Chapter 21 —Eva
“Why did you tell him, Olga?” My voice rose higher than I intended. “It wasn’t your secret to tell!”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, her tone weak and dripping with regret. “I swear, I didn’t know you….” Her voice trailed off.
I threw my hands to my head, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. As mad as I was, I knew it wasn’t Olga’s fault, and I appreciated her for telling me about her conversation with Demyon.
He forced her to tell him the truth, and now the cat was out of the bag. I had no idea what to do or what to expect from him. I hadn’t come up with any valid plan prior to this moment, and I was honestly in desperate need of one.
“What’re you going to do now?” she asked, her gaze following me as I paced the length of my room.
Chewing on my nails, I answered, “I don’t know, Olga. I don’t know.”
She paused, watching me closely. “Maybe thereisnothing to be done,” she said, her voice low and even.
My neck snapped back at her. “Are you kidding me?” I glared at her with knitted brows. “Therehasto be something—some way to get out of this situation.”
“Eva….”
“I can’t live like this, Olga!” I blurted out, my voice breaking under the weight of my pain. “My life is ruined, and it’s all because of him!”
She stared at me with unshed tears in her eyes, a testament to the fact that she could feel my agony. Olga was ready to help me in every way she could, but from the look on her face, there was no way out of this.
I combed my fingers through my hair, anger, fear, and frustration coursing through my blood. “I hate him, I hate him,I hate him—I hate him so much!” The words tumbled from my mouth in a rush.
“Calm down, Eva,” she whispered, stepping closer to me. “You haven’t heard from him yet.” She took my hand, her eyes boring into mine.
“Olga, you know him better than anyone else,” I said, looking back at her. “How do you think he’s gonna handle this without further destroying my life?”
She didn’t reply; instead, she shifted her gaze to the door behind me. My heart skipped a beat, and a cold shiver sprinted down my spine as the scent of his cologne suddenly filled the air.
I locked my jaw, summoning the courage to act tough against the overwhelming fear threatening to suffocate me. I didn’t need to see him to know he was standing behind me. His commanding presence was something no one could ignore.
Quietly, I turned around, and there he was, standing by the door with both hands in his pockets.
“Olga, leave us,” he said without taking his eyes off me.
She hesitated for a little while, shifting her gaze between the two of us. I didn’t want her to go because I’d feel more confident and comfortable with her around me. However, she couldn’t defy him.
Olga flashed me an encouraging smile, squeezed my fingers, and then walked out of the room. After the door shut behind her, the silence that followed was awkward until he broke it.
“When were you going to tell me?” he demanded, his voice deep and husky.
I swallowed hard, wearing the meanest face I could muster.
He approached me with slow, menacing steps. “Did you honestly think you could keep this from me, huh?”
“I wish I could,” I replied, arrogant as ever. “But that’s not the case here. I just wasn’t ready to speak up.”
He halted in front of me. “The problem I have with you is how you treat this like it’s some bad news.”
My brows arched in disbelief, fingers clenching into fists as his words fueled my rage.
“Children are a blessing.”
“Easy foryouto say.” My face contorted into a frown, and the following words spilled out in a breathless rush. “You’re the one whose life is ruined. You’re not the one who can’t chase her dreams anymore. You’re not the one who’s going to give birth out of wedlock.”
He paused for a moment. “Who says you’re going to give birth out of wedlock?”
