Chapter 4: Pregnant For A Stranger

Mia sat in the hospital stairwell, trying and failing to muffle her sobs.

In just one day, her life had imploded. As if what Ethan had done to her wasn’t enough, she’d arrived at the hospital to find her mother being wheeled into emergency surgery.

The hospital bills were already past what her insurance covered, and she was deep in debt. To make matters worse, the doctors weren’t even sure the surgery would be a success. She was told to prepare for the worst. As if she could handle losing her mother on top of everything that was already happening.

Mia was shaking and crying so hard that she almost couldn’t breathe. Her mom was the only family she has left. She has single handedly raised her since her father abandoned her at birth. She was one person she could always count on to be by her side. How could she handle losing her too?

She could still remember the last time she’d spoken to her mom—just yesterday. She’d been excited, showing off her engagement ring, and her mom had been happy, telling her how glad she was that Mia wouldn’t have to do life alone anymore. And now…

How much things could change in a single day. If someone had told her all these things would happen, she wouldn’t have believed them.

She didn’t hear her phone ringing consistently over the sound of her crying. Only when the door to the stairwell opened and a nurse called her name did she raise her head up.

The nurse looked sympathetic as she stared at Mia’s sorry figure. “Miss Reed? The doctor would like to see you now, please.”

Mia scrambled to her feet and rushed forward. “Is it my mom? Is she out of surgery already? How is she? Was it successful?”

The nurse looked confused for a second before shaking her head. “Oh no, this isn’t about your mother’s surgery. The doctor from the fertility department is who wants to see you.”

Mia deflated visibly. “Oh. Okay.”

She didn't even have the energy to wonder why she was being called back when their business was supposed to be concluded, she just walked there. A man was standing outside the door when she got there.

“Miss Reed?” he asked when he saw her.

She nodded, and he made a gesture for her to enter.

A tall man in a wheelchair was already in the room with Doctor Allan, so she hesitated at the door, wondering if she was encroaching into another person’s time.

“Come in, Miss Reed,” Dr Allan urged. She was too tired to note that he looked pale and scared. “This is Mr Ezra Grey. Mr Grey, Miss Mia Reed.”

“Cut to the chase,” Ezra said bluntly, eyeing Mia with a hostile gaze. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked like she’d been crying for hours. No doubt, she was trying to garner his sympathy and fool him.

“Yes, Mr Grey,” Dr Allan said, wiping the sheen of sweat that appeared on his forehead.

“You're pregnant, Miss Reed,” he said.

Mia stared at him. “Yes…” she replied slowly. “I know that.”

She darted another look at Ezra. She wondered why the doctor was discussing her pregnancy in the presence of a stranger.

“Miss Reed, we regret to inform you that there’s been an error with your insemination procedure. The semen sample you were inseminated with belongs to Mr Grey here, not the Mr Grey whose sample you brought in. I sincerely apologize. The hospital will take full responsi—“

Mia blinked, her brain struggling to process this new piece of bad news that had been added onto her platter. “What?” Her voice broke as a result of all the crying she’d been doing.

“I said—” Doctor Allan started to explain again, but he was cut off by Ezra.

“The fetus in your womb is mine.” Ezra's gaze remained cold. “And before you misunderstand, I didn't authorize this pregnancy. I'm not prepared to accept a mistake that could affect the rest of my life.”

After a short pause, “Abort it.”

Slowly, Mia turned to face him. “Who are you?” Her brain was glitching. It had to be. Otherwise, how else could this madness be explained?

Ezra was a hair’s breadth away from completely losing his temper. He turned to Doctor Allan. “Is she slow?”

“No, Sir. I believe Miss Reed has just suffered a shock, so—”

“I don’t care!” He snapped, then turned back to Mia. “I’m not buying this pitiful act you’re trying to pull, and I don’t care who you paid off or schemed with to make this happen. I am not taking responsibility for you or that fetus, so if you know what’s best for you, you’d get rid of it. Do you understand?”

