mixed up her patients.

After a while Phillip came out. He sat down next to me with the result.

"The DNA doesn't match. Thomas is not your biological son."

My throat tightened like I was being strangled and my chest began to hurt.

All these years I've been cooking, cleaning, crying and fighting for a child that did not come from me. I had to quit my job. I stood outside his school every single day. I had sat in that car and listened to him call me a nanny and felt my heart break and all this time.

Phillip grabbed my arm gently. “Mrs Yale, you shouldn't be driving. Let me—,"

"I'm fine." I pulled my arm back. "Thank you Phillip."

After I left the hospital , I drove straight to Manuel's office for a confrontation.

I rehearsed the lines I was going to say. I wanted him to tell me he knew nothing about this.

I arrived at Yale Enterprises, bypassing the reception, and marched straight toward the executive suite. The door to Manuel's office was slightly ajar. I paused, the breath catching in my throat as I peered through the gap.

Tiffany was sitting comfortably on Manuel's lap, a glass of red wine in her hand.

"I'm tired of playing the secretary, Manuel,"

Tiffany complained, tracing his jawline.

"Thomas is my biological son. The world needs to know we legally married in secret last year. I am your true wife."

I staggered back, the walls tilting. Married last year? Tiffany had vanished for ten months under the guise of an international "sabbatical." She hadn't been traveling. She had been pregnant with Manuel's child.

Manuel had orchestrated the swap while I was unconscious in the delivery room, dumping my biological daughter somewhere to ensure his mistress's child inherited my family wealth.

"I’m planning to file the divorce papers soon," Manuel assured her, kissing her deeply with a hunger he had never once shown me. "Our marriage was just a financial cover-up to secure her grandfather’s trust. I just need thirty days to quietly divert the Starlight Fund into Thomas's name, then she's gone."

Rage, pure and unadulterated, shattered my shock. I threw the door open.

"You monsters!" I screamed.

Before they could move, I lunged forward, ripping Tiffany off his lap by her hair. I turned on Manuel, channeling every ounce of my agony into a brutal slap that cracked across his face.

"Louisa!" Manuel roared, shoving me away violently. I fell hard against the leather sofa. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"Where is my daughter?!" I shrieked, tears streaming down my face. "Thomas is Tiffany's bastard! You swapped my baby! Where is she?!"

Tiffany sneered, straightening her dress. "He's Manuel's legitimate heir, you fool. And your daughter? She was born premature. Manuel had her dumped in an alley. She’s long dead."

The words pierced my soul. Dead? No. I refuse to believe it.

Manuel looked down at me, his face a mask of pure cruelty. "I never loved you, Louisa. Your inheritance built this room, but Tiffany has always been the only woman in my heart."

I forced myself to stand up, wiping the tears from my face. The heartbroken wife died in that moment. A vengeful demon took her place. If I sued for divorce now, they would hide the assets, and I would never find my child. I had to play their game to destroy them.

"Thirty days," I said, my voice dropping to a deadly, calm whisper. "Give me thirty days as husband and wife to say goodbye. Then I will sign the divorce papers and leave quietly."

Manuel blinked, surprised, before glancing at Tiffany. He whispered to her, "If she signs willingly after thirty days, we avoid a public audit of the Starlight Fund." He turned back to me. "Fine. Thirty days."

I turned on my heel and walked out. I didn't go home. I drove straight to the neon-lit elite district of the city, pulling out my phone to call David, my trusted private investigator.

"Meet me at the Blackwood Lounge," I commanded. "And bring the corporate asset files."