Eight Months Pregnant, Trapped by the Man I Married

Eight months pregnant, I was bleeding heavily, an abnormality in the pregnancy, and I rushed to the hospital to get checked.

I had just stepped into the elevator when one of Milton's students shoved me right back out.

Professor Cox's wife, I've got documents to get to Professor Hughes, it's urgent. Take the next one.

Blood had already soaked the hem of my dress.

The stabbing pain low in my belly wouldn't stop.

My face went cold in an instant. I grabbed Prudence Pruitt by the hair and hauled her straight out of the elevator,

squeezing in myself a second before the doors closed.

Late that night, Milton came home looking exhausted, and the first thing out of his mouth was an accusation.

Pru was in a hurry to bring me those files. Why did you hit her?!

That girl has severe anxiety. Because of that one thing you did, she cried the whole day and nearly threw herself off the top of the hospital!

I threw the slippers I'd been about to hand him right at his chest.

Milton, she pushed a woman bleeding in her third trimester out of the elevator, and instead of saying a word about that, you come here and blame me?! Has your brain rotted?!

Severe anxiety? Looks more like severe drama queen to me!

Milton went silent at once,

and just like always, he made me soup, soaked my feet, and coaxed me to sleep.

But when I woke, I found myself standing inside the elevator of the hospital's abandoned building,

and outside the clear glass,

Milton stood with his arm around Prudence, watching me with a vicious grin on his face.

You like elevators, don't you?! Then you can stay in there!

You called Pru's anxiety drama. Well, today's a perfect chance for me to see whether your severe claustrophobia is just drama too!

The dark closed in around me.

I forced my trembling hand steady, took out my phone, and dialed.

Cut off Milton's future. Send him to hell. Today.

My claustrophobia was diagnosed by Milton himself, the expert.

Ten minutes in a sealed space, and I'd very likely hurt myself.

Twenty, and my life would be at risk.

After I got pregnant, Milton always carried me up and down the stairs,

precisely because he was afraid an elevator would trigger the claustrophobia.

But now he stood outside the glass doors of the elevator,

looking at my phone as its screen went dark, and let out a laugh dripping with mockery.

Priscilla Cox, you dialed a four-digit number and announced you were going to end my future. That's the funniest joke I've heard in my whole life.

The words were barely out

when the students standing behind him burst into a roar of laughter.

Professor Cox's wife, if this had happened eight years ago, maybe we'd believe you. But now? Now it's just a joke of epic proportions!

Right

Prudence propped a hand on her hip and stepped forward, tapping a slender finger against the glass in front of me,

her smile pure ridicule.

Still think you're that young, brilliant new star of the medical world from eight years ago? Now you're just a hen sitting around all day thinking about how to hurry up and lay her egg!

Prudence's words set off another explosion of laughter.

Milton, though,

steadied under the laughter, his face slowly turning cool.

He swept a glance over the pitch-black space around me, and over me, already shaking, my eyes full of panic inside the elevator,

then raised a hand to cut off the laughter.

He took a step forward until he was right in front of me, and spoke in a flat voice.

Priscilla, all those baseless, reckless things you said just now, I won't hold them against you.

Just apologize to Pru, and I'll let you out.

Fury shot straight up into my chest.

I took a step forward and slammed a fist against the glass in front of Milton.

Milton, have you lost your mind?!

Tell me what I did wrong?! She's the one who pulled me out of the elevator first!

I'm carrying our child in here. You know better than anyone how hard this child was to get!

Why this child had cost us so much,

Milton knew better than anyone.

Years of work in labs overseas had damaged his body,

and over these eight years,

so that he could become a father,

I had gone through eighteen rounds of IVF, taken the egg-retrieval needle, long as my forearm, into my body more times than I could count,

before we finally had this child.

The day the pregnancy was confirmed,

Milton, who hadn't even cried when his mother died, held me and sobbed against my shoulder,

his whole body shaking as he held me like I was some priceless treasure, his voice trembling.

Cilla, if in this life I, Milton Hughes, ever wrong you, may I die a terrible death.

The words of the man I loved, of course I believed them without a shred of doubt.

Through eight months of pregnancy, I was careful at every turn.

Because of the poor sperm quality, I spent most days of the week at the hospital,

and Milton made sure the hospital knew early on that my prenatal checkups always got a clear path.

But never in a thousand years did I think that, because of one Prudence,

he could lose himself this completely

The stabbing pain low in my belly pulled me back.

Only then did I notice the blood had soaked through again below my waist.

Yesterday, as I left the hospital, the head of obstetrics had warned me over and over,

You cannot bleed again. You're going to deliver very soon. One more time, and these eight months of work are all for nothing.

I cupped my swollen belly and shuffled up to Milton, forcing the words out through my teeth.

Milton, let me out.

If my claustrophobia hits, you know what that means.

