“I asked,” he growled, closing the distance between them with a menacing stride. His hot breath washed over the back of her trembling hands, and the once-calming scent of sandalwood now only intensified her fear. “Whose,” he continued, his voice dripping with an ominous tone. His rough hands forcefully pried her delicate fingers away from her face, gripping her jaw tightly and causing her bruised skin to protest in pain. “Child,” he whispered, his words laced with a deadly threat, his lips hovering dangerously close to her quivering ones.

Tears streamed down her cheeks relentlessly, her body trembling with each passing moment. “Is in your stomach?” His grip, already tight, constricted even further, leaving bruises in its wake, and she winced in agony. The world around her spun in a terrifying blur, darkness encroaching on her vision. Her heart pleaded for a miracle, yearning for a different question, the one her husband was supposed to ask on their wedding night.

The weight of her desperation hung heavy in the air as she struggled to find the words to answer, her voice barely a whisper. “I… I don’t know,” she stammered, her voice trembling with uncertainty and fear. The truth hidden within her was a secret she couldn’t unravel alone, a truth that held the potential to shatter everything they knew.

In that moment, time seemed to stand still as the gravity of their situation unfolded before them. The walls of their relationship, once built on love and trust, now trembled under the weight of doubt and suspicion. The path before them was uncertain, fraught with pain and heartache, as they navigated the truth that threatened to tear them apart or bring them closer together in ways they never anticipated.

Only time would reveal the truth and determine the fate of their love, as they confronted the complexities of their shattered expectations and searched for a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness that had consumed them.