Chapter 4

Genevieve's POV

After leaving my parents' home, Nora and I didn't linger around. She quickly boarded a taxi that brought us straight to her apartment.

Severing a mate bond doesn't just break your heart; it burns your soul from inside out and comes with instant repercussions. Right now, I'm lying in the guest room of Nora's apartment, feverish and shivering, as my wolf whimpered in the dark corners of my mind, mourning the ghost of a bond that should have never existed in the first place.

"Shit!" Nora cussed as she came into the room, carrying a small bowl of water and a small towel. "I never knew rejection would be as painful as this."

She sat by my side, soaked the towel inside the water, and started wiping off some sweat from my forehead.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

I couldn't speak. I simply gave her a small, reassuring nod because I didn't know how to explain how I was feeling at that moment. I was extremely cold but feeling hot at the same time. It felt as though chunks of ice cubes were stuffed at the pit of my stomach and a scalding iron was pressed against my chest.

She paused as an evil smirk appeared on her face. "If you are feeling this way, then David must be going through worse since you were the one who rejected him. Let me see if they can still have their stupid celebration now." She sounded very proud of me.

After hearing her words and realizing that I had ruined their happy moment, I momentarily forgot about my pain and smiled as a sense of satisfaction overwhelmed me.

"The only issue I have with you is, why did you slap him just once? And why did you slap him alone? If I were you, I'd slap both him and your sister!" I could see the rage burning in her eyes.

I coughed lightly to help clear my throat a bit. "I think rejecting him and making him go through this mate bond severing pain is far more satisfying than slapping him multiple times."

"Hmmm, I agree."

She continued wiping my face in silence until another question crossed her mind.

"Now that you've rejected David and disowned your family, what's the next step?"

"Em..."

Her question was quite a shock to me because I haven't thought that far. After all, my plan had always been straightforward—find my mate, get married, and start building my new family. I never anticipated that my mate would be a scumbag or that I was just an unwanted experiment to my family.

She tapped my shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, you can stay with me for as long as you want. I don't mind being your next step."

The last part of her words cracked me up a bit, but after laughing at her joke, her question continued haunting me. Truly, what should I do next?

---

One Month Later...

"Congratulations, Miss Rivers, you're five weeks pregnant." The doctor was smiling brightly as she stretched out the test results to me.

I didn't know how to react. I only gaped at her without making an attempt to collect the results, so Nora collected them instead. My period was three weeks late. I didn't think too much about it because I concluded that it was a hormonal imbalance, but Nora had insisted we see a doctor to be sure.

"Thank you, Doctor." She rose to her feet, pulled me up by grabbing my hand, and headed out.

My mind instantly went into a frenzy, memory after memory of that night flooded back in a blinding rush—the dark room, the distinct scar above his eyebrow, and those pair of green eyes filled with raw hunger. I thought I could forget about that night. I thought it would be like every other girl's reckless one-night thing. But now... the consequences of that night have finally caught up with me.

When we'd made it outside the clinic and out of other people's hearing, she faced me with a panicking expression.

"This is bad, Eve, this is bad. You've rejected David in front of everyone. How do we tell him now that you're pregnant for him?"

Hearing David being associated with my child snapped something inside me, and I didn't realize when I blurted out the words, "It's not David's!"

She paused as she raised her brows questioningly.

"It's not David's?" I shook my head. "Then whose child is it? Are you high on something?" She reached forward to feel my temperature.

I felt my eyelids twitching as my tears got ready to form. "It's that man's."

"What man?" Her brows furrowed, highlighting her confusion.

"The stranger in room 1688."

Nora's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened, almost bulging out of their sockets, in great shock.

"That guy from the hotel? Eve, you don't even know his name!"

I guess my tears wanted an excuse because the moment she said those words, like an open dam, they started rushing down my face. What a reckless fool I was.

"Bloody hell, this is even worse than I thought," she grumbled.

Seeing that I was already crying, she stopped talking and pulled me into a hug, allowing me to cry while she gently patted my back comfortingly. After a few moments of crying, I calmed down.

"I... I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be. You didn't do anything wrong. Getting pregnant is nothing to be shameful or sorry about."

I forced a grateful smile. "Thank you, Nora."

She reached forward and wiped my tears. "Let's go home. We'll talk about this properly during or after lunch."

"Hm."

We hailed a taxi and left.

---

I stood by the kitchen door while Nora prepared lunch. I wanted to help, but she refused and warned me not to touch anything—she's been extremely careful with me since we returned from the clinic.

"... bloody hell!" she suddenly cussed, making me flinch slightly. "That's too much chilli. I don't think you'll be needing that much right now."

I rolled my eyes. "Take a chill pill, Nora. I'm sure pregnant women eat chilli."

She sighed deeply before turning to face me.

"Even though we haven't decided what to do with it yet," her gaze lowered to my stomach briefly. "I still have to be careful."

We stayed silent for a moment, both of us buried in our own thoughts. But I didn't let the silence last for too long before breaking it.

"Nora." She raised her head and gave me her attention. "I'm keeping it."

"Have you thought it through?"

The stranger's words from that night replayed in my head—you would never see me again to make me take responsibility for whatever happens later. This means keeping this child is on me, but I didn't mind. I nodded.

"There's something I've been hiding from you," I said.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at me, getting ready to call me out, but I quickly rushed forward and grabbed her hand and smiled apologetically.

"It was supposed to be a surprise, but..." I sighed. "You've heard about the job vacancy at the Alpha King's palace, right?" She nodded. "Well, I applied for it last week, and the interview is tomorrow. I wanted to tell you later tonight, but... this happened." I found myself subconsciously rubbing my stomach.

Nora nodded in understanding.

"I have a question, though. How will you be going to work when you pass the interview?"

I shook my head slowly. "I don't know yet. I was hoping they'll provide accommodation."

"Oh, that's true." She reached forward and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "Cooking is fun when it's a hobby, but it's not easy when it becomes a job. Do you think you can handle it in your current situation?"

I shrugged. "I don't have a choice. I can't be pregnant and broke at the same time."

She laughed at my little joke, and just as she was about to say something, my stomach growled loudly.

"Uh-oh, I guess the little one is hungry," she said, then quickly turned her attention back to her cooking.

I rubbed my stomach with a small smile. It's us against the world, baby. Pray mommy gets the job tomorrow so that our lives will become easier.