HerDownfall,MyEscapePlan
1099 Words
Chapter 5
HER DOWNFALL, MY ESCAPE PLAN
The next day, I walked into the apartment and found Sonia standing still in the middle of the room, holding a folded slip of paper in her hand.
My stomach dropped.
She turned to me slowly. “You weren’t gonna tell me?”
I froze. “Tell you what?”
She held up the paper — the pregnancy test result I thought I’d thrown away.
“I’ve been noticing the changes,” she said, voice calm but sharp. “You’ve been moody, nauseous, I figured something was off. But I waited. I wanted to hear it from you.”
I didn’t say a word.
She stepped closer. “But instead, I find this. Lying under your bed.”
Silence stretched.
And I knew the clock on my secret had just started ticking.
“I didn’t tell you because… it’s not Solomon’s baby ” I said, eyes low. “It’s my sneaky link’s. If Solomon finds out, I lose everything.”
Sonia’s face softened with understanding. “Why didn’t you just say that?”
“I was scared,” I whispered. “I didn’t plan this.”
She hugged me tight. “Your secret’s safe with me. I won’t say a word.”
And just like that, the lie settled between us , neat and believable.
Out of panic, I knew Sonia knowing about the pregnancy was too risky. One slip, and she’d connect the dots and find out everything.
So I started making plans to get rid of her
It was time to end it for good.
Sonia was still too close, still too trusted by too many. I needed a final move that would remove her completely, without her ever suspecting it was me.
So I did the unthinkable.
I embezzled funds from the company — six figures, carefully hidden through fake vendors and disguised invoices.
Then I rerouted the digital trace to Sonia’s login. Faked approvals. Made sure every fingerprint led back to her.
Within days, the accounting team noticed the embezzlement. The board called Solomon.
He was stunned. “Sonia?” he said, jaw clenched.
But the evidence was clear.
And the company’s policy was stricter than emotion.
“She has to go,” Solomon told me. “If I let this slide, People will think it’s favoritism and some of my workers might get the balls to start embezzling funds thinking I won’t do a thing”.
So just like that, he fired her.
No appeal. No explanation. No warning.
And Sonia walked out of the company in silence. confused, broken, humiliated.
She never even looked back.
Exactly how I wanted it.
That night at Solomon’s, I laid my head on his chest while he stroked my back, his mind clearly elsewhere.
“I still can’t believe Sonia would do something like that,” he muttered. “I keep thinking maybe there’s something I missed… I want to speak to her, one-on-one. Ask her what came over her.”
“Her hardwork in the company has really helped it grow so much” “I feel something must have come over her “.
My chest tightened.
I lifted my head and looked him in the eyes. “You don’t need to do that, babe. I know her better than anyone. We grew up together. She’s two-faced… always has been. She used to lie and steal behind my back in school. She had betrayed me several times, lied, used me. She’s not who you think she is. This doesn’t surprise me at all.”
He frowned, surprised. “You never said all that before.”
“I didn’t want to ruin the way you saw her,” I said, voice trembling. “But after everything… I’m done protecting her.”
He sighed.“You need to distance yourself from Sonia. I’ll get you another apartment. somewhere safe. You don’t need that energy around you. I don’t trust her anymore “
I nodded, clutching his hand.
“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
His advice was just perfect for my next plan— to fly out of Los Angeles before my pregnancy starts showing, deliver my baby , hand my baby to my grandma who wouldn’t ask questions or judge me, return to Los Angeles with my heels, a suitcase and a new story
Two days later, I flew out of Los Angeles.
Told Solomon I needed space. “I just need to heal from Sonia’s constant betrayals. I want to go to somewhere far away from the city, from the memories. I’ll stay with my grandma in San Jose for a bit.”
He supported it, no questions asked. Even sent me money I didn’t need. I was already well funded from the money I’d stolen and pinned on Sonia. And no one suspected a thing!
Months later at San Jose. Life was quiet, controlled. My pregnancy was seven going on eight months. I was shining ,glowing, and careful to avoid anyone who might know me.
That afternoon, I had a routine antenatal appointment at St. Aurelia Medical Center, the most elite hospital in all of California. Only the wealthy delivered there.
What I didn’t know was that Solomon had just flown in his wife, the one everyone thought was overseas, the one who rarely stayed in Los Angeles — to deliver their child in the same hospital.
She had gone into early labor that morning.
I was sitting pretty at the waiting area, belly heavy, my new designer bag on my left arm, flipping through a luxury baby magazine and pretending not to be hiding from my entire life back in Los Angeles. My name was next on the list. Just another quiet antenatal checkup.
Until I heard his voice.
“Careful, babe. Breathe. We’re almost there.”
I looked up.
Solomon.
He was rushing through the entrance, arm wrapped around his heavily pregnant wife. Her face twisted in pain, she clung to him, barely walking.
Then it happened.
She looked up.
He looked up.
And they both saw me.
There I was. Sitting like a calm storm. Round belly exposed beneath my open coat. Seven and a half months pregnant.
Their steps froze.
His wife blinked, confused.
Solomon’s mouth dropped slightly. “Anna…?”
I didn’t move. Couldn’t.
His wife looked at me. Then at my belly. Then back at Solomon.
Her lips parted. “Is that…?”
The air crackled with tension
Solomon’s eyes rolled back before his body even hit the floor.
He fainted. Right there. In front of us all.
- Writer
