Chapter 168 A Disastrous Twist

Chapter 168 A Disastrous Twist
~Teyana’s POV~

•Two Months Later•

“Mrs Carter has less than three months to live.”

The words landed between the doctor and I like a physical weapon, heavy enough that I felt it press into my chest. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe properly. I was seated across the family doctor table, my hands folded tightly in my lap, nails digging into my palms as though pain there could keep the rest of me from breaking apart.

I closed my eyes slowly, because I knew if I kept them open, the tears would spill immediately, and once they started, I didn’t trust myself to stop. I focused on the sound of the air conditioner humming softly above us, the muted beeping of hospital machines outside the office door, anything that wasn’t his voice replaying the sentence again and again inside my head.

Less than three months. My mother.

When I opened my eyes, the doctor was still talking, his tone careful and practiced, the way people speak when they know they’re holding a fragile information.

“At this point,” he said gently, “You should focus on spending more time with her, showing her more love and if possible, bringing activities she can do here in her ward. She will need it during her last days.”

I nodded, but didn’t fully trust myself to speak. 

I thanked him quietly and stood up on legs that felt like they belonged to someone else. I wanted to be in denial so bad, but her cancer had never felt realer.

The walk back to my mother’s ward felt longer than it ever had before. Every step echoed with thoughts I didn’t want to entertain. When I pushed the door open, I found her propped slightly against the pillows, her frame thinner than she had been even a month ago, her skin pale, her eyes still soft despite everything.

She coughed then, a deep, rattling sound that made my stomach twist, and reached for the rolls beside her. Blood bloomed against the white paper when she pressed it to her mouth. I looked away for half a second, not because I was disgusted, but because seeing it made it had to resist my tears.

I had lost count of how many rolls we had gone through.

“Darling,” she acknowledged me, her voice croaky.

“I still have hope, mum” I said quickly, sitting beside her and helping her settle back. “Miracles happen. People survive worse.”

She smiled at me, a weak one, and reached up to touch my hand. “You’ve been missing classes because of me.”

“I’m reading,” I said, forcing brightness into my voice. “I attend lectures online too. I’m fine.”

I wasn’t.

But I smiled anyway, smoothing her thinning hair back gently, careful not to tug. I guess was doing a bad job at keeping my emotions at bay. Her next words confirmed it.

“My Teyan, even if I lose this fight to cancer,” she spoke softly, “my soul will always be there to guide you.”

“Don’t,” I cut in quickly, shaking my head. “Don’t talk about death. You’re alive. That’s what matters right now.”

She watched me for a long moment, then nodded.

After a pause, she spoke again. “John told me that Rebecca girl was detained. But she kept saying she was just an opportunist and nobody sent her.”

My breath hitched.

The news had been everywhere this week on blogs. The CCTV footage from Jeremy’s house had finally surfaced to his favor—the video showing the alleged victim Rebecca touching his chest like she was trying to seduce him. 

Jeremy had pushed her hand away and stepped back. With his demeanor and all, you would know the girl wasn’t the victim. Jeremy had looked like the trapped one. It had hurt to look at that video- because it was that incident that broke us 
up. 

The narrative had shifted overnight though. A girl who claimed to be a victim could not also be seen provoking the same man she accused.

She had been found and detained. John had also spoken about how Jeremy came to his office and accused him of molesting the girl because it was what the girl told Jeremy. For some reason, I wasn’t so surprised that Jeremy didn’t do it. It was like I had always known at the back of my mind that he didn’t. He wasn’t capable of that. 

Maybe the break up was just meant to happen. But in some way, I had felt really hollow.

“A lot has spoiled,” I murmured between me and my mum.

She looked at me thoughtfully. “You can still find your way back to him.”

I thought I misheard her. “Are you… supporting our relationship now?”

She smiled, her gaze distant. “I’ve been reflecting a lot during my stay here. I don’t think marrying into the Carter family was meant for me. I think the universe used me as a bridge. A way to connect you and Jeremy.”

My stomach tightened. “What are you implying?”

