Pregnant, But Still A Virgin

I stared at the two glaring red lines on the pregnancy test, my whole body shaking. How the hell was I pregnant when I was still a virgin?

Outside the door, my boyfriend Brody was banging on the wood, swearing he'd marry me and raise this unknown bastard as his own.

But my lungs instantly seized up, burning with the phantom suffocation of him smothering me to death with a pillow in the delivery room during my past life.

God gave me a second chance, and it sure as hell wasn't to let me become their prey again. This time, I was going to find out exactly whose bastard was growing inside me.

Chapter 1 I stood frozen in the bathroom, staring at those two lines. Outside, my best friend, Bianca, kept rushing me. "Jade, did you check yet?

You're not actually knocked up, are you?" My hand trembled. Bile rose in the back of my throat at the sight of that bright red.

In my past life, this exact pregnancy forced me to drop out of college to wait for childbirth, and ultimately led to me being smothered to death.

Right up until my last breath, I never figured out how I got pregnant, let alone who the father was. Bianca impatiently twisted the doorknob and barged in.

I frantically swept the pregnancy test into the trash can and tossed a few crumpled paper towels over it.

She glanced around the bathroom, her brows knitting together. "Where's the test? Are you pregnant or what?" I shook my head. "I'm still a virgin.

How could I possibly be pregnant?" Bianca could never keep a secret.

In my past life, her big mouth was the reason I instantly became the pregnant slut of our college social circle, relentlessly judged and whispered about by everyone.

This time, she wasn't getting a single word out of me. I dug my nails into my palms, forcing my brain to rewind through everything that had happened since my last period.

Brody and I had only gone to the mall twice. We hadn't even kissed. There was zero chance the baby was his. And I hadn't been alone with any other guy.

The only person I hung out with regularly was Bianca. But she was a girl. That was biologically impossible. My brow furrowed. Then, a memory hit me.

A month ago, Bianca and I went to the local aquatic center. I was harassed in that pool. That guy stuck to me in the water like a disgusting leech.

He even purposely ground his sickening junk against my thigh underwater. I snapped at him, and Bianca chewed the creep out.

Afterward, I felt too grossed out to shower, so I went straight to the locker room to wait for her. I ended up passing out on the bench. When I woke up, my entire body ached.

At the time, I just wrote it off as muscle fatigue from swimming. Looking back now, was that when I was violated? An icy chill shot down my spine at the thought.

I immediately grabbed my bag and headed to the clinic. I needed to confirm the pregnancy, but there was something even more crucial.

If someone really did assault me, my body would have evidence. I was going to hunt that bastard down. The ultrasound results killed my last shred of hope.

The screen showed the fetus was four weeks along. Exactly one month. The doctor asked if I was keeping it or terminating. I booked the abortion without skipping a beat.

I didn't care whose it was. There was no way in hell I was keeping it.

The doctor typed in the appointment, clearly unfazed, muttering under her breath, "Girls these days really don't respect their bodies.

Knocked up so young." Heat flared in my cheeks, but my jaw locked tight. What was I supposed to say? That I literally had no idea how I got pregnant?

I turned around and requested a full pelvic exam and an STD screening. God only knew if the creep who touched me was carrying something.

The doctor snapped on her latex gloves and had me lie back on the exam table. A few moments later, her brow crinkled. "This… this is impossible." "Your hymen is intact.

So how exactly are you pregnant?" Chapter 2 I stood there, paralyzed.

I'd already rehearsed how I'd take the medical evidence straight to the police, but this result knocked the air out of my lungs.

If the tissue was still intact, how the hell was I pregnant? "Don't panic," the doctor said, her voice dropping into a practiced, soothing tone. "It's possible the male organ was small enough that it didn't cause a tear.

It's rare, but it happens." I walked out of the exam room, my mind a fog. It had been a month since the incident at the aquatic center. Any physical evidence was long gone.

Was I really supposed to just go through with an abortion, suffering in silence without ever knowing the truth? My phone buzzed, the vibration rattling against my palm.

Brody. "Jade? Where are you?" His voice came through the receiver, thick with a forced, frantic concern. "Bianca's been calling me nonstop because she can't find you.

Is everything okay?" I glanced at my screen. I'd missed several calls from Bianca while I was in the exam room with the ringer off. Hearing his fake comfort made my stomach churn.

The sound of his voice overlaid with a flash from my past life—the image of him hovering over me, grinning like a shark while holding an insurance policy soaked in my blood.

