“You willingly peed on a pregnancy test?” Devin questions with a frown. “And if so, you saw that it was positive?”
“They tied me to a table and forced me to pee on a pregnancy test via a catheter,” I say through gritted teeth. “And yes, I saw the test.”
“Who fucking did that?” Kashton barks, reaching out to me, but I step back.
Devin goes on. “There’s record of an ultrasound?—”
“I did not dream this up.” They’re making me think I’m going insane. That it was all a lie.
“We’re not saying you did, angel,” Kashton says softly.
“Yes, you are,” I shout, and my wide eyes meet his. “I was pregnant.”
Kashton glances at Devin, who looks at me with sympathy, and I feel like I’m back in the room with LeAnne all those years ago when she and my father tried to convince me I was seeing a ghost, but the entire time it was my identical twin. And they knew it. They wanted me to think I was crazy. They were setting me up.
Devin sighs. “They were injecting you with fertility drugs to trigger ovulation. They contained hCG. That’s why your body thought you were pregnant. Resulting in a false positive pregnancy test.”
I give them my back and run a hand through my hair. “No.” I spin to face them. “I wrecked my father’s car, killing a man. It caused me to lose the baby and to need an emergency hysterectomy.” I fist my trembling hands.
“Eve—”
“I know what happened, Kashton,” I snap, interrupting my husband. “I was there. I went through it. That is not something you forget. No matter how much you want to.” It was not a hallucination. That was real.
“After your accident, you were given an ultrasound.” Devin’s eyes soften. “There was no pregnancy detected. The hysterectomy was not the result of a miscarriage due to the wreck,” Devin explains. “It was a punishment.”
“Punishment?” I whisper, and my stomach drops. How many times have I heard that word in my life? More than I can count.
“You couldn’t get pregnant, and after you tried to commit suicide, your father knew the odds of you getting pregnant were slim. By then he had your eggs. That was all he needed. So he took the option of you having children away from you.”
My legs begin to tremble in my heels.
Kashton walks toward me, and I take a step back, shaking my head. “I was pregnant.” My throat closes. “I chose to…kill us…” I whisper.
“I’m so sorry, Eve.” He reaches out and grabs my hand, gently pulling me into him. His tatted knuckles softly brush my hair from my face. “You were never pregnant, angel. It was just one more thing they took from you.”
I sniff, and tears sting my eyes, clouding my vision. “But Dollhouse…the paperwork?—”
“Fake,” Devin says. “It was all fabricated documents the doctor forged for Garrett. He had them written strictly for Dollhouse. If the Lords knew that he had taken that option from you, he would have been punished, considering your status. Because to the Lords, there is always a chance, and you are a founder.”
I allow Kashton to escort me over to the couch, and I fall down onto it. Pulling my hands from his, I lean over and bury my face into them.
I mourned a child who never existed? I blamed myself for years because I lived and killed my child. It was all a lie.
Was any part of my life ever real? My father controlled so much, and he still does. He wanted me to go crazy, and I hate to say that he’s winning.
EIGHTY-NINE
KASHTON
Devin exits the office, and I place my hand on my wife’s knee.
She looks up at me, and tears fall from her pretty green eyes. I hate this for her. I asked Devin to dig, and what he found was something I never thought of. I couldn’t keep this from her. She deserves to know the truth. Better now than later. Eve hated herself long enough for something that never even happened.
“I…” She licks her red lips. “I didn’t see any other option.”
“I know, angel.” I take her hands in mine. “You did what you thought you had to do.” She was alone, confused, and terrified.
She frowns, taking her hands from mine. “It was a lie. I wasn’t…” She trails off, unable to say it. “Do you know how scared I was?” She gets to her feet.
