Chapter 45

Author's POV

Nelly's heart was pounding heavily in her chest, and she wished she could vanish into thin air, never to be found again. But who was she fooling? She had ruined her own life in the name of love. Love! What was it but a source of agony? She should not have gone to Dave; she should not have fallen in love with him. She should have just stayed quietly with Max, even if she did not love him. At least her life would have been less miserable.

With tears streaming down her face, she wiped them away with her hand before dragging her feet to the kitchen. She had made her bed, but unfortunately, her time lying in it had come sooner than expected. As the saying goes, regret always comes at the end.

"Good afternoon, Marie. I'm the new maid. Max said you should give me my new clothes and show me my room," Nelly spoke with a trembling chin.

"Wow, falling from grace to grass! Who would have thought that the lady of the Manh household would turn into a maid, just like me?" Marie's sarcastic tone made all the other maids burst into laughter.

"Marie, will you show me my room or will you keep on taunting me?" she asked, struggling to control her emotions. She couldn't tolerate the situation, but she felt like she had no choice. If she were to leave, Dave would lose everything that he had worked so hard for and he would be devastated. The thought of this was unbearable for her, even after everything he had done to her. She knew deep down that her heart was foolish, but she couldn't help how she felt.

"Watch your mouth, little miss, because here I make the rules that make me your boss." Marie's stern tone made Nelly realize it was Max's doing, as Marie never misbehaved.

"I'm sorry." Nelly decided to swallow her pride for now and plan her escape from the nightmare that had become her daily life.

"Good, now go and clean the storeroom. I will show you your room after that," Marie said. Nelly nodded her head before leaving, dragging her feet out of the kitchen.

As she pushed open the door to the storeroom, she was hit with a cloud of dust that made her cough instantly. The room was filled with dust and spiderwebs, and the air was so thick and suffocating that it was difficult to breathe. Despite knowing that she was allergic to dust, Max had sent her in here anyway.

Nelly had no other option but to gather all the things required to clean the storeroom. She started cleaning the place, but her cough filled the entire room. It was difficult for her to clean the room, let alone a huge one like this.

Priscilla's POV

"Good thing you're awake. I've already prepared your food," Marie said with a smile.

"That's very kind of you, Marie, but I'm not hungry. Maybe I'll eat later." I sat down on the couch as Marie stood in front of me. I frowned when I heard a noise I couldn't identify.

"Where is this noise coming from?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Mrs. Nelly is cleaning the storeroom," Marie replied. My eyes widened in shock. Was she back? Why was she cleaning the storeroom?

"And why is that? I mean, why is she cleaning the storeroom?" I inquired.

"Well, sir said she was a new maid in this house, and that's why she is cleaning the storeroom," Marie explained. My body tensed. Was this how he planned to punish her? By making her a maid in this house? It wasn't right. I couldn't just sit and watch this happen.

"Go and call your sir right now. I'll be right back," I declared, rising from the couch and walking away. I despised Nelly, but she didn't deserve this treatment. Why would Max do this to her? He could have left her with Dave and found another way to punish them. This wasn't the way.

As I entered the storeroom, I was greeted by a cloud of dust and the sound of coughing. Nelly stood by the windows, holding onto a nearby chair for support. Sweat dripped down her face as she coughed, her body shaking with the effort. She looked incredibly pale and exhausted. Without hesitation, I rushed to her side to offer my help.

"Hey, come on. Let me take you out of here," I said. As I held her arm, she forcefully pushed me away.

"S—Stay away from me. You came here to mock me, right?" Nelly panted heavily. I refrained from mocking her, given the situation.

"Stop being stubborn and come with me before I change my mind right now." As I led her out of the storeroom, I couldn't help but notice that she was coughing and sneezing vigorously. It was evident that she was allergic to dust, yet Max had sent her there regardless. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind.

As soon as we arrived in the dining room, I assisted her in sitting down on the couch. I quickly poured a glass of water and handed it to her, but her coughing was so severe that she couldn't hold the glass. I brought the glass to her lips and helped her take a few sips, but the coughing persisted and her breathing became even more labored.

"P—Pump," Nelly said, struggling to breathe and speak between coughs. Unfortunately, I didn't understand what she meant.

"What are you saying?" I asked, trying to understand.

But she couldn't say anything due to her coughing.

"Marie!!!" I called out loudly. Nelly looked like she could die any minute. Luckily, Marie rushed into the sitting room, holding something which she quickly gave to Nelly. Nelly held it with her shaking hands before bringing it to her mouth and spraying it. Finally, she calmed down.

"What is happening here?" I quickly turned when I heard Max's voice behind me. He was approaching us.

Nelly quickly rose from the couch and stood to her feet, her face still pale and sweat still covering her face.

"What is happening here, you say?! Why did you send Nelly to the storeroom, knowing she is allergic to dust? She could have died today if I hadn't gone to the storeroom to check on her! Why would you do something so sick and disgusting? I know you're angry at her, and I don't like her either for what she did to you, but is this how you choose to handle it?" I asked, my heart pounding in anger.

"Lower your voice when you talk to me, woman!" Max said coldly. "What I do to anyone and why is none of your business. Stay within your limits before I put you in your place."

I let out a scoff. "I know it's none of my business, and I understand your anger, but I won't let you bully anyone. I don't care if this is your house or not. That's final," I declared.

"Whose side are you on, actually? Hers or mine?" Max asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't take sides when it comes to bullying or abusing women. I despise people who use their power to hurt or bully others, regardless of whether the person is right or wrong," I said firmly. That was the truth. I hated bullies, plain and simple.

