The Pregnancy Test Mix-Up

When I missed the passing grade by one point, my best friend dragged me to a bar. She said there was nothing a drink couldn't fix. I drank until I blacked out. When I woke up, a man lay beside me, all cool eyes and tightly leashed control. I left two hundred dollars on the nightstand and ran for my life. I thought I'd never see him again. Then, on the first day of the new semester, the class I'd failed had a new professor. I looked up at the podium. The man from that night stood at the lectern, opened the roster, and read my name in a cool, even voice. "Vivian Harper, come see me in my office tomorrow." The color drained from my face. Convinced he was here for payback, I stayed up all night writing a transfer application. The next day, I clutched my transfer application all the way to his office. Before I could work up the nerve to speak, he pulled out a sheet of paper and studied me with an unreadable expression. "I've read the assignment you turned in." "Care to explain why a positive pregnancy test was bound into your term paper?" Chapter 1 Professor Adrian Sinclair sat behind a wide desk, every inch composed. I stared at the paper, mouth opening and closing, too stunned to get a single word out. It was the lab report my best friend Chloe had shoved into my bag last night. She thought she might be pregnant, but she'd been too scared to read the result, so she'd shoved the printout into my bag and asked me to check it. In my rush to turn in my paper, I'd somehow bound it in with the assignment. "P-Professor Sinclair." I swallowed hard, fighting for my voice. "This is all a misunderstanding." "A misunderstanding?" Adrian let out a low laugh, though his tone betrayed nothing. "Vivian Harper, you didn't seem to think it was a misunderstanding when you left two hundred dollars on my nightstand." My knees buckled, and I nearly collapsed right there. So he really was here for payback. "That night was an accident," I forced myself to say. "I was blackout drunk. I thought you were, you know... that kind of guy. That's why I left the tip." The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to bite my own tongue off. Adrian's expression darkened instantly. He rose to his feet, his long legs carrying him toward me. I backed away instinctively until my spine hit the wall. "Two hundred dollars as a tip." He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice to something dangerous. "Vivian, you're quite the generous tipper." I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for his fury. But Adrian didn't blow up. His gaze drifted slowly downward, settling on my lower abdomen, something deeply complicated flickering through his eyes. It looked like frustration tangled with some kind of reluctant acceptance. "So, what are you planning to do about this?" He held up the pregnancy test between his long fingers and waved it in front of my face. I froze. "I was going to..." I was about to say I'd return the report to Chloe. "Don't do anything impulsive." Adrian's voice cut me off. His brows drew together, his tone leaving no room for argument. "The law is strict about this, and no private clinic is going to just perform that kind of procedure." I stared at him blankly, my brain struggling to keep up. "No, Professor, please listen..." "I said, don't do anything impulsive." He rested a warm palm on the crown of my head and gave it a gentle rub. "This is my child, and I can afford to raise him." He looked straight into my eyes, enunciating every word. I stood there, frozen. He thought... I was pregnant? And that it was his? I opened my mouth, desperate to clear up the colossal misunderstanding. "Professor, that report actually..." Just then, there was a knock at the office door. "Professor Sinclair, the dean needs you at the trustees' meeting." The teaching assistant's voice came through the door. Adrian released me and calmly adjusted his cuffs. "This course carries significant weight in your overall GPA." He looked down at me. "Since you failed, you'll work as my research assistant. I'll tutor you myself. Report to my office after class every day until you're earning A's. Every minute you're late costs you a point." I gaped at him. "Professor, that's not exactly by the book..." "I make the rules." He tilted his chin up. "Now, you may leave." I drifted out of the office in a daze. In the hallway, cool early-autumn air brushed my face. I looked down at my perfectly flat stomach, then back at the closed office door. I was doomed. There was no talking my way out of this one. Chapter 2 In the hallway, Chloe was pacing anxiously. The moment she saw me come out, she grabbed my arm. "Vivian, are you okay?" I looked at her like I'd lost the will to live. "Chloe, I'm done for. He's making me his research assistant." Chloe's eyes went wide, her face a picture of disbelief. "Professor Sinclair transferred from another department. I heard he never takes research assistants. Does he have a thing for you?" I gave a bitter laugh. "He's not interested in me. He's