# Chapter 1: The Mockery#
"She smells like a dead pig since the day that child died inside her womb. I can't even sleep near her," my husband said to his friends, and they all laughed.
I was coming down from upstairs when I heard their voices. It was my husband and his friends, making fun of me.
"How do you manage to sleep with her?" one of them asked.
"Manage? Why would I share a room with that smelly thing? I haven't shared a room with her since then. I will soon divorce her and marry my beautiful queen," he replied, and they all laughed again.
I stood on the stairs, feeling shame wash over me. The man I had helped build a life with, the man I had supported, was now mocking me after we lost our six-month pregnancy. After the surgery, I had been smelling ever since. I took baths every hour, used medical soap, and took medicine, but nothing worked. I thought he would keep my secret, that he would love me more now, but instead, he was laughing at me.
A cold feeling gripped me, and I couldn't confront them. I turned and went back to my room, tears streaming down my face. I cried for hours until I heard a knock on my door. It was my husband. I quickly wiped my tears and tried to compose myself.
"Michelle, are you okay?" he asked.
How could I be okay after the ridicule? I wanted to scream, but I just nodded.
"Well, my sister Rose will be visiting today, and I don't want you to come out of this room. I'll tell the maids to serve you here," he said, locking me in.
"Andrew, do I really smell to you?" I asked, my eyes filled with tears.
"It's what you think," he replied coldly.
The man I called my partner, the man I had trusted, was now telling me I smelled. I had ignored my parents' warnings about marrying him, thinking he saved me on my eighteenth birthday.
Tears rolled down my cheeks again, and he didn't even look back as he locked the door. I soaked my bedsheets with tears and eventually fell asleep.
During dinner, a maid came in wearing a nose mask.
"Smelling."
She dropped my food on the floor like it was for a dog. Then another woman, dressed expensively who stood behind her as she walked in, approached me, I had never seen that face before she wasn't a maid. She told the maid to hold the food and forced it into my mouth. I choked.
"Eat, I will soon be his wife and all this properties will belong to me." she laughed, pouring the rest of the food on the floor and leaving the room.
Minutes later, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I was bleeding from my mouth. I cried out for my husband, but no one answered.
"Mom, help me," I cried to my late mother, and I could see her smiling at me. Suddenly, I closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, I was in a different bed, one that looked familiar from my childhood.
"What happened? Am I dreaming?"
"Happy birthday, my beautiful princess. Eighteen looks so good on you," my dad said.
"Dad, am I dead?" I asked, confused.
"Dead? Nothing is going to happen to our beautiful Michelle," my mom said, and I felt joy seeing her smile again.
I hugged them tightly, not wanting to let go.
"Michelle," my dad said, trying to break free.
"Dress up; you are celebrating with your friends," he said. I remembered today was the day I met Andrew, the day he saved me.
"The maid's son, Andrew, will be celebrating with us. I heard he is a nice boy," my mom said with that beautiful smile on her face.
"Andrew?" I shrank back.
"Are you okay?" my mom asked.
"Yeah, Mom," I said, rushing to get ready though I was scared. I wanted to see him again and make him pay for how he had humiliated me.
After dressing up, I rushed downstairs and saw people arriving to celebrate with me.
"My princess, you look beautiful. You will always be daddy's girl," my dad said. I was his only child.
As gifts and greetings came in, I searched for Andrew.
"Baby, join your friends. Are you looking for something?" my mom asked.
"Andrew."
"The maid's son? Have you seen him before?" my mom asked.
"Yes, and he is here," I said, pointing at him as he walked in with his mom.
"Flesh for flesh. Blood for blood."