Her Voice 2 [JENLISA]

Chapter 8

Lisa

Relief had a way of making a woman like me do unspeakable things.

It had been a burden to carry, the thought of breaking this beautiful family. For weeks, my shoulders had been carrying heavy weights at the thought of causing them pain, of being the reason for their tears.

Aleyna was our little bundle of happiness. She was wild, beautiful, and free-spirited. A gem in our eyes. She was innocence in our world of bloodbath. Irene's second pregnancy brought us all a sense of peace. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but we were happy.

It was the only way to describe it.

We were the big bad wolves of the story, the same ones who would eat your heart like their favorite dinner. Make a wrong move and we would rip you apart. Sweet and simple.

But believe it or not, a tiny human had the ability to bring us to our knees.

I pushed back a laugh. Three years ago, if you’d told me a baby would make me an emotional fucker, I’d castrate you and feed your dick to our dogs.

Now? Well, I was just an emotional fucker hugging Irene's knees in sheer relief. Who took my mafia card away? Sweet mother of all fuckery.

When I fell to my knees, it was in relief. My legs had been too weak to keep me upright, and the only thing that made sense to me was sinking to my knees in front of Irene. In that moment, everything felt right.

When I apologized, it was guilt speaking.

I choked back my emotions before lifting my head up from Irene's lap. She was looking down at me, her expression surprised at first. And then she smiled a beautiful smile.

“What are you doing?” she asked, and her voice was almost music to my ears. There was no hatred or hidden anger. It was soft, just like her.

“I thought…” I started but couldn’t finish my sentence. My gaze drifted down to her stomach. She took my hands in hers and placed them on her belly.

We both waited, and then I let out a laugh. I figured laughing would stop me from crying and embarrassing myself any more.

“Doesn’t it hurt? That was a hard kick,” I said, looking at her round stomach.

Irene's attention was on her belly. She was still smiling, and my chest expanded with something, a feeling akin to warmth. “He gets stronger every day.”

“He’ll be here soon?” I questioned. Her stomach appeared bigger than when she was pregnant with Aleyna.

She nodded at the same time the baby kicked my palm again. I grinned like a damn fool.

“I guess the plan worked, huh?” Irene said, her eyes now on me. The smile was gone, but her eyes shone with tenderness.

“Irene?” I asked as she picked up the call. I tried to make my voice calm, I tried to appear at ease, even though I felt anything but. My hand clenched around the phone, and then I took a deep breath. My lungs squeezed with each inhale and exhale. This was so fucking hard.

“Yes? Lisa, is that you?” She sounded a little out of breath, and it made me wonder if she was running around again after Aleyna. I almost grinned. Seulgi was probably blowing several blood vessels.

Shaking the thought out of my mind, I chose to focus on the important part. “I need your help.”

“Is something wrong?” she questioned, now worried. I could imagine her chewing on her lips nervously.