“I’m pregnant.”
He takes a moment to assess these words that carry such life-changing meaning. I hold my breath, terrified of how it will go. Terrified of how I will react when the inevitable disappointment smacks me in the face. Will has already hurt me once, yet I’m still carrying a Lady-Liberty-sized torch for him. Chances are he will hurt me again just by trying to further protect himself.
“Are you sure it’s mine?” he finally says, and a bubbling mass of rage begins to swell in my chest as I take a moment to assess how I’m going to respond.
“Yes,” I reply coolly. “Of course.”
“Olivia…”
“I didn’t plan for it!” I snap, my voice breaking, my whole body quaking as he stares at me in disbelief and… pain. That’s what I’m reading on his face. Pain. The pain of having to let me down once again. He doesn’t need to say anything else—I think I already know what’s about to come out of his mouth, anyway. I should just leave, but… I can’t bring myself to step back. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “Neither of us did. I’m sorry, Olivia.”
For the sweetest span of a minute, I dare envision a better ending to this conversation. “I felt like you should know. It’s the decent thing to do.”
“It is. Thank you,” Will says, his gaze dropping back to his screen. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”
“It’s why I’m here,” I reply, slightly irritated again. “I figured we should talk about it.”
“There’s no need to talk. I’m more than happy to cover whatever expenses you need to keep this between us. You already know about my stock prospects, so you understand I can’t do anything to jeopardize that.”
I’m not sure what to make of what he just said. I did notice the tremor in his voice. The hesitation. It’s clear in his whole frame, too. The doubt. Yet he’s still going ahead with his “no woman” policy, all for the sake of a greater fortune. Meanwhile, I’ve got a baby growing inside of me.
“I think it’s my turn to say… excuse me?” I blurt out, my hands balled into fists.
“Since you were contemplating joining Lilian’s company after you finish Asclepius, I’m thinking we could have you working from home throughout the remainder of your contract, and then we could end everything there with a generous severance package that would ensure you have a comfortable life. Provided you leave discreetly.”
For a sweet minute, I actually envisioned raising a family with this man. I allowed hope to blossom in my chest that we might find our way back to each other, that he would make an effort to find a solution for us. For me, for him, and for this child we have created together. It’s as if my heart is breaking all over again. It’s my fault. I get my hopes high whenever I feel him inching closer toward me, and then… I fall.
“Provided I leave discreetly,” I repeat, trying desperately to maintain a calm demeanor. We’re still in a professional setting, even as my first instinct is to flip his desk over.Deep breath, Olivia. Deep frickin’ breath
Because I know, deep down, that he’s just running away from me. From us. It’s in his eyes, right there! I see it. Damn him!
“Am I the mistress you sweep under the rug?” I hiss. “What, you think I’ll just take your hush money and disappear? Are you serious, Will, or is this just some mindless, knee-jerk reaction on your part?”
“I don’t want trouble for the company, Olivia. I didn’t ask for this.”
I scoff. “Neither did I, but it’s happening! You don’t throw wads of cash at a problem to solve it. You of all people should know that!” I shake my head. “You know what? Screw this. Screw you. And screw your offer, too.”
For a third time, I’m walking away, stomping and fuming and screaming on the inside. The way he hurts me reaches the deepest levels of my being. The wounds that he inflicts upon me are anything but shallow. Will commands my heart and my body long after we last touched each other. I’ve fallen for him, and it’s clear he feels something, too… Yet he pushes. He pokes and pushes and loses the best thing he could’ve had because he is fixated in his own way, the rest of us be damned.
I’m walking away, wiping tears from my eyes as I hide in the elevator, ready to go home.
As the doors begin to close, I look up and see Will still sitting behind his desk, his office door open. He watches me, and the pain in his eyes resonates with mine so keenly that I let a sobbing whimper out, then cover my mouth as the doors shut tight. I’m bawling like a little girl by the time I get outside. My breath is ragged and hasty. But the more he pushes, the more determined I become to keep bothering him, to keep being there.
There are some things in life we simply cannot escape.
And once we learn to accept that, only then can we recalibrate and plot a new course.
CHAPTER20
WILL
There isn’t enough whiskey in my house to drown the fury I’m feeling as I return home. Everything I wasn’t supposed to do about Olivia is exactly what I ended up doing. I let my fear of losing my carefully crafted plans get in the way of it all.
I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. My path through life is calculated down to the last detail. My stock market moves. My fortune. My projects. Each aspect is designed and folded into the other, and I never allow myself room for improvisation.
No room for any kind of anomaly.