5
Jared
Ihad barely heardthe faint sound of the door shutting behind me when I froze on the spot. My eyes narrowed the moment Gisele hysterically emerge from the bathroom, silently sobbing as she gripped a pale looking plastic stick. She was so distraught she didn’t even notice me as she clashed against my solid frame, dropping the ominous stick on the carpetedfloor.
Our eyes collided. Time stood still as my eyes took her in, devoured the very sight of her while I effortlessly maintained my perfectly rehearsed stance of indifference. Gisele Weber was known for her quiet elegance and class. Known for her warmth, gorgeous smile and striking good looks. The perfectly practiced look of calm and composure apparently went on vacation, too, because the woman before me wasn’t the Gisele everyone knew. But even in her disheveled state, she still was the most stunning woman I’d ever set myeyesupon.
“Jared!” she squeaked. The panic in her stormy gray eyes transformed into a jolt of shock as the full realization of my presence sunk in. Her utter puzzlement was heavily expressed on her pretty face before she fretfully licked her lips and swallowed with difficulty, seeming quite breathless as she stared at me with a horrified,strickenface.
My gaze steadily noted the tinting of her cheeks, reddening with heightened embarrassment as she braced herself around her torso, hiding her breasts that were blatantly peeking through her silk robe. My eyes lingered on her for a moment before my reluctant attention diverted towards thefloor.
Ever so stealthily, I grimly glanced downwards before guardedly grasping the offending object, scrutinizing it with greatseverity.
My jaw instantaneously locked as the word blatantly stared back at me in boldletters.
Pregnant, it starklystated.
She’s bloodypregnant?
Oh, for fuck’s sake, she’s eighteen!What in the hell was she doing with her body, playing as though it’s some bloody RussianRoulette?
Gritting my teeth, I mustered my haggard courage to settle down and not give this reckless woman a bloody fucking lecture aboutsafesex.
The past twenty-four hours had been an unmitigated nightmare. It was getting madder by the day. I was the bearer of bad news, and if she thought her life just took a hasty turn for the worst, she could think again. Life was not one to coddle you when the going got rough. Life granted you mini quakes before it shook your world upside down, cripplingly stomping its mighty strength on you. Its blinding power would crush your chest. It would revel in your screams as it gleefully watched you heave for air. It’d torture you, ruthlessly eviscerate you before it would deal you your final blow, one that would ensure a lifelong lesson of numbness, an emotional mayhem guaranteeing permanenttrauma.
Even knowing what I knew, my irritated stance hadn’t diminished. Still highly infuriated at her naivety, I controlled the seething rage coiling as my eyes gathered her tear-stained disheveledstate.
“Gisele,” I uttered her name, though my eyes scanned the room, painstakingly taking stock of everything—the rumpled bed, abandoned men’s clothes on one of the armchairs, several unfinished champagne bottles to the empty condom packets on the sidetable.
My already blackened mood descended further into the blazing pits of hell, loathing the turn of events as they enlightened me on how deceiving her good girl image had been. She’d surely fooled the rest of us. Was this how she covered her tracks, by indulging in wild random sex during summer breaks so the security team couldn’t properly monitor the men she wasensconcedwith?
“The scene of the crime. Where the never-ending debauchery, endless wickedness carrying on until the break of dawn, and indulging in sinful fantasies come into sublime culmination of forbidden decadence happens on the daily.” Arching a mocking brow at her, I pointedly leveled my gaze, analyzing. “I hope it was worth it,Gisele.”
The blush in her cheeks traveled lower, spreading towards her neck and her ample cleavage. “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked just as she tried to yank the offending plastic out of my death-grip and miserablyfailed.
“I’m curious. So, this is what you do every summer? You and your friends gallivant around, hanging off of men’s arms, indulging all your bad habits before going back home and playing the part of a good girlagain?”
She glared at me. “I’ve never claimed to be a good girl, and quite frankly, I don’t ever wish tobeone.”
“Tough luck. It seems you’ll have to be one since you’re to become a mother,afterall.”
She shivered as her lips pressed together. “I-I didn’t plan for it to be like this. I was just so broken after you—” She paused, her horrified expression doubled before her pallorturnedpale.
My frown deepened. She was distraught. Impulsively, I found myself pulling her into my arms. Her cheek rested on my neck, her body rigid as my palm soothed her back. “I apologize if I was being harsh. It wasunintentional.”
“It’s my fault…” she breathed out, her body loosening up inmyhold.
“Don’t fret. We’ll figure something out.” Cradling the top of her head, I counted to five before lifting her face to me. “I’m sorry to be the one to break this, but I came here bearingbadnews.”
“Bad news? Is it about my father?” Those bright exotic gray eyes snapped out of her funk, dismissing her immediate problem at the mere thought of herfather.
Since there was no way to lessen the impact, I found it best to simply lay it out in the open, and she could come to terms with it however shecould.
“Your father invited me for dinner yesterday,” I began to say while my eyes closely trained on her tear-stained face. “He disclosed he has stage four prostate cancer. He’s known for the past year and waited until it’s gotten to the last stage before enlightening any of us. He refused chemo and all of the doctors’ advice. He only wishes his legacy remains intact once he leaves this life. Since he’s appointed me as his estate’s executor and as your sole guardian, his proposed solution for keeping his legacy unbroken, however, is a tricky one. He wishes for us to marry since I hold twenty percent and you’ll be inheriting his forty. Together, we’d have a solid sixty percent hold of the company. I’ll be taking the reins as Peter previously announced two years ago. But with you by my side, with your vote, the other shareholders wouldn’t question my position anylonger.”
“Oh, no. Not him, too!” Her body trembled. Her face contorted. Shock, sadness, and horror played out in her anguished eyes as tears followed, sobbingsoftly.
I expected hysterics, wailing—anythingbutacceptance. I was the true opposite of her reaction. I was enraged, beyond mental, and in grave pain allatonce.