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One hundred and eleven

Author: Luxie
last update publish date: 2026-03-07 23:57:19

Lisa POV

My body felt tight with nerves about seeing the baby inside me for the first time.

I still refused to attach any maternal thoughts to it. The child was not mine. Saying my baby would be stupid.

Even so, the words kept forming in my head.

For someone who had never imagined becoming a mother, the small changes in my body already felt overwhelming. My stomach felt strange every morning. I got tired faster. Even my sense of smell had turned against me.

If things already felt this different
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  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    134

    Lisa POVThe rain slashed violently against the hospital window, fat streaks racing down the glass before breaking apart like my own fracturing thoughts. I lay curled on my side, staring at the watery lines, with nothing else to distract me from the restlessness I felt.I missed him.No ,“missed” was too pathetic for the storm raging in me. It was deeper than that. It felt like a raw craving that made my eyes burn. But admitting it felt dangerous and stupid. It had to be the pregnancy hormones twisting my mind, making me long for a man who belonged to someone else.There was nothing worth missing in Cameron. Nothing at all.My phone sat charging on the bedside table. I snatched it up and opened our old message thread before I could stop myself. The contrast was jarring. Early on, his texts had been blunt, no sugarcoating. Cold transactions between a powerful client and his paid surrogate. But somewhere along the line, the tone had shifted and became intimate as though we forgot we

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    One hundred and thirty three

    The consent forms for Evangeline’s surgery were spread in front of me as I flipped through each page without really seeing the words. My name went down where it was needed, signatures placed, and consent given. It felt, in that moment, as though I was signing her life away. To make matters worse, Lisa’s voice stayed in my head and refused to fade, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. My gaze shifted to Evangeline, who was asleep on her bed, and it didn’t make any sense for them, for Franklin and now Lisa, to accuse her of whatever imaginary thing they thought she had done. I knew Evangeline, she was my mate, and although she had been insecure lately because of my attachment toward Lisa, I knew that she was incapable of murder.When the nurse asked about Evangeline’s medical history, Luna Catherine and I answered at the same time. “She’s been sick all her life,” Luna Catherine said, while I said, “The symptoms started three years ago.” The nurse, confused, looked between both of

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    One hundred and thirty two

    The consent forms for Evangeline’s surgery were spread in front of me as I flipped through each page without really seeing the words. My name went down where it was needed, signatures placed, and consent given. It felt, in that moment, as though I was signing her life away. To make matters worse, Lisa’s voice stayed in my head and refused to fade, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. My gaze shifted to Evangeline, who was asleep on her bed, and it didn’t make any sense for them, for Franklin and now Lisa, to accuse her of whatever imaginary thing they thought she had done. I knew Evangeline, she was my mate, and although she had been insecure lately because of my attachment toward Lisa, I knew that she was incapable of murder.When the nurse asked about Evangeline’s medical history, Luna Catherine and I answered at the same time. “She’s been sick all her life,” Luna Catherine said, while I said, “The symptoms started three years ago.” The nurse, confused, looked between both of

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    One hundred and thirty one

    Lisa POVThe rain slashed violently against the hospital window, fat streaks racing down the glass before breaking apart like my own fracturing thoughts. I lay curled on my side, staring at the watery lines, with nothing else to distract me from the restlessness I felt.I missed him.No ,“missed” was too pathetic for the storm raging in me. It was deeper than that. It felt like a raw craving that made my eyes burn. But admitting it felt dangerous and stupid. It had to be the pregnancy hormones twisting my mind, making me long for a man who belonged to someone else.There was nothing worth missing in Cameron. Nothing at all.My phone sat charging on the bedside table. I snatched it up and opened our old message thread before I could stop myself. The contrast was jarring. Early on, his texts had been blunt, no sugarcoating. Cold transactions between a powerful client and his paid surrogate. But somewhere along the line, the tone had shifted and became intimate as though we forgot we

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    One hundred and thirty

    Franklin Every suspicion I’d buried since the first moment I noticed something off about Evangeline was now crystallizing into reality.There was something wrong with her. Not just strange, sinister. Her hands were dirty. I could feel it in my bones. The evidence sat right in front of me, but the problem was tying it to her without leaving a gap she could exploit.Evangeline was intelligent. If I marched up to Cameron and told him I suspected his mate was capable of this, he would shut me down. He’d defend her. He’d call me paranoid. He’d choose her over me.After today, I was certain.I stayed in the doctor’s office, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead as I slid the lab results across his desk. They came from the hospital’s own lab, no one could claim forgery.“Will this affect the baby?” My voice came out rough.The doctor sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “We hope not. Whatever she ingested was designed to disrupt the pregnancy. Low dose, cumulative exposure.”The words hit

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    One hundred and twenty nine

    Lisa’s POV“She’s awake.”My mother’s voice was the first thing I heard when I woke up.The doctor walked in, a stethoscope dangling around his neck, a thick file clutched under his arm. Franklin stood by the window. The doctor didn’t waste time. He glanced at the cannula taped to my wrist, then reached for the thermometer.“Hi, Lisa,” he said calmly. “We got your blood work back. There are abnormal markers we can’t explain.”My stomach dropped. “What kind of markers?”“Easy,” he said, holding up a hand. “It’s not an immediate crisis, but these markers have no business being in your system during pregnancy.”I looked from my mom to Franklin. Everything he’d warned me about came rushing back.“What exactly are we talking about?” Franklin asked, stepping closer. “They don’t match any normal pregnancy response. It looks like a foreign substance entered her bloodstream. We’re still trying to identify it.”My hand pressed against my stomach. “How is the baby?”“The baby is stable for now,

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