“You can tell me if you want to meet them.” Daisy spoke in a soft voice. “They said they’ll wait for you.”

“Sure,” Jerlina said with a slight smile. Although Daisy refused to help her with filing a complaint, she found Daisy’s presence very comforting. She had such a soothing voice and gentle hands.

“I’m sorry… I think I need to change…” Jerlina said hesitantly. She tried to sit up but she felt the room spinning and she gripped the sheet.

“You have pretty severe bleeding, your blood Hb has dropped to 8.4. It is good that you decided to stay here another day. We need to improve your haemoglobin count.” Daisy spoke as she helped Jerlina.

Maybe because she is a nurse, she had a nice aura around her and she seemed like a kind person.

But Jerlina didn’t want to drop her guard with anyone related to that monster. And she didn’t even want to think of meeting Gerard when he is with Emma.

Why did he even visit? He didn’t even bother to stop the car yesterday and why is he here now? Did Emma want to meet me and he brought her here?

I’m in no mood to see them being intimate.

Jerlina lied back in bed with the help of Daisy. Her eyes stung as fresh tears formed. She squeezed them shut to get them out but all it did was hurt her eyes more.

How did I get here in this state?

Jerlina stared at the little drops of medication slowly dripping inside a small tube by her side. It made her remember the day she realised that the Faulkner& Associates Law Firm her boyfriend is working belongs to the sister-in-law of Emma Harrison.

It was a humid summer night this year and it suddenly started raining as they got out of the car for the annual party of the Faulkner & Associates.

Her lips curved to a smile remembering how Gerard covered her with his jacket to keep her from getting wet and his shirt got slightly wet as they entered the hotel where the party was arranged but he didn’t mind and made sure she’s covered fully.

Ah, he was such a gentleman!

It was that day she met Emma after ten long years. Emma greeted her with a smile as if the big fight they had in high school didn’t happen and Jerlina believed the past misgivings between them might have faded over time.

But when Gerard told her that Emma tried to seduce him in the men’s room, she knew that Emma was still trying to get back at her. She knew since Gerard refused her advances, her pride would be hurt and she’d find ways to get back.

It was then that monster whom she didn’t meet for almost a decade started popping back up in places she’d frequent. She knew it is not a coincidence. She urged Gerard to be safe, but he laughed and said that she was closer to being paranoid and being dramatic.

‘No one would be this vengeful in real life.’ He said but she knew her fear is not irrational. She’s seen what the Harrison siblings do to their perceived enemies.

Gerard is a very successful lawyer and he was in the shortlist for becoming a partner in their firm. At just twenty nine, he’s said to become the youngest partner of the Faulkner & Associates.

But ever since that day, troubles popped up in his workplace. He was rejected from the shortlist citing random reasons.

Jerlina knew it should be the meddling of the gruesome Harrison siblings and Gerard confirmed her suspicion after investigations.

Jerlina felt guilty for getting Gerard involved in her mess. But Gerard comforted her.

Jerlina caressed her lips as she remembered how gently he kissed her that day and the gentle way he made love to her.

The next day Gerard came home tired. As they ate dinner she cooked together, he told her that Emma met him that day and threatened to marry her if he wants to stay in the company. He said that he refused her plainly and she left angrily.

Jerlina knew this won’t be the end of it. But she still held hope that they can somehow get through this together.

Gerard is a renowned litigator and there would always be firms who try to head-hunt him. So he tried to leave the firm and find a new job, but he learnt that he was blacklisted. The only place where he can work was the Faulkner & Associates.

Jerlina couldn’t bear to see him stressed out every time he returns from work. Just six weeks after meeting Emma again, their life had descended to uncertainty.

As if that was not enough, one day when she returned from work, she found an X- mark spray-painted in blood red color on their door. The door was rammed open and their place was trashed. Jerlina knew this is the symbol the gangs use to mark their prey. She felt her knees go week and Gerard had to rush from his office to comfort her. They made an official police complaint, but nothing came out of it.

After that day, Jerlina started seeing TJ’s lackeys more often. She knew a handful of TJ’s men from the past. Each time it would be a different person following her and at times it would be people whom she didn’t even know will be stalking her.

She knew this is a tactic called ‘organised gang stalking’. It is a method used to intimidate and threaten someone. The victim won’t be able to make complaint of stalking since it never would be the same person stalking them and since random persons with no connection to each other will be stalking, the victim won’t be believed and would be considered paranoid.

This stalking went on for another three weeks after their door was marked causing them severe mental distress.

Their neighbours had complained to the management that there are some suspicious people lurking around the building at night. The news that their door was marked by a gang spread among the other tenants and they all felt unsafe living together with someone connected to gangs.

Jerlina and Gerard tried to explain, but everyone felt their safety is threatened and the landlord asked them to find another place within a couple of months.

At this time, troubles started around in Jerlina’s workplace too and there were talks of transferring her to some start-up company up North. Jerlina knew she won’t survive the brutal winter of that place that lasts for more than two hundred days of a year.

They were oppressed at all sides. In this dog eat dog world, a couple of people who were trying to better their life with hardwork and dedication, were no match for the rich and powerful who are well-connected.

Both of them were stressed and exhausted trying to fight their way out of this predicament. It caused some friction in their relationship.

Jerlina started to feel nauseated and she ignored it as stress. She also had missed her periods for two months.

Emma by now started to force Gerard to break up with Jerlina threatening to ruin him using her sister-in-law. Within three months of meeting Emma, their life had turned upside down.

It was why that day when she received a text from Gerard saying they should break up, she wasn’t that surprised. She was broken and felt abandoned, but she understood him.

He doesn’t have to suffer with her in the name of love. He has a very prosperous life in front of him and he doesn’t have to ruin it for her.

She wished for him to at least meet her in person before they end it all, but he didn’t even come home that night.

And it was that night she found out she was pregnant!

She couldn’t sleep that entire night looking at that little strip that had two pink lines.

With troubles surrounding her, what will she do carrying another life in her?

But the thought of aborting the baby didn’t even cross her mind. It was her child; her child that is part of her and part of the man she loved with all her heart for seven years. Even if he abandoned her, she still will love the child and do anything and everything to protect the child.