CHAPTER 5
1379 Words
REBECCA’S POV
Using the touch light of my phone, I held my breath as I opened my room door quietly. The old door creaked and I froze. When I didn't hear any other movement, I finished opening the door.
The sky was dark tonight, dawn was fast approaching but it was still that period between the dark night and the light sheen of dawn. I crept down the stairs, my joggers in my hands.
When my feet left the last stair, I peeked inside. The room was dark and I could detect no movement. I wasn't going to risk turning on a light though, the dogs that had been sprung on me were good.
I followed the wall with my hands until I was at the front door. This was going to be harder than my own door. But I didn't even get the time to try, air breathed down my neck and I jumped back with a loud cry, my shoes hitting the floor.
Someone turned on the light and I saw my bodyguards seated on the couch. Their leader was standing beside me.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I asked angrily, my heart still palpitating in my chest.
“Going somewhere, princess?” He asked instead and I hissed.
“Yes, for a run.”
“Isn't it too early?” I ignored him. I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not, but every body guard I'd ever had turned out to be assholes. They always spoke down to me in this mocking tone, as if I was a child and they knew something I didn't.
It galled me that they were probably right, except in one situation. What they didn't know was that there was no way I was getting married to Vincent.
I tightened the lace of my joggers and opened the door. There were grumbles from behind me but before long, two other pairs of feet were eating the ground behind me. I put in my earpiece. It would have been nice to just be out alone that morning, but since that wasn't a choice, I just had to ignore them.
Which I did.
By the time evening rolled around, I was in a better mood. It was time for my plan to start. I'd held onto hope that I would get pregnant but the single line on the third pregnancy test strip had taken had been a cruel disappointment. I pushed my meal of pasta around the plate, making sure the fork clanged on the plate every so often.
My mother lost her patience first. “Would you stop that and eat your food?”
I jerked as if I'd been shocked and took a fork of the food, just staring at it.
“Well?” She asked and I dropped the fork.
“Sorry, I don't feel too well.”
She put her palm to my forehead. “You can't fall sick now. The wedding is in less than 5 days.” She stared at me, “Your temperature is not high. What's the problem?”
“I don't know.” I shrugged. “The smell of the food is making me queasy. I just want to go and lie down.”
They all looked at me strangely and I hid my smile. I poured the food into the bin and headed back to my room, making sure to drag my feet.
A knock on my door woke me up the next morning.
“Becky,” Jamie called. “Are you awake? Today is the last fitting for your dress.”
That woke me up and I did something I'd never done. I shoved my fingers into my throat, and gagged, running to the bathroom to throw up the emptiness in my stomach.
My friend rushed in after me. “Your Mom said you weren't feeling well last night. Are you coming down with something?”
I moaned in pain. How did people do things like that? I gagged again, and this time nothing came out.After the show I’d put on last night, I’d actually not felt good and had slept off the moment my head touched the pillow.
She rubbed my back and I breathed deeply to reduce the nausea. When I was sure I could stand up without falling over, I staggered to my feet, holding the wall as support.I groaned as I leaned against the headboard.
Jamie placed a hand on my forehead.
“How do you feel?” she was a medical student in her internship year but I just wasn’t in the mood for a doctor’s scrutiny.
“I just want to lie down.”
She helped me lay down and searched through my drawer for the thermometer. I knew when she found my stack of pregnancy tests, she made a cry in her throat and brought one to me.
“Are you pregnant?” she asked directly.
I looked at her. If I had been, she’d have been the best person to know. Jamie might have been my best friend, but she was so straight and narrow that she couldn’t keep secrets.
I shook my head, and caught the flash of disappointment in her gaze. Maybe for once, she agreed with my plan. The look passed immediately and she was back to her normal face.
“How do you know that?” she asked, suspiciously.
Two weeks ago, my answer would have been because I’d bever had s*x, but today my answer was, “I’m on my period.”
She nodded and sighed. “So that means you’re coming down with something. This isn’t a good time, you know?”
“Tell me about it.” I sighed back.
I dozed off and on, and when my door banged against the wall some minutes later, I woke up feeling better than I had.
My parents and brother stood before me, my betrothed at their side.
I rubbed my drowsy eyes. “What is it?”
“Get up.” They all looked mad so I bit my tongue and obeyed Vincent.
He dragged my wrist and dragged me into the bathroom.
I jerked my hands away from his. “What is it?” I asked angrily, more awake now.
He shoved something at my chest and I caught them instinctively. I swallowed as my eyes took in the three different pregnancy test kits.
“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.
“Use it.”
I looked at the sticks, then back at him. The bathroom door was left open so I could see everybody staring at me.
I rolled my eyes.
“Fine, I’ll use it.”
He remained there. I raised my brow.
“You aren’t expecting me to pee in front of you.”
“Well, I’m not leaving.”
I gasped and gaped at him. Then I turned to my family. Their eyes were on everything except the bathroom.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. No way.”
“I’ll own you in less than a week. I don’t see what the problem is.”
I folded my arms, and he c****d his brow.
“We’re going to do this, pet. Whether by force or by choice, your urine is going to be in that stick in the next 10 minutes.
I believed him, and I wasn’t going to beg. I wiped angry tears from my face as I slammed the bathroom door and opened the tubes. I backed him and squatted in my bathtub, doing the needful.
And then it was time to wait. I forced myself not to hope for either option. Each presented its own problems and I was done waiting for it. I placed the stick on the counter and turned back to meet his gaze angrily. He opened the door, and three of them crowded in. The silence quickly became suffocating.
“So,” I asked, “What happens if I’m pregnant?”
As if on cue, Vincent’s timer pinged and I stepped aside as they all rushed to see.
They all turned to me, the horror clear on their faces.
I swallowed
and slowly moved to stand behind them. My jaw dropped at the result in front of me. Oh God.
- Writer
