Page 153 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

Present Day

I didn’t knowhow long I stayed hidden in my room.

Jace never came to see me, but I did hear him take Elliot to school not long after Marie left.

And then, about twenty minutes later, I heard him come home, and I knew I couldn’t stay hiding in my room all day, no matter how badly I wanted to.

The tears on my cheeks had long ago dried up, and when I heard a knock on my door, I could only hope I could hold onto my composure as I confessed to Jace all about my past and tried to convince him that I didn’t know Elliot was…

I took in a shuddering breath.

That Elliot was my son.

I stood up on shaky legs and moved to the door, opening it just a bit so I could peek out to Jace’s sobered face. I wondered if Marie had saved me the trouble and told Jace everything. If he was as disgusted with me as I had been with myself. To so coldly agree to carry another family’s child…

And I knew women were surrogates for families all the time. That they had become a part of something beautiful, to allow a couple to start a family, but I had only been ready to do that because I had been desperate for cash, and young and vulnerable.

I knew that was one of the reasons Marie had picked me out of the fifteen women there. She had seen the desperation in my eyes, and knew once I took the money, once I used it to save my family home and to send Emilia to school, I couldn’t go back on my agreement.

I had been poor, and I didn’t know how binding the contract I signed was, and I didn’t care to find out.

I had been able to save our family’s home and that was what mattered.

I never planned on falling in love with the baby boy who grew inside of me for nine months.

Later, when I was older and was able to think more clearly, I began to question whether or not what we had done was even legal.

Surrogacy was a beautiful thing, but what they had done wasn’t beautiful. It was ugly, and I had never even got the chance to hold Elliot before they took him away.

For years I wondered if my son was happy out in the world I had brought him into, and that was the worst part of it all. To not know.

And now, I wondered if Jace even knew Elliot was a surrogate baby and that Camila wasn’t his real mom. And how would he react when he found out his real mother had been here this whole time.

“Can I come in?” Jace asked quietly, his expression and manner subdued. I nodded and widened the door for him to come in, then I took a seat on the edge of my bed and watched as Jace paced up and down my room.

He fiddled a bit with the sleeves of his suit jacket, and I didn’t say anything. I just watched him. He looked over at me and resignation filled his eyes.

“Can I tell you about my marriage to Camila?”

“Jace…”

He shook his head. “Please.”

I nodded.

“I met Camila when I was young. Really young. Our families were friends, so I knew her since I was a kid. I didn’t have any interest in her in my teenage years, though not from her lack of trying. There was nothing about her that would keep me interested, even if she was beautiful. But as I told you, her family was on the verge of bankruptcy, and she needed to secure her marriage to me to keep her from living a life of destitution. I am ashamed to admit, but though I had no romantic feelings for Camila, or ever wanted to marry her, we slept together on and off for most of our twenties.”

I closed my eyes briefly before forcing myself to open them and look at him. Though I hated how jealous I was about the mental image of him with her, I knew he hadn’t touched her in a long time. And I had no reason to be jealous. He wasn’t mine then.

“I was cocky. I thought I was untouchable, that as long as I was careful, I wouldn’t have to deal with the repercussions of my actions. But I got careless and Camila was smart. She tampered with the condoms.”

My eyes widened and he nodded. “What? That’s so fucked up.”

He shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was a big fucking deal.

Jace smiled a little at the anger on my face, though there was nothing humorous about his expression. “You know why I married Camila.”

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