His to Keep

Praise POV “You are three weeks pregnant,” the doctor announced to me. “Pregnant?!” I screamed out of joy. “Yes,” he said and handed me the test results. “I have to take the day off and rejoice with my husband. Joe would be so happy,” I exclaimed, as my joy knew no bounds. “You can. It’s a thing to celebrate. Five years of marriage is not five days,” the doctor said. He was right, five years of waiting patiently for a child to brighten our lives is not five days. Joe was always there for me. When I went to my friend’s baby shower, I felt so broken that he would whisper in my ear, “Our turn will surely come, baby. Don’t stress over it.” And now, I can’t wait to tell him that our time has finally come. I discharged my duty at the hospital and took the day off. I decided to make the house look so special today, so that when Joe returned from work, it would be the best night ever. The house needed to look special so a few decorative from the nearby store would help. As I drove home, Kiara's excited face stuck in my head, knowing that she would soon be an aunt. When I reached home, the gate was unusually open, a habit that I had always warned Kiara about. Kiara was twenty-four yet careless. I drove casually into the house, yet Kiara didn’t come out to welcome me. Maybe she was working and didn’t hear my horn. I came out of the car and locked the gate. Holding the test results in my hands, I walked excitedly to the door. The door was unusually ajar, as though someone had walked through it and forgotten to close it. I almost got annoyed because I had warned Kiara several times to make sure the doors were carefully locked for security reasons. But the joy I came back with was too much to let me get annoyed. As I stepped inside, I felt something was off. The house was unusually quiet, and I heard strange voices coming from my bedroom. Joe was not supposed to be at home today. He had been complaining of business failure recently and had been spending more time at work. “Kiara?” I called, but no one answered. “Kiara?!” I called again, but she didn’t respond. So I walked to her room, but she wasn’t there. I checked around the house, but she wasn’t there either. So I decided to check inside my room. On reaching my room, what I saw broke me. It was Kiara and Joe. Kiara was comfortably lying down with my husband on top of her, and she moaned softly. As I saw them, my legs stopped moving. I just watched helplessly without making a sound. Then my eyes met Kiara’s. But instead of stopping, Kiara leaned forward and kissed my husband. I couldn’t watch anymore. I couldn’t even intrude. Tears filled my eyes as I stepped out of the house, entered my car, and zoomed off. Joe’s POV My body was so sore when I woke up. My head ached as I tried to remember the events that had happened earlier. Lately, my company had been falling apart and had almost gone bankrupt. I reached out to a friend who was a doctor and was very rich. That was the worst mistake I ever made. I knew that he got that money illegally, but I couldn’t watch my business fold up like that. Things had been so hectic at home, and I didn’t want to add to my wife’s conception issues. Praise deserved a peaceful life, and I wasn’t ready to add to her problems. But my friend turned out to be a loan shark, and the step that was supposed to save my business was actually ruining my life. George came to my office today to harass me as usual. “You have to pay me a hundred million dollars! I don’t care where you’re getting the money from. I’ve given you enough time. I need my money,” he ranted and threatened. “You have to calm down, George. We signed a contract, and I’m sure your interest is not up to that sum. Besides, I don’t have such an amount of money!” I pleaded. “Where are the documents?” he asked. “Which documents?” “The documents regarding our contract,” he replied. I reached into my drawer where I usually kept all documents, but it wasn’t there. I searched around my office but couldn’t find it. There was no way I had left it at home; it was definitely in the office. “I’m still waiting,” he said. “I can’t find it at the office. Maybe I’ll look for it when I get home today,” I said. “You don’t understand anything, Joe. I need those documents now! If you need to go to your house to get them, do it now,” he yelled. “When did you become so hardened? I thought we were friends?” I asked gently. “You are wasting my time, Joe. I need those papers,” he said. I took a deep breath and shook my head. Human beings are never to be trusted. “You have to wait for me at the receptionist’s office,” I said. He walked out furiously. The bang of my door sounded twice in my head. I wore my suit immediately and rushed home to get the papers. The last thing I remembered was Kiara coming out to welcome me, offering me a glass of water. I steadied myself against the wall, trying to stand up, but my vision was blurred. I reached for my phone and saw that it was already six in the evening. Praise should be home by now. “Honey!” I managed to call, but my strength failed me, so I collapsed onto the bed and closed my eyes. I woke up hours later feeling much better than before. I phoned my receptionist immediately, and she told me George had left as soon as I went home. I dialed my wife’s number, but it was not reachable. Then I stood up gently and entered the parlour. I saw Kiara crying, with five masked men around her. I froze immediately. “What’s going on here?” I asked. “I’m sorry, Joe. I’m so sorry,” she said. My head spun and faint memories returned. I had had s*x with Kiara. “What the hell happened?!” I yelled. “I’m sorry, I had to. Please forgive me,” she cried. “You had to do what? Where’s my wife? And who are these men?” I asked. Immediately, one of them pointed a gun at me. “Hand over your phone,” he said. “Why—” I protested despite the gun. The second one walked towards me and punched me in the stomach. “Hand over the phone, or one shot and you’re gone,” he said. Kiara walked up to me and took the phone from my shaking hands and gave it to them. “Just comply, please. Things will be more complicated for Praise if you’re dead,” she whispered. The leader of the masked men took my phone and broke it in front of me. They raided the house and destroyed every digital gadget I had. After doing that, they tied me up and took me to their van. The last thing I saw was Kiara’s teary face. “Please, don’t harm him,” she said before they zoomed off.