a/n: Before you read, I have a couple important things I would like to address:

-For those of you confused with the character of Sean Fitzwilliam, he is Colonel Fitzwilliam. Consequently, Georgiana is married. But you'll learn more about that later.

-A couple of reviewers have mentioned that this story closely resembles another story being posted on FF. However, I would like to say that I have never read that story before, so please don't feel like I'm copying another author's story plot. Although a reviewer has told me the name of the story and its author, I am not going to read that story until after this story reaches completion. I'm not going to let that story influence the writing of this one.

Many thanks for previous reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The telephone rang. Elizabeth let it ring a couple more times, not wanting to pick up another sympathetic phone call asking after her divorce. She'd only told a few close friends and was surprised at how the news spread like wildfire. She suspected that George had gone blathering on his part. 'Well, if that's what all these people have to live on—the misfortunes and gossips of other people's lives—it is I who should pity them.' Thankfully, the news had yet to spread to her mother's ears across the states in Tennessee. She'll tell her the news—eventually. She glared at the telephone as it made its last sonorous ring. It was only seven. Who'd be calling so early in the morning? 'Whatever, the answering machine will get it.'

And it did. But at the sound of the tone, Elizabeth's ears were met with a voice she'd long to talk to. Scurrying over, she hastily picked up the phone and answered it. It was Jane.

"Lizzy, what's wrong? What happened with you and George? All I got was a quick message. Oh, I knew I should have bought that international cell phone card in France. I'm so sorry that you couldn't reach me for the last two weeks or so. Mr. Bingley asked me to go on a business trip," came the tired voice stricken with worry.

A business negotiator, Jane worked for Charles Bingley's electronics company. Although she didn't quite have the spunk or insisting disposition of Elizabeth, her calm appearance and gentle patience was often the key to settling down a frenzied client. Once in a while, Charles would send her to other countries to negotiate particularly difficult deals. Elizabeth was surprised at Jane's talent of setting deals, for she had always been rather submissive and quiet growing up. But Jane was special—she had her own way of getting other people to listen.

"It's okay, Jane. I thought about emailing you, but I concluded that it'd be better if I broke the news to you in person."

"What news?" Jane asked, her voice lined with curiosity.

Elizabeth sighed before telling her sister the news that would send Jane's usual calmness into disarray.

"We're getting divorced."

A gasp and a startling silence hung on Jane's side of the line.

"I'll explain," said Elizabeth, wearily rubbing her forehead as she explained in everything that happened on the night of her discovery.

Silence continued to lengthen on Jane's side as she listened to her sister's story without a break or interruption. When Elizabeth was finally done, Jane sat as stiffly in her chair, transfixed with utter shock.

"He—he—George did all that?" Jane asked with incredulity. "He always seemed so—so—unlike someone who would do that," she continued to stammer as everything Elizabeth told her slowly sank into her.

"I thought so too. But evidently, we're both very mistaken," answered Elizabeth.

"Does Mama know about all of this? She'd go crazy if she found out," Jane said with a troubled tone.

"No, she doesn't. I'll tell her—but I wanted you to be the first one to know in the family. I'll tell Mary later. As for Kitty and Lydia, they'd hardly care. It'd be more like gossip and excitement for them, anyways," Elizabeth shrugged and rolled her eyes before a sudden realization dawned upon her.

She had to tell Jane about what happened in court—everything concerning the inheritance. She'd planned on telling Jane eventually, but she never did figure out a way to say it. Now, Jane had unexpectedly called her, and undoubtedly, the conversation would lead to matters in court. Elizabeth frowned and closed her eyes, trying to stifle a groan. Why did things always have to come at her when she was the least prepared?

"Jane, I have to tell you something," Elizabeth found herself saying in a soft voice.

"Anything, Lizzy," she answered as normally as she could, growing unnerved at her sister's unusual softness.

"Promise me you won't get mad at me and leave me? Promise me you won't hate me forever?"

Across the line, Jane grew tense as she heard the rare vulnerability in her sister's voice. Elizabeth sounded like a frightened child seeking solace from her parents after a waking up from a nightmare. Elizabeth never sounded like that. She'd always been the confident and fierce one.

"I promise, Lizzy. I'll never leave you—ever. We're sisters, remember? We stick by each other," Jane's gentle reassurance came, as she wondered at what Elizabeth had to tell her.

"You promise?"

"I swear."

Elizabeth nodded to herself. Jane would have to know sooner or later.

"Remember when Papa died?"

"Yes, and regrettably, it is something I won't forget for the rest of my life."

