Dora returned home, and weeks passed before she could stop it even as she neared her fourth month of pregnancy. Her bump was bigger, even as her diet and exercise schedule became stricter. Every meal was weighed, every step counted, every movement monitored by the nurses assigned to her.
Everything was good—so much so that Dora realized that she had never had a more peaceful time in her life, when all she needed to do was lie down and eat. There were no arguments, no running, no fear of being pulled back into something she didn't want. Just soft sheets, quiet rooms, and the hum of luxury around her.
Watching movies and playing console games, she was aware that once the baby was born she would simply collect her money, having hardened her heart to the thought that the baby was hers. She had repeated it to herself often enough that it had begun to feel true.
