The Alpha King's Reluctant Bride (Ava and Grayson) novel Chapter 189

hapter 189

-Ava’s POV-

3

I felt a sudden rush of cold sweat, my heart pounding in my chest. Pregnant? How could that be? I mean, I knew how, but how?

And then, before I could even process it, laughter bubbled up from somewhere deep inside me. It was shaky, out of control, a sound that didn’t even feel like mine. But I couldn’t stop it. I laughed, a sharp, hollow laugh that echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls like it belonged to someone else. It was the kind of laughter that came when there was nothing else left-when crying wouldn’t cut it anymore.

My mother’s frown deepened, her eyebrows furrowing in a mix of confusion and frustration. “What’s so funny?” she asked, her tone low, clipped, like she was trying to hold back some unspoken irritation.

But I couldn’t stop laughing.

It was all too much. Isabella’s words played on repeat in

repeat in my mind, as clear as the day she said them: “From all the sex you’ve been having.” And there had been a lot of sex-more than I’d ever imagined I’d have in such a short time. Especially after Grayson took my virginity. It hadn’t been the focus of anything before, at least not until I wrote that list.

Now I was pregnant. With Grayson’s child.

The laughter cracked and died in my chest, leaving behind a hollow ache that I couldn’t fill. My throat tightened as my eyes dropped to my stomach, my trembling hands hovering just above it. A child. A human being.

Grayson’s child.

Grayson. The man who didn’t want me. The man who wanted nothing to do with me anymore. The man who never wanted a child in the first place.

“No.” My voice was barely above a whisper, trembling like the rest of me. My fingers hovered over my abdomen as though touching it would somehow confirm the truth I was desperate to deny. “No, I can’t be pregnant.”

But deep down, I knew I was. The moment my mother’s words left her lips, something inside me just…… clicked, Like body had been waiting for someone else to say it before it admitted the truth to me. And yet, I couldn’t accept it.

I couldn’t let it be real.

my

“You’re wrong,” I said, my voice breaking. “This… this can’t be happening.” My eyes darted around the room, looking for a way to escape, a way to undo all of this. “Where is Father?” I demanded suddenly, grasping for anything else to focus on. “I haven’t seen him.”

My mother’s face twisted in disbelief. She looked at me like I had lost my mind. “You’ve been here for three days, and now you’re asking about your father?” Her hands flew to her pearls, clutching them like they were the only thing keeping her grounded. “He’s gone.”

I froze. “What?”

“He’s not dead, Ava,” she snapped, exasperated. “He’s overseas. His expertise was needed for a procedure.”

“Oh. Okay.” I nodded slowly, as if her words made perfect sense. Then, without another thought, I climbed off the bed, heading for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” my mother demanded, her voice sharp and biting.

45%

“Overseas,” I said, my steps quick and unsteady. “To help Father le needs help, and I can help him.” I nodded again, my thoughts racing too fast to make sense of them.

“That’s enough,” She barked, her voice cutting through my spiraling thoughts like a blade. It was so sudden, so forceful that it made me stop dead in my tracks. “I have tolerated this behavior for three days, but I will tolerate it no longer.” Her voice was cold, firm, the way it always got when she was at the end of her patience. “This slow descent into madness because of that man has to end. You are going to shower, then eat, and for goodness’ sake, you are carrying a child!”

Her words hit me like a slap to the face. My entire body tensed, and something inside me snapped. All the anger, the frustration, the helplessness I had been holding in came pouring out in a scream so raw it felt like it ripped through me. “I do not want this child!”

The words exploded out of me, shaking the room. The walls seemed to hum with the force of it, my voice echoing long after I had stopped speaking. My breath came in ragged gasps as I stared at her, my vision swimming.

“I don’t want this child,” I repeated, my voice cracking as tears blurred my vision. “This can’t be happening to me.” A bitter laugh slipped out, sharp and ugly. “How could this happen to me” I half-laughed, half-cried, the sound breaking into hysterics. “How could Grayson do this to me?”

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