I tried not to answer him.
く
But, Chad forced me to answer him.
I buried my face in his neck and whispered,
“Yes…mmm“.
He kissed me with approval.
And then, I fell asleep in his arms.
When I woke up the next day, he was gone.
I knew what that meant.
He was probably someone who didn’t like
drama.
And honestly, neither did I.
o was on
Since I would act like nothing
<
It was better for both of us.
So, I left. I also blocked his number and
disconnected all ties, to avoid any awkward
situations.
As for any business deals, I’d have one of my people reach out, that way it would be all
professional.
After that, Chad and I didn’t see each other.
Until a few days ago when my period was late, I finally remembered-
I hadn’t taken a pill after that night.
I bought a home pregnancy test.
L
I was so confused.
The doctors had said, it would be hard for me
to get pregnant again.
And… what difficulty?
Chad had gotten me pregnant the first time!
I was so shocked.
Chad had a right to know.
But his attitude…
I wasn’t sure.
Just to be safe, I said nothing and decided to
break up with Ethan and figure out my, and
the baby’s, future.
<
But, before I could, Chad showed up.
“Summer, why’d you block my number?”
His lips were close to my ear, his voice cold.
His breath warm. “Did you regret sleeping
with me?”
07
His attitude was a bit of a surprise.
I hadn’t expected him to care so much about
me blocking him.
To avoid any misunderstandings, I decided to
be clear, “Chad, we are adults, I was the one
who made a move, so I’ll take responsibility
for the consequences.
<
“You’ve checked the hospital, you know I’m
keeping this baby.
“I have money, I can raise my kid on my own,
you don’t need to worry.
“If it makes you feel better, we can sign a non–disclosure agreement.”
Chad, who was kissing my ear, suddenly
stopped. His voice was quieter than before,
“On your own? What if the kid asks about
their father? Or wants a picture?”
I had thought about this, “I’ll tell the kid, his
dad died. I can use Al to make a photo of
you. And, the cause of death will be a car
accident. If you’re not happy with it, you can.
come up with a more dignified death. You can
also see the kid whenever you want. He can
Chad frowned. He then laughed, “Uncle?
What do you think I am? An old man?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant.
I had planned everything out for him, why was
he still not happy?”
“Chad, I don’t want to be a burden.
“You left pretty fast that day.”
<
“Are you trying to pull a fast one and take my
kid?” I said, watching Chad’s face, sizing up
his angle. I mean, was he going to pull a 180
and try to get custody now that he knew I
was pregnant?
Chad took a few deep breaths, looking a little
stressed, and then finally said, with
exasperation, “I don’t think you’re a problem,
Summer.”
I was taken aback.
Another crazy, thought started to form.
Chad looked at me intensely, and began to
explain:
“That night, my French branch had a crisis,
and I had to fly over there to fix it. I left a
<
A note?
I hadn’t seen any note.
In this day and age, what was with the notes?
Plus, I’d been too mortified and wanted to get
I
the hell out of there. How was I going to
remember to look for a note?
Chad continued, sounding a little hurt:
“When I tried to contact you, I saw that you’d
blocked all my numbers. What do you think of
me, Summer? Like I’m some kind of creep?”
I laughed, a little awkwardly, “That’s a bit
much. It’s not like we’re getting married just
because we slept together.”
く
He looked at me intently, his voice low, “Why
not?”
My eyes widened. “Are you for real?” I asked,
shocked. “Chad, you’re really into kids?”
Chad’s expression was intense, and he stared
at me for a long moment before he answered,
a hint of resignation in his voice, “… Yeah,
just assume I am doing this for the kid.”
08
Of course, I didn’t say yes to Chad.
This was insane.
I’d been through the ringer with Ethan, from
lovey–dovey to can’t–stand–each–other. I
wasn’t about to jump back into the deep end
<
Chad didn’t push it. But he watched me as I
added him back to my contacts.
He also said he wanted to know when my
next prenatal appointment was.
“Is that necessary?” I asked, my brow
furrowed.
Maybe it was just me, but his smile seemed a
little forced. “You said I liked kids, right? How
am I supposed to stay away from you during
a prenatal appointment?”
Alright then.
I had to respect his rights as the baby’s
father.
Especially since he was my business cash
く
I had to give him that much.
From then on, Chad started checking in on
my diet and started buying baby stuff.
Once, he even personally brought back a
handmade designer crib from a business trip
in Europe.
He’d also packed it with diapers, formula,
baby cream–the whole deal.
He seemed really excited about the baby.
After a while, I just got used to it.
Then, at a charity auction a couple weeks
later, Ethan and I bumped into each other
again.
<
Tiffany was hanging onto Ethan, and had that
smug look on her face.
It had been a while. Ethan seemed thrown
when he saw me with Chad.
He opened his mouth like he wanted to say
something, but Tiffany cut him off.
“Babe, I’m kind of tired. Wanna go sit down?”
She looked at me with a little bit of a gloating
smile as they walked away.
I wasn’t paying them any mind.
I was pregnant, I had to stay away from the
jerks.
The auction wasn’t that interesting. Until I
く
It was gorgeous, one I had wanted for a long
time.
The bidding started at 800,000 dollars.
I immediately raised my hand.
Tiffany jumped right in, trying to outbid me.
“One million dollars.”
“One and half million.”
And then Ethan raised his paddle, “Three
million dollars.”
He knew I’d wanted that necklace for a while.
He just wanted to make me angry. He gave it
to Tiffany to make it worse.
L
I glanced over at them and saw Tiffany’s
smug grin.
I knew Tiffany didn’t even care for that
necklace. She just didn’t want me to have it.
“Three million dollars, going once…”
“Three million dollars, going twice…”
I didn’t try to bid any higher.
Chad squeezed my hand, like he wanted to
bid higher.
“Five…” he said, looking at the auctioneer.
Before he could finish, I grabbed his arm, “What? Are you nuts?”
<
He looked a little confused, “Five million isn’t
that much, you said you wanted it.
I scoffed. “It is expensive. You’ve never been
poor.”
Only someone who had been poor would
know what five million dollars really meant.
When you hit rock bottom, you would fight for even five bucks.
But, someone as rich as Chad could not understand that.
I shook my head, “Forget it, I’m not paying over the odds. Ethan is paying more than that necklace is worth. Let him be the sucker.”
Ethan had already signed the separation
<
He was spending his own money.
