Chapter Twenty-Eight

Helena’s POV

Four Days Later

“Congratulations, Mrs. Sinclair. You’re approximately six or seven weeks pregnant.”

I kept my face blank while my stomach dropped like a fucking elevator with cut cables. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not to me.

“Are you certain?” My voice stayed steady. Years of practice.

Dr. Lambert smiled, oblivious to the fact I wanted to smash her smug face into her desk. “Absolutely. Your blood work confirms it.”

Six or seven weeks. I did the math quickly, panic rising. During those weeks I’d been with Hunter, yes, but also Paulo. And that British investor whose name I barely remembered.

A fucking parasite. Growing inside me. Ruining the body I’d spent thousands maintaining. And I couldn’t even be sure whose it was.

“I know this must be quite a shock,” Dr. Lambert continued, mistaking my silence for happy surprise. “Especially given your previous diagnosis.” Dr. Lambert was my regular GP, not the fertility specialist I had paid off to say I was barren.

I nodded, placing a protective hand over my stomach for show. “It’s... miraculous.” The word tasted like ash.

“It happens sometimes,” she said, beaming like she’d personally performed a miracle. “The body can surprise us. Let’s schedule you for an ultrasound next week.”

I nodded again, already planning my escape. There would be no ultrasound. No baby. This mistake would be erased before it could destroy everything. She din’t need to know that but I needed her to think I was happy about the news. So if ever in the future Hunter was with me and something was said, I could control the situation.

“I’ve been sick,” I said, remembering how I’d puked two mornings this week. I’d blamed it on bad sushi when Hunter asked, even though I knew. Deep down, I think I knew.

“Morning sickness is common,” Dr. Lambert said, scribbling on her pad. “I can give you something mild for that, but it’s actually a good sign… it means your hormone levels are strong.”

I took the prescription with a murmured thanks. “I’d like to tell my husband,” I said. “Before we schedule anything else.”

“Of course.” She stood, extending her hand. “Congratulations again.”

In my car, I finally let the mask slip, slamming my hands against the steering wheel. “FUCK!” I screamed, the word bouncing off the windows of my Lexus. My carefully constructed life was falling apart, and for what? Because some microscopic clump of cells had decided to take root?

Hunter had been watching me lately, eyes narrowed whenever I checked my phone, asking questions about my late nights. And Grace—there was something in her eyes sometimes, like she knew more than she let on. Had she seen something? Figured something out? I was so careful around them. Keeping a secret phone. So my affairs were kept hidden from prying eyes.

I couldn’t afford complications. Not now.

I pulled out my phone, dialing Paulo. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey, beautiful. Miss me already?”

His voice, usually sexy with that slight accent, grated on my nerves. “We need to talk. Meet me at the usual place in thirty.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Just be there,” I snapped, hanging up.

I drove too fast to our hotel, checking my makeup in the elevator mirror. Still flawless. No one looking at me would guess I was screaming inside.

Paulo was waiting in our usual room, concern etched on his ridiculously handsome face. I’d chosen him for that body—the muscles, the bronze skin, those hands that knew exactly how to touch me. My “personal trainer” on paper, my most frequent fuck in reality. In all honestly I fucked him more than Hunter lately.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching for me.

I stepped back, not needing that… not while this thing was inside me. “I’m pregnant.”

His face transformed… shock, then a slow, spreading joy that made me want to slap him. “A baby? We’re having a baby?”

He must think because I’m here it’s his… like I would fucking know unless the doctor gave me a time and date I wouldn’t know without a DNA test.

“No,” I said coldly. “We are not having anything. I’m terminating it.”

Paulo’s face fell. “What? Helena, no—”

“Yes,” I cut him off. “This was never part of the plan.”

“But your husband you told me you couldn’t have children together. That’s why your sister—”

“Hunter wasn’t the problem.” It was what she had let Paulo think, though. “I’m on birth control… I’m using Grace because I don’t want to carry a para… baby. Not being able to conceive was just…” I waved a hand. “a convenient story and it’s going to stay that way.”

Paulo’s expression darkened. “Is it even mine?”

I laughed, sharp and mean. “Does it matter? It’s not going to exist much longer.”

“It matters to me,” he said, voice rising. “If that’s my child—”

“Lower your voice,” I hissed. “It could be yours. It could be Hunter’s. It could be any number of men. You are not my only fuck friend Paulo. I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

The hurt in his eyes would have affected me once, early in our affair, when I’d enjoyed his devotion…. Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t have care. but now it was just annoying.

“You’ve been lying to everyone,” he said quietly. “Your husband, your sister.”

I shrugged. “I do what’s necessary.” I moved closer, running a finger down his chest. “And right now, I need your discretion. Can I count on that?”

He caught my wrist, his grip firm. “What about us?”

“We have great sex,” I said bluntly. “Let’s not pretend it’s more than that.”

Paulo dropped my wrist, stepping back. “You’re a cold bitch, you know that?”

I smiled. “Yes. And you’ve never complained before.”

“This is different. This is a child—”

“It’s a clump of cells,” I snapped. “And it’s my body.”

He ran a hand through his dark hair. “When?” he asked finally.

“Next week. Hunter and Grace will be in Chicago for a presentation. They’ll never know. I need you to pick me up from the clinic and take me home.”

Paulo stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time. “You really don’t care about anyone but yourself, do you?”

I didn’t bother denying it. “Are you going to be a problem?”

He shook his head slowly. “No. But this changes things between us.”

I shrugged, already bored with the conversation. “If you say so. There are a lot of easy fucks out there, Paulo. I really don’t care.”

As I turned to leave, he called after me. “Does Hunter have any idea who you really are?”

I paused at the door, glancing back with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “No one who matters does. And that’s how I like it.” Telling him he didn’t matter. He wasn’t a stepping stone in my life. Just someone to step on.

Driving home, I planned my next steps. The procedure was simple—I’d had one before, years ago. The clinic was discreet, cash only. The challenge would be scheduling it without raising suspicion. Hunter’s trip to Chicago with Grace was perfect timing… just three days away, giving me time to recover before they returned. Paulo could drive me home and no one would know.

I touched my still-flat stomach, feeling nothing but contempt. This parasite would not ruin my perfect body, my perfect life. I’d worked too hard.

Hunter would never know how close he’d come to fatherhood. Grace would keep playing surrogate for them. Providing I didn’t have to play the happy mother when Hunter wasn’t around. They would have around the clock nannies.

And I would remain in control, as always. Of everyone and everything.

I checked my reflection at a stop sign, ensuring my mask was firmly in place. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect smile. The Helena everyone expected.

No one would ever know the truth. Just the way I liked it, unless like Paulo, who needed to know their place.