She continued calmly, “You told me you used to have an innocent crush on him in high school. Then fate brought you together again through my marriage. Now…” She paused. “Now I’m dying, leaving the marriage. But you and Jeremy? Can still build something.”

“Stop,” I said quickly. “Please stop saying you are dying.”

“If I go,” she continued gently, “Your relationship wouldn’t look bad in the world’s eyes anymore. Your parents are no longer married. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Tears burned my eyes. “Please.”

Before I could say more, there was a knock on the door.

I turned my head to see who it was. It was my aunt. My mum’s elder sister. Aunt Kelly. She was the chubbier version of my mother. The scent of her expensive perfumery invaded the space around us immediately. She looked like money.

This was her second visit since my mother’s condition worsened. The first had been last week, after years of grudges between them. Years of resentment. The reason had been because my father had been courting Aunt Kelly- a five years-old grown relationship, before he cheated on her with my mother. 

My mum was not innocent afterall. And sometimes, I hated it. That I was born through that circumstance. My mother wasn’t a saint, but the truth remained that no one was perfect in this world. Life rewarded Aunt Kelly though. She married a multi-millionaire scientist. According to my mum, he was a lord too. 

“Alice,” She smiled, calling my mother’s name as she approached us.

“Aunt Kelly,” I greeted her and she patted my back, but her focus was on my mother, her lookalike. They could even be mistaken for twins, maybe that was why my father took interest in them both. That Perv. Not like he stopped cheating after he married my Mum. Maybe it was Karma afterall. But that should have been enough torture. Cancer wasn’t supposed to happen.

My aunt’s eyes filled with tears immediately. “I regret reconciling with you like this, Alice” she said. “If I had known… I wouldn’t have let Richard come between us.”

They held hands. They cried together. I cried silently. Then my mother asked of her children, her twin girls that I wasn’t so familiar with but had only seen in pictures.

“Charlotte is in school and also modeling. Taylor is pursuing her acting career. She was in Los Alamos to shoot last month. I’m not even aware of their movements that much, I only know what they tell me. Those adults are as free as birds now.” My mum chuckled. As I watched them speak, a part of me hoped I could meet my cousin sisters’ soon. I heard they were twenty one. Aunt Alice got married before my mum and Richard.

She finally turned to me. She asked how I was coping and how she would have wished I come spend some time with them in California if not for the circumstance at hand.

Just then, she asked, “Are you sick?”

I shook my head, not knowing what she saw that made her think that. “I’m fine.”

She frowned. “Your eyes look…distant. But maybe it’s just me.”

I swallowed. I excused myself quickly, my stomach rolling violently.

In the bathroom, I barely made it to the toilet before vomiting. Again.

I rinsed my mouth and leaned against the sink, staring at my reflection. Pale. Tired. And of course- Afraid.

I had been constantly nauseous and been occasionally vomiting for the past one week. I had self-medicated but the symptoms didn’t slow.

Carol’s deeply concerned voice from last week echoed in my head ‘You should take a pregnancy test’

I had scolded her then. Dismissed it like the idea of being pregnant itself was a sin. But now, standing there, memories flooded back into my head. To be honest, I had been so careless with Jeremy during the past two months. I had forgotten to use pills early on, but later collected a couple from Carol and used when I remembered. She had told me it was late. But I had thought it was better than not taking them at all.

I hadn’t seen him in two months. He hadn’t reached out. Not like he could when I had deleted his contact. Carol had told me he was transferring this month. She somehow learnt that because Jeremy said it himself when they all hung out two months ago. He didn’t bother to find a way to tell me. And I thought it was for the best. Actually.

I left my mum and Aunt Kelly after telling them I needed to visit the library. It was a lie. I stopped by the pharmacy as I headed back to my apartment.

When I got home, I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, the PT test unopened in my hands. Then I paced. I breathed. I prayed, hoping it could never be what I feared most at this stage of my life.

I went to the bathroom and did the peeing thing as instructed. I waited for a couple of hours before I checked back, anxiety wounding through me badly like a curse.

In inhaled and exhaled deeply, my fingers shaking before I took it up to see. My heart literally stopped working. 

It was positive.

I sank onto the bed, hand over my mouth.

I was pregnant.