A Baby For The Billionaire (14 page)

But, the harsh reality was that she
could see no way out of having to betray him in one way or another.
And if she was going to be able to take care of her mother and her
medical bills it was going to be sooner rather than later. She
didn’t quite know what she was going to do yet, but the only two
options she had come up with so far were those she had been
fighting against: going to the press, or blackmail. The idea of
either of those things filled her with dread and self-loathing, but
she didn’t know what else she could do.

She made sure she spent the rest of
the day taking her mother’s mind off her financial worries, cooking
her a nice lunch and spending a few hours in the afternoon just
sitting and chatting. As expected, Alicia’s mother was relieved
when she told her she’d informed her baby’s father about her
pregnancy. Much to Alicia’s relief, her mother didn’t push for
details as to the identity of the father.

Chase’s driver returned in the late
afternoon, and Alicia gave her mother a kiss goodbye before heading
back to the mansion and going straight to her bed where she fell
into an exhausted and fitful sleep.

The following morning she felt well
enough to work. After persuading Julie her that she was fit enough
to do some light tasks, she made her way to the media room to do
some dusting, where Chase found her an hour later. Without saying a
word he came up to her and wrapped her in his arms, planting a kiss
on her upturned face. “How are you feeling today?”

Guilty as hell,
Alicia thought to herself. “I’m actually feeling
much better. How about you?”

“I was doing okay until I heard
Vanessa is going to be home this afternoon. I wish she would stay
away little longer so that you and I can have some time alone
together.”

“When are you going to tell her,
Chase?” Alicia felt it was a fair question to ask.

“I can’t tell her yet, Alicia. I have
to take my time, remember? The last thing we want or need is for
her to ruin things for us. It won’t be forever though, and I
promise I’ll try to have everything finalized soon.”

Alicia was disappointed, but
understood what he was saying; in a way she even agreed with him.
They were going to spend the rest of their lives together, so she
could afford to be gracious and patient for a few weeks.

Chase gave her another kiss then made
his way out of the room, looking both ways before he exited to make
sure there was nobody in the hallway outside. Alicia frowned at the
underhandedness of it, not liking the feeling of sneaking around
behind people’s backs.

The next few days were similar, with
Chase seeking her out behind the privacy of closed doors for a
quick kiss and a check up on her condition, until on the third day
he very coolly informed her that he was going to have to try and
stay away from her as much as possible until his separation became
official. Alicia didn’t like it, not one bit, but once again she
could understand where he was coming from.

Vanessa returned home full of her
usual bitchiness, and Alicia avoided her now more than ever,
feeling guilty about what had happened between her and Chase and
resentful that Vanessa was the reason they couldn’t be together
yet.

One of the lowest points was when
Chase walked into the kitchen as Alicia and a couple of the other
girls were busy emptying and cleaning cabinets. He made a beeline
for her and then proceeded to coldly reprimand her for something
that had happened months ago. While Alicia understood that Chase
had to maintain a charade in front of other people, she couldn’t
understand why he had to be mean to her in front of
them.

She questioned him about it later on
that day when she managed to find him on his own. Her eyes filled
with tears as she explained how much it hurt her to be treated her
that way.

“For goodness sake, Alicia, I told you
I would have to keep my distance from you until the separation is
finalized, didn’t I?” He sounded pissed off initially at having to
explain himself, but then he gave her a hug and apologized. “I’m
sorry, baby. I’m just doing what I have to do so she doesn’t find
out about us and ruin things.”

Chase’s hot and cold behavior towards
her was confusing, to say the least, and reached the point where
Alicia had started to doubt his sincerity towards her and the baby.
Between worrying about Chase and about her mother’s health and
financial situation, Alicia didn’t know whether she was coming or
going. The stress was once again starting to take its toll on her,
and both Julie and her mom had commented on how strained and tired
she was looking. Of course, Chase hadn’t said a word—it was as
though he had even stopped looking at her or noticing anything
about her these days. She didn’t know how much more she was going
to be able to take.

It didn’t help matters that she
frequently saw Chase and Vanessa together around the house, or in
the gardens. They certainly didn’t look like a couple who were on
the brink of breaking up, and on a couple of occasions Alicia had
even seen them walking arm in arm. She tried to give Chase the
benefit of the doubt rather than come across as a paranoid pregnant
woman who was reading too much into everything. Perhaps he really
had told Vanessa and the breakup was happening more amicably than
Chase had expected.

Alicia was working late one evening,
taking over Julie’s task of cleaning Chase’s office as her friend
had a family occasion to attend. She dusted down the bookshelf and
the top of the filing cabinet then moved to empty the waste paper
basket. Her attention was caught by a letter that was on the very
top of the trash, and she frowned as she recognized the name of
Chase’s lawyer on the letterhead. The letter had been torn in two
and one part was covered in what looked to be spilt coffee, but a
couple of words jumped out at her from a still legible
section:

rriage between Chase Carter
and Vanessa Carter, this being a

etition of divorce of the
marriage between the said parties

plication for a decree
nisi, in the Bessemer County Court, dated

Alicia felt her blood run cold. It was
obviously a petition for a divorce, and while she would have been
thrilled to read it under normal circumstances, the fact that it
had been torn up and thrown away put a very different light on
things. It was as though Chase had received the letter from his
lawyer and suddenly changed his mind about wanting a divorce. She
would go as far as to say that, rather than trying to end it, he
was actively trying to make his marriage work—especially given how
much time he and Vanessa had been spending together
recently.

