AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey,” Callie whispers, gently touching my arm. “It’ll be okay.”
“Will it?” The question escapes before I can catch it. A surge of fear that tastes like bile rises in my throat. I swallow it back down.
“Of course,” she insists, though there’s a tremor in her voice that tells me she’s scared too. “You’re strong, Brielle. Stronger than you think.”
Her words are meant to bolster me, but they’re like bandages on a wound too deep. I force a breath in and out, trying to ground myself.
“Maybe,” I finally whisper, uncertainty lacing the edges of my resolve. The timer continues its relentless countdown, and I can’t help but wonder if every second ticking away brings me closer to a reality I’m not prepared for.
The shrill beep of the timer slices through the silence, stabbing at the bubble of suspended time. My hand shakes as I reach for the phone, thumb jabbing the screen to stop the noise. It’s done. No going back.
I pivot, a slow-motion twirl toward the counter. The test sits there, innocent and damning all at once. I snatch it up, the plastic cool against my heated skin.
My breath catches. Eyes widen. A single line would mean relief, freedom—a continuation of the life I know. But it’s not one line.
It’s two.
A gasp escapes me, a silent scream that echoes in the stark white of the bathroom. My knees buckle, betraying me, and I crumple to the floor, the test clattering beside me.
“Positive…” The word doesn’t sound real. It’s a whisper, a ghost of sound that hangs heavy in the air.
I cover my mouth, smother the sob that threatens to spill out. This can’t be happening. Not now. Not with everything else teetering on the edge of disaster.
Callie kneels beside me, her eyes wide with concern. She reaches out, her touch tentative on my shoulder. “Brielle?”
Pregnant. The thought swirls, a maelstrom in my mind. Conrad’s laughter, Levi’s smirk, Grayson’s intensity—all crashing together in a wave of what-ifs and how-could-I’s.
“Callie…” I choke on her name, on the reality crashing down around me. “I’m pregnant.”
Tears threaten, but I blink them away. Can’t show weakness. Have to think. Have to plan. But the thoughts are slippery, elusive.
“Okay,” Callie breathes, squeezing my shoulder. “Okay, we’ll figure this out. Together.”
But “together” has never felt so utterly alone.
46
BRIELLE
The door swings open, and Conrad’s smile greets me—a stark contrast to the turmoil churning inside me. His grin falters, then falls completely as he scans my face, reading the story my eyes tell before I utter a word.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” His voice is a soft note of concern, wrapping around me like a blanket.
In an instant, his arms are my fortress, pulling me into the warmth of his chest. The familiar scent of him—woodsy cologne mingled with a hint of soap—should soothe me, but it just unravels me further. My sniffles break through the quiet of the hallway, each one a tiny echo of the chaos in my heart.
“Talk to me, Brielle.” His hands glide up my back in steady strokes, trying to smooth away the tension knotted between my shoulder blades.
My breath hitches, catching on the lump in my throat. I press closer to him, seeking solace in his embrace while my mind races for the words that can explain the dread pooling in my stomach. Conrad’s hug tightens, his silent pledge to shelter me from whatever storm is about to break.
The words are a sliver of ice down my spine. “Someone knows,” I whisper, the confession spilling from lips that tremble. “They’ll expose us if I don’t…” My voice trails off, but I don’t need to finish the sentence.
Conrad’s body stiffens against mine. “Expose us?” His tone sharpens with the weight of understanding. “How? Who?”
“End things with you. All of you.” The words hang heavy in the air, a sacrificial offering to this unseen threat.
Shock registers on Conrad’s face, his blue eyes darkening like the sky before a storm. He steps back, his hands gripping my shoulders as he searches my face for answers I don’t have.
“Brielle, do you realize what this could mean if your dad finds out?”
