Bella Pov
I woke up to my stomach twisting violently. I barely made it to the bathroom before I started vomiting. It came in waves. Over and over until there was nothing left but I kept heaving anyway.
I knelt on the cold bathroom floor with my arms wrapped around the toilet. Tears streamed down my face. My whole body shook.
When it finally stopped I just stayed there. Too weak to stand up. Too tired to move. I put my cheek against the cool tile floor and closed my eyes.
My phone rang in the other room. I knew who it was before I even looked. My agent Marcus.
I forced myself to stand. My legs were shaky. I walked to the bedroom and picked up my phone.
"Hello" I said. My voice sounded rough and horrible.
"Bella where are you" Marcus yelled. Actually yelled at me. "The shoot started an hour ago"
My stomach dropped. The shoot. I completely forgot about the shoot.
"I am sorry" I said. "I am sick Marcus. I cannot"
"You cannot" Marcus said. His voice got even louder. "Do you have any idea how much money I am losing because of you right now. Do you"
"I am sorry" I said again. "I will make it up to"
"No you will not" Marcus cut me off. "Because you just lost another client Bella. Charlotte West Agency just pulled out. They said you are unreliable. They said they cannot work with someone who misses shoots and shows up late and looks exhausted all the time"
"Marcus please" I said. "I need this job. I need the money"
"You should have thought about that before you started acting like modeling is some hobby you can just skip whenever you feel like it" Marcus said. "I have been defending you for weeks Bella. Weeks. But I am done. You are not booking anything new. Your old clients are dropping you. You are becoming more trouble than you are worth"
Each word hit me like a punch. I sat down on my mattress because my legs would not hold me up anymore.
"I am pregnant" I said quietly.
Silence on the other end. Then Marcus sighed.
"Congratulations" he said. But his tone said he was not happy for me at all. "I guess that explains the weight gain and the exhaustion"
"I am only two months along" I said. "It will get better soon"
"Will it" Marcus said. "Because from where I am standing it looks like it is getting worse. Look Bella I am sorry about your situation. I really am. But this is a business. And right now you are bad for business"
"Please do not drop me" I said. "Please Marcus. I need this"
"I am not dropping you yet" Marcus said. "But you need to get it together fast. Because if you miss one more shoot or lose one more client I will have no choice. Do you understand"
"Yes" I whispered.
"Good" Marcus said. "Now go to the doctor or get some rest or whatever you need to do. I will try to smooth things over with Charlotte West but I am not making any promises"
He hung up. I sat there staring at my phone. My hands were shaking again.
I opened my banking app. I already knew what I would see but I looked anyway.
Current balance: forty seven dollars and thirty two cents.
That was it. That was all I had left in the entire world. Forty seven dollars.
Panic started clawing up my throat. I could not breathe right. My heart raced.
How would I pay rent next month. How would I buy food. How would I afford my next doctor appointment. How would I buy anything for the baby when it was born.
I put one hand on my stomach. There was a tiny little bump there now. So small no one else would notice. But I could feel it.
"How will I feed you" I whispered to my baby. "How will I take care of you"
I thought about Damian. About his giant house. His expensive cars. His millions of dollars sitting in the bank while I had forty seven dollars.
I hated him. I hated him so much it burned in my chest like fire.
He promised me forever. He promised he would always take care of me. He promised so many things and they were all lies. Every single one.
That night I was lying on my mattress trying to sleep when the cramps started. Sharp pains in my lower stomach like someone was stabbing me with knives.
I curled up into a ball. The pain got worse. I bit down on my pillow to keep from screaming.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Was I losing the baby. Was this a miscarriage. Oh God please no.
I grabbed my phone with shaking hands. I opened the cheap pregnancy app I downloaded. It had a basic health tracker. I clicked on the blood pressure monitor.
It told me to stay still and breathe. I tried. The app used the camera and my fingerprint to check my pulse and blood pressure. It was probably not accurate but it was all I could afford.
The results came back. Blood pressure low. Heart rate high. The app recommended I see a doctor immediately.
But I could not afford to see a doctor. I could barely afford food.
The cramps got worse. I pulled my knees tighter to my chest. Tears soaked into my pillow.
I picked up my phone again. I scrolled to Damian's number. My finger hovered over the call button.
He had money. He could take me to the hospital. He could pay for the doctors. He could help.
But I could not do it. I could not call him. Because if I did he would think he won. He would think I needed him. He would try to take over everything.
I deleted his number from my screen. I threw my phone across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor.
The cramps started to ease a little bit. Not much but enough that I could breathe again. I stayed curled up in a ball just in case they came back.
I could not lose this baby. I could not. This baby was all I had left. The only good thing in my life. The only reason I was still fighting.