New Novel
Chapter 37/The Sentence of Death

Chapter 37: 37/The Sentence of Death

Chapter 37

Stephanie’s Point of View

I froze in my tracks as I saw Celine, my father’s wife, in the house. How could my father have allowed her back in? I couldn’t respond; my throat was completely dry. Suddenly, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind her footsteps I knew all too well.

My father appeared behind her, his face flushed and his eyes glowing like burning embers. The moment his gaze fell on me, I felt my body tremble violently, and I involuntarily took a step back.

"Do you see, my dear?" Celine shouted, turning to him. "The whore has returned! Did that man throw you out after he had his fill of you? Are we supposed to raise your illegitimate child?"

My father lunged toward the door. With a swift, sudden movement, he grabbed my shirt collar and dragged me inside with a force that made me stumble and fall to the floor. "Where were you?!" he screamed, his voice shaking the walls. "How dare you return here after the scandal you’ve caused?!"

I tried to get up, clutching my stomach in fear. "My children... you’ll hurt them," I sobbed. "Father... please, listen to me..."

But he didn’t give me a chance. He raised his hand and struck my face with a powerful slap that left the taste of blood in my mouth. I fell again, curling into myself as my tears flowed uncontrollably. "Two? Are you pregnant with two?" he demanded.

Celine laughed mockingly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Don’t waste your time with her. Surely he refused to acknowledge her children if they even are his children. Perhaps he discovered he wasn’t the father."

I stood frozen, staring at Celine. How dared she utter those words? I felt the heat of the slap burning my cheek, but her words were more painful, like daggers shredding what remained of my dignity.

My father fixed his angry gaze on me, as if Celine’s words had ignited new, even filthier suspicions in his mind. He leaned over me, gripping my arm so hard my bones groaned. "Answer me!" he screamed, his foul breath fanning my skin. "Is what she’s saying true? Did he kick you out because you were fucking someone else? Or are you not even sure who the father is?"

I tried to pull my arm away, gasping through my tears. "No... that’s not true! Celine is lying... you know I’ve never been..."

"You’ve never been what?" my father interrupted, his voice dripping with contempt as he shook me violently.

"You mean a whore? You are a whore, Stephanie!" I felt pain tear through my heart, as if a poisoned blade had been driven into my chest; my father’s words were crueler than his slaps.

He tightened his grip on my arm until I felt my bones would shatter. "Even that murderer didn’t want you, despite being a criminal who killed the only man who was going to marry you and rid us of this scandal!"

I raised my head with difficulty, my vision blurred by tears. "Father... it’s not what you think. He is the father of my children!"

My father roared in madness, "Where is he then? Where?!"

Celine intervened with a gloating smile, her tone provocative. "He obviously rejected her... that doesn’t even need to be asked."

I turned toward her, my body shaking with oppression, and screamed with all my might, "Stop this, you bitch!"

In the blink of an eye, my father approached and struck my face with a second slap, even harder than the first. My head snapped to the right, and I felt a ringing in my ears as he screamed, "Who are you calling a bitch? Do you have no respect for your father’s wife?!"

I wiped a trail of blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand, looking at him with eyes burning with the sense of injustice. "Respect her? Didn’t she cheat on you, Father? Why is she even here?!"

The words had barely left my mouth before he slapped me again, a blow that made me reel and lose my balance. "That is none of your business!" he hissed in rage.

Celine screamed in my face, her features distorted with spite. "You whore! Are you turning him against me?"

I tried to stand up with difficulty, my hand pressing against my stomach to protect my babies. My legs were shaking, unable to carry me. "I won’t stay in this house!" I said with desperate insistence.

Before I could take a single step, my father grabbed my arm and slammed me back to the ground. He hovered over me, his massive frame looming. "What did you say? You want to leave the house?!"

"Yes, I won’t stay!" I cried out desperately, my whole body trembling. "I won’t endure this humiliation!"

He moved toward me, his face congested with blood. With a violent motion, he dragged me by my hair. I screamed in pain, trying in vain to free my tresses from his cruel grip as he pulled me behind him and up the stairs.

He shoved me into my room and pushed me inside with force.

He snatched my handbag away violently, his voice as sharp as a knife: "You will stay here without a phone, and without any contact with the outside world!"

I looked at him in shock, my breath quickening with terror. "Are you going to lock me in?"

"Yes," he replied, locking the door with his hand. "If that man won’t agree to marry you, I’ll know what to do."

"He won’t marry me..." I admitted, the bitterness choking my throat. "He’s engaged."

My father froze in place, his eyes widening in a shock that made him look terrifying. "What?!"

I tried to move toward the door, pleading, "Let me go!"

He grabbed me again and shouted in my face, his voice spraying over me: "You whore! Did you sleep with an engaged man and now you want to leave the house to stain my honor even further?!"

I curled into myself, placing my hands over my stomach in an instinctive move to protect them. "Father... it was a mistake!"

He fixed his murderous gaze on mine, speaking with a coldness that terrified me more than his shouting: "I will correct this mistake."

A chill ran down my spine, and I asked in a voice barely audible, "What do you mean?"

He drew closer, his eyes gleaming with a decisive, ruthless resolve. "You are going to abort these two children."