CHAPTER 1: THE FATAL ERROR

ATHENA'S POV

The cold, clinical scent of antiseptic is all that I can smell as usual in the very sterile hospital.

The overhead fluorescent lights above me hums very dully but it does little to soothe my nerves as I prepare for what should be another routine procedure.

I adjust my gloves, smoothing them down against my wrist as I glance a little bit at the monitor beside me.

The system is running perfectly fine—at least, that’s what I believe; I'll check it again later to be sure.

“Embryologist Foster, are you ready?” the nurse asks, sounding professional as she always did.

I nod, shifting my focus of my eyes to the vial in front of me.

This part of my job is actually very easy; all I have to do is to select the prepared sperm sample, confirm the donor file, and make sure that everything is done without any errors of any kind at all.

It’s a controlled process, I mean it's something I do without any emotion, and yet it always feels strangely intimate.

"Let’s proceed," I murmur, keeping my fingers very steady as I take out the micropipette.

The needle-like tool gives out a stroke of shining as I pass it under the sterile lighting, ready to transfer life into the current embryo.

Then the screen glitched a bit, just for a split second but it was too fast for me to think of it as an issue so I didn't give it any thoughts whatsoever and continued with what I was doing.

------

Across town, in a lavish penthouse overlooking Manhattan.

XANDER KNIGHT's POV

I smirked into my whiskey glass, swirling the amber liquid with a lazy movement of my wrist.

The city lights stretch out before me, like an endless sea of power, money, and control--- everything I've ever wanted is at my fingertips.

And tonight, I'm sealing these achievements with a diamond ring.

“Are you even listening to me, Xander?”

Veronica needle like voice reaches my ears, while her manicured nails tap on impatiently against the marble counter.

I turn to her, rather arrogantly without effort.

Of course I'm listening, I just don't care.

“I heard you,” I drawl, setting my glass down.

“The engagement party. The press. The goddamn fairytale.”

I flash her a smirk that I know would calm her down as it always does.

“You’ll get your moment, Veronica. Just like you always do.”

She huffs, but the satisfaction is there in her body language and she keeps quiet just like I knew she would.

Veronica is very easy to understand, I don't have to go through any sort of drama with her.

I just have to give the order and she will obey.

This is what she wants anyway, the fame, glory, money and prestige of being my fiancée.

---

THREE DAYS LATER

ATHENA'S POV

The ultrasound screen moves, bathing the room in a very soft glow and I stare at it, feeling my heart hammer in my rib cage.

“…Pregnant?” I repeat back after my doctor, while my voice stays just above a whisper.

The doctor nods, very oblivious----- as most doctors are or rather pretend to be---, to the bad feeling spreading through my veins.

“The implantation was successful and the embryo has attached beautifully. Congratulations, Miss Foster.”

My stomach churns and I shake my head.

Congratulations? There is nothing to congratulate at all.

No.

This isn’t even right, this wasn’t the plan at all.

I had one cycle left with just one last egg in me.

And I also had one last attempt before my contract with the clinic ended, so I had been prepared for failure, for the same crushing disappointment that I felt after every failed attempt I had experienced over the years.

I thought, no I KNEW that the result would be negative as it always was so I hadn't bothered to prepare for more baby items. Heck I had thrown everything out last week.

This last IVF I did was just to let myself know that I had tried but the universe hadn't allowed me to have a child.

But this? This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The doctor continues speaking, but I don’t hear a word.

My mind is spinning with so much disbelief and confusion.

There has to be a mistake, I had lost all hope.

For goodness sake, I'm a nurse!!!! So I know how literally impossible it is for me to get pregnant nevermind my several stubborn attempts.

How potent is this guy?

I grip the edge of the examination table tightly, “Can you— can you verify the donor file? There’s no way…”

My voice falters. And I don’t know what as else I'm supposed to ask for.

The doctor frowns just a bit, but then nods at me, probably now understanding my confusion and worries.

“Of course.”

She turns to the monitor, pulling up my file and my stomach bunches up in a big knot while I watch her eyes scan the screen.

I see her brows furrow and her fingers pause mid air, hovering over the keyboard.

“…That’s odd.”

Oh no.

That's one of the lines you should never hear from a doctor and now it sends a sick feeling crawling up my spine.

“What?” I whisper.

“There’s been a modification in the donor’s ID.”

Her voice is calm, but being a hospital staff myself, I don’t miss the minor tremor in it.

She clicks again on the keyboard, and my file opens fully.

I lean forward a bit, getting up halfway from the observation bed to see the name that appears on the screen, and I startle.

Donor ID: XK-0906.

My breath catches in my throat at what I'm seeing, that’s not the ID of the donor I selected.

This isn’t just a mistake, it's bad news.

I don’t know who XK-0906 is, but I hope he is not a man that will harass me with his wife for their child.

The last thing I want is to be a surrogate mother.

My pulse spikes and I blink at the monitor as if just doing that would change the current donor's ID to the initial one.

I am carrying a stranger’s child and I can't believe it.

The doctor swallows hard, suddenly looking far more nervous than before.

“Miss Foster… I think we need to take this to administration immediately.”

I nod absentmindedly, but my mind is already going ahead.

Who on earth made this kind of mistake?

----------

MEANWHILE, ACROSS THE CITY

AUTHOR'S POV

Veronica Sterling is standing in front of the director of Sterling Fertility Institute with her patience running extremely thin.

“Where is she?” she snaps, curling her perfectly glossed lips in annoyance.

The administrator glances back and forth, stuttering.

“Miss... Miss St... Miss Sterling, I assure you, everything is being handled—”

“Handled?” Veronica hisses.

“It’s been bloody three days. I was told I’d have confirmation of the sperm's potency immediately to get everything checked rightly before my upcoming marriage. Now, suddenly, no one can give me a straight answer?”

The director’s face pales, “There was… an unforeseen complication.”

Veronica’s faces scrunches up at the ridiculous excuse.

“What kind of complication?”

The administrator doesn't say anything and she narrows her eyes.

---

ATHENA'S POV

Back at my apartment, I sit on my couch with my knees pulled to my chest, trying to process the disaster that has just become my life.

I should tell someone but I don't even know who to talk to.

I should demand answers but knowing the medical staff and how they operate, I won't be getting any answers soon.

If the worse turns to worst, then I might never know what happened and what went wrong.

I hope it doesn't come to that, I really really hope it doesn't because forget that I work there--- I'm literally a patient now in this case.

My phone buzzes on the coffee table, startling me and I reach my hands out to pick it up.

It from an unsaved number.

Thinking more about my problems, I hesitate before answering.

“…Hello?”

A deep, smooth voice rolls through the line almost immediately.

“Miss Foster. You’re pregnant,” the man states as though he already knows.

My breath catches at this; no way could the medical staff have let anyone know about the mix up.

“Who is this?” I demand.

There's silence only for a bit before the man says-----

“I suggest you prepare yourself, Miss Foster.”

I grip the phone tighter, putting my legs down from the couch to the rug and standing up.

“Prepare for what?”

“To meet the father of your child,” the man says immediately and hangs up.