Chapter 1

~RHEA~

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU FILTHY CHEAT!!!” my boyfriend, Evan, yelled, spitting in my face and aggressively yanking my hands off his arm. I staggered backward, unable to control my composure, as it was a sudden outburst. I had never seen Evan act that way. We started courting two years ago, and he had been the perfect example of a perfect boyfriend.

“I… I do not understand what is going on, Evan. I am a virgin, and you know that. How can I test positive when I haven’t copulated with anyone?” I asked, tears sliding down my face. Clutching the pregnancy result tightly in my hands, I stared at it with clasped lips. This was the fifth pregnancy result from the third hospital, and it said the same thing as the previous ones: Positive. How was that possible? How could I be pregnant when I’d never slept with a man in all my life? Evan knew that. I had promised to wait until my wedding night before having any form of sex because I wanted my husband to be the first person I would do that with.

Evan suddenly jerked my arm and pulled me closer. “I commend your boldness for lying without batting an eye. I should have known since we started dating that you were nothing but a slut. You lied to me. You betrayed me. Virgin, my foot!” he barked, his eyes as red as burning flames. He seemed like he could burn anyone who dared touch him at that moment.

I was terrified. I couldn’t defend myself. There was nothing I could say to drag myself out of the mess I found myself in. He wouldn’t believe me. The test report was right before our eyes, and we saw the result.

“I am sure there’s a mix-up somewhere, Evan. You have to believe me. I haven’t done it before. I am not pregnant. I cannot possibly be. I am a virgin…” My voice was raspy and shaky. It had been days since the misunderstanding started, and I had been staying up late, bawling and making thorough findings… just maybe it could turn out that I had a special condition and it wasn’t necessarily pregnancy. I held his arm one more time, hoping he would listen to me and give me the chance to explain myself.

He darted an irritable gaze over me and snorted mockingly. “A mix-up? Do you take me for a fool, Rhea? Is it because I love you?” he grunted and jerked his hand away from my grip. “Oh! I think there’s something you forgot to say. You forgot to claim that you are the Mary of our time and you are with the Holy Pregnancy,” he jested, chuckling amidst his statement. I was embarrassed. And for a second, the foolish me wanted to agree with him. I wanted to believe I was really with the holy baby.

Evan’s voice pulled me out of my reverie. “Do not call my phone or come to my house. It is over between us. I do not want to ever see your disgusting face near my house or workplace,” he asserted coldly, ran a disgusted gaze over me, hissed, and stormed away. I couldn’t stop him. I watched as the first man I’d ever loved walked away from me.

⸻

“You are such a disgrace to the family!” my father shouted, raised his hand, and struck me harshly on the cheek before I could avoid it. I wasn’t expecting that, and it sent me off my feet. I expected this kind of reaction from Father. He doesn’t joke with the family’s image and dignity, and what I’d done was tainting the family’s name—even though there was no logical explanation for what was happening.

“You need to believe me, Dad. I don’t know how it all happened. I am still a virgin. You should believe me, Father,” I cried out, hoping he would lend me an ear. I was his only child, after all.

“I don’t want to hear a word from you, Rhea. A disgraceful child like you does not have the right to speak to me. You just mocked me, Rhea. I expected better from you,” he blasted, fireballs rolling in his eyes and his fists tightening. I could see the visible lines of veins in his neck.

“I am sorry, Dad. Trust me, I would never do anything to tarnish the image of the family. I don’t know how it all happened, and I’ve—” I wanted to explain, but he didn’t let me. He stopped me with an authoritative tone.

“Get out of my house and never return, Rhea.”

For a moment, I was dazed. I was certain that I heard him wrong. He didn’t say what I just heard, did he? My father could never desert me. He would give me a chance to explain myself. He would give me the opportunity to prove my words. I sighed, shutting my eyes and opening them almost immediately. His anger was understandable. If I were in his shoes, I would do more. His only daughter just brought something disgraceful home. I understood my father so well. I just needed to leave the house as he said and return in the evening. He would be calm by then and ready to have a heart-to-heart discussion with me. My father didn’t mean it when he asked me to leave. He was being controlled by his fury.

