The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 13

Nikita stood to go find the doctor, but Latisha grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“You… you’re not thinking of keeping it, are you?” Nikita asked, bewildered. “Why would you have that bastard’s baby?”

Latisha shook her head, her fingers forming the words. *He won’t want it.*

“Then what’s the problem? Let’s just take care of it.”

Latisha’s hands moved stiffly. *I want it.*

“Why?”

*It’s mine.*

Nikita was silent for a moment, then sat back down.

She was right. The baby wasn’t just Clifford’s; it was Latisha’s, too. Latisha had no one. Even her own husband didn’t care for her. She yearned for a family, for someone who was truly her own.

Nikita reached out and stroked her cheek. “Then you’ll have it,” she said softly. “And if you need help, I’ll help you raise it.”

Her words brought tears to Latisha’s eyes. She looked at Nikita, at the bandage on her head, and the genuine compassion in her eyes. She had never imagined someone would be willing to go to such lengths for her.

“Don’t cry,” Nikita whispered. “You’ll make the baby sad.”

Latisha swallowed the lump in her throat and managed a small smile. She nodded. In that moment, she knew what she had to do. She had to divorce Clifford. It was the only way to protect her child.

She remembered her last pregnancy. She had naively thought that showing them the positive test would change everything, that Clifford might even start to love her a little.

But reality had been a brutal slap in the face. Clifford had tossed the paper onto the sofa as if it were a piece of trash. Her heart had plummeted with it. He had rubbed his temples and called it “a nuisance.”

He read the message, then looked at her, his expression unreadable.

“You have my word,” he said finally.

She nodded her thanks and got out of the car.

Back inside, she hid the prescriptions in the table drawer and took out the ultrasound picture. It was just a small, grainy shape, but as she traced it with her finger, a smile bloomed on her face.

From now on, she had a reason to live.

“What are you looking at?”

A deep voice from behind her made her jump.