"Well, Priscilla, if you hate what I'm doing here, then you're welcome to leave my house because I'm reconsidering my decision. Nelly is a maid in this house, and you're welcome to join her if you want. I don't care," Max said.

"Do you really think making her suffer will change the fact that she cheated on you? Or will it change the fact that she loved your uncle and not you? It won't change anything. You just have to accept the truth, move on, and let Nelly go live with the man she loves, who isn't you," I said. I knew I may have come across as harsh, but I genuinely didn't appreciate what he did.

Suddenly, Max's face turned red with anger, and he raised his hand to slap me. However, I reacted quickly and grabbed his hand before it could make contact with my face. I could feel a rush of heat throughout my body. How dare he even think of doing something like that!

"You've crossed all limits, Mr. Max. How dare you raise your hand at me? Don't you dare compare me to Nelly, who is weak and lets you do whatever you want? Don't you ever even think about raising your hand at me again, because you won't like the other side of me that is hidden behind this facade. Trust me, you won't like it," I said firmly, pushing his hand away from me. "And as I told you, I won't let you bully Nelly. That's why I'm going to assist her as a maid, and you are going to pay her for her work, or else I will have you arrested for wage theft," I added, before walking over to Nelly. I held her arm, leading her upstairs.

"Stop!!" Max yelled, I stopped and turned to him. "You are busy defending her because you think I'm being unfair to her, aren't I? Did you know that you dear Nelly Were happily pregnant with Dave's child after aborting my babies but she didn't abort Dave's? It's fine, I understand that I'm the wrong one aren't I? That's why I decided to make Nelly my assistant at the office. She won't work here as a maid. I'm doing this only for you. "Max said, he walked past me and Nelly and headed upstairs.

" Thank you, Priscilla. "Nelly said.

" I didn't do all this because I like you. I just did this for the sake of humanity, that's all. "I said, I left her standing at the stairs way before I followed Max upstairs to my room… I don't know if I should be happy or sad that Nelly is pregnant. I mean… If she is pregnant then she won't cause problems for me in the future, right? She will be busy with her child from the man she loves and won't care about the kids that I'm carrying in her womb. I just have to secure custody of the child, that's all, I know Nelly is going to help me. Whether Max likes it or not, he is stuck with me for a lifetime. Not as lovers but as his baby mama. I stroke my belly with a smile on my face. I won't have to be heartbroken when I give birth.

Max's POV

Even though Priscilla's stubbornness thwarted my plan to break Nelly's pride, I won't make Nelly's life at the office any easier. Nelly will regret the day she was born, and without Priscilla to save her, she should be grateful to her. If I didn't care about Priscilla, I wouldn't have changed my mind.

When I got to my room, I picked up my phone and called Nicole.

"Hey, Nic. Can we meet up? There's something I need to talk to you about."

Nicolas answered the phone, sounding annoyed. "Oh, so now you remember that I exist? You disappeared for two months without a word and now you want to meet up."

I felt exasperated. "Stop acting like a drama queen. If you keep it up, I might change my mind about making you the CEO tomorrow. I'm sending you the location - be there before I change my mind."

Nicolas sounded both happy and shocked that I wanted to meet. "Of course, I'll be there," he said.

I hung up and left the house.

Priscilla's POV

The day had flown by and evening was upon us. I saw Liz's car pull up outside and eagerly rushed to the living room to greet her.

"Hey Liz, good evening. How was your day?" I said, beaming with happiness.

"You seem awfully pleased with yourself. What's up?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"I have some news for you," I said, picking up some papers from the coffee table and following her to her room.

Once we were in her room, we closed the door and began talking.

"I have two pieces of news for you. First, Nelly is pregnant with Dave's child. Secondly, Max has changed his mind about the abortion issue, but only if I agree to sign a contract to become his fiancée for the next nine months," I said with delight.

"I have to say, Priscilla, I don't see how any of this is good news," she said with concern, placing her briefcase down on the bed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled. I sat on the edge of the bed while she took the papers from my hand and perused them.

"I love you like a sister, Priscilla, and I only want what's best for you. This situation has the potential to cause a lot of trouble down the road. We need to take steps to ensure that both Max and Nelly won't cause any problems for you and the babies," she explained.

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked, still confused.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it. What you need to do is get Max and Nelly to sign these papers. We'll add a clause to secure custody of the babies in case they try to take them away from you," she said, placing the papers on the bed and handing me a pen.

"But I don't want to trick Max into signing anything. Won't he be angry with me?" I asked, feeling uneasy about deceiving him.

"Priscilla, the world can be a cruel place. Max tricked you into being a surrogate mother, and Nelly cheated on him. You're not doing anything wrong by protecting yourself and the babies. Think about it. Max and Nelly have already rejected these children, but you're willing to give them a home. What if they decide they want the kids back and leave you with nothing?" she reasoned.

I knew she was right. I couldn't stand the idea of losing the babies to Max and Nelly after I'd become so attached to them.

"I understand. Thanks for helping me with this," I said.

"Don't feel guilty about this. I'm here for you, and we'll get through this together," she reassured me.

"I'm so grateful for your support, Liz. You've been such a great friend," I said, feeling relieved.

"Don't mention it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to freshen up. I'll be right back," she said, heading to the bathroom.

I sat on the bed, feeling a mixture of emotions. I was happy that I would have the babies, but nervous about what the future held. However, I knew that with Liz by my side, I could face anything.