Page 174 of The Catalyst

“I don’t think I can do that if it’s not Nigel’s.”

“Okay, then we’ll deal with everything else. We’ve got this. I’m here.”

I cling to him as tears fill my eyes. “Aren’t you still mad at me though?” My bottom lip trembles as he runs his fingers through my hair.

“I can be upset with you and accept that you need support. This is bigger than our problems.”

He’s got that right. This is beyond any issues we have. It’s an ugly, nasty fight that we have to face sooner or later.

* * *

Martin broughtme back to my hotel. I offered to let him hang around for a bit to avoid whatever his father was going to do to him for getting me out of there, but all he said was, “I’ve got this” before he left.

It was an early dinner, so it’s still light outside when I slip off my heels, massaging my feet. My phone buzzes on the bed beside me. I’m fully prepared to ignore Oliver’s call like I have every other time, just like he did to me, but when I look at the screen, a number flashes across it that isn’t saved in my phone. Narrowing my eyes in confusion, I pick it up, answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Good evening, Miss Mercer. This is Dr. Marsh from North Houston Obstetrics. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

It’s my OBGYN.

“Oh, no. You’re not interrupting. How can I help you?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level.

“I’m calling because the N.I.P.P. results came back earlier than I anticipated, which isn’t a bad thing.”

My eyes widen, and my heart hammers between my spine and my ribs as my hand falls to my lower abdomen.

The N.I.P.P. results.

The paternity test.

“It wasn’t a match, right?” I knew that would be a more likely event than not. Ollie and I only had sex three times over a day and a half of the week that I would’ve conceived. That just means I need to try to mentally prepare myself for terminating this pregnancy.

“Actually, that would be an incorrect assumption, Miss Mercer.”

The muscle beating in my chest completely stops. “Come again?”

“The gentleman who gave his DNA sample, Mr. Oliver Doyle, is a match. These tests have a ninety-nine point nine percent accuracy, which means that there would be a one in a million chance that the biological father of your unborn child would be anyone other than Mr. Doyle.”

The baby…isn’t Nigel’s after all. This baby belongs to Ollie.

My head spins from the revelation as I grip the edge of the bed. Then, relief washes through my body.

“Thank you, Dr. Marsh. I really appreciate you letting me know at your earliest convenience. I’ll see you on Monday.” Quickly afterward, I hang up and stare down at my phone in complete shock.

Ollie is the father of my baby. Oliver was right there, holding my hand, as we watched our baby come on the screen for the first time…together.

We’re in this together.

I grimace from the words he said not that long ago. I believed them then, but he abandoned me and this baby. He left and broke my already fragile heart in the most disrespectful rejection I’ve ever experienced. He left me to deal with all these emotions and this turmoil by myself while he was doing god knows what.

He didn’t even explain. He just…ignored the problem like it would fix itself.

Even though I’m still angry, hurt, and feeling petty as fuck after what I’ve been through tonight, I know Oliver deserves to know the paternity results.

After giving myself a decent pep talk, I call myself a cab before shooting off a text to Oliver.

Bethany:

---