He had loathed me, yet he'd waited until I gave birth to kill me. If I was just an obstacle to him, why was he so obsessed with keeping this baby?

There had to be a massive payout at the end of this for him, a plot to get rich off my life. Before I could process it, Bianca's name flashed on the screen.

I picked up, and she immediately started laying into me. "Why aren't you picking up? Do you have any idea how worried I am?" That was it. I broke.

The tears started falling, hot and heavy. In my previous life, Bianca had actually told me to get an abortion. I was the idiot who listened to Brody instead.

The doctors had told me my uterine lining was dangerously thin, and if I terminated, I might never conceive again.

Brody had played the hero, swearing he'd marry me and be a father to the child. I fell for it. I was a fool. Now, the only person I felt I could even remotely trust was Bianca.

I choked out the words, telling her I was pregnant and still at the clinic. She was there in less than five minutes.

Dropping her purse by the door, she pulled me into a tight hug. "Hey, pregnancy is supposed to be a blessing! Stop crying.

I'm calling Brody right now." I shook my head, my fingers digging into her wrist to stop her. "It's not his." Bianca froze, her jaw practically hitting the floor. "Damn, girl.

You're playing for high stakes.

Then whose is it?" "I don't know," I whispered, my voice cracking. "I just want it gone." She stood by me then, her expression hardening into one of fierce loyalty. "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you." The next morning, Bianca walked me back to the clinic for the procedure.

But before I could even be called back to the surgical suite, Brody came skidding around the corner. "Wait! Jade, don't do it! I'll take care of you.

I'll raise the baby!" I looked down at the medical forms in my hand, my heart dropping into my stomach. How did he know I was here? I hadn't told a soul except Bianca.

I whipped my head toward her. She looked just as stunned as I felt. "How the hell did he find us?" Brody collapsed into the plastic chair next to me, breathless.

He reached out and grabbed my hand, forcing his fingers to interlace with mine.

The contact made my skin crawl. "You forgot we set up that couple's location tracker on our phones?" He hung his head, playing the role of the martyred lover to perfection. "I saw you were at the hospital yesterday.

I've been out of my mind with worry." He looked up at me, his eyes brimming with a rehearsed bitterness. "I know it's not mine, Jade.

We haven't even… you know." He squeezed my hand tighter, a silent, controlling pressure. "But your health is so fragile.

If you go through with this, you might never get the chance to be a mother again. I can't let you lose that." Chapter 3 I had always pictured myself having a family one day.

I never planned on being childfree. But there was no way in hell I was giving birth to a baby when I didn't even know who the father was. I'd rather die alone.

I slowly wrenched my hand out of his grip. "No. I'm getting rid of it." Brody froze, his brows knitting together. "Why? I just told you I don't care about the paternity.

What are you so afraid of?" Bianca leaned in, her voice dropping. "Jade, he's right. The procedure is so hard on the body." "Maybe we should sleep on it?

You know your health isn't great…" Brody snatched the medical forms right out of my hand.

He grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging into my skin like a vise. "I won't let you murder this innocent life!" "We can go to City Hall right now and get married!

I'm willing to treat the bastard in your stomach like my own flesh and blood. What more do you want?" His outburst drew stares from the waiting room.

A passing nurse shot him a look of admiration. "What a standup guy.

Stepping up to the plate when it's not even his." "If it were me, I'd keep it," another woman muttered. "At least someone's willing to foot the bill." Brody played the noble savior perfectly, but I caught the slight twitch in his jaw when he heard the whispers.

It was all a performance. He didn't mean a single word. He just wanted me to have this baby so he could use it to torture me later.

I let out a harsh, dry laugh. "You think you're settling for me? We're done." "My body, my choice.

Stay the hell out of my business." Without waiting for his shocked reaction, I shoved past him and walked out.

I had to figure out what Brody's connection was to the thing growing inside me.

Brody had hinted at getting a hotel room a few times before, but after I shut him down hard, he dropped it. My hand instinctively drifted to my stomach.

This baby didn't just appear out of thin air. Was the doctor actually right? Was the guy who assaulted me just… incredibly underendowed? I couldn't let it go.

I drove straight back to the aquatic center. A fiftydollar bill slipped to the security guard got me access to the surveillance footage from a month ago.

There were no cameras inside the locker rooms, obviously, so I could only watch who went in and out of the hallway. I scrubbed through the tape, but no one looked suspicious.

