He was dressed in a sleek, dark grey suit, keys dangling from his hand. Seeing her descend the stairs, he spoke plainly. "Let's go."
Zadie poked her head out from the kitchen, looking perplexed. "Where are you two headed so early in the morning?"
Tamara was just as confused. Josiah hadn't given her any heads-up about this morning ambush. Where on earth was he taking her?
Facing their synchronized looks of bewilderment, Josiah didn't miss a beat. He answered his mother smoothly. "Hasn't Tamara been having stomach pains these past few days? I'm taking her to the doctor to get it checked out."
Zadie frowned, not suspecting a thing. She dried her hands on a towel and walked over, looking at Tamara with deep concern. "Do you want Mom to come with you?"
Only then did Tamara realize exactly what Josiah was planning. Seeing Zadie practically getting ready to grab her purse to tag along, she hurriedly shook her head to decline. "No, it's fine, Mom. Josiah can just go with me..."
Zadie wanted to insist, but Josiah was already pushing the front door open, signaling for Tamara to hurry up. "Mom, stop worrying. It's just a routine checkup."
He glanced back at his sister. "Let's go."
Ever since discovering her pregnancy, Tamara had felt like a thief, terrified of being caught. She had even worn a heavy disguise just to buy the pregnancy tests in secret. Technically, this was her very first real prenatal appointment.
Even though she knew modern pregnancy tests were highly accurate, the drive to the hospital still filled her with unavoidable anxiety.
Upon arriving at the private clinic, they bypassed the public reception entirely, using the VIP channel thanks to a friend Josiah knew.
Tamara, hidden behind a surgical mask and a baseball cap, followed closely behind him, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.
Josiah didn't bother looking back. Annoyed by her hyper-vigilant, skittish behavior, his voice was cool and collected. "What are you so nervous about? Just treat this like a perfectly normal checkup."
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