CHAPTER 3: STRIPPED OF MY PLACE

Nora's POV

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow in the vastness of the living room.

“Desperate much? Carson hasn’t even married you, you’re still just his mistress.”

SLAP.

Her hand connected with my cheek so fast, I didn’t even noticed the movement just the crack of skin on skin and the burn that followed. My head snapped to the side, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Stunned, I lifted my trembling hand to my face.

“Did you just slap me?” I croaked, disbelief choking my voice.

Tina's eyes flashed with cruel satisfaction. “I’ll do it again,” she hissed. “And again. And you know what? Nothing will happen.”

My pulse surged. Fury burned behind my eyes as I raised my hand to hit her back

But Carson grabbed my wrist mid-air.

“What the hell are you doing?” he snapped.

I turned to him, heart pounding, face still stinging.

“Are you… defending her?”

“Just do what she says,” he said flatly. “She’s in charge now.”

The words sank in like ice through my spine.

“I’m your wife,” I whispered. “I’ve never cooked for you. That’s what the staff is for remember?”

Tina stepped forward, her smirk slicing through me like a knife.

“Not anymore. You’re my maid now, Nora. Starting today.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You heard her,” Carson said. “I’m hungry. You’ve got twenty minutes.”

And just like that… the last shard of my heart shattered.

I watched them walk away, hand in hand, like I was nothing. Is this really how my life is supposed to be?

Tears streamed down my face as I slowly made my way downstairs. I had no choice the maid handed me an apron without a word. The great Mrs. Williams had become a maid in her own house. I let out a bitter laugh under my breath.

When I was done cooking, I set the dinner carefully on the dining table where Carson and Tina were already seated. I saw the way he looked at her like she was the only woman in the world. The way his eyes sparkled as she giggled. He was madly in love with her. He really loved her.

I bit back the tears rising to my throat and forced a smile as I served them, my hands trembling. I turned to pull out a chair for myself at the edge of the table, but Tina’s voice sliced through the room.

“Who are you to sit there?” she hissed.

I froze, one hand still on the chair. “This is my house,” I said quietly, confused.

Carson turned slightly to her, raising a brow. “Why don’t you want her to sit?”

Tina leaned back smugly in her chair. “Because her presence disgusts me.”

My breath caught.

Disgusts you?

This was the same woman who once sobbed on my shoulder when her world was crumbling. The same woman I defended, trusted, protected. Now her lip curled in contempt, like I was something sticky she’d stepped on.

I turned to Carson, my eyes pleading Say something. Defend me.

But he didn’t even flinch.

“You heard her,” he said coldly. “Stand until we’re done eating. Have you ever seen a maid eat with her boss?”

Something cracked deep inside me. And for the first time… I felt the stir of something sharper than heartbreak.

Rage.

I stood there, frozen, watching them eat.

Then, suddenly, Tina slammed her spoon down. “What the hell is this?”

Before I could react, she flung the hot rice at me. The plate shattered at my feet.

“You call this food? You don’t even know how to cook!”

I just stood there, my body froze with shock, staring at my husband waiting, begging him to say something.

But he didn’t.

I stared at the shattered plate, the rice dripping down my dress, hot and humiliating. And Carson he just kept eating. Like I was invisible. Like I didn’t matter.

I swallowed the lump rising in my throat, tears stinging my eyes but refusing to fall. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, voice barely steady. “I’ll do better next time.”

Tina sneered, folding her arms. “You better. Or maybe you shouldn’t bother at all.”

Carson just looked away, uninterested, as if I was invisible. The weight of his silence crushed me more than any harsh word.

I turned and walked away, each step heavier than the last, my heart cracking with every movement.

***

The next morning, my eyes were swollen from crying. I hadn’t slept. I kept whispering to the life inside me I’ll protect you. No matter what. You were conceived in love, and I won’t let that be erased.

Then I heard a scream.

It came from downstairs sharp, urgent. I rushed out of my room, heart racing. When I reached the bottom, Tina was sprawled on the floor, crying dramatically.

“What happened?” I asked, cautious but concerned.

