1: 1
I was at the hospital for a checkup with my best friend, and somehow the results said the girl who'd never so much as dated anyone was pregnant.
Before I could get a word out, Vanessa Jenner dropped to her knees in front of me, tears streaming down her face.
"Zoe Harding, I'm so sorry. Please, can you not blame your fiancé?"
My head roared.
"After that party, your fiancé drove me home. And what happened after…"
When I confronted him, my fiancé denied it flat out. Vanessa took the whole story straight to the internet, sobbing as she accused Graham Henson of forcing himself on her.
Overnight, Graham was buried under a mountain of hate, and I got dragged in with him, painted as his accomplice.
Under all that pressure, Graham jumped to his death. I fell into depression and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Ten months later, Vanessa turned up beside me on the arm of some man past fifty, a newborn cradled in her arms.
"Zoe, I really am sorry. I got it wrong last time."
Then I opened my eyes, and I was back on the day of the checkup.
The moment Vanessa stood in front of me with her eyes rimmed red, I pulled out a vasectomy report.
"My fiancé got a vasectomy a year ago. So how exactly did he get you pregnant?"
01
Vanessa's expression froze for an instant, a flash of panic crossing her face before it vanished.
"Zoe, we've been best friends for years. I know everything there is to know about your boyfriend."
"You can't just forge a fake vasectomy certificate to help him dodge his responsibility!"
There was a sob in her voice, pitched just loud enough to carry to the people watching.
I kept my face blank and spoke calmly.
"The report has the hospital's official seal. It can't be faked."
The next second, Vanessa lunged forward and tore the certificate to shreds.
"You can find fakes like this everywhere. Just have an AI generate one!"
An older man waiting for his appointment couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped up and pointed at me.
"You dress yourself up all respectable, but you've got no decency, huh?"
"Your best friend gets forced by your boyfriend, and you forge a fake vasectomy report for him!"
Then he walked over to Vanessa.
"Don't be scared, sweetheart. I've got your back!"
Seeing someone take her side, Vanessa only cried harder.
A kind-hearted older woman pulled out her phone, watching Vanessa with an aching heart.
"Honey, if you have to, let's call 911! Don't let some friendship ruin the rest of your life!"
At that, Vanessa lifted her head to glance at me, timid, then shook her head.
"Ma'am, thank you, but I believe we can handle this ourselves. I don't want to blow it up into a big thing…"
"After all, Zoe's fiancé is my… boss."
It sounded like she was covering for me. In truth it shoved me one step closer to the edge.
The woman's voice rose louder.
"Boss? So what if he's your boss? That means he gets to pull that casting-couch garbage?"
"Let me tell you something, sweetheart. There's nothing I hate more than people who use a little **to throw their weight around like they own the place."
"If you don't want to call the cops, fine, come on! We'll go to that company and get you an answer!"
The crowd caught fire too.
"Yeah! Go get an answer from the company!"
A few of them even started livestreaming.
Vanessa kept up that brave, delicate-flower act.
"Thank you all, really, but this is between me and my friend. I trust Zoe will give me a fair answer."
I forced the anger back down.
"Vanessa, I've already told you. My fiancé, Graham, got a vasectomy a year ago. There's no way he could have gotten you pregnant!"
Vanessa bit her lip lightly and stared at me like she couldn't believe her ears.
"Zoe, can you please stop lying to yourself?"
"Just a few days ago you were telling me the wedding was coming up, that you were taking prenatal folic acid to prepare for a baby!"
With that, she pulled up the chat log between us and held it out for the crowd to see, circling around, lingering longest in front of the ones running livestreams.
I'd always insisted on staying child-free, which was why Graham had gotten the vasectomy so early.
This year my mother fell gravely ill, and her one wish was for me to have a child of my own blood.
For her sake, I'd started trying to conceive.
Except in my last life Graham had gone in for the reversal a month earlier. This time I'd scheduled his reversal for next month.
Before I could speak, Vanessa's eyes reddened again.
"Zoe, don't worry, I'm not telling the truth because I want a title. I just want somewhere I can have this baby on my own. As long as your fiancé sends me a little child support every month, that's enough."
"I won't come between the two of you!"
I drew a deep breath and looked at her, steady.
"Fine. Since you're so certain the baby in your belly is Graham's, then let's go get a paternity test."
