When Thomas told his pregnant wife Camille that she should spend a week at his mother’s countryside house “to rest and breathe fresh air,” he truly believed he was doing the right thing.
She was seven months pregnant.
Her feet were swollen. Her back hurt so badly she sometimes cried at night.
“My mother has a garden,” Thomas said gently. “Fresh air will help you. She’ll take care of you. I promise.”
He kissed her forehead, packed his suitcase…
And left for a short vacation with his friends.
Camille arrived at the old farmhouse tired but hopeful.
At first, the old woman, Marguerite, was kind.
“You’ll rest here,” she said softly. “You’re carrying my grandchild.”
But the next morning, everything changed.
Marguerite woke her before sunrise and pushed a shovel into her hands.
“The potatoes won’t dig themselves.”
Camille froze. “But… I’m pregnant…”
Marguerite’s eyes were cold.
“So was I once. Work never killed anyone.”
From that day on, Camille worked.
Under the burning sun.
Digging.
Pulling weeds.
Carrying heavy baskets.
If she slowed down, the old woman shouted from the porch:
“Move faster. You’re not made of glass.”
Her hands cracked and bled.
Her back burned.
At night, she whispered to her belly:
“Please… stay strong.”
Neighbors began to notice.
A pregnant woman crying in the dirt while the old woman watched without mercy.
People whispered.
But no one dared interfere.
Until one afternoon…
The heat was unbearable.
Camille lifted her shovel — and suddenly screamed.
A sharp pain tore through her stomach.
The shovel fell.
Blood stained her dress.
She collapsed into the soil, shaking.
Her scream echoed across the fields.
Mrs. Ivanova ran from the соседний yard and called an ambulance.
In the hospital, the doctor said quietly:
“Five more minutes… and we would have lost both mother and baby.”
That same evening, Thomas came back early from vacation.
He had missed Camille.
He drove straight to the farmhouse to surprise her.
But the garden was empty.
Only the shovel lay in the dirt… stained with blood.
His heart stopped.
He ran to the neighbors.
And then to the hospital.
When he saw Camille pale in the bed, tubes in her arms, he fell to his knees.
“What happened to you…?” he whispered.
Through tears, Camille told him everything.
The work.
The pain.
The cruelty.
Thomas turned white.
He stood up slowly.
And went back to the farmhouse.
Without saying a word.
👉 Part 3 here: https://stayease.org/archives/487