This had to be a joke. The universe had to be toying with her. How much more could she be expected to handle before she broke completely.

Deciding not to pay attention to the man who was trying to force her to abort her own child, or the doctor who looked like he was kissing up to the man, Mia robotically turned around and walked away.

It was fine. She and Ethan already broke up, and she was planning on raising her child by herself anyways. What did it matter if the child belonged to Ethan or a stranger? It was her baby now. Hers alone. She didn’t need help from anyone.

She hadn’t gotten very far when someone grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop. She turned around to see that it was the angry man. Even sitting, he was almost as tall as she was. She pulled her wrist away, suddenly afraid.

“Please leave me alone. I’m not asking you to take responsibility. I’m not getting rid of my child either.”

“Nice try,” Ezra sneered. “You have—”

A phone call coming in at that exact moment interrupted him. He glanced at his phone, saw that it was his grandmother, and his scowl deepened.

“EZRA GREY! WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU TRYING TO HAVE YOUR OWN CHILD ABORTED?!”

He knew it. Her spies in the hospital must’ve blabbed their mouths to her. She was screaming into the phone, and Ezra could almost bet Mia could overhear the conversation even though she gave no indication that she did.

He wheeled his chair a short distance away so he could take the call in some semblance of privacy.

“Grandmother, you— “

“I want to hear nothing from you!” She scolded. “Get yourself up here right this instant and you better hope that lady doesn’t do as you’ve already told her, or you’ll have me to deal with!”

The call ended with a beep, and when Ezra looked back, Mia was nowhere in sight.

“She already left,” Jason told him helpfully, earning himself a poisonous glare.

In the parking lot, Mia was walking to her car when someone grabbed her yet again.

“Mia!” A familiar voice said. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Where have you been?”

Ethan.

After everything she’d been through today, the sight of Ethan again when she’d already told him she didn’t want anything to do with him was enough to send her into a fury.

“I told you I don’t want to see you!” She shouted, the tears pouring freely. Why was everyone trying to give her a hard time.

Ethan had the gall to look shocked at her outburst. He glanced around, as if trying to check that no one was watching them. “Mia, you’ll cause a scene. I—”

“I don’t care! Let go of me!”

Maybe something in her tone finally got to him, because he let go of her arm, and his expression changed. “So this is how you want to play it then? I was going to try to work things out with you, but you’re being so stubborn. Don’t blame me if things get hard for you.”

“Things are already hard for me right now! How much worse can it get?”

Ethan smiled. It wasn’t a smile she’d ever seen him direct at her. “Leave me and find out.”

Mia shook her head and made to walk away. “Just go home, Ethan. I’m sure your girlfriend and your son is waiting for you.”

“You’re pregnant, Mia. You think I’d let you walk away with my baby? That’s impossible.”

“This baby is not yours,” she told him. “It’s mine alone. I don’t need anyone’s help to raise my child.”

“Is that what you think, Mia?” Ethan asked. “Then just wait and see. I can make it so that you never get a job anywhere in this country. Try me and see. I will make you so miserable that you’ll have no choice but to come crawling back to me.”

Mia looked at Ethan with new eyes. They say you never fully know a person. They were right. In just today alone, Mia had seen more sides to Ethan than she’d ever known existed in their three years of relationship.

She thought she was lucky to have found love. But now the truth was staring her in the face. She was only convenient. The naive girl who did everything he said and wanted, without even questioning him.

She sniffed. “As much as what you did to me hurts, Ethan, I’m glad I’m no longer engaged to you. You’re a horrible person.”

With that, she walked to her car and drove off.

Maybe a fresh start was necessary. After Ethan’s threat and the incident with her pregnancy, she no longer trusted the Grey Hospital with her mother’s health.

She’d go home, put her things in order, and the minute her mother regained consciousness, she would have her transferred to somewhere else. Then she would disappear to somewhere Ethan would never find them.

But why did the name Grey just keep popping everywhere?