"Well, when he died, he left me a—an inheritance," she paused. She heard Jane hesitatingly start a sentence, but found it best not to interrupt. "He gave me forty thousand dollars to help me financially. My job was unstable then, and he wanted to see me well. It was left to me in his will. This part of his will was privately written for my eyes only. I'm so sorry for not telling you earlier—I was afraid that—"

"That I would get jealous of you? Lizzy, if there's one thing I'm disappointed about, it's not the fact that I didn't get any money from Papa. It's that you assumed I would get jealous over Papa's obvious preference over you. Am I really the kind of person to do that? If so, I would have been spiteful towards you long ago."

Elizabeth felt both relieved and uneasy. She was relieved that her worst worries were over—Jane wasn't going to be jealous over their father's preference. However, she was uneasy and even felt shameful about overlooking the best qualities in Jane's character. Jane was not one to find faults in people or one to contribute to the pessimism in the world. If the world toppled over and Chicken Little's warnings became a reality, Jane would gladly list a plethora of good reasons pertaining to the ending of the world.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier. Papa said in his will not to tell; to take the money in privacy. Who knows what would have happened if Kitty or Lydia found out. But now you know, and just—don't tell anyone else. I'm really sorry. I was just being cautious. Papa's death caused enough problems in the family. I was afraid to lose you. I needed you so much then, and I need you so much now," said Elizabeth, disappointed at her self for not seeing the eventual outcome of Jane's gracious acceptance to the truth earlier.

"Lizzy, you know you can always tell me things. When have I ever violated your trust? I'm here for you, Liz, just don't count me out, okay?" asked Jane with an understanding tone.

Elizabeth sighed happily; she could always count on Jane for warmth and support. After a few moments, she spoke again; this time with a strained voice.

"George wants it, Jane."

She recounted the details in court and the efforts he and his lawyer were willing to take to accomplish the means. Jane resumed her silence and listened, aghast at the actions of her brother-in-law.

"Elizabeth, he can't have it! Fire that stupid lawyer of yours and hire a new one! If money's a problem, I'll give you some!" said a very exasperated Jane at the end of the explanation.

Although Elizabeth knew that changing lawyers would be impossible, she was comforted by Jane's angered tone. Aside from her sister's inability to be find fault in people, she was glad that Jane had nothing sympathetically defensive to say for her ape of a lawyer.

"I can't change lawyers, Jane. I've signed the contract already. Who knew the court would give me such a ridiculous man? I swear, I'm going to take a picture of him and send it to you. He's disgusting. And if you dare say anything about him looking decent in the least bit, I'm going to carefully scrutinize every man you will ever date in your entire life. You know, I can't have my sister scoping out men with a severe lack of good taste."

Jane laughed. She wondered how Mr. Collins's managed to drive her sister's nerves so crazy. Although she didn't want to tell Elizabeth of her own love life during the moment of her divorce, she was pretty sure that her feelings for Mr. Bingley proved that she was a woman with sensible taste.

The two sisters conversed for another half hour before Elizabeth declared that she needed to head to work. Upon hanging up, Elizabeth felt an unexpected whirl of nausea attack her mind and senses. She stumbled when she got up and leaned on the wall for support, breathing heavily. Her stomach flip-flop and she ran into the bathroom, reaching the toilet just as the contents of her breakfast promptly expelled themselves. 'Great. Of all things, I have to go to my first day of work sick.'

Elizabeth pushed through the doors and stepped onto the black marbled floor. The sudden sickness had not gone away entirely, although her head no longer pounded and her dizziness subsided reasonably.

"Elizabeth! Good morning!" a charismatic Sean greeted her at the receptionist's desk.

"Mr. Fitzwilliam, nice to see you again," said Elizabeth, hurrying over to shake his hand. Next to him, the beaming receptionist friendly smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Georgiana Whiting. You can call me Gia," the young woman shyly said, subsequently offering her hand to Elizabeth.

"You'll be working closely with Gia as both of you are secretaries for this company. You, in particular, Elizabeth, will be my personal secretary. You'll keep track of my meetings, events, luncheons, and appointments. When you're not busily occupied with my personal life, you will be helping Gia handle some paperwork for the company. Capiche?" Sean questioned after Elizabeth and Gia finished shaking hands.

"Yes Sir," Elizabeth answered.

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I have to go now," he said, turning around. Before he left, however, he winked at Georgiana. "Take care of her, Gia. My life's details are in her hands."

