It Was The Demons, Not Me

It Was Demons, Not Me Chapter five

Two Mothers

Six months pregnant.

Six months of carrying a little life inside me while trying to survive my everyday classes.

I was exhausted.

Every morning, getting ready for class felt like a battle. My body was changing, my energy was disappearing, and my mind was constantly somewhere else.

I couldn't even tell whether I was doing well with my studies or slowly falling behind.

Sometimes I would sit in class with my books open in front of me, but instead of reading, I would find myself touching my stomach.

I couldn't wait to give birth.

I just wanted to hold my baby.

I wanted to be free from the heaviness, the tiredness, the constant worry.

But those magical days didn't last forever.

Something began to change.

It started with small things.

Things I almost ignored.

I began noticing something strange whenever my boyfriend spoke to his mother on the phone.

Whenever he called her, she never asked about me.

Not once.

She never asked how I was feeling.

She never asked how the pregnancy was going.

She never asked about the baby.

At first, I told myself not to overthink it.

Maybe she was busy.

Maybe she didn't know what to say.

Maybe there was another explanation.

But then something even stranger happened.

Whenever another woman called him, she would immediately ask about me.

"How is she?"

"Let me speak to her."

"How is the baby?"

She wanted to hear my voice.

She sounded concerned about me.

She sounded like a mother who genuinely cared.

I became confused.

Very confused.

Wait...

Is there another mother?

I couldn't ask him.

I was terrified that asking the wrong question would destroy the relationship I had fought so hard to rebuild.

So I stayed quiet.

But the questions continued growing inside my mind.

Who was this woman?

Why did he always tell me to keep quiet whenever she called?

Why couldn't I speak when she was on the phone?

Why did she never ask about me or the baby?

And why was another woman so interested in checking on me?

Something wasn't right.

I started paying closer attention.

The more I watched, the more uncomfortable I became.

One day, curiosity got the better of me.

I went through his phone again.

My heart was pounding as I searched through his contacts and messages.

Then I found her.

His real mother.

The woman he actually spoke to as his mother was the same woman who never asked about me.

My stomach turned.

Does she even know I exist?

I stared at the phone.

For the first time, the beautiful future I had imagined began to crack.

I felt as if I had been living inside a story that someone else had written.

I was six months pregnant.

I had moved in with this man.

I had trusted him.

I had spoken to the woman I believed was his mother.

I had allowed myself to become part of what I thought was his family.

And now I was wondering whether any of it was real.

I felt completely finished.

But instead of confronting him, I made a decision.

I saved the number of the woman who had always been so concerned about me.

I didn't tell him.

I didn't tell anyone.

I contacted her privately.

After some messages, we agreed to meet somewhere away from him.

The entire journey to that meeting place, my heart wouldn't stop beating.

I didn't know what I was going to hear.

But I knew I had to find the truth.

When she arrived, I immediately noticed something was wrong.

She looked frightened.

She kept looking around as though she was afraid someone had followed her.

We sat down.

I looked directly into her eyes.

"Who are you?"

She became silent.

Then she lowered her head.

"I don't know how to tell you this."

My heart sank.

"Please. Just tell me the truth."

She took a deep breath.

Then she said something that made the entire world around me disappear.

"I was hired."

I stared at her.

"Hired?"

She nodded.

"I was hired to pretend to be his mother."

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

I thought I had misunderstood her.

"What do you mean?"

She began explaining everything.

She wasn't his mother.

She had been paid to play the role.

She had been instructed to speak to me, check on me, make me believe that I was accepted by his family and that everything was normal.

I felt the blood drain from my face.

All those phone calls.

All those conversations.

All those moments when I believed I was speaking to someone who genuinely cared about me.

It had all been an act.

My hands moved instinctively toward my stomach.

My baby.

My entire relationship.

My future.

What else had been a lie?

I looked at the woman sitting across from me.

"Why?"

She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"I was told to do it so you would stay in the relationship."

My mind went completely blank.

I suddenly felt like I needed to run.

Not walk.

Run.

I had no idea who I was living with.

I had no idea what else he had hidden from me.

And the most frightening thought entered my mind:

If he was capable of creating a fake mother just to keep me in the relationship.

I was terrified to discover what else he had been hiding.

I left the meeting with the woman feeling like my whole world had fallen apart.

I walked slowly, one hand holding my bag and the other resting on my stomach.

My baby was still moving inside me.

That little movement reminded me that I couldn't think only about myself anymore.

I had to protect my child.

But protect my child from what?

From the man I loved?

That thought broke my heart.

When I arrived home, he was there.

He looked at me and smiled as if everything was normal.

"Where have you been?"

I looked at him.

For the first time, his smile frightened me.

I forced myself to smile back.

"Just outside."

He came closer and touched my stomach.

"How is my baby?"

I almost pulled away.

Instead, I stood still.

"Fine."

He smiled again.

"I missed you."

Those words used to make my heart melt.

That day, they made me feel sick.

I kept thinking about the woman I had just met.

He hired me to pretend to be his mother.

I wanted to confront him immediately.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to ask him why he had lied to me.

But something stopped me.

Fear.

I realized that I didn't know what he might do if he discovered that I knew the truth.

So I decided to keep quiet.

That night, while he slept, I stayed awake.

I looked at him in the darkness.

Who was this man?

Was the loving man I had seen during my pregnancy real?

Or had that also been another part of the plan?

I remembered how quickly he had changed after learning that I was pregnant.

The prayers.

The smiles.

The baby shopping.

The way he suddenly wanted to take care of me.

Had the baby really changed him?

Or had he simply changed his strategy?

I couldn't sleep.

The next morning, I made a decision.

I needed to meet his real mother.

Not the woman he had hired.

Not someone pretending.

His actual mother.

I still had her number from his phone.

My hands trembled as I saved it.

I stared at the number for several minutes.

Then I finally typed:

"Hello. My name is..."

I stopped.

What was I supposed to say?

I'm your son's girlfriend?

I'm carrying your grandchild?

Did you know about me?

I deleted the message.

I tried again.

This time I wrote:

"Hello. I need to speak to you privately. It's very important."

I couldn't press send, I'm of goodness I shouldn't look desperate. I'm more alive just like them I can live this life even without them.

I cried so much!