interested in the baby he thinks I'm carrying." I told Chloe everything that had just happened in the office, word for word. The color drained from Chloe's face. "Oh my God. He thinks you're carrying his child? Why didn't you tell him the report was mine?" I pressed a hand to my forehead. "I tried, but he wouldn't let me finish a single sentence. "Besides, you know how the guys on the baseball team operate. "If your ex found out about the pregnancy, he wouldn't take responsibility. He'd have his friends make your life so miserable you'd have to leave school." Chloe's eyes turned red. Chloe's scumbag ex was the captain of the baseball team, and his family had friends in city hall and deep pockets around town. If the truth got out, Chloe wouldn't be able to stay here at all. "Vivian, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." Chloe hugged me, guilt written all over her face. I patted her back and sighed. "Forget it. I'll figure it out as I go. I'll find a chance to explain everything to him eventually." With no classes that afternoon, I steeled myself and headed to Adrian's office. He was at his computer, typing away without looking up. "Close the door." I did as I was told, closing the door behind me, then stopped in front of his desk. "What would you like me to do, Professor?" He stopped typing and pointed to a small table nearby. "Summarize these papers and have them ready for me by tomorrow." I stared at the tower of articles, every one of them in French, and sucked in a breath. "All of these? I'll be up all night." Adrian's brow furrowed slightly. "No all-nighters. You're in bed by ten. Whatever you don't finish, you continue tomorrow." I stared at him. Was this really the same cold, ruthless tyrant everyone feared? He stood up and walked over to the coffee machine in the corner. I assumed he was getting himself some coffee, but instead he brought back a cup of warm milk and set it in front of me. "Drink up." I stared at the steaming cup of milk, a tangle of emotions knotting in my chest. "Professor, the thing is, I..." I took a deep breath, ready to come clean about the pregnancy. "Adrian, I hear you're tutoring a failing undergrad in private and letting her organize your research?" The door swung open, and Professor Richard Cole strolled in without knocking. He spotted me and lifted an eyebrow. "So this is her? She looks harmless enough." Adrian's expression turned icy. "Richard, don't you know to knock before entering someone's office?" Richard laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry. I was just too curious. Aren't you the one who hates people wasting your time?" "What about that grad student who falsified his resume?" Richard pressed. "You had him blacklisted from the entire academic community. Now no one will write him a recommendation "And now you suddenly have time to tutor an undergrad yourself?" Blacklisted from academia? No recommendation letter? I looked at Adrian in horror. He was staring at Richard with a frigid gaze. "My business is none of your concern." Richard took the hint, shrugged, and left. Silence settled over the office again. Adrian turned back to me, his gaze landing on my face. "What were you about to say?" I bit down on my lower lip, swallowing back the words ‘I’m not pregnant.’ "I-It's nothing." I picked up the cup of warm milk and took a big gulp. "I was just wondering if you put sugar in this." Adrian watched me for a few seconds, the faintest smile touching his mouth. "Too much sugar isn't good during pregnancy. I didn't add any." Chapter 3 Over the next few days, I lived in constant terror. Adrian's version of "taking care of me" bordered on absurd. In class, the moment I so much as yawned, he would pause. "This section is dense. Take ten minutes and let it sink in." Then, without a word, he'd turn up the thermostat in the lecture hall, which the university kept at arctic levels. In his office, even my beloved iced Americano was forcibly replaced with warm water. "What kind of dirty tricks did Vivian Harper pull to get into Professor Sinclair's private office?" In the restroom, I'd barely pushed open the stall door when I heard voices outside. It was Anna Whitmore. She'd been nursing a crush on Adrian for ages, and her father sat on the university's board of trustees. "Who knows? Maybe she used that pretty face to keep him happy in bed," another girl said. Anna scoffed. "A moron who can't even pass his class has no business being near Professor Sinclair. Just wait. I'll make sure everyone sees exactly what she is." I stood in the stall, shaking with anger, but I knew this wasn't the time for a confrontation. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. I'd barely made it into the hallway when Anna came after me. "Vivian, don't you have any shame?" Anna blocked my path in her heels, looking me up and down with undisguised contempt. "I heard you can't even read the most basic French texts, and the professor has to translate them for you every day?" I looked at her calmly. "Whether I have something to be ashamed of isn't for you to judge." "If you have a problem with the professor's decisions, feel free to take it up with him instead of standing here running your mouth like a bitter ex." I'd hit a nerve. Anna's face went ashen. