119 — Are you even pregnant?

I’ve been sitting in this chair for at least ten minutes, staring at the screen that reproduces exactly what is happening in the next room. All the preparations are ready, but my stomach is squirming, and anxiety is bubbling through my veins. My throat is dry, but I don’t dare move a muscle.
Julian, next to me, notices my tension and pats my shoulder slowly as if to reassure me that he’s by my side and that I’m not alone.
Still, I feel like something horrible could happen at any moment.
“Do you really think Laura will come?” I ask, without taking my eyes off the screen that shows only Jackson sitting in an armchair, head down, looking at his hands. I can’t see his expression, but I confess I’d like to; since Julian returned to his apartment last night, he hasn’t said a word to me about his talk with Jackson.
Julian’s expression was serious, and he seemed lost in thought, so I just let the night pass in great agony, only for him to tell me this morning that today would be Laura’s downfall as Jackson had agreed to cooperate with us and drag Laura’s confession. I wanted to know what was said to convince him, but I didn’t dare to ask. Anyway, I just followed up on his call.
“Apparently, she’s been trying to reach Jackson through messages and went to his apartment last night. But he’s been silent all this time, so I think Laura is going to take her chances and meet him now.” Julian says slowly, his fingers sliding gently across the skin of my shoulder.
“And you’re sure we can trust him?” I ask bitterly, without taking my eyes off the screen. “He’s in love, after all.”
“When love is built on lies, it doesn’t last.”
I finally rest my gaze on Julian, and he smiles subtly, also meeting my eyes. I hold my breath, asking fearfully, “What aren’t you telling me?”
He opens his lips to answer me, but his words are cut off when a noise sounds in the room where Jackson is. We immediately turn our attention to the screen, seeing that Jackson has also lifted his face towards the door, and I can finally see that there is no expression, not even the usual arrogant posture that always dominates him... It’s almost like he’s a shell.
“See? She’s here.” Julian says with a certain amusement and presses a button on the screen, immediately lighting up the REC. And now, my heart is beating in my throat because I can also see the familiar red hair.
Laura walks slowly over to Jackson, and her pitiful voice sounds mechanically through the screen, *“Jackson, my love, why don’t you answer any of my texts? Or my calls?”
My stomach squirms, and I notice that I’ve held my breath in my lungs.*
*“I needed some time to think, Laura,”* Jackson says quietly, averting his eyes. *“I didn’t know what to think after everything.”*
*“But you know it’s dangerous for us to meet in company... That woman would do anything to harm me; we can’t give her reason to be suspicious!”* She says, playing the victim, and approaches him, reaching out to touch him... *“Can we talk later, at home?”*
Jackson stands up quickly, disengaging himself from her touch like it were contagious — and now, I think it might be. Everything Laura touches is destroyed, broken, corrupted. I think Jackson has noticed as well, as he quickly pulls away.
*“My love...”* She starts again, letting out a sigh, and tries to take a step towards him. However, Jackson stretches out his hand and gestures for her to stop. *“Why are you acting like this?”*
*“You betrayed me, Laura.”* He says bitterly. *“How could I be calm about that?”*
*“No, I didn’t betray you, Jackson... How could you think something like that about me?”* She now puts an offended tone, and I can see her surprised expression on the screen.
*“And who was the guy in the restaurant?”* Jackson retorts with some bitterness.
“That’s not what they should be talking about...” I grumble, looking at Julian impatiently. And from the look on his face, he doesn’t like the way things are going either.
*“He’s my ex-boyfriend, you know that! It’s the same one from the photo, who Angelee is turning his head against me!”* She finally manages to get close to Jackson, holding his hands. *“My love, she’s getting what she wants... I’m sure it was that woman’s plan to turn you against me!”*
“She’s not wrong about that,” I mutter with a laugh, my eyes still stuck on the screen… at the pathetic way Laura strokes his hands and looks at him with that pitiful expression.
*“There’s no way I could have known that! It wasn’t me who made the posts. You published all by yourself.”* He retorts again, pulling his hands free.
Laura frowns, finding his tone odd.
Jackson turns away and walks back, running a hand through his hair... *“Now I wonder, why did you suddenly want to put all the blame on your friend?”*
I feel my heart skip a beat because the subject has come up so suddenly, almost unpretentiously... And from Laura’s expression, which begins to waver and turn to real surprise, she hadn’t expected Jackson to ask something like that either.
*“It was her idea, after all... She wanted to teach Angelee a lesson for making me suffer so much, and all the girls supported it — you did.”* Laura retorts, crossing her arms, now assuming a defensive posture.
*“It may have been her idea, but you provided the means, hum? I told you about this glitch, and you found a way to get back at the girl using it.”*
Laura’s expression becomes even more rigid.