Georgiana giggled and nodded. As soon as Sean left, Georgiana began handing Elizabeth a stack of papers and an electronic planner in silence. After a couple moments, Georgiana decided to break the quietness that loomed between them.

"I don't mean to appear cold or anything, but I'm not quite so good at starting conversations. I don't even know why Sean put me in this position, although I suspect that my brother insisted on it. My brother's very keen on making me more outgoing than I really am," she said, shyly casting a glance at Elizabeth.

"Don't worry; my first impression of you was far from cold. I don't blame you for being quiet around people you don't really know," Elizabeth replied, observing the character of her new co-worker. Elizabeth found Georgiana to be very similar to Jane, gentle and kind in both appearance and temperament.

"Sean's my cousin, by the way. He's in charge of most things that happen around here, even though he's not the boss," Georgiana continued as she straightened out the final stack of paper.

"I must be wrong then, because I thought Mr. Fitzwilliam owned the company," Elizabeth responded, quite puzzled to her new piece of knowledge. She remembered reading the plague in front of his office that hailed him as the senior director.

"Actually, my brother Will owns the company, as was passed down to him by our father. But he's busy with his own life, pursuing his own dreams and aspirations as a lawyer. He drops in every now and then, although he surveys the company's revenues and other affairs privately at home. In the meanwhile, he directed Sean to look after the company for him," Georgiana explained, amusedly eyeing the surprised look on Elizabeth's face.

Elizabeth slowly nodded as everything Georgiana said replaced her previous misunderstanding.

The rest of the day at work went by rather quickly. Elizabeth soon found Georgiana to be one of the easiest people she'd ever worked with and was certain that they would become good friends. There was something about Georgiana that made her easy to talk to. By the end of the day, Elizabeth had learned a lot of the company's regulations as Georgiana instructed her on how the company essentially 'worked'.

What troubled Elizabeth, however, was the unrelenting sense of nausea that never left her since the morning. It dwindled at certain moments of the day and heightened unexpectedly at other times. During lunch, Elizabeth hardly had the appetite to eat. She was puzzled by her sudden sickness as she had not even felt symptoms of it from days before.

At five o'clock, Elizabeth stepped into her car and prepared to drive home. On her way home, she realized that she'd run out of aspirins and flu medicine. After picking up a bottle of Advil, she proceeded to the register. Passing by a couple of aisles, a sign saying 'Family Planning' caught her eyes.

Initially, she'd walked pass that sign. Moments later, she walked back and stared at the sign. An epiphany found its way through her clouded mind and dawned on her senses, sending shivers down her back. Now that she thought about it, she was two weeks late.

'Oh god, no way. No way.'

As much as she wanted to ignore the sign, pay for her pills, and leave, she was rooted firmly in her spot, unable to move. She rewound her memories. 'You've got to be kidding me. Since when were we careless enough to not use protection?' Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and thought some more before letting out a loud groan. 'Oh god, not the Tequila. Not the goddamned Tequila.'

There was a night, she remembered—a night a little over a month ago when she had had a bit too much to drink with George. 'Why were you so stupid, so careless?' Elizabeth silently reprimanded herself. 'Why?' They'd done it that night—done it without a single thought to the consequence of what their act of unprotected union could bring.

Elizabeth numbly walked down the aisle, surveying a couple brands before hastily grabbing two pregnancy tests off the shelves as if she didn't want anyone to see. Slowly, she walked to the check-out counter.

"These are accurate, right?" she asked the cashier, pointing to the two tests.

"Yes, Ma'am. They're the newest and most accurate ones we've got in stock," the cashier replied.

Elizabeth thanked the employee, took her stuff, and walked back to her car. When she arrived at home, Elizabeth tossed the bag of purchases onto the counter. She took out the two boxes and stared at them. Slowly, she flipped them over and carefully read the instructions. Opening one of the boxes, she took out the testing stick and headed to the bathroom. 'It can't be that hard,' she thought. 'Green for yes, red for no. It was that simple.'

Since the night of the discovery when Elizabeth found the red sweater of Denise, she'd never wanted to see that color again. Now, she crossed her fingers and hoped more than ever for the color that'd sent her to hell and back again.

Finally, Elizabeth withdrew the stick and brought it up to her face. She slowly opened her eyes, hoping for the color that represented everything from love to lust.

'Shit,' she thought as she bit her lips, her senses betraying her as she fell limp. It was green.

a/n: I hope the chapter was not too long or tedious to get through. Reviews are greatly appreciated at the early stage of this story. They help me see whether or not you're interested. Suggestions also welcomed.