CHAPTER 4 – TWO LINES
CHAPTER 4 – TWO LINES
It started with coffee.
The smell alone made my stomach revolt.
I barely reached the laboratory sink before vomiting.
My supervisor frowned.
"You okay, Elila?"
"I think..."
"I caught a stomach bug."
She nodded sympathetically.
"Go home if you need to."
Instead, I went to the pharmacy.
Just in case.
Only because Koko wouldn't stop insisting.
"You're late."
"You're exhausted."
"You keep throwing up."
"Buy the test."
I rolled my eyes while paying.
"There is absolutely no way."
"You said that yesterday."
"And?"
"And buy two."
I waited until evening.
My apartment was completely silent.
Rain tapped softly against the windows.
I followed the instructions with trembling hands.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three.
I looked down.
One line.
Then...
A second line appeared.
Slowly.
Clearly.
Mercilessly.
"No..."
I whispered.
"No..."
I grabbed the second test.
Different brand.
Different box.
Different manufacturer.
Ten minutes later...
Two lines.
Again.
The room spun.
I slid onto the bathroom floor.
Pregnant.
Twenty-three years old.
Intern.
No savings.
No family nearby.
And the father...
was Andrew Leprince.
The most powerful man in the company.
My boss.
I laughed once.
A broken, frightened sound.
Then I started crying.
The next morning I barely slept.
I stuffed both pregnancy tests into my handbag.
I needed confirmation.
A blood test.
A laboratory result.
Scientific proof.
Maybe...
Maybe both tests were wrong.
Maybe.
At work I tried acting normal.
It lasted exactly twenty minutes.
The smell of caramel syrup from the development kitchen drifted through the laboratory.
My stomach lurched violently.
The room blurred.
Someone asked,
"Elila?"
Another voice shouted,
"She's white as a sheet!"
I reached for the counter.
Missed.
The floor rushed toward me.
Darkness swallowed everything.
The last thing I heard was someone screaming,
"Call Mr. Leprince!"
When consciousness slowly returned...
voices echoed around me.
"...found these in her bag..."
"...should we move them..."
"...wait—"
A man's voice.
Cold.
Shaken.
Almost frightened.
"Please tell me..."
Long silence.
"...this isn't what I think it is."
Someone answered quietly,
"They were inside her purse."
Another pause.
Then...
the words that froze everyone in the laboratory.
"If there's even a chance..."
Andrew's voice cracked for the first time.
"...that child is mine..."
The room became completely silent.
And before I could open my eyes...
May you like
I realized my secret...
was already beginning to unravel.