*“I thought it would be a one-off, Laura... But things got out of hand because you kept doing it!”*
*“We have a baby on the way, Jackson! We needed the money!”* Laura retorts, now a little louder. *“I’m sorry if I was thinking of the best for our child! I don’t want him to grow up in a miserable life like mine! You know how much I suffered growing up, what Angelee did to me because I didn’t have the same cash as her... I didn’t want our baby to go through that humiliation!”*
My head hurts. My stomach is twisting so much that I could actually throw up right now.
It’s not possible... I’m not listening to all this nonsense! Laura is so convinced of what she’s saying that even I’m beginning to doubt what I’ve done... I mean, I’m sure I’ve never humiliated or belittled anyone... But the way she says it makes me wonder if I just haven’t seen things from my angle.
But then a sarcastic laugh from Jackson reaches my ears and cuts off my thoughts that were taking dangerous paths.
*“Am I really the father of that child, Laura?”* He asks bitterly, and it weirds me out — and Laura too.
*“How dare you ask me something like that?”* She raises her voice and crosses her arms, frowning.
*“So it’s mine?”* Jackson presses, and suddenly Laura starts to cry... or at least she seems to, since she’s rubbing her eyes, and I can’t see any tears through the screen.
*“How can you doubt me like that? I did everything for you, for our baby, for our family! I tried to sort things out… to clean up our situation because I knew I dragged you into all this mess, and I felt guilty for making you my accomplice in all this! I did my best to make things right so that we could move on and put everything behind us... But now you’re wronging me!”*
“Interesting...” Julian says suddenly, catching my confused eyes. “She’s saying between the lines that he’s to blame for this as well while playing the victim to soften his heart.”
“She’s trying to manipulate him,” I say, finally understanding what this little show is all about. Laura is trying to turn the tables. She knows that Jackson is slipping through her fingers, and she’s trying to grab him back.
*“So that’s it?”* Jackson asks in a weak voice, and that sets off a warning inside my head. *“You kept stalking Angelee and posting pictures of her on the forum just because we needed the money?”*
I hold my breath once more, listening to the heartbeat in my ear.
*“Does it really matter why? You never asked me before when you were passing on all the information and giving me the means to do it.”* She replies with sarcasm and a bitter smile. *“You may be regretting it now, Jackson, but if I hadn’t come up with the idea of putting the blame on Grace, we’d both suffer the consequences of it... And you, most of all, right? I mean, people and even the judge would think that none of this would have happened if the glitch had been identified and corrected. If you hadn’t shared it in the first place, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this.”*
*“So you’re blaming me.”* Jackson laughs incredulously and shakes his head.
*“No, I’m not, my love...”* Laura rushes over, hugging him tightly from behind, *“I’m saying that I couldn’t bear to know that your life, your career, was ruined because of me... I did it all for you, Jackson — for our child.”*
Jackson sighs, then turns slowly and takes her in his arms, placing a kiss on the top of her red hair. And that makes me stand up abruptly.
Laura is crying. I can hear the sobs that I know to be fake. She’s the most manipulative, cold, and selfish person I know; she’s so good at playing with people’s feelings and minds that I almost saw myself as a villain instead of a victim. And now, she’s turning the tables once again, only with her dried tears and fake sobs.
*“How can you accuse me of such things?”* She says with sobs, her face hidden in Jackson’s warmth. *“How can you doubt that this is your child? Don’t you see how much it hurts me, Jackson? How can you do this to me?”*
I can’t watch this...
How can someone tell so many lies?
How can someone manipulate other people and sleep at night with a peaceful conscience?
Laura always manages to convince the people around her with a soft voice and pitying eyes, playing the perfect victim.
“Is that enough for a confession?” I ask Julian without taking my eyes off the screen.
“Yes...”
I don’t let him say anything else; my legs simply take on a life of their own, and I cross the room quickly, opening the door abruptly and already finding Laura and Jackson hugging.
The sound of the door opening makes her jump and move away at the same time as she pushes him away with her hands. Jackson looks even more surprised than Laura, or maybe it’s because there’s more disappointment in his eyes. He used to seem arrogant, but now that we’re close, I can see that he’s broken.
Laura finally looks at me, and her expression goes from surprise to confusion, and she glances behind my shoulders. Julian follows me with much calmer, composed steps, unlike me, who is driven by the flames of anger and resentment.
“Angelee?” Laura asks slowly, her eyebrows furrowing slowly.
“I’ve been thinking, Laura... It’s quite curious to hear you say you’re pregnant with Jackson’s child when you told me something else.” I cross my arms, looking at her with sharp eyes. “But tell me — are you even pregnant?”