Elysia nodded. "For three hours."
"What? That long?"
"Yep. It''s after six now."
Winona checked the time. "You''re right. I can''t believe I slept for so long. I''m starving."
Elysia said, "...Why don''t you go to the bathroom, wash your face to wake up a bit, and then we can go for a walk? I''ll go with you to grab a bite to eat."
Winona immediately grinned. "Okay!"
She sat up, gave Elysia a hug, and threw off the covers to head to the bathroom. "Hey, where are my heels?"
"I scuffed them," Elysia said. "Wear these instead. They''re new, and they match your outfit."
Winona didn''t think much of it, slipping on the new white sneakers and heading into the bathroom.
Keaton stared at Winona, a suspicious look on his face. "?"
She wakes up and immediately wants to eat. She''s sleeping like a baby and eating like a horse, and herplexion is rosy. She doesn''t look sick at all. And Elysia wants to take her for a walk to buy food, obviously so he and Tarquin can''t hear. What is going on with Winona? What secret could be so important that he and Tarquin couldn''t know?!
Just as Winona came out of the bathroom, Janelle and Richard arrived with dinner.
Winona was overjoyed. "Janelle, you''re a lifesaver! I''m so hungry right now, I could die!"
Janelle smiled. "Come on,e on, it''s all still hot. I made a bunch of your favorites."
Elysia thought, "..." So much for telling Winona about the pregnancy anytime soon. It was Winona''s private matter; she couldn''t just blurt it out, which is why she''d kept
it from ev Tarquin. Besides, this was a huge deal. She needed to find a good chunk of time to talk to Winona properly.
The hospital room was lively, but Elysia was preupied with her thoughts. Tarquin kept watching her carefully, not daring to ask any questions.
Elysia had nned to talk to Winona alone after dinner, once Janelle and Richard left. But after dinner, they didn''t leave. In fact, Janelle kept Winona engaged in conversation...
By nine o''clock that night, Elysia still hadn''t found a chance to tell Winona she was pregnant.
But the results of the paternity test were in!
Benjamin rushed into the room holding four copies of the report. "The results are in! The baby Beatrix is carrying is not Keaton''s!"
Everyone was stunned. "!!!"
Lying on the hospital bed, Keaton let out a huge sigh of relief.
Elysia and Tarquin also breathed a sigh of relief, the weight lifting from their shoulders. If the baby wasn''t Keaton''s, Beatrix had no leverage over him or the Huber family.
Richard and Janelle were emotional, their breathing heavy. The couple took the report and read it carefully word for word, before sinking onto the sofa. Their expressions were hard to read but there was a definite sense of disappointment. After all,” they desperately wanted a
grandchild!
After a long moment, Richard finally said, "It''s better this way. She can''t use it
against Keaton! He won''t have to marry her!"
Janelle nodded. "Right. Now our son can be with Winona properly."
Winona stared at the report, her face scrunching up.".." If she hadn''t made that grand promise, she would have been thrilled with this result! With the baby not being Keaton''s, she could go after Beatrix with no holds barred! But now... she almost his Because if
wished the baby washow
it wasn''t she had to
procure a grandchild for Janelle and Richard. Where was she supposed to get one?!
Suddenly, her phone rang...
Winona nced at the caller ID; it was the young man from the afternoon.
She put her thoughts aside and stepped out of the room with her phone. "Did you get the results?"
"Yeah, we got them. It''s a paternal match!"
Winona clenched her fist. "Perfect!"
"Should I bring the report to you now?" the young man asked.
"No need. Just send me the digital copy."
"Got it!"
Hanging up, Winona quickly received a photo on her phone. She looked at the test results and a smirk yed on her lips.
"Beatrix, congrattions. You''re finished."
She''d figure out where to get a babyter. First, she was going to deal with Beatrix.