Chapter 34

Olivia

“What’s your problem, Angela?!” I almost shouted, curling my hands up into fists as I stood before her. She was taller than me, but I didn’t care. I was tired of being made to feel small.

Angela looked a bit surprised by my sudden outburst. “Calm down, Olivia,” she said with a wry chuckle. “Should I call security? Do you need some antipsychotic meds or something?”

I could feel anger bubbling up inside of me, and a low growl almost rumbled in my throat.

“Don’t play dumb, Angela,” I snarled, pointing my finger at her. “You were nasty at the hunt for no reason. We haven’t even spoken since, what, middle school? What is your problem with me?

Angela's judgmental sneer cut through my body like a knife. Her words dripped with malice and hatred. "You're just a dirty cheater who stole Nathan away from a girl who would have been the perfect Luna," she spat, her eyes filled with contempt.

Even more anger bubbled up within me, threatening to overflow, but I clenched my fists, determined to maintain composure.

I wanted to tell her off, just like I wanted to tell off the horrible women in the waiting room. I wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that she had the wrong idea about all of this.

But I couldn’t. Nathan and I had a deal.

Clearing my throat, I regained my composure. “Is the appointment over, or is it not?” I growled.

Angela shrugged. “The paternity test—”

“Fuck your paternity test,” I interrupted. “This appointment is done.”

“Fine.” With a sigh, Angela tore the checkup sheet off of the clipboard and handed it to me.

Without uttering a word, I snatched the medical checklist from Angela's hand and stormed out of the examination room. Just as I entered the doorway, I froze for a moment, seething, before I whipped back around and shot her a dirty look.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Angela,” I growled, pointing at her again. “As a nurse, you should learn to have some bedside manners. I can’t believe how cruelly you’ve treated me today.”

Angela just stared at me. There was a slight look of surprise on her face, as though she didn’t expect me to fight back against her cruelty.

Without another word, I stormed out and let the door slam shut behind me.

The weight of Angela’s accusations weighed heavily on me as I headed back out to the waiting room. It was infuriating to be judged so harshly by someone who didn't even know the truth of my situation.

When I reached the waiting room, the receptionist from earlier looked expectantly at me over the desk. “You need to check out,” she said, sounding annoyed already even though we hadn’t even spoken since I checked in.

I didn’t care. I had half a mind to give her the middle finger, but instead I just glowered at her and stormed over to the door, ignoring her calls for me to come back and check out.

I could deal with the consequences of not checking out later; right now, I just wanted to get the hell away from this place.

Sitting in the solitude of my car, the engine rumbling softly, I unfolded the checklist and began to read its contents. My anger intensified as I skimmed through the words that were clearly just designed to undermine and belittle me and nothing more.

"Putting me on a strict diet plan to lose weight?” I said out loud to myself as I read the checklist. “Who do they think they are? I'm already within a healthy weight range!"

Growling to myself, I kept reading.

Further down the list, my eyes widened in disbelief as I read that I would regularly need to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. The insinuation that I was promiscuous and unclean stung deeply. ‘

I knew my own truth, that I had been responsible and cautious in matters of my sexual health. I wasn’t an idiot, and besides — my ex was my first and only partner.

"Why do I need regular STD tests? I've already been tested before, and I'm certain I don't have any! This is outrageous!"

But what enraged me the most, however, was the utterly baseless claim that my baby might be at risk of fetal alcohol syndrome and other disorders.

I couldn’t help but scoff out loud. It was a malicious lie, an attempt to tarnish the innocence and joy of this precious life growing inside me.

With one final curse under my breath, I crumpled the paper in my hands and threw it into a nearby trashcan before I sped out of the parking lot.

As I drove, I banged my hands on the steering wheel angrily.

"They dare to suggest that my baby is at risk of fetal alcohol syndrome?” I said out loud with a disbelieving laugh. “That's a complete fabrication! How can she spread lies like that? Isn’t a nurse supposed to care about the wellbeing of her patients?"

Tears of anger streamed down my face as I drove. Those tears mingled with the sense of betrayal that had been inflicted upon me by people who I had grown up with, and who I never did anything bad to.

I refused to accept this distorted narrative that Angela had imposed upon me. I would not let her cruel words and false assumptions define my experience of motherhood. Next time, I would really give her a piece of my mind.

A renewed sense of determination took over me as I wiped away the tears and turned the last corner to the villa. As the villa came into view with its comforting cupolas and tall hedges, I started to feel a little bit better.

What Angela said and did was ridiculous, but at least it was over. If I needed to find a new doctor, even if that involved going to another town to find a decent healthcare provider, then I would do that for my baby’s sake.

I pulled up to the driveway of the villa and put the car in park. As I took the key out of the ignition, I let out a sigh of relief and leaned my head back on the headrest of my car seat. I shut my eyes for a moment and drew in a deep, steady breath as I tried to calm my nerves.

Suddenly, just a few moments later, I heard a knock on my window that made me jump. I opened my eyes to see none other than Nathan standing there.

I waved and opened the car door, then got out.

“Hey,” I said with a weak smile. “Everything alright?”

Nathan just looked at me with a mixture of sadness and disappointment on his face. His muscular arms were folded across his chest, and his dirty blonde hair was ruffled in the ocean breeze as he stared down at me.

I started to feel a little tense under the weight of his gaze.

“Olivia,” he said, sounding both disappointed and hurt, “did you go to your first maternity appointment without me?”

My eyebrows raised as I looked up at my childhood friend. He looked genuinely hurt that I went without him, and it made me wonder if I did make a mistake not inviting him after all.