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It kills me to say the next words. "Better it dies before it can feel anything than live the life I'm leading."
"Cynthia!" Maya sounds outraged.
However, I don't flinch. "I won't bring this child into this world to be a slave. Now is the time, Tony."
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Maya gives Tony a furious look.
"Come here." Tony takes her hand. "Let's give Cynthia some space and we should talk."
I sit at the kitchen table, staring down at the envelope in my hand, a cold emptiness expanding inside me. I don't want to hurt my baby, but I don't want my child to live the life I have led. My phone starts ringing, and when I look down, I see Adam's name pop up on my screen. I turn off my phone and take out the SIM, breaking it in two.
I will never see you again, Adam, I think to myself. I will rip off every leash on me, yours included.
When Maya and Tony return, Maya is white as a sheet. I don’t know what I expect her to say, but throwing her arms around me in a strangling hug isn’t what I anticipated. She doesn’t speak, but I feel the wetness on the side of my neck, and some of the stiffness fades from inside me.
“Maya and I discussed this,” Tony says once Maya steps back, wiping her eyes. “Your freedom is necessary, but so is saving the baby. We’re going to call Lydia. She’ll have to be told about all this but––"
“No!” I get to my feet. “No one else should be involved."
"Just hear us out," Maya says quickly. "If either of us give you the injections, we might make a mistake. Having Lydia oversee this whole thing will increase your chances of survival as well as the baby's."
"I give you my word," Tony interjects, "she won't say anything to anyone. And if she does, I'll kill her."
His threat lingers in the air as I stare at him in utter shock. "You'd kill a healer for me? Are you crazy?"
Tony meets my gaze, regret in his eyes. "I've failed you all these years, Cynthia. I won't fail you now. I will handle this situation."
"Don't––Don't kill her," I say, refusing to hurt the woman who has been nothing but kind to me. "We'll just make sure I'm far away before she has time to tell anyone anything. I have an escape plan ready. I just need to free myself first."
"Alright." Tony grabs his keys from the table. "I'll go get her."
"Throw these in the water on your way." I hand him the broken SIM and my phone."
Tony gives me a sharp look but doesn't question me.
"Give her something to eat," he tells Maya as he walks out.
"I don't have an appetite." I shake my head at my friend. However, Maya takes out some eggs and whips them up into a scrambled form.
"Eggs are good for pregnancy," she says firmly. "When was the last time you actually had a meal?"
"This morning." I take a bite of the eggs, and my stomach aches from hunger.
As I eat, Maya studies me. "The father is Adam Moore, isn't it?"
I jerk, my fork clattering on my plate. "What? How did you––"
"Your reaction from this afternoon when you saw the engagement announcement. And that building is where Adam lives. Everybody knows that."
"Maya, you can't tell––"
"Of course not." Maya squeezes my hand. "I don't think Tony has put two and two together yet. And if he has, he's not mentioned it to me. But Cynthia, instead of doing all this, isn't it better to get Adam to protect you? Surely, once he becomes Alpha––"
"Adam is marrying Tina," I stare down at the food now, feeling nauseated. "He plans to keep me tied to him using the blood debt. He'd keep me a slave to him."
"He wouldn't do that if he knows you're carrying his child!"
My head whips up, anger flashing in them. "Don't you remember what you told me? Some males marry the woman they want and keep their fated mate by their side to bear their children. Do you have any guarantee that he won't rip my child from my arms and give it to his wife to raise?"
