Deceitful Vows (Marital Privileges #2)

65. Zoya

65

ZOYA

A s she tears open an early-detection pregnancy test, Nikita whispers, “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Z. This family seems a little tense.”

She knew what to say when I commenced my ruse because I grilled her last night on how I could make a pregnancy test appear positive even if you’re not pregnant. She grew so worried that I had taken a test and was freaking about the results that she admitted she knew of my fertility issues and confessed to supplementing my “vitamin water” with medication I couldn’t afford.

It’s why Grampies’s pharmaceutical bill surged so astronomically high six months ago.

Before I can tell her that I have no damn clue what I am doing, a deep male voice from outside the bathroom says, “Step out of the stall. We don’t want the test contaminated.”

“Just a minute,” Nikita murmurs before she shifts her focus back to me.

“Not a minute. Now! ”

I slant my head out of the stall before releasing some of my anger onto a person undeserving of my wrath. It isn’t his fault my lie forced him into a female restroom to watch me pee on a stick. He also didn’t try to force my sister into a marriage that would only end one way—with her death. But I’m too frustrated not to release some of the pressure, so he will be hit with some of it.

“Do you know who her husband is?” The brute jerks up his chin. “Then I suggest you shut your mouth before he teaches you some manners. She’s also a doctor. They can’t lie even when you want them to.” My last statement is more for me than Nikita. I need to have some faith in Dr. Hemway, or my entire plan will go to shit.

With the goon more worried about Maksim’s sudden appearance than who is peeing on the stick purchased by political royalty, I tell Nikita to go ahead.

She does so with knowledge I doubt she learned in medical school. “You need to dip this end into your pee midstream.” She emphasizes her last word like it has a heap of importance. “Once you’ve finished, pop the cap back on. A positive result should come up in a minute or two.”

“Are you sure it will come up?” My words are so faint I’m surprised Nikita hears them.

She nods. “One of the best treatments for endo sufferers is to stop their cycle. The HCG hormone thickens the uterus, but it also interrupts your period.”

“Okay.” I breathe out slowly before accepting the test from her and moving to the toilet.

While I do my business, Nikita stands just outside the disabled toilet stall, within eyesight of the goon meant to authenticate the accuracy of my test by ensuring I am the only person who pees on it.

Two lines appear on the early detection test before I’ve even placed on the cap.

My ruse is full steam ahead.

I should feel relieved, but I’m an odd mix of anxious and worried. I hate what my objection could do to my relationship with Aleena, but Andrik’s son keeps popping up in my mind too. I’ve never met him, but I don’t want him to be hurt by the actions of the people who are meant to protect him.

When I hand the test to the brute, he grunts at the result before he gives it to a second man standing outside the restroom.

I can tell the exact moment the news is shared with Andrik. Glass smashing sounds into the bathroom a second before his grandfather’s elderly frame fills the doorway.

“Switch outfits with your sister. Your guests are waiting.”

“Aleena… please.” I grip her arm before she can leave the dressing room as quickly as she entered it. “I’m not doing this to hurt you. I swear to God.” When she yanks out of my hold, I get so desperate that I share secrets with her I’m still struggling to work out. “If you conceived a daughter, you wouldn’t have seen the year out. If it is a boy, you’d have a maximum of five years. Less if Andrik’s”—I cuss before correcting—“Kazimir’s interests strayed.”

The information Ano gifted me last night couldn’t be misconstrued. Disappearing wives are as regular as extramarital affairs for the Dokovic clan. If I had ignored Ano’s information, I would have placed a timer on my sister’s head.

I couldn’t do that, so I placed my life in the firing zone instead.

When Aleena remains facing the exit but not walking through it, I murmur, “You saw how quickly his grandfather switched us. We’re disposable to them. Replaceable. I’m trying to save you and your unborn child from that.”

Nikita cautioned me last night that Aleena’s pregnancy confirmation could have been a ruse to force me to stay away from Andrik, but my heart refuses to believe it. I know she is pregnant. I’m just skeptical that her baby is Andrik’s. The IVF dates in Andrik’s contract don’t match. The timeline Ano gave me is far more viable.

Aleena’s eyes lock with mine, and the wetness in them breaks my heart. “By trapping us with her .”

“No. I will get you out. I promise.”

She wipes at the tear that rolls down her cheek when she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. I made my bed, and now I must lay in it.”

“Aleena…”

She races through the door so fast that my shout bounces off the wall in the hallway three guards are monitoring. They don’t belong to Maksim’s crew. They protect the Dokovic assets, and that is precisely what I am to them now. A piece of property.

But, as Aleena said seconds ago, I made my bed, so now I must lay in it.

After shoving my feet into the dress Aleena hand-delivered, I yank it up my midsection and then squeeze it past my breasts. Aleena and I are a similar height and build, but more of my breasts spill out of the dress than it holds in.

I don’t bother looking in the mirror before exiting the dressing room at the side of the ballroom. I have no one to impress—not even the man waiting for me at the altar.

“Are you sure I can’t talk you out of this?” Nikita asks while handing me the bouquet Aleena dumped at the altar before storming down the aisle with our mother hot on her tail.

As she raced after her youngest daughter, my mother said there would be hell to pay for my objection, and that this isn’t the last I’ll be hearing from her. I haven’t seen her since, and although it shouldn’t hurt to notice her spot in the front row is vacant, it does.

Nikita draws my focus back to her. “I’m not above asking Maksim to help get you out of this.”

“No. I need to do this.” I’d never forgive myself if I pulled out now.

The Dokovics’ marital traditions weren’t the only evidence Ano’s hacker friend unearthed last night. He also discovered the cause of the swiftness of Aleena and Andrik’s engagement.

If this wedding doesn’t go through, Andrik’s son won’t get the heart he so desperately needs. That’s how Ano convinced me to object. He forced me to pick between my sister’s life and Andrik’s son. I only came to the decision to object when I realized I could save them both.

“Okay.” Nikita’s exhale fans my sweaty cheeks with warm air. “Then let’s do this.”

As I join a red-faced and furious Andrik at the end of the aisle, Nikita stays in eyesight the entire time. All I have to do is signal that I want out, and she will relay my every wish to Maksim.

I won’t chicken out, though. Not for my unborn niece or nephew, and not for Andrik’s son. They’re children, and they should be protected no matter what.

“Dearly beloved…” the celebrant starts again. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the…”

There are no objections this time around.

No interruptions.

There is also no kiss.

The instant the celebrant announces Andrik and me as husband and wife, Andrik leaves the altar without a backward glance, shocking our guests and breaking my heart more than my sister’s disappointment that I stole her “wife” title.