Divorce to Destiny: Reclaiming My CEO Husband novel Chapter 525

(Lisa)

The lights are too bright, the sheets too crisp, and everything feels weird. I blink slowly, my head pounding. My mouth tastes like I’ve been chewing cotton balls for breakfast.

Where the hell am I?

Then it hits me. The office. The meeting. Lance.

I sit up too fast, and the room spins like I’m on some twisted carnival ride. I feel something in my arm and see an IV. There are monitors and things stuck on me.

Shit, I’m in a hospital.

A groan slips out before I can stop it, and suddenly there’s a nurse by my side, her face all sympathy and no-nonsense professionalism.

“Easy now,” she says, pressing a cool hand to my wrist. “You fainted, remember? You weren’t responsive for a while. But the drip has done its job.”

Fainted? Right. That’s what normal people do when they think they’ve seen their dead ex-lover casually standing in a boardroom like it’s just another Tuesday.

“Okay... fainted,” I mumble, rubbing my temples. “Great. That’s just... fantastic.”

The nurse offers me a small smile. “Your bloods all came back fine. Dehydration and a lack of proper nutrition likely caused your fainting spell. When was the last time you ate?”

“Ahhh, well, yesterday, lunch… or maybe it was breakfast. Stress eating isn’t exactly my thing,” I mutter. “More like stress not-eating.” And stress seeing-ghosts.

She hands me a bottle of water. “I’ll get you some sandwiches. Try to drink some water.”

“I can’t eat sandwiches.”

“If you want to get discharged, you’ll have to. Get your strength back.”

Strength? Who has time for that when you’re apparently hallucinating ghosts?

I take a sip from the water bottle, the cool liquid easing the dryness in my throat. “Okay. Sandwiches it is.” I need to get out of here. “How did I get here?”

The nurse tilts her head. “Ambulance. Your friend Winona is waiting out there. But you’ll have to see the doctor before anyone can come in here with you.”

I nod and as if on cue, the curtain pulls sideways and in walks a doctor, all white coat and efficiency. “Lisa Forbes, right?”

I nod weakly.

He checks my chart, flipping through it like it holds the answers to all of life’s mysteries. “Well, Ms. Forbes, everything looks good now. No infections, no viruses, just a classic case of exhaustion and a little malnutrition. But,” he pauses, giving me a careful look, “I do have some news you might not have expected.”

I brace myself, my gut telling me whatever he’s about to say, I won’t like it. “Hit me.”

“You’re pregnant.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I sit bolt upright.

His words slap me harder than the office floor did. My whole body goes cold. I think I’m going to faint again. My monitor beeps and the nurse pushes me back onto the pillow.

“Stay calm, your heart rate and blood pressure just spiked,” the nurse adds.

“No. No, that’s—” I choke out a laugh. “That can’t be right. Pregnancy? Are you sure?”

“Positive, Ms. Forbes.”

“This has to stay confidential.” How can I tell Winona I’m pregnant with a child I’ve never wanted when she’s just lost her baby boy? I can’t.

Deep down, it all makes sense. The nausea, the exhaustion. I’ve been brushing it off as stress, but stress doesn’t come with morning sickness and a sudden aversion to alcohol.

The doctor watches me carefully.

I take a few shaky breaths and calm myself down. “Okay... I’m okay.”

But I’m not okay. Not even close to okay. But I’ll never get out of here unless I’m calm.