Chapter 3 Six weeks gone

Six weeks had passed, according to the calendar on the kitchen wall, but Aysel felt trapped in a time loop. She sat in the corner booth of Le Jardin, the city’s priciest lunch spot.

Across from her was Mina, her best friend from college. Mina was the only person who knew what had happened in the hotel room. She also saw David for what he truly was—a monster, not a charming businessman.

"You haven't touched your salad," Mina said, taking a sip of her iced tea. Her sharp eyes examined Aysel’s pale face. "You look like a ghost, have you been sleeping?"

Aysel pushed a lettuce leaf around her plate. The smell of bacon oil made her stomach turn. Usually, she loved that rich scent, but today it made her feel nauseous.

"I’m fine," Aysel lied. "Just tired."

"Tired," Mina repeated, clearly unconvinced. "Is it David? Is he still... exercising his rights?"

Aysel flinched at those words, since that night, David had been bold. He no longer hid his phone, came home late with lipstick stains he didn’t bother to wipe off, and called it "transparency." She called it torture.

"He is happy," she said softly. "He says the marriage is saved."

Mina slammed her glass down. "He is a pig, Aysel and you fucking need to leave him. You have the money and the degree, why the fuck are you still here?"

"Because of the merger," Aysel replied automatically. David had repeated this so often it had become her script. "If we divorce now, the investors will pull out and his company will collapse, then we lose the house and everything else."

"He loses everything," Mina corrected. "You gain your freedom."

Before Aysel could respond, a shadow fell over their table.

"Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise?"

Aysel froze, recognizing that voice.

Looking up, she saw David standing there. Clinging to his arm was Sienna, dressed in a way that was too revealing for lunch.

Sienna was twenty-two, an intern at David’s firm. She had bright blonde hair and blue eyes. She wasn’t just a mistress, she wanted Aysel’s life, her home, and her title.

"David," Aysel said, her voice barely audible.

"Aysel," David replied, looking annoyed, not ashamed. "Sienna and I were just grabbing a quick bite, we didn’t know you were here."

"Hi, Mrs. Vance," Sienna chirped. She emphasized the "Mrs." like it was a temporary title and squeezed David’s bicep possessively. "David was just telling me about the gala next week, I am so excited to go."

Aysel felt the blood drain from her face. "The gala? That's for spouses only."

Sienna giggled. "David said the rules are flexible this year, right, baby?"

David cleared his throat and avoided Aysel’s gaze.

"It’s an open event, Aysel, and Sienna is coming as my... executive assistant."

Mina burst out laughing harshly. "Assistant? Is that what we call it now? I thought assistants took notes, not—"

"Mina," David warned. "Watch your mouth."

"Or what you bloody bastard?" Mina challenged, glaring at Sienna. "Enjoy your lunch, sweetie, and try not to choke bitch."

Sienna’s smile didn’t waver, she looked at Aysel with pity.

"It was nice seeing you, Aysel," Sienna said. "You look... tired. Maybe you should go home and rest, David and I have a lot of work to do."

They walked away. David didn’t look back, and Sienna glanced back once to wink.

Aysel sat frozen, the humiliation burning her skin. He was bringing his mistress to the biggest social event of the year.

"I am going to kill him," Mina growled, reaching for her purse. "I’m going to walk over there and stab him with a fork."

Aysel barely heard her, the smell of bacon oil wafted up from her plate again, then the aroma of coffee from the next table, followed by Sienna’s vanilla perfume lingering in the air.

It was too much.

A wave of nausea hit her.

Aysel clamped a hand over her mouth and scrambled out of the booth, knocking her chair over.

"Aysel?" Mina panicked.

She pushed past the waiters and confused patrons, bursting into the ladies' room. She barely made it to the stall before her stomach emptied.

Falling to her knees on the cold tile floor, she started shaking, cold sweat covered her forehead.

This wasn’t stress, she had been stressed for five years and never thrown up.

She leaned her head against the cool metal of the wall, counting back the weeks in her mind. One. Two. Three. Four… Six.

She was late.

She had been so numb, so focused on surviving David’s cruelty, that she hadn’t noticed.

"Aysel!" Mina burst into the bathroom. When she saw her on the floor, she dropped to her knees. "Oh my god, are you sick? Is it food poisoning?"

