Page 161 of Deceitful Vows

He isn’t even five yet.

He has barely lived.

Why the fuck am I the only one who cares about that?

“That choice is now out of your hands,” says a voice steeped in history.

The wedding invitees whisper among themselves when my grandfather stands to his feet and turns to face Zoya. Although he projects his voice in her direction, the sneer of his words reveals who his anger is truly directed at.

It isn’t Zoya or me.

It is my father.

“I didn’t work so hard to keep our family name in good graces to have a child born out of wedlock. If her claims are true, they will wed.Today.”

With a flick of his wrist, he sends Kolya out to purchase a pregnancy test and ends the nuptials saving his great-grandson’s life.

65

ZOYA

As she tears open an early-detection pregnancy test, Nikita whispers, “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Z. This family seems a little tense.”

She knew what to say when I commenced my ruse because I grilled her last night on how I could make a pregnancy test appear positive even if you’re not pregnant. She grew so worried that I had taken a test and was freaking about the results that she admitted she knew of my fertility issues and confessed to supplementing my “vitamin water” with medication I couldn’t afford.

It’s why Grampies’s pharmaceutical bill surged so astronomically high six months ago.

Before I can tell her that I have no damn clue what I am doing, a deep male voice from outside the bathroom says, “Step out of the stall. We don’t want the test contaminated.”

“Just a minute,” Nikita murmurs before she shifts her focus back to me.

“Not a minute.Now!”

I slant my head out of the stall before releasing some of my anger onto a person undeserving of my wrath. It isn’t his fault my lie forced him into a female restroom to watch me pee on a stick. He also didn’t try to force my sister into a marriage that would only end one way—with her death. But I’m too frustrated not to release some of the pressure, so he will be hit with some of it.

“Do you know who her husband is?” The brute jerks up his chin. “Then I suggest you shut your mouth before he teaches you some manners. She’s also a doctor. They can’t lie even when you want them to.” My last statement is more for me than Nikita. I need to have some faith in Dr. Hemway, or my entire plan will go to shit.

With the goon more worried about Maksim’s sudden appearance than who is peeing on the stick purchased by political royalty, I tell Nikita to go ahead.

She does so with knowledge I doubt she learned in medical school. “You need to dip this end into your pee midstream.” She emphasizes her last word like it has a heap of importance. “Once you’ve finished, pop the cap back on. A positive result should come up in a minute or two.”

“Are you sure it will come up?” My words are so faint I’m surprised Nikita hears them.

She nods. “One of the best treatments for endo sufferers is to stop their cycle. The HCG hormone thickens the uterus, but it also interrupts your period.”

“Okay.” I breathe out slowly before accepting the test from her and moving to the toilet.

While I do my business, Nikita stands just outside the disabled toilet stall, within eyesight of the goon meant to authenticate the accuracy of my test by ensuring I am the only person who pees on it.

Two lines appear on the early detection test before I’ve even placed on the cap.

My ruse is full steam ahead.

I should feel relieved, but I’m an odd mix of anxious and worried. I hate what my objection could do to my relationship with Aleena, but Andrik’s son keeps popping up in my mind too. I’ve never met him, but I don’t want him to be hurt by the actions of the people who are meant to protect him.

When I hand the test to the brute, he grunts at the result before he gives it to a second man standing outside the restroom.

I can tell the exact moment the news is shared with Andrik. Glass smashing sounds into the bathroom a second before his grandfather’s elderly frame fills the doorway.

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