All Chapters of The Surrogate Virgin : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The bracelet felt heavier in my palm than it had any right to. I didn’t know how long I’d been standing there in the kitchen, staring at it, my heartbeat tapping against my ribs like it was trying to break out. Nova’s laughter drifted in from the living room, a patch of warmth in a room that suddenly felt too cold.I slipped the bracelet into my pocket just as Noah walked in. His T-shirt was clinging to his shoulders, casual but watchful.“You okay?” he asked, voice soft but probing.I forced a nod. “Yeah. Just thinking about… some errands I wanted to run.”It was the first excuse I could think of.His brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t push. “We could all go later, get out of the house for a bit.”“Maybe,” I said, turning to the sink so he couldn’t read my face. “I’ll see how I feel.”What I didn’t tell him was that my phone had buzzed twenty minutes earlier with a message from the same unknown number that had been haunting me since the night of the cabin.If you want to see her

The map burned in my thoughts all night, its neat red circle imprinted behind my eyelids every time I blinked. Even in the darkness of our bedroom, I could still see it, like a ghost image after staring too long at the sun.By morning, I’d decided on two things,First, I couldn’t sit on this, and every hour I waited was another hour my mother stayed in that room.Second, if Noah found out too soon, he would shut it down.When I finally slid out of bed, Noah was already gone. The imprint of his pillow was still warm, a sign he’d left only minutes ago. That should have been a relief, but instead it felt like a warning even in his absence, I was being timed.Nova padded into the kitchen in mismatched socks, rubbing her eyes. “Cereal?” she mumbled.I poured her a bowl, added strawberries, and sat across from her, pretending to scroll through my phone. But in reality, I was looking up bus schedules, checking routes that passed anywhere near the address on the map. If I were going to go, I

By the time I got back to the house, Noah was already back from his errands waiting for me. He leaned against the counter, a glass of water in his hand, but his eyes weren’t relaxed. They were sharp, tracking me the way you watch a stranger in your home.“You’re late,” he said, like it was nothing, but his tone told me it was something.I dropped my purse onto the table. “Traffic.”His gaze held mine a beat longer than necessary before he looked toward the living room and he looked at me. “You didn't inform me you were stepping out and I've been trying to reach you, your phone is not reachable.”I replied to him back with a shivering but trying to hide it tone, “My battery went off and I couldn't wait until I'm back home to plug it up, I lied”.I crouched down and hugged Nova, letting her warmth melt into me for a few stolen seconds but even as she giggled, my mind was still in that parking lot, still feeling the phantom eyes on me.When I rose, Noah wasn’t in the kitchen anymore.The

The SUV didn’t move right away. I sat frozen in the driver’s seat, my fingers still clamped around the steering wheel. Headlights glared through the drizzle, two orbs cutting into my rearview mirror like watchful eyes. My breath fogged the glass as I waited.One long minute then two. Finally, the SUV rolled forward, slow and unhurried, before turning the corner and disappearing into the dark but I knew better. Whoever was inside hadn’t just been passing by. They’d been watching.By the time I made it to the door, my hands were trembling so badly I dropped the keys twice before managing to fit them into the lock.I drove back home and inside, the warmth of the house hit me like a wave with the faint smell of lavender detergent, the hum of the dishwasher, Nova’s soft giggle carrying from upstairs where Noah must have tucked her into bed with a story safe and normal but my skin still prickled with the weight of headlights I could no longer see.I took off my shoes and forced myself to mo

The road stretched out in gray silence, a ribbon of cracked asphalt slicing through dead fields and leafless trees. My hands stayed locked on the wheel, knuckles pale, eyes darting to the rearview mirror more often than necessary.At first, I told myself it was a habit I’d been shadowed before, paranoia never really left you. But twenty minutes into the drive, when that same dull-gray sedan reappeared behind me after I thought I’d shaken it off behind a lumbering delivery truck, the prickle along my neck sharpened.Coincidence, I muttered under my breath. Not every car was a tail, not every stranger cared who I was but yet my fingers betrayed me tapping restlessly against the steering wheel.I kept driving, pushing past neighborhoods that dissolved into barren farmland. The address scrawled onto my map tugged at me like a hook, even while my better judgment screamed to turn back. Heavy clouds hung low, turning the afternoon into a dim, colorless blur. I cracked the window, letting the