She looked up, crocodile tears running down her face. “I fell… I think I twisted my ankle. Please, help me.”

For a split second, I thought of walking away of letting her feel an ounce of what she gave me. But I didn’t. I stepped forward…

And that’s when Carson came rushing down the stairs.

“Tina! What happened?” he shouted, kneeling beside her.

She turned to him with trembling lips and said the words that shattered what was left of me.

“It was Nora. She pushed me. She wanted revenge for last night.”

I froze. “What?! I..I didn’t..Carson, I swear”

But he didn’t even wait to hear me.

He turned and shoved me hard.

I hit the floor with a painful thud, gasping as I curled instinctively around my stomach.

“You dared lay a hand on her?!” he roared.

“No!” I cried, shielding my belly. “I would never please, Carson, please! You have to believe me!”

But he didn’t listen.

He struck me.

A loud crack echoed through the room, and I stumbled back, clutching my stomach.

Protect the baby… protect the baby…

That was all I could think.

Another blow came. My body trembled, not from the pain but from the disbelief. Who was this man? What had he become?

No who had he always been?

Carson felt like a stranger now. Cold. Cruel. Unrecognizable. Had Tina turned him into this? Or had she simply unmasked the truth?

Then his hand rose again and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m pregnant, Carson!” I screamed.

He froze. His eyes widened. “Pregnant? With whose child?”

Tears streamed down my face. I looked straight at him, heart shattering. “Yours. I wanted to tell you, but I saw you and Tina… and I couldn’t.”

I turned to Tina then, just in time to catch the faint smirk on her lips right before she let herself fall to the floor dramatically. I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Carson didn’t even blink. “I don’t care,” he said flatly. “And I don’t want that thing you call a child. My baby? What if it turns out fat and ugly like you?”

My heart stopped.

“I have a reputation to protect,” he added coldly.

I stared at him, stunned. Had I really just heard that? I felt like something inside me had shattered beyond repair.” I was no longer needed in this house. But even then… a part of me still loved him. And because of that, I cried harder.

They didn’t help me up. They just walked away.

It was a maid quiet, kind who came to lift me off the cold floor. But I didn’t want pity. I wanted my life back.

As if what I’d been through wasn’t enough, after cleaning myself up, I was called to serve breakfast, so I took the tray and headed downstairs to the kitchen to dish the food. As I stepped out from the kitchen toward the dining room, I suddenly heard Tina’s voice shouting as she ran toward Carson.

“I’m pregnant!” she exclaimed.

The tray slipped from my hands, crashing to the floor in a thousand shards. The echo of breaking glass filled the room and so did the silence that followed.

I stood frozen, the words replaying in my head.

Pregnant?

My breath caught. My vision blurred.

Why am I still here?

The maid quietly began cleaning up beside me, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I walked away, numb, my soul hollow.

Later, I found myself in the dining room again, staring at them. At her.

“Tina…” My voice barely came out. “Did you say you’re pregnant?”

She beamed like a queen being crowned. “Yes!”

She held out the test proudly, and I could see it clear as day. She wasn’t lying.

Then I turned to Carson.

His face glowed with joy. His eyes lit up with hope and excitement.

For her.

No second chances for me. This marriage was over. I had to protect my child. He wasn't even Happy when I told him I was pregnant but he was happy for his Mistress.

Upstairs, in the quiet of my room, I opened the wardrobe and pulled out the divorce papers I’d collected from my lawyer. My fingers trembled as I held them, tears stinging my eyes. I never thought I’d come to this I never thought I’d divorce Carson. We loved each other once.

Maybe it was my fading appearance. Maybe it was the endless endurance wearing me down. But now, it was for my baby. For us, I had to be strong.

With a heavy heart, I descended the stairs and placed the papers on the dining table.

“Carson, I want a divorce.”

I caught Tina’s triumphant smile from the corner of my eye. That was exactly what she wanted. She looked ready to celebrate.

Both of us expecting he would sign quietly.

But then he spoke. His voice was cold and firm.

“No, I won’t sign those papers.”

Tina and I froze, disbelief flashing between us.

“What???” we exclaimed in unison, our shock echoing in the silent room.