Page 43 of Forced By the Bratva

I blinked and looked away from her, tilting my eyes to another corner.

The old lady was close to me, but at this point, I didn’t want to entertain her—or anyone else. She’d been a mother to me while I was growing up, so she was closer to me than anyone else. Although she punished me sometimes, disciplined me, I still didn’t hate her.

“I am very sure of the fact that you are aware that your wife is pregnant,” the old lady said. She spoke slowly and carefully.

I didn’t see any reason why she should bring up my wife. It wasn’t necessary at that point because I was still mad at her.

“I do not know why you haven’t been close to her lately,” the old lady continued. She seemed not to notice that I wasn’t interested in the conversation. I didn’t want to talk about Jenna at this point.

“Whatever is going on between you two is not good for her condition. You must sort it out.”

I sighed deeply. I should just lie to get out of this trouble.

“There’s nothing much going on between Jenna and me. We are cool. I have just been swamped with work. I do go to her when I’m free.”

The old lady chuckled. “If you’d been going to Jenna as you claim, then she wouldn’t be in the condition she is right now.”

I gulped down hard on my saliva. I wondered what must have happened to her and what condition the old lady was talking about. I hadn’t seen her after what happened.

“What do you mean?” I asked the old lady.

“This is unhealthy for the poor, innocent child.”

I quickly sat up, my eyes and mouth opening a bit wider than normal. My heartbeat sped up, and I was suddenly interested in the conversation.

“What is Jenna doing to our child?” My voice was loud enough for the old lady to hear, but it wasn’t a question for her to give answers to. It was rhetorical.

The old lady cleared her throat before she spoke again. “Jenna has not eaten much in the past few days. She will grow weak if she continues like this.”

I gulped again. I could no longer count the times I’d done that in one day.

“I want you to talk to Jenna and try to fix things with her.”

I bowed my head slightly.

She continued. “She eats very little and cries too much. I am pretty sure she hasn’t been sleeping either. I walked in on her crying the other night. She doesn’t want to talk to anyone. Not even me. I don’t know what the issue may be. I am going to emphasize that you fix it.”

“I don’t know how... but I didn’t know about any of this.”

The old lady got to her feet. My eyes traced every single move she made. Her soft facial expression had hardened a little. “I thought as much.” Her tone got a little higher and stern. “You think you can fool me with the cheap lies you told?”

I shook my head. She was so short, only a few inches taller than the large table between us. I would’ve preferred that she was seated—at least the chair was high enough to lift her a little. I could not see her from shoulder downwards unless I stretched my neck.

“You are both far too nonchalant about the health of the innocent baby. Don’t you care about your child?”

I placed my finger above my lips and scratched that part briefly.

The old housekeeper wasn’t going to give me a break. “The condition she is in could lead to a miscarriage or a weak baby. Worse, she could give birth, and God forbid, the baby and mother may not even survive it. What’s worse than that? Giving birth to a dead child?”

She was practically shouting as she came around the table, shaking her finger in my face. I understood the point she was trying to make, though. It was my fault. Although Jenna cheated on me, if I was careful enough, I would’ve noticed and could’ve done something about it.

You should take charge and not let whatever issues you are having with your wife cost you more than you can bear!” She let go of my ear and inhaled deeply. “Fix this!”

I wondered how she was able to keep such strength. The force she applied when she pulled my ear didn’t feel like it was from an old lady. I wondered why she wasn’t scared of me, even now that I was a grown man.

She walked away—after scolding me some more.

I scoffed immediately after she slammed the door behind her, but a small smile appeared on my lips—a smile of amusement at how the old lady maintained her stern and strict self, even toward the big, bad guy. She wasn’t scared of me one bit, and it showed in everything she’d displayed here earlier.

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