Page 134 of About Love and Revenge

No more begging for their love.

It's time to live by my own rules.

Elina

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

NEW YORK

“Congratulations!You are indeed pregnant, Mrs. Lykaios.”

Although I already suspected it, I feel an immense emotional impact when I have the confirmation.

I look at the doctor and then around the room.

A few months ago, it would have been unthinkable for me to take the initiative of coming alone for the test. It isn't just my life that’s changed—I’ve changed.

I can say that I’ve grown more emotionally during this time that I’ve lived in the United States than during my entire existence.

I don't demand too much from myself anymore. Odin's love has taught me how to love myself, too.

Of course, even after all the sessions with the psychologist, I'm still afraid of a lot of things, but now I realize that the way I was raised is responsible for most of my insecurities. My father convinced me from a young age that I was useless, and I believed him. Mom preferred to hide behind the love she felt for Leandros instead of stepping forward and defending her children from his madness.

We were all at the mercy of his evil.

Now, I can clearly see the damage that growing up in that house did to me.

My relationship with Odin, my friendship with Zoe, as well as having my brother back in my life, has helped me build, brick by brick, a new Elina.

I never thought about getting married in the past, perhaps because the example I had before me wouldn't make anyone want a marriage. What woman could stand to be treated like my father treated my mother? I wanted a love story that, as far as I knew, wasn't possible in real life. A man whom I wasn't afraid of and whom I could admire not just because he was my husband, but because of his qualities. And I found one.

In the most unlikely place in the world.

In the arms of the one my entire family considers an enemy, I found the love and shelter I’d dreamed of.

“I don't know if you will continue to see me, but if that is the case, I will order some tests to check that your health is in order, and I will also prescribe some vitamins for pregnancy.”

Pregnancy.

Every time he repeats the word, my heart races.

There's a life inside of me now. A little piece of my love with Odin developing within my body.

What will he think when I tell him that I'm pregnant?

I still feel a little unsure about his reaction, even though Zoe said that men sometimes take a while to get used to the idea.

Is it the fear of not being a good father that kept him silent that time I brought it up? Or was it the fact that our child will have Leandros's blood running through his veins?

No, it can't be that. Zoe is probably right. I'm just worried.

How could he not want the fruit of our love?

"Mrs. Argyros?”

“Yes?”

“Is everything alright?”

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