Semua Bab Pregnant for My Ex’s Ruthless Boss: Bab 41 - Bab 50

DOMINIC'S POVThe doctor's office felt smaller when the door shut. I had held the doctor down in some board meeting I had scheduled impromptu, so I knew she wouldn't be around until later in the day.The fluorescent light overhead was humming faintly, messing with my thought process, illuminating every hard line of Aria's face as she waited, arms crossed, daring me to waste even one of the ten minutes she'd granted.As gorgeous as she looked when she was serious, I can't deny it is a little scary, more scary actually. I really miss how bold she was that night."Talk," she said, glaring hard at me like she was ready to walk out as soon as she was done or if I kept staring longer.I chose my words carefully, aware that anything clumsy now would cost me the little ground I'd managed to claim. "I'm not here to stop you from making your own decision.""You already tried that. It's a little late for that particular claim," she said, dismissing my perfectly planned speech."I know how it loo

ARIA'S POVI know I will have to face a tough decision someday, but I never expected it to be latching onto a man's influence.My hands were shaking again by the time Tyler knocked on my door, and I didn't bother hiding it."Miss Cole?" He stepped inside, took one look at my face, and immediately shut the door behind him. "What happened?"I turned my phone toward him wordlessly, watching his expression shift from concern to something darker as he read Ryan's messages."He's threatening the board," Tyler said slowly. "And…." He stopped, jaw tightening as he reached the last message, reading it twice like I had."He's threatening the baby," I finished for him, my voice barely above a whisper because I was aware I hadn't told him about the baby earlier.Something flickered across Tyler's face, not confusion, not the blank shock I expected from someone hearing this for the first time. Just quiet, careful understanding.I frowned slightly. "You already knew."Tyler hesitated, guilt flashin

ARIA'S POVWe shook hands awkwardly for a few seconds longer than usual, standing with our hands clasped from the world's least romantic gesture. I stared at his face, my gaze dropping to his features, my mind wandering back to our encounter that night and how much I had fantasized about it later. Still embedded in my thoughts, the elevator chimed behind us.I pulled my hand back quickly, though Dominic didn't seem nearly as concerned about propriety, watching the doors slide open with the same unbothered calm he wore for everything.I tried regaining my posture like my mind hadn't wandered to some inappropriate thoughts when I had clearly started earlier that nothing else would happen again.Two people stepped out, a woman in a fitted red dress, all glossy hair and practiced elegance, and a man beside her who looked vaguely uncomfortable in his own skin, like he'd rather be anywhere else, but he was there because the woman happened to latch on tightly. My gaze moved from the man back

ARIA'S POVThe knock came sometime after midnight, sharp and frantic, dragging me up out of a sleep so shallow I'd barely settled into it."Aria!" Claire's voice, muffled through the door, edged with panic. "Aria, wake up. You need to see this."I fumbled upright, heart already racing before I'd even processed why, my hand instinctively going to my stomach the way it always did now whenever fear spiked too fast to control.Claire burst in without waiting for an answer, phone already in her outstretched hand, screen glowing bright in the darkened room."What…." I started."Just look."I took the phone, squinting against the sudden light, and felt my stomach drop straight through the mattress.A headline, stark and merciless, glaring up at me from some gossip site I didn't recognize but that had clearly already gone viral.COLE HEIRESS TRAPS BILLIONAIRE WITH LOVE CHILD — SOURCES CLAIM SCANDALOUS AFFAIR BEGAN WEEKS BEFORE ENGAGEMENT ENDEDI scrolled further, my hands trembling harder wit

ARIA'S POVThe lobby was already in chaos by the time we arrived, a cluster of employees gathered near the reception desk, voices raised, phones out, the air thick with tension I could feel the moment the elevator doors opened.Dominic stepped out first, and the effect was immediate,conversations dying mid-sentence, heads turning, the crowd parting slightly as though some instinct told them to make room without needing to be asked.I followed behind him, forcing my spine straight despite the way my legs still trembled faintly beneath me, despite the ginger tea sitting uneasily in my stomach."Miss Cole." Someone near the front, one of the mid-level managers I recognized but couldn't immediately name, stepped forward. "We need answers. Now. People are saying you've been lying to the board. That the pregnancy, the scandal….""I understand you're frightened," I said, projecting my voice as steadily as I could manage. "I understand rumors have been spreading faster than facts. So let me a