Kayla’s POV
The next morning, the sickness came back worse than before.
I woke up before the sun was fully up, running to the bathroom again to throw up.
When I came back into the bedroom, my chest felt heavy, my breasts were unusually sore and tender, and I realized with a growing panic that I had spent half the night getting up to pee.
Sarah was already awake, sitting at her kitchen table drinking a glass of water.
When she saw me leaning against the doorway looking like a corpse, she stood up immediately.
“Get your shoes on,” Sarah said firmly, her voice leaving no room for argument.
“What? Why?” I groaned, rubbing my forehead.
“You’ve been throwing up for two days straight, you’re exhausted, and your body is acting weird,” Sarah said, grabbing her car keys off the counter.
“We are going to the clinic.
Right now.”
”Sarah, no, I just need some rest—”
”I said get your shoes on, Kayla.
Move.”
AT THE HOSPITAL
Ten minutes later, we were sitting in the sterile waiting room of a neighborhood health clinic.
Sarah paced back and forth near the door while I sat in a hard plastic chair, my hands shaking in my lap.
My mind was racing, desperately trying to push away the one terrifying thought screaming in the back of my head.
No.
It’s just stress.
It’s just the stress from the job and Mom and everything else.
“Kayla Williams?” a nurse called out from the doorway.
My heart went into my throat.
I stood up on shaky legs and walked back into a small, cold examination room.
A kind looking female doctor with gray hair directed me to sit on the chair.
“So, what brings you in today?” the doctor asked, pulling up her tablet.
I swallowed hard, my voice barely above a whisper as I answered her questions.
I told her about the nausea, the constant fatigue, the soreness, and the frequent bathroom trips.
She nodded slowly, asking a few more specific questions about my cycle.
When I mentioned the date of my last normal period, the doctor paused.
“When was the last time you had unprotected Sex, dear?” she asked gently.
My blood ran cold.
The sterile room seemed to spin.
I thought back to that one night weeks ago.
The cold hotel room.
Lucien Throne.
The heavy envelope of cash on the nightstand.
“About… about three weeks ago,” I whispered, the words tasting like ash.
The doctor gave a sympathetic smile.
“Let’s run a quick test just to be sure, okay? Go ahead and use this cup in the restroom, and we’ll have the results in five minutes.”
Those five minutes felt like five years.
When I handed the cup back to the nurse, I sat back down on the exam table, staring at my hands.
Every second dragged by like pain.
The door finally opened, and the doctor walked back in.
She didn’t look angry, and she didn’t look worried.
She just looked at me with deep, heavy pity.
“Kayla,” she said softly, holding a small plastic stick in her hand.
“The test is positive. You’re pregnant.”
The words hit me like a physical punch to the chest.
Pregnant.
The room tilted violently.
The white walls started closing in, the sound of the doctor’s voice turning into a distant echo.
My vision blurred into blackness as my knees buckled beneath me, and I barely felt myself sliding off the table before the world went completely dark.
When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the harsh white ceiling overhead and the faint smell of antiseptic.
I was still lying on the exam table in the clinic, and the room felt entirely too quiet.
She had her legs crossed, chewing furiously on a piece of gum, looking like she was ready to fight anyone who walked through the door.
“What happened?” I whispered, my voice sounding raspy and dry.
Sarah stopped still chewing and gave me an annoying look.
“What happened?” she repeated, shaking her head.
“You fainted, genius. And congratulations, by the way.”
The words hit me like cold water, and all the memories from just minutes before came rushing back in a terrifying wave.
The test.
The doctor.
The positive result.
Panic seized my chest so hard I could barely breathe.
I sat up too fast, clutching the edges of the bed, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“I can’t do this, Sarah,” I gasped, my voice trembling as the tears welled up in my eyes.
“I don’t even know where to start!
Brenda won’t ever hire me back if she finds out I’m pregnant, my mom hates me enough as it is, and if she finds out about this she will probably disown me forever, and-”
”Shut up and stop panicking for five seconds,” Sarah cut me off, holding her hand up.
She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, her eyes bright with a sudden, wild ambition.
“Look, this is actually a good thing!
Think about it, Kayla.
You are carrying a billionaire’s child.
Your life will never remain the same.
This is literally your golden ticket.
I mean, we can figure out a way to track him down, talk to-”
”No!” I shouted, cutting her off instantly, my voice cracking with pure horror.
I shook my head frantically, backing away against the pillows.
“No way! That is the absolute last thing I am ever going to do. I don’t want his money, I don’t want his charity, and I sure as hell don’t want him in my life. Even if it means packing up my bags and leaving this city tonight, I will do it before I ever let him know about this baby!”
Sarah’s jaw dropped.
For a second, she just stared at me like I had lost my absolute mind.
Then, that short temper of hers flared right up, her face flushing red as she jumped straight out of her chair.