Aysel looked at her best friend, terror in her eyes.

"Mina," she whispered, placing her hand on her stomach. "I’m late."

Mina froze, her gaze shifting between Aysel’s stomach and her face. The color drained from her cheeks.

"How late?" Mina asked.

"Six weeks," Aysel replied, tears pricking her eyes. "Since the hotel."

Mina gasped, covering her mouth. "The call boy?"

Aysel nodded, tears spilling over. "I thought I used protection, I don’t remember... it was so fast, so intense..."

"Okay," Mina said, her voice shaking as she tried to remain calm. "Okay, we won’t panic. We’ll go to the pharmacy and get a test. Maybe it’s just stress, or probably nothing."

But as Aysel allowed Mina to help her up from the floor, she felt that it wasn’t nothing.

This wasn’t just carrying a secret anymore. She was carrying a ticking time bomb. If David found out, or worse, if the stranger discovered the truth...

She would be ruined.

The bathroom in Mina’s apartment was small and cluttered with makeup and towels. It looked nothing like Aysel's bathroom at home.

She sat on the edge of the bathtub, her hands clasped tightly between her knees. She stared at the small plastic stick resting on the edge of the sink.

"It’s been two minutes," Mina said, leaning against the doorframe and biting her thumbnail. "Maybe three, should we look?"

Aysel shook her head. "I can’t."

"It’s probably negative," Mina said quickly, trying to convince herself. "Stress can delay your cycle, you’ve been under so much pressure with David and that witch Sienna. Your body is just reacting to the trauma."

Aysel wanted to believe her, she wanted to think the nausea was just nerves.

But she felt different, there was a heaviness in her lower belly, a strange awareness that she wasn’t alone in her own body anymore.

"I have to look," Mina whispered.

Mina stepped forward and picked up the stick.

In the silence, the tension was deafening. Aysel could hear her heart thumping against her ribs like a trapped bird.

Mina didn’t say anything.

Aysel looked up, finding Mina staring at the test, her face was pale, and her mouth was slightly open.

"Mina?" Aysel asked, her voice cracking.

Mina glanced at her, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Oh, Aysel."

The room spun. Aysel reached out for the stick, taking it from Mina’s hand.

Two pink lines.

Aysel stared until the lines blurred, she wasn’t just late, she was pregnant.

"It’s him," Aysel whispered, the reality crashing down on her. "It’s the man from the hotel."

Mina sat down on the floor beside the tub, looking shocked. "Are you sure? Could it be David? Maybe that one time..."

"David hasn’t touched me in months," Aysel said. "Not really, not enough to make a baby. He sleeps in the guest room or outside. There’s no doubt, Mina, this baby belongs to a stranger."

She was carrying a child from a man whose name she didn’t know, a man she had paid— a call boy.

"What do we do?" Mina asked. "Do you want to... take care of it?"

Aysel’s hand instinctively moved to her stomach, the thought of ending it made her chest ache. This baby was a mistake, It is a scandal and a disaster.

But it was also hers, it had nothing to do with David, it was the only thing in her life that David hadn’t ruined.

"I don’t know," Aysel said. "I can’t think."

"David will kill you," Mina said. "If he finds out you cheated, if he learns you’re pregnant with another man’s child, he will use this against you. He will destroy you in the divorce and take everything."

"He can’t find out," Aysel said, standing up. Her legs were shaky, but she forced herself to stay upright. "Not yet, I need time, I need to figure out a plan."

"You have the gala next week," Mina reminded her. "You’ll have to wear a fitted gown. If you’re sick... if you look different..."

"I’ll handle it," Aysel said scratching her head nervously. She couldn’t afford to crumble now, she had a secret to protect. "I’ll go to the gala and be fine."

She looked at the test in her hand one last time, wrapped it in toilet paper, and buried it deep in the trash can.

"He is just a call boy, Mina," Aysel insisted, trying to sound brave. "I’ll never see him again, he got his money and left, this is my problem to solve."

Mina stood up and hugged her.

"We’ll figure it out," Mina promised.

Aysel nodded against her friend's shoulder, telling herself she was right. The man was a ghost, he was probably with another lonely wife in another hotel room right now, and he would never know.

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