When I threw myself forward, the bloody fabric clung to the glass door of the elevator,

leaving a streak of bright red on the clear glass.

The sealed space had me shaking uncontrollably.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Milton's eyes as he looked at me.

He slowly raised his hand, the elevator's control pinched between his fingers,

and just as his fingertip was about to press it,

a soft, tearful cry came from behind him.

Professor Hughes, please, just let her out. My worthless little life is nothing compared to hers. If I'd known I'd put you in such a hard spot, I should've jumped off the hospital roof yesterday

Prudence's words made Milton's gaze turn ice-cold in an instant.

He flung the elevator remote away and looked at me with pure viciousness.

Priscilla, so even now you still don't see what you did wrong. Fine. Today I'm going to make you suffer for it!

With that, he turned at once and gave the order.

Go. Get big black blocks of sponge and pack this whole elevator full!

"No!"

But it was already too late.

Milton stood in front of me like death itself, watching his students haul in block after block of foam, charging into the elevator car where I was trapped. In an instant, countless huge slabs of foam slammed down onto me, and the already sealed car filled up fast with those bloated blocks.

The suffocation hit me with a wave of pure panic. My throat clamped shut, like some invisible hand had closed around it, and breathing turned to a struggle. Every time my eyes swept the space around me, I could see it shrinking, closing in, and the fear sent me thrashing wildly inside the car. But every struggle only pressed the space tighter around me.

The panic made my movements more frantic, and as I flailed, my belly kept slamming into the cold wall of the car, each blow sending a piercing wave of pain through me. Frantic, I found Milton's eyes through a gap in the foam and screamed at him like something gone mad.

"Milton, let me out!"

"My claustrophobia is triggered, you know what that means!"

"I'm bleeding so much, my stomach hurts so bad! Let me out, now!"

Milton met my eyes through the gap, cold.

"Priscilla, I already told you. The second you're willing to apologize to Pru, I'll let you out."

"Your claustrophobia's hard on you, but you think Pru's anxiety attacks aren't hard on her? She can bear it. Why can't you?"

My breathing came faster and faster, and with each ragged breath, more blood streamed down between my legs like water down a creek. The heavy blood loss left me shaking all over, unable to stop, and the piercing pain was slowly draining the strength out of me. The little kick I felt in my belly every single day hadn't come once today.

Terror swallowed me whole.

I clawed the foam away from my face with everything I had, dragging myself into the one thin beam of light, wanting Milton to see the state I was in.

"Milton, the baby really isn't going to make it! If something happens to this baby, I'll come back as a ghost and I won't let you go!"

"Let me out, now!"

The bright red blood turned a blackish purple under the dim yellow light, and the stench of it drifted out through the only gap. Milton, who had been so composed a moment ago, gave a jolt and rushed straight toward me. His large hand slapped against the bloodsmeared glass door, and something like panic flickered in his eyes. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Prudence suddenly rushed forward.

She dropped to her knees in front of me with a thud, tears streaming down her face.

"Professor's wife, I really don't understand why you'd do this. Just to avoid saying one apology, you'd lie to Professor Hughes using your own child with him!"

Then she turned to face Milton.

"Professor, this is exactly what happened yesterday."

"Your wife climbed into the elevator covered in blood, and I thought she was in serious trouble too, so I kept watching her from upstairs, afraid something would happen to her. But she ran out of the hospital on her own two feet!"

Ran out of the hospital?!

Yesterday the hospital's obstetrics department was the one that called an ambulance to take me home.

I panicked.

Fighting through the stabbing pain, I threw myself toward Milton and cut in, sharp.

"Milton, she's lying! You want to know how I actually got home? Just call Dr. Cruz in obstetrics right now and you'll have your answer"

"Enough!"

Milton cut me off, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at me.

His fist crashed into the glass right in front of me.

"Priscilla, and to think I kept going soft on you! You make me sick!"

With that, he refused to hear another word of my explanation.

He turned to the students behind him and gave the order in a cold voice.

"Go! Bring those videos of claustrophobia attacks, and play them for your dear professor's wife!"

"Professor, please don't..."

The student behind Milton froze where he stood.

"Those videos will trigger the symptoms and make them worse. You know Mrs. Hughes's condition better than anyone. If she really watches them, I'm afraid someone could die..."

He pointed at the countdown still glowing behind him.

"Fifteen minutes have already gone by. Her claustrophobia has to be in full swing by now. If it gets any worse, the consequences don't bear thinking about..."

"It's fine."

Milton cut the student off, his voice cold, and the look he turned on me went dark.

"The ER is right next door. I've already arranged everything. Nothing is going to go wrong."

The student behind him started to say something more, but Milton's voice carried an edge of fury.

"One more word out of you and you can start worrying about your own future!"

The student didn't dare say anything else.