“I will return later, Dad. I am so sorry,” I mumbled, made a curt bow, and began to saunter out. However, as soon as I got to the door, I heard him say,

“I REJECT YOU, RHEA DUNCAN, AS MY DAUGHTER AND A MEMBER OF THE DUNCAN FAMILY. You aren’t permitted to step a foot into this house ever again. I don’t want to set my eyes on either your living or your corpse,” he declared with hurt and brokenness in his eyes.

But the brokenness in his eyes couldn’t describe the brokenness I felt the moment he uttered those words.

“Father! You cannot do this to me. I didn’t do it, Father. You need to believe me. Everything still seems like a movie to me. I also do not understand what is happening. You need to listen to me, Father,” I went on my knees instantly and dragged myself toward him. I couldn’t describe my emotions at that moment. I was feeling a multitude of emotions at once. I never thought it was this serious. I never thought I could be easily discarded by my boyfriend and my father.

“Suzanne! Take this bastard out of my sight before I lose it,” he ordered. And as though they had been waiting for him, my stepmother and her daughter, Suzanne, stepped out of the kitchen where they had been hiding and eavesdropping. Without waiting for me to say another word, they grabbed my arms and dragged me out of the hut.

“Dad, you cannot do this to me. I am your only daughter. You cannot discard me just like that. Please, listen to me, Dad. Let’s go for a virginity test at the hospital to check if I am telling the truth or not. You need to listen to me, Dad,” I shouted as I was being pulled away, but he never spared me a glance. He turned a deaf ear to my screams.

All my life, I had always thought I meant something to my family, but I was wrong. The father my mother trusted when she was dying didn’t think twice before throwing me away just because of an inexplicable situation.

“Your time is over now, Rhea. I told you that I would win, and I did. Now you’ve been chased out of the family. You are no longer a part of this family,” Suzanne taunted, sticking out her tongue and chuckling. That bitch! It was certain that she was the happiest person on earth at that moment. Her biggest obstacle and enemy had just fallen, without any hope of getting up.

“Leave Rhea alone, Suzanne. The poor girl already has a lot on her plate,” Suzanne’s mother snapped at her daughter. Just when I thought she was supporting me for the first time since marrying my father, she shifted her attention to me:

“My regards to your baby’s daddy. Please, stay with him and never return here. You’ve overstayed your welcome in my husband’s house from the beginning, after all. I am glad you fumbled at the right time. I was able to eliminate you without lifting a finger,” she added. I couldn’t explain how I felt listening to that. I was already feeling a whole lot of devastating emotions inwardly, yet she was making me even more irritated.

Before I could respond, the duo laughed hysterically and slammed the door in my face.

And right there, the reality dawned on me. I had been chased away by the two people I trusted the most in the whole world: my father and Evan, my boyfriend. My chest felt crushed, like it had just been hit by a trailer. Breathing became difficult, and a lump of tears clogged my throat. The tears streaming down my face increased. I didn’t understand what was happening. How did everything change? How did I get to this point? Until four days ago, I was just a young, innocent girl trying to finish her master’s and focus on getting her doctorate. Oh God! Where have I gone wrong?

⸻

For the umpteenth time, Phoebe glanced at the computer and then back at me. She had been doing this since I explained the whole situation to her. She was the last person I could run to at this point.

After seconds of searching for what I didn’t understand in the hospital file, she raised her head and stared deep into my eyes. Her lips were pursed, and her eyes were filled with fear.

“I am sorry, Rhea. I have done something grievous, and I need your forgiveness,” she mumbled.

The situation I was in at that moment didn’t call for suspense. She should just stop beating around the bush and tell me what the fuck was wrong.

As though she could see the irritation on my face, she continued her speech. “I unintentionally inseminated you when you came for your routine gynecological exam. I must have picked the wrong catheter in the lab.”

She dropped the bomb, and I stiffened. My brain went off instantly. I was void of feeling, words, and action.