She finished cleaning the office as
quickly as possible, needing to be within the confines of her own
room so she could think through everything before seeing him again.
But sitting on the edge of her bed a short time later, she found
she was unable to think of anything except the letter she had seen.
She couldn’t believe she had been such a fool, falling for his lies
and empty promises. She should have known that things weren’t as
they should be with the way Chase had been behaving
recently.

She wasn’t sure if she was more angry
or hurt. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she
became that he had been stringing her along the whole time. Her
anger grew until she felt consumed by it. She tried and failed to
calm herself down, getting to her feet and marching towards the
door. Chase didn’t know it, but he had unwittingly done her a huge
favor. He had another thing coming if he thought that he was the
only one who could play games.

She reached for her cell
phone as she walked, sending him a curt text message.
I need to see you urgently. Meet me by the gazebo
in ten minutes.
She clicked
send
before she could
change her mind and quickly made her way down the stairs and out
into the warmth of the evening sun. The garden was usually quiet at
this time of day and inside the gazebo it was unlikely that they
would be disturbed or noticed by anyone—even if someone saw them,
they would be isolated enough that no one would be able to hear
what they were saying.
Unless we’re
yelling, of course
, she thought
briefly.

It was almost twenty minutes later
when she saw him hurrying across the lawn towards her. “What’s
wrong? Are you okay?” He came to a breathless stop in front of her,
a worried frown marring his handsome face.

“I’m more than okay, Chase. In fact, I
feel more okay than I’ve felt in a long time.” Her tone was cool
and she was satisfied that the shakiness she felt in the pit of her
stomach did not manifest in her words. “I’ve finally come to my
senses thanks to a letter I found in your waste paper basket. Did
you really think that you would be able to string me along forever,
Chase?”

His look of concern changed to one of
confusion. “What on earth are you talking about, Alicia? What
letter?”

“The letter that had been torn up and
discarded. The one from your divorce lawyer that you felt you had
no need for anymore—or it wouldn’t have been in the trash in the
first place, would it?” She watched as an expression of
comprehension flitted across his face. “Ah, the penny drops. Did
you really think that I wouldn’t find out?”

“I know exactly which letter you’re
referring to, Alicia, and there’s a perfectly rational explanation
as to why it had been thrown away.”

“I don’t want to hear
your
rational
explanations
, Chase. They’re probably
nothing more than the bullshit you’ve been feeding me for the past
few weeks anyway, and it’s obvious you’re an expert at stretching
the truth to suit you, so why the hell should I carry on listening
now?” She didn’t give him a chance to reply. She knew that if she
did he would twist things so much that she wouldn’t know which way
was up anymore, and right now she had to stay steadfast in her
determination.

“Let me tell you how things are going
to be from now on and what’s going to happen next. You have one of
two options, Chase, and I’m pretty sure that you’re not going to
like either one of them. But let me make myself perfectly clear:
nothing you can do or say is going to change my mind in any way, so
don’t even try.”

He raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
“I’m listening.” His voice was colder than she could ever remember
it being before, and the color in his face had deepened with what
she was pretty sure was anger; a deep ruddy hue spreading across
his handsome but deceitful face.

“The first option open to you might
put a little dent in your bank balance, but I’m sure you can handle
it. You need me to be quiet about this baby and the horrid little
one night stand that resulted in its conception. That’s going to
cost you, Chase. Raising a child isn’t cheap, and even though
you’re not going to have anything to do with it, you have the
responsibility of financially providing for your son or
daughter.”

She then named a sum of money that
took even her breath away. “That figure is going to cover childcare
until the child reaches school age, private schooling until the
child reaches eighteen, and clothing and general day-to-day care
until he or she comes of age.”

She didn’t mention that the large
majority of those funds would be going towards paying off her
mother’s ever-growing medical bills, as well as funding the new
treatment that the doctors had been urging her to try. She was
quite prepared to cover the cost of raising a child on her own if
all of the money she received from Chase was taken up with medical
expenses.

“That sum of money is also going to
buy my silence. If you want me to sign a legally binding contract
saying that I will never disclose the paternity of my child then
I’ll be happy to do so. I will also ensure that your name does not
appear on the birth certificate or any other documentation related
to the child.”

“And the second option?” If she had
thought his voice was cold before, it was positively glacial
now.

“The second option is one I’m pretty
sure you’ll want to avoid. If you refuse the first option, I will
go to each and every newspaper on the continent until I find the
one willing to pay me the highest sum of money for my story about
how a very well-known and affluent married millionaire bedded a
member of staff, got her pregnant and then turned his back on her
and refused to support his child; about how he lied to her
repeatedly and deceived and mislead her into thinking he intended
to divorce his equally influential wife so that he could be with
her and help to raise his child.”

She watched as the color drained from
his face, leaving him looking pale, betrayed and hurt. His mouth
opened and closed a couple of times, but it was as though he
couldn’t formulate the words or simply didn’t know what to say to
her. “Is there anything else?” His voice was low and quiet when he
did finally manage to say something.