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?" She raised her hand to slap me. I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut and stepping back. But the expected pain never came. A hand had caught Anna's wrist. I opened my eyes to see Adrian's cold face. "P-Professor Sinclair?" Anna's voice trembled with fear. Adrian shoved her hand away. "Trying to hit another student in the hallway? Anna, is this how your family taught you to behave?" Anna stammered. "Professor, she was the one who was rude first! She doesn't deserve to be near you!" "Whether she belongs there is my decision," Adrian said, his voice sharp. "I chose her as my assistant, which means she represents my office. Hitting her is either questioning my judgment or challenging my authority. Which is it? "After what I just witnessed, I have serious doubts that you meet the conduct standards for a full scholarship." Adrian regarded her coldly. "If I catch you bullying my assistant again, I'll file a formal complaint with the student conduct board. You won't just lose any chance of a recommendation from me. Your academic standing and eligibility to graduate will be reviewed." Anna's eyes went wide with disbelief, and tears spilled down her cheeks in an instant. She covered her face and ran off, sobbing. Adrian turned to me, his gaze landing on my face. His expression softened instantly. "Are you hurt?" He reached out as if to touch my face, but held himself back. I shook my head, conflicted. "Professor, you shouldn't have been so harsh. Her father is a trustee..." Adrian gave a humorless laugh. "In this school, nobody operates outside my rules." He slipped off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders. "This building is freezing. Don't catch a chill." I clutched the hem of the jacket, guilt eating me alive. If he learned I'd lied to him, would he destroy me the way he'd destroyed that grad student? "What are you thinking?" he asked softly. "N-Nothing." I looked away. "I should get back to your office and finish those summaries." I fled. Watching me go, Adrian narrowed his eyes slightly. Chapter 4 Right before midterms, Adrian insisted on tutoring me at his penthouse. His argument was that pregnant women needed proper rest, and he refused to let his assistant fail his course. Wearing an oversized cotton shirt he'd lent me, I stared blankly at a pile of complicated economics models. Adrian sat at a nearby desk, in the middle of an international video conference. I stole a glance at him. He was impossibly attractive when he was focused. If it hadn't been for that absurd misunderstanding, our paths would never have crossed. Suddenly, a familiar cramping sensation hit my lower abdomen. I frowned, assuming I'd just eaten too much at dinner, and tried to ignore it. But the pain grew stronger, along with a sinking feeling of dread. I jumped up and hurried toward the bathroom. The instant I stood, I knew something was wrong. I forced myself to look down at the cashmere rug where I'd been sitting. My period had arrived early. My mind went blank with panic. I had no pads, and this was Adrian's handwoven rug, the one reportedly worth six figures! I clutched my stomach, sprinted into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut behind me, locking it. I was dead. Absolutely, completely dead. I sat on the toilet and buried my face in my hands. Footsteps approached outside, followed by Adrian's anxious voice. "Vivian? What's wrong?" He must have seen the blood on the rug. His voice cracked with a panic I'd never heard before. "Vivian, open the door!" I didn't dare make a sound. Tears pooled in my eyes. BANG! The bathroom door burst inward under the force of a kick. Adrian rushed in, one wireless earbud tumbling to the floor. His usually immaculate hair was disheveled, his eyes wild with fear. "Where does it hurt?" He dropped to one knee in front of me, his voice shaking. "Don't be scared. I'm calling 911. An ambulance will be here in minutes." He pulled out his phone, but his fingers shook so badly that he misdialed several times. Something clenched around my heart, hard. I couldn't keep lying to him. "Professor..." I covered his phone with my hand. "You don't need to call 911." His head snapped up, his eyes bloodshot. "You're bleeding that much, and you don't want an ambulance? Have you lost your mind?" I took a deep breath, closed my eyes like someone facing a firing squad, and said, "I'm not having a miscarriage. I'm just... on my period." The air seemed to freeze. The phone slipped from his hand and clattered against the tile. He froze, his gaze drifting slowly from the hem of my skirt back up to my face. "The lab report was Chloe's. I accidentally bound it into my assignment." The confession spilled out in a rush, my voice shrinking with every word. "I'm not pregnant."