He looked at me for a long moment, then pressed the remote in his hand.

In an instant, all four walls of the empty room lit up.

Only then did I see it.

Every one of the four walls in this room was a giant screen.

As the student pressed the remote, videos of claustrophobia attacks came slamming at me from every direction.

Wave after wave of piercing screams.

Desperate cries for help.

Countless sealed, closed-in spaces.

In an instant it all swallowed me like a whirlpool.

I covered my face and buried my head between my knees.

But there was no escaping it.

The overwhelming panic sent a violent cramp tearing through my belly.

Then came a huge, unbearable stab of pain.

A pool of fresh blood spilled from my belly.

The blood ran out along the elevator car and reached Milton's feet.

"Milton, the baby..."

My voice grew fainter and fainter.

Milton noticed the blood that had run to his feet too.

He bent down, touched the blood on his sole, and brought it to his nose. The moment he smelled it, he panicked.

"How could this happen!"

He lunged forward two steps, and when he saw the large pool of dark red blood in the elevator car, he came completely undone.

"Call an ambulance! Now!"

He glared at the students behind him with bloodshot eyes, roaring.

"What are you all standing there for! Go get the ER, get an ambulance here, save her!"

"Hurry and give me the remote for the elevator car! Now!"

The students behind him panicked too at the sight.

"Professor... the remote for the elevator car is with Prudence..."

Milton spun around at once to look at Prudence.

"Pru, what are you standing there for! Hurry up and get the key out! Mrs. Hughes is going to die!"

Prudence stood there without moving.

She watched Milton, and spoke slowly, without any hurry.

"Professor, the one who goes down first won't be Mrs. Hughes. It'll be you..."

"What's going on?!"

Milton spun around to face Prudence.

"Fifteen minutes ago the medical affairs office started pulling every diagnostic record you've filed since you began practicing. My friend in that office told me it was triggered by a tip-off call fifteen minutes before that."

As she spoke, Prudence turned her eyes toward me.

Milton understood at once.

He glanced at the time.

From the moment I'd made that call,

it had been exactly fifteen minutes.

The flicker of panic in Milton's eyes was replaced in an instant by disgust.

"Priscilla"

He let out a cold sigh, looking at me.

"Ten years of marriage, and you scheme against me like this. Clearly you still don't see what you've done wrong."

"Our business can wait. But apologizing to Pru today, that you don't get out of!"

He crouched down,

eyes bloodshot, and drove a fist into the glass in front of me.

The inch-thick glass split open along a crack.

My blood on the glass seeped through the crack and stained Milton's palm red,

but he acted as if he didn't see it, his voice cold.

"Priscilla, kneel. Apologize to Pru."

I clutched my convulsing belly and forced the words out through my teeth.

"Milton, a tip-off is a filthy tactic. I'd never lower myself to it."

"But I'm warning you, let me out right now, or you'll face consequences far worse than a medical affairs investigation!"

"Ha"

Milton's mouth curled into a scornful sneer.

"Professor Cox, I'm terrified."

The next second, that sneer vanished.

His mouth twisting, Milton drew back his fist again and smashed the glass in front of me to pieces.

Through the jagged shards,

he reached his hand into the elevator car and seized me by the throat,

his voice going hoarse, like a devil straight out of hell.

"Today I'm going to see exactly how my good wife means to push me down into hell!"

Milton's warm blood ran down his forearm to the corner of my mouth, dripping to the floor one drop at a time,

mingling with my own blood.

I fought wildly to break free of his grip,

but his hand only clamped tighter around my throat.

The suffocation rose up in me,

everything went black in an instant,

my body slowly went limp, and the spasms in my belly grew faint.

"Priscilla, quit pretending!"

Milton grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head up,

putting so much force into it

that my head slammed against the shattered glass in front of me with a crack.

Countless shards drove into my face,

the sudden, splitting pain jolting me awake again.

Milton's twisted face was right in front of me.

"Priscilla, kneel! Apologize to Pru! Or you don't leave here today!"

"No one but me can save you today!"

Seeing this, Prudence walked over with one hand on her hip, swaying as she came,

and bent down, looking at me with pure contempt.

"That's right, Mrs. Hughes, hurry up and kneel, apologize to me, and this will all blow over."

"No one but the professor is coming to help you today"

"What's the point of always putting on that pitiful little act"

Under Prudence's jeering laughter,

I felt an overwhelming, tearing pain in my belly,

my whole body curling in on itself against it,

everything going black again.

As my consciousness slipped, I heard a cry of alarm from outside the glass door.

"Professor, something terrible's happened! Mrs. Hughes's baby has come out of her body!"

In the middle of the chaos,

another piercing shout rang out.

"Professor, the Cox family of the Black Dragon syndicate, the ones who vanished overnight eight years ago, they've got over a hundred mercenaries blocking the door!"