I slumped back in the chair. Was I wrong? Did it not happen that day?

Bianca walked in and handed me an iced latte, her eyes practically sparking with gossip. "Jade, I finally got rid of Brody. Spill it.

Whose baby is it?" I chewed on my bottom lip and shook my head. "I wish I knew. All I know is we went to the pool that day, and boom, somehow I'm pregnant." Bianca blinked.

Then, she slapped her forehead. "Wait… do you think someone jerked off in the pool?" "I swear I saw an article about that once!

Some freak got off in a public pool, and a bunch of girls ended up pregnant!" I almost laughed, despite everything. That was biologically impossible.

Sperm dies almost instantly in highly chlorinated pool water. But her ridiculous theory reminded me of the creep who harassed me in the water.

I rewound the tape and pulled up the camera feeding the main pool area. My breath hitched. A familiar face filled the screen. Brody.

He was wearing a medical mask, acting shady near the entrance. He slipped out of the frame and disappeared into the men's locker room. My nails bit into my palms.

I knew he was hiding something. Chapter 4 Before I could even process what I saw on the footage, the front door rattled under a heavy pounding.

Bianca went to answer it, only to be shoved backward onto the floor. My parents stormed in.

My dad charged forward, snatched the heavy glass ashtray off the coffee table, and hurled it against the wall. Shards exploded everywhere, a piece grazing my cheek. "Jade!

Are you trying to make our family a laughingstock for the entire neighborhood? You shameless slut, getting knocked up out of wedlock!" I looked past his shoulder.

Brody stood in the hallway, a sickeningly smug gleam in his eyes.

He let out a theatrical sigh, his voice dripping with fake sympathy. "Jade, I didn't want to do this, but I was terrified you'd actually go through with the abortion." He turned to my parents. "I talked to the clinic.

They said her uterine lining is dangerously thin. If she terminates this pregnancy, she might never conceive again." It was the exact same bullshit excuse he used in my last life.

Back then, he used my vulnerability to push me into a quickie courthouse marriage. No ring, no ceremony, nothing. Yet I was pathetically grateful.

I spent my entire third trimester working my ass off, genuinely believing I owed him for "saving" my reputation. Looking back, I was a colossal idiot.

What the hell did I even do wrong? I didn't even know how I ended up pregnant in the first place.

My dad's jaw clenched, his face turning a blotchy purple. "I'm telling you right now, you are dropping out of college and marrying him!

Once that belly pops, everyone is going to gossip!" Brody stepped up, playing the noble peacekeeper. "Sir, please don't get worked up.

Jade can just take a leave of absence and we can go to City Hall." "My mom can raise the kid later so it won't be a burden on her." Bianca handed me a paper towel to dab the scratch on my cheek.

I sat back down on the sofa, keeping my voice deadpan. "Who said I was getting married? I'm not." My dad's eyes bulged.

He pointed a shaking finger at me. "Then what the hell is your plan?

Don't tell me you're actually getting an abortion!" My mom dabbed at her eyes, wailing. "What did we do to deserve this karma? How could you get pregnant like this?

Who else is going to marry you now if not him?" The sheer absurdity of it all bubbled up, and a harsh, sarcastic laugh tore from my throat. "I'll marry the baby daddy.

Who told you Brody knocked me up?" The wailing stopped instantly. My dad froze midglare. I leaned forward. "Brody is impotent.

He literally couldn't get me pregnant if he tried." Brody's face flushed an ugly red. "Are you psycho? You haven't even seen it!

How the hell can you call me impotent?" My mom stared at him, bewildered. "So… it really isn't yours?" Brody opened his mouth, then abruptly snapped it shut.

He quickly pivoted. "Sir, Ma'am, even though the baby isn't mine, I still want to marry Jade." "I don't care about the kid's baggage." I rolled my eyes so hard they hurt. "I dumped you.

Are you deaf? If I ever get married, it'll be to the actual father." Brody ground his teeth, taking a threatening step closer. "Then tell us whose bastard it is!

Go ahead, say it if you have the guts!" I hesitated. Bianca quickly stepped between us to defuse the tension. She patted my shoulder. "Okay, everyone just take a breath.

Let's talk this out calmly." My gaze dropped to her hand resting on my shoulder. I froze. My eyes went wide as the impossible truth slammed into my chest.

I knew exactly whose baby I was carrying. Chapter 5