Chapter Text
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have a hero of the entire Earth and the most hated person on the very same planet as your parents?
Well, welcome to my world!
This unusual combination of parents meant that by the age of 10, I could speak five languages at a conversational level (okay, I know, I could have learned more, but I always preferred math to languages) and knew my way around the most important courts around the world. Cool, right?
Okay, you probably have a lot of questions, but don’t worry—I’ll answer them all in their own time.
I think I should start from the beginning.
☆
Eva Stratt felt terrible. Her head ached mercilessly, the nausea hadn't left her for a solid week, and to make matters worse, a sharp medical smell hung in the air throughout the hospital wing, making her dizzy.
Her mind begged the nurse to stop talking, but she kept conducting her examinations, continuing a very loud conversation with her (as Eva had already deduced) sister, holding the phone against her shoulder.
Exactly 41 days had passed since the start of Hail Mary. 41 days since her immunity had ended and she’d been shuffled from court to court all over the world.
44 days since sending Ryland to death—
The verdict was clear. Even without revealing the information about the murder, she had been sentenced to lifelong imprisonment, and the first part of the sentence was supposed to take place in the United States.
Well, it was supposed to.
Eva rested her temple on one hand, while she opened and clenched the other one to shake off the numbness after having God-knows-how-much blood drawn. There was ringing in her ears, and the light was blinding, though she should have been glad she was still able to perceive any of it at all. Her stay in the hospital was just a mere formality. Most countries wanted to throw her in jail right away, but the Americans insisted on conducting routine tests before locking her up for good, so that none of her lawyers could appeal the decision.
Suddenly, the world fell silent for a moment. Eva sluggishly opened her eyes, hearing a sudden pause in the nurse’s phone conversation. The nurse just stood there, staring at the computer with her mouth wide open, as if she’d seen a ghost.
Then she looked at her and turned the laptop toward her.
Chaos ensued.
She was pregnant.
And she knew damn well who the father was, even though it took 10 different genetic hospitals to run tests to confirm it.
Ryland Grace was the father, and just 51 days ago she had sent him on a suicide mission, and now she was carrying his child.
If it had been anyone else’s child, the government wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment and would have terminated the pregnancy without batting an eye or asking for her consent. She was supposed to serve a life sentence. And bringing a new life into a dying world through a prisoner serving a life sentence was the last thing they needed.
But it was his child. Eva would like to believe she had a choice in this matter, but her mind had decided for her from the very beginning.
She killed him, she killed him so that others might have a chance to survive. Getting rid of the last thing he left behind was something her heart couldn’t handle.
From that moment on, chaos reigned everywhere; governments around the world debated what to do about it—what to tell the public and what to do with her and the child. And Eva just sat there, in the hospital wing under constant military guard at the door. She had nothing to say. She could only hope for the mercy of the very same people who, just a week earlier, had voted for the death penalty for her and were disappointed when she received life sentence.
Then Carl showed up. He’d been informed of the situation, of course he had been. She had no idea how he found out, but she was grateful for his presence, even though she knew she didn’t deserve it. Not after everything she’d done.
Carl didn’t ask any questions; he simply placed his hand firmly on her shoulder, led her out of the hospital—silencing all her protests with a document authorizing her release—and guided her to the car. They arrived at the hotel, where Eva immediately went to her bedroom. Then Carl found her vomiting over the toilet.
He walked over calmly and tied her hair back, then brought her a glass of water and a soaked towel so she could wipe her face.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered, staring at the ceiling as tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. Her whole body was shaking, and she couldn't calm down after throwing up her entire hospital dinner.
“Stop it, boss.It's my job- ” he began, but she didn't let him finish.
“I'm not your boss, Carl. You have no obligation to me,” she said coldly, looking him in the eye, and when her own filled with tears, she looked away. “You should have left me there.”
Carl sat down on the bathroom floor across from her and placed his hand on her shoulder again.
"Not true. We’re waiting for permission now, and I’m taking you to my place in Belgium, boss" he replied in a tone just as firm as hers.
Eva looked at him, confused.
“You’ll stay with me and my wife until the court comes up with a reasonable solution,” he finished.
Stratt scoffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You and your wife should focus on yourselves right now. You’re expecting a baby. My presence will only put you in danger.”
Carl smiled with satisfaction and patted her on the shoulder.
“I’m afraid it’s already decided, boss” he said, getting up from the floor before she could reply. “Besides, Mia has already prepared a bedroom for you and signed you up for prenatal checkups, and I’ve spoken with your law team, so everything is already arranged. Trust me, you’ll be back on the outside and you’ll raise this baby the best you can.”
Finally, he nodded respectfully to her and left the bathroom, while she gently placed her hand on her still-flat stomach, taking a shaky breath.
“I promise I’ll do the best I can.”
The permission came the next day, and so, 68 days after the Hail Mary’s departure, Eva Stratt arrived in Belgium. Of course, there was a military escort, but Carl handled them very efficiently.
At Carl’s house, his wife welcomed them with open arms. She was seven months pregnant.
Eva had met Mia and Carl back when she was leading a military initiative in Belgium. They were engaged at the time and had made a very good impression on her. She was a military doctor, and he was a soldier. That’s why Carl became her closest bodyguard on the Hail Mary project. He was the only person she could trust with her safety.
When Stratt found out that Mia was pregnant, she gave Carl more time off than he thought he could get, even though she now felt that it was probably still not enough.
If Eva were to be honest, it was only thanks to their help that she managed to get a handle on the situation she was in. They gave her time to adjust to her new reality and a sense of security she hadn’t felt since she was last in Ryland’s arms.
A month later, she received an order to move to the Netherlands, her mother’s homeland, which was the only country willing to grant her permanent asylum.
★
I was born there, in a hospital on the outskirts of The Hague, on July 20. And exactly 18 years later, my mother’s suspended prison sentence was due to end, and all the sentences that had been postponed so she could raise me were set to come back with full force.
Ugh, this world is cruel.