Free Web NovelChapter 246: Chapter 246 The Secret
Elara
I sat in my car for a long time after leaving that coffee shop.
My head felt like it was full of static. Like someone had taken my brain, shaken it up, and stuffed it back in wrong. I gripped the steering wheel, but my hands were shaking so bad I couldn’t even turn the key.
This was a bad idea. I couldn’t drive like this.
I pulled out my phone and called Hannah.
She picked up on the second ring. "Elara? What’s wrong?"
"Can you come get me?" My voice sounded hollow. Like it belonged to someone else. "I’m at this coffee shop near the mountains. I don’t think I can drive."
"What? Are you hurt?" Her voice shot up an octave. "Don’t move. Send me your location. I’m on my way."
Twenty minutes later, Hannah’s car came screeching into the parking lot. She was out of the car before it fully stopped, running over to my window in her yoga pants and a messy bun.
"Elara, holy shit." She yanked my door open and crouched down next to me. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What the hell happened?"
"I’m fine," I said. The automatic response. The one you give when you’re not fine at all.
"Bullshit." Hannah grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car. "We’re going to the hospital. Now."
"Hannah, I don’t need—"
"Not up for debate." Her voice was sharp. The voice she used when she meant business. "Get in my car. Now."
I didn’t have the energy to argue.
--
Hannah pulled up to a small clinic tucked behind a strip mall.
Silvermoon Medical.
The sign was plain, white letters on a blue background. The parking lot was almost empty.
We walked in. The waiting room had four chairs, a coffee table with wrinkled magazines, and a receptionist behind a glass window.
Twenty minutes later, a nurse called my name. "Elara?"
I stood up. Hannah followed.
The nurse was a beta in her forties. Gray streaks in her brown hair. Tired eyes. She took my blood pressure. Drew blood. Asked me questions. When did the dizziness start? Had I eaten? Was I on any medication?
Then she left.
Ten minutes later, a doctor came in. Middle-aged woman. Dark skin. Reading glasses pushed up on her head. She looked at the tablet in her hand, then at me.
"Elara Vance?"
"Yes."
"Dr. Okonkwo." She sat down on a stool. "Your blood work came back. Did you eat anything this morning?"
I hesitated. "No."
"Why not?"
I felt stupid saying it out loud. "I read online that going to a shrine on an empty stomach made the blessing stronger."
Dr. Okonkwo stared at me for a second. Then she blinked. "A shrine?" freёwebnovel.com
"A Moon Goddess thing. Up in the Catskills."
She let out a breath. "Okay. Well, you’re not dehydrated. You’re not anemic. And you’re not sick."
"Then what’s wrong with me?"
"Nothing." She turned the tablet around. "Your hCG levels are elevated. You’re pregnant. About four weeks along."
The room went quiet.
I stared at the screen. At the numbers. At the word.
Pregnant.
My hand moved to my stomach. Flat. Empty. But not empty.
Hannah let out a sound. Half scream. Half sob. "Oh my God. Elara!"
I couldn’t speak. Tears were running down my face.
Dr. Okonkwo’s face softened. "You need to eat regular meals. Take prenatal vitamins. And make an appointment with an OB in a few weeks. But other than that?" She smiled. "Congratulations."
I nodded. Wiped my face. "Thank you."
She left.
Hannah grabbed my shoulders. "You’re pregnant! Holy shit!"
"I know." I was laughing now. Crying and laughing. "I know."
"Does Dominic know? Does he even know you’re up here?"
My stomach dropped.
Dominic. On the other side of the country.
No idea I drove to a shrine. No idea I ran into Zack.No idea he was going to be a dad.
"He doesn’t know," I said quietly.
"We need to call Dominic," she said, pulling out her phone. "Right now. He needs to know."
"He’s on a business trip."
"So? He’ll get on a private jet. He’ll fly back tonight. This is huge, Elara. You can’t sit on this."
I looked down at my hands. The test was still sitting on the table between us. Two pink lines. Small and faint but unmistakable.
"I will tell him," I said. "Just not yet."
Hannah frowned. "Why the hell not?" freeweɓnøvel.com
Because Zack just told me that my husband has been running a background check on me since before we met. Because he said Dominic planted people in my life. Watched me. Tracked my routines. Chose me like a target before I ever knew his name.
Because I don’t know what’s real anymore.
But I didn’t say any of that.
"I just need a day," I said. "To wrap my head around it. I’ll tell him when he gets back. I promise."
Hannah studied my face. She wasn’t stupid. She knew when something was off.
"Elara." Her voice got careful. "Did you and Dominic have a fight?"
"No."
"Then what’s going on?" She leaned in. "Because this doesn’t add up. That man is obsessed with you. Like, genuinely unhinged about you. Vincent told me Dominic literally cannot stop talking about you in their work group chat. It’s all ’my wife this’ and ’my wife that’ 24/7. Vincent said he’s one more text away from muting him."
I almost smiled. Almost.
"We didn’t fight," I said. "I just have some things to work through. That’s all."
Hannah didn’t look convinced. But she didn’t push. She knew me well enough to know when I’d shut down.
"Okay," she said finally. "I’ll keep your secret. But only until he gets back. After that, you’re telling him. Deal?"
"Deal."
She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "And Elara? Whatever’s going on in that head of yours, whatever you’re trying to figure out... I’m here. Always. No matter what."
I nodded. My throat was too tight to speak.
"Thanks," I managed.
She smiled. "That’s what sisters are for."
