Chapter 179: The Truth At Last

Chapter 179: The Truth At Last
Sierra's POV

The words hung in the air between us. I'm already pregnant. My mind went blank. I couldn't breathe. 

Evelyn sat there crying. Her hands were shaking. Her whole body trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"You're what?" My voice came out as a whisper. I wanted to scream but nothing came out. 

Evelyn wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Three weeks ago. I did it. I went through with my plan." 

She looked at me with eyes full of shame. "I thought it would make me feel important again like I mattered but now I just feel empty and scared."

I stood up and walked to the window. Outside the sun was shining. People were going about their day like the world hadn't just turned upside down. How could everything look so normal when nothing felt normal anymore? I pressed my hand against the glass. It was cold and real. I needed something real to hold onto.

"Who is the father?" I asked without turning around. Evelyn was quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke her voice was so small I almost didn't hear it. 

"Derek. From the eastern border patrol." My stomach twisted. Derek was barely twenty-two. Kind and hardworking. He had no idea what Evelyn had been planning. No idea she had used him like this.

"Does he know?" I asked. Evelyn shook her head fast. "No. I haven't told him. I haven't told anyone until now. You're the first person I've said it out loud to." 

She started crying harder. "I don't even know why I'm telling you. You have every reason to hate me. I've been horrible to you, to your family, to everyone."

I walked back to her and sat down in the chair across from her. My hands were shaking too but I tried to stay calm. "Why Adrian?" I asked quietly. "Why have you been so obsessed with him? Help me understand." 

Evelyn looked up at me. Her face was red and wet with tears. She took a deep shaky breath.

"I've loved him since we were children," she whispered. "Back when we were just kids playing in the woods. He was always kind to me. Always made me laugh. I thought we would grow up and be together forever." 

She wiped her nose. "But then we got older and things changed. He started seeing other girls. Started dating around and I waited. I waited for him to notice me the way I noticed him."

She looked down at her hands. "When our families joined us together, we dated for three months. Three perfect months. I thought this was it. This was my chance." Her voice cracked. "But then he broke up with me and said we were better as friends. That he didn't feel the same way I did and we shouldn’t let our families dictate our lives. It broke me, it completely broke me."

I listened and my heart was heavy. I understood pain and loss but this was different. This was years of holding onto something that was never real. 

Evelyn continued. "I watched him date other girls after me. I watched him smile and laugh with them and every time it felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest but I kept hoping we would be fated mates. I kept thinking maybe one day the moon goddess will show me kindness and he'd realize I was the one."

She looked at me with eyes full of hurt. "Then you came. You showed up out of nowhere and he felt that bond for you immediately. I thought he'd reject you immediately but the way he looked at you, the way he talked about you. I had never seen him like that with anyone. Not even me and I knew I had lost him forever."

My throat felt tight. I wanted to feel angry but all I felt was sadness. 

Sadness for this girl who had wasted so many years loving someone who didn't love her back. "So you started planning ways to get between us," I said softly. 

Evelyn nodded. "I know it was wrong. I know it was horrible but I couldn't stop. Every time I saw you two together it hurt so much. So Marcus reached out to me seeing my pain and told me I could get Adrian if we could take you out of the picture and that’s how we planned and got Adrian to reject you and you disappeared for two years.”

“I was delighted, happy you’re finally gone and I could get Adrian all to myself but even though you were gone he didn’t look at me the same way he did with you.” 

And then you came back and I tried in so many ways to get rid of you but I guess fate has a way of keeping people destined for each other. And when you got pregnant with Alexander I thought maybe if I pretended to be pregnant too Adrian would remember what we had. Would choose me."

She buried her face in her hands. "But it backfired. I became a joke. Someone people whispered about and I deserved it." Her shoulders shook with sobs. 

"Then when I saw you had this perfect life with Adrian and Alexander I just wanted to matter again. To feel important to someone. So I found Derek and now I'm pregnant with his baby and I don't know what to do."

I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. She looked up surprised. "You need help," I said gently. "Real help. Not punishment or anger. Help to heal whatever broke inside you all those years ago." 

Evelyn grabbed my hand. "I'm so sorry Sierra. For everything. I was so lost in my own pain I couldn't see how much I was hurting everyone else."

I squeezed her hand back. "I forgive you Evelyn. Not because what you did was okay but because holding onto anger will only hurt me too." 

Her eyes went wide. "You forgive me? After everything?" 

I nodded. "Yes but you have to promise me something. You have to get help. Talk to Dr. Mara. Work through these feelings and you have to tell Derek about the baby. He deserves to know."

Evelyn's face went pale. "What if he hates me? What if he tells everyone what I did?" 

I took a deep breath. "That's a risk you'll have to take. But keeping secrets never ends well. Trust me I know." 

She nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll tell him but not alone. I need someone with me when I do." 

I thought about it. "I'll talk to Adrian. We'll figure something out."

Just then the door opened. Dr. Mara stood there looking concerned. "Sierra, Adrian needs you outside. He says it's important."