The Devil at her House

Sera stopped dead in the hallway. She didn't expect him to be waiting, leaning against the sofa like he belonged there. Like a chess piece already ten moves ahead.

For a second, Sera thought she was hallucinating him. That her body, running on caffeine, had conjured him like a demon summoned through stress.

But then he straightened.

"Brave move," Evander prompted. "Deciding to sue me."

Her heart sped up and not in the good, fluttery way. No, this was the gut-clench kind. The how-the-hell-do-you-know kind.

Sera dropped her keys with a sharp clink onto the floor. She bent down to retrieve them, because she needed a second to breathe. A second to think. 

"How do you even know about that?" she asked, lifting her head only to meet those whiskey grey eyes. 

Evander craned his head, lips morphing into a devilish smile. "Because Sera…" He reached into his coat and pulled out his phone. "You chose one of mine..."

He tapped the screen and raised the phone to his ear. One ring. Two. And then— "Mathew," he answered. "I assume she told you everything. Thank you for being thorough."

No. No, no, no.

A familiar, creeping sense of doom slithered around her neck that was squeezed tighter and tighter until oxygen ran scarce from her lungs. "You..he..he works for you?" Sera stammered.

Evander didn't look smug, didn't gloat. That almost made it worse. "Let's say he owes me a few favors," he replied, slipping the phone back into his pocket. "I needed to see what you'd do. How far you would go."

Her knees went a little weak. The hallway spun. What the hell was this? A test? A game?

"Are you serious?" she had an inkling of where Evander was going with this. "You planted him?"

"I didn't plant anyone. Mathew's a free man." Evander walked to the kitchen sink and poured himself a glass of water.

"I simply made him an offer to inform me if you ever came knocking." He gave a careless shrug, taking a lazy sip of the water. "I had to know what cards you'd play before I showed you mine." All humor vanished, bringing back the unsmiling insensible man she was used to dealing with. 

Of course. Of course this would happen. The second Sera thought she had a chance, the second she thought maybe..maybe..someone was finally on her side, the floor got yanked out from under her again.

She was so tired of falling.

"Get out," Sera shouted. "Just..g-get out of my space." She was so close to having a breakdown.

A wave of nausea crashed over her so fast it left no time for grace. Sera turned and rushed down the hall, nearly tripping over her own feet as she burst into the bathroom and collapsed to her knees.

The sound of vomiting reverberated off the tiles, violent and raw. Her hands trembled as she gripped the edge of the sink, spit and bile tasting metallic in her mouth. She couldn't tell if it was the coffee, the empty stomach, or the universe laughing in her face.

Maybe all three.

Behind her, there was a soft knock. "Sera?" 

She ignored him, rinsing her mouth with shaky fingers and cold tap water. Her face looked pale in the mirror, dark circles under her eyes like bruises she hadn't earned with fists but with life.

Another knock. "Are you alright?"

Sera opened the door, unsure what version of him she'd find on the other side—Evander the billionaire, the manipulator, the control freak who played god with people's lives.

But he just stood there, eyes examining her like he was assessing damage. Not gloating. Just... watching…waiting. "We're going to the hospital. Now."

Surprise coasted through her eyes, followed by fury. "No," she protested, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. "You don't get to order me around."

"It's about the child's health. You just threw up. I'm not waiting until something worse happens to do something about it." The tiniest hint of disapproval etched into the corners of his mouth.

Sera looked at him, really looked at him. God forbid Evander Thorne Ashford show up unless there's something inside me, he can claim. 

Her body swayed, dizziness licking at the edges of her vision. The heat behind her eyes burned again from exhaustion.

"Fine," She grumbled. 

Sera hated that he made sense. She hated that he was right. If I'm already this tired... how the hell am I going to tolerate him for the rest of this pregnancy?

****

"This place," she muttered under her breath, eyes tracing the bold silver letters of the Bionex Fertility Center. "I should've burned it down the day they messed up my life."

The receptionist didn't even blink when they stepped in. No waiting. No clipboard. No token number system.

Of course not. They were already expected. Evander Thorne Ashford didn't wait in lines.

Sera barely remembered walking. One moment, she was standing at the door, and the next, she was inside the elevator with mirrored walls, watching her pale reflection. Her hair was a mess. Her lips bloodless. She looked like a ghost retracing her own tragedy.

And he? He looked like he always did. 

She hated him for that too.

The elevator dinged softly as it reached the top floor, and the doors slid open with a sterile hiss. Everything smelled like antiseptic and lavender—like they were trying to mask something ugly with something soft.

Too late for that.

The hallway stretched ahead. There was a woman in a pale blue coat, poring over a file at her desk. Dr Eleanor Hart, the renowned gynecologist of the country. She looked up the moment they entered. 

Then, just like clockwork, Eleanor stood and offered a warm smile. "Mr. Ashford. Ms. Marlow. Please, come in."

Sera didn't miss the slight tremor in her voice. "I want to start by apologizing, Ms. Marlow." she said with a sincere voice. "For what happened with your egg donation... the mix-up. It should've never occurred under our care, and I can't begin to imagine what you went through."

The apology scraped against her wounds that hadn't even started to scab. Sera could've unleashed every piece of her fury right there—but her body was too tired, too hungry, too scared. Her energy was currently being eaten alive by a nausea that refused to leave.

She just nodded stiffly. "Let's get this over with."

Dr. Eleanor didn't flinch. "We'll run an early pregnancy scan. Please come with me, Ms. Marlow."

Evander didn't follow. He stayed in the consultation area, hands in his pockets, gaze trained on the far window like he had all the time in the world.

Sera didn't know if it was disinterest or respect, and she didn't care to find out.