Year Four (Kingmakers, #4)

by Sophie Lark

The Chancellor thought he covered up his little indiscretion so cleanly. He seduced Evalina Markov. Impregnated her—accidentally I would assume. When she could no longer hide her belly under baggy school pullovers, he ferried her off the island on his private boat and sequestered her in a hospital in Dubrovnik. Shortly after the birth, he carried the baby away, never to be seen by its mother again. Evalina Markov flew home to St. Petersburg, surprising her father, brother, and fiancé with her unexpected arrival. She told them she no longer cared to finish her schooling. Donovan Dryagin was only too happy to move up the long-awaited wedding date. None of the men seemed to notice the difference in her figure or demeanor. Only my mother, having just gone through the same process of pregnancy herself, noted the tell-tale signs: the darker pigment on Evalina’s face, the bulge of her slowly shrinking uterus, and the aching breasts that likely were still producing milk the night of my parents’ party. My mother liked Evalina Markov. She had no interest in exposing the girl’s secret.