Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite 6)

“I know.” My throat closes around the words.

“You do?”

“Yeah, you were a dick, but you made up for it when you showed up at the park. I heard when you told her not to beat me again in the Meet Up.”

His lips tug in a smirk. “Eavesdropping, Miss Prim and Proper?”

“Shut up. You’re lucky I forgive you.”

He kisses my fingers again.

We remain silent after that, just interlacing our fingers together and Cole caressing the back of my hand with his thumb. It’s like we can’t figure out what we want to say.

So I imagine Cole and me living in a faraway country. Well, not that far away — somewhere like France. Actually, no, it’s still too close to home and can reflect back on our parents. We can go to Asia or Africa or even Australia.

By the time the doctor returns, all sorts of scenarios have formed in my head.

“Alors.” Dr Laurant clears his throat and speaks in a thick French accent. “You have an ulcer that can be treated with des IPP. That’s the reason behind the vomiting and nausea. You’ve had stressful times, yes?”

I nod. “But what about the pregnancy?”

“Is the child okay?” Cole asks.

“There’s no child.” The doctor smiles in an impassive kind of way. “You’re not pregnant, mademoiselle.”

Not pregnant? What does he mean I?

??m not pregnant?

“I took a test.” I stare between him and Cole. “I took a test and it said positive.”

“It’s rare, but it can be… How do you say faux positive? Ah. A false positive.”

No, no, no…

“How many tests have you taken, mademoiselle?”

“One.”

“A false positive then. If you had taken another one right after, it would’ve come out negative. If you take tranquilisers a lot, that can alter the test. That’s why we recommend you take multiple tests.”

“What about my period? It’s weeks late.”

He flips through his pad. “Yes, from the form I can see that you used to take the birth control pills to regulate it. Since you haven’t been doing so lately, it affected your cycle. Again, stress and tranquilisers play a part.”

“So, I’m really not pregnant?” My voice breaks at the end.

“You’re not. Your blood test shows normal HCG levels — that’s the pregnancy hormone.”

“Can’t it be wrong?”

“No. Blood tests are the final verdict.” He scribbles something on his pad. “I’ll give you something for the stomach aches.”

I stare at Cole.

He appears as dazed as me. As speechless as me.

I’m not pregnant.