The lawyer smiled. “You have a rather special technique in extortion, quite feisty. It looks like you won’t be signing this contract, then. Allow me to inform you on the follow-up procedure for child care expenses. First, you’ll have to prove that Mr. West is indeed the father of your baby. Then, you’ll have to submit an appeal for child care expenses. If Mr. West refuses, this procedure will be lengthened. You’re a girl, all alone, and without any income. Can you go through this pregnancy? Think about it, carefully. I’ll take my leave.”Tanya angrily swept the cup on the coffee table onto the ground as she watched the lawyer walk away. She was determined to give birth to this baby, even if she received nothing from it in the end. She may be alone, but she had nothing to worry about. As long as this child existed… As long as she insisted that it belonged to Jackson West, it would always be a thorn in Tiffany Lane’s side. If she couldn’t have him, Tiffany would never have him either! H
Summer arrived at the condo. Of course, she wasn’t going to put on a calm facade. She knocked on the door until Tanya opened it, then pulled out $30,000 in cash straight away. “$30,000. Count the money yourself. It’ll be enough to cover the abortion and all the nutrition you’ll need after that.”Tanya stared at the pile of cash on the table and felt as if her dignity had suffered the greatest blow. “Rich people certainly have a fondness for using money as an insult to others, don’t you think? I may be poor, but I still have my dignity.”“Oh, really?” Summer smirked. “Where is your dignity? Why can’t I see it? A girl with true dignity would never visit a man’s house in the dead of the night. She would never take advantage of others, and she certainly wouldn’t blackmail others for child care expenses after getting pregnant with a bastard. If I were you, this matter would only ever be an accident, and I would abort the baby without hesitation. That’s what it means to leave with dignity!
“No, I won’t!” Tanya was just as resolute as ever. “Go ahead, make me get rid of it. I dare you!”Summer pointed her finger at her and snapped angrily, “It’s a shame that Tiffie and Jackson were so kind to you. They pitied you because you had no one. How is this any different from leading a wolf into the house? People like you are destined to live out a miserable life! You’ve brought this on yourself! Tiffie’s family now isn’t considered suitable for the Wests either. Tiffie received my approval because she’s different from you. There’s a difference between material poverty and mental poverty. Do you understand me?”Was this her fate? Summer’s words seemed to have struck a chord in Tanya. She rose to her feet and smacked Summer’s hand away. “You don’t get to decide how my life turns out!”“How dare you put your hand on me?” Summer was shocked by Tanya’s retaliation.“Out! Get out!” Tanya screamed in heavy gasps. “Get out of my house! I’ll never sign that contract! I will give birth
None of it was her fault, yet she had to take the blame. And for what? There was nothing fair about shouldering guilts that were not of her doing! And why the hell must Summer bring up these sealed painful memories back to the fore?!When reason finally reclaimed her, Tanya released her clutch from Summer’s neck in terror, crying, “Oh my God… Oh, my God! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry! Please don’t scream at me for this… Please stop tormenting me with those words…”Summer’s hands quickly wrapped around her own neck before shoving the woman away from her. “Cough.. You were trying to kill me! Cough, cough… You… You’re mad!” she shrieked between sputters.Tanya’s tears broke out as she shook her head, over and over again. “N-No! I didn’t! I didn’t… I didn’t; I didn’t, I didn’t want to kill you... I’m sorry, I..”The extreme flip-flop in Tanya’s demeanor mortified Summer to the core. What was that, a window into Tanya’s split personality? Frightened, the older woman
The rappings on the door prompted a listless Tanya to roll out of her bed before heading toward it. She was too tired to wonder who her visitor might be.She yanked the door open to a furious Jackson and froze, entirely at a loss of how to react.The man who so desperately wanted to avoid her had come looking for her.“If you really want to beat the sh*t out of someone, you come to me! Leave my mom alone!” Jackson fumed, his hands balled into fists. It was not in his nature to hit women, so even at his angriest, he stopped himself from acting on his impulse.Tanya reeled back in understanding. The memory of what happened earlier caused her to lower her head in shame.“I didn’t mean to do it,” she whispered. “I know, it doesn’t matter what hurtful things your mom said. I shouldn’t have lost control of my emotions and lashed out… I’m sorry. If she requires medical assistance or anything, I’ll pay. All I’m asking is that you people stop it, please. Stop forcing me into desperation.”
Tanya shut the door and began to recount her past without any prompt. “I was a young girl, about four years old, I think, when people started saying that my dad killed a man.“From then on, dad disappeared from my life. Mom left me. I had no one else but my grandpa. The people around me were always so eager and happy to remind me that I’m a murderer’s daughter whenever they saw me. They told their kids to never play with me, and then, for countless times… they beat me. They treated me like… like sh*t. Grandpa was scared that all of it was going to ruin me, so he sacrificed all of the money he had saved and took me out of the town I was born in and rented a house in the city.“I was eight by then, but the trauma of being seen as nothing but a murderer’s daughter haunts me. I can’t break free. I tried to be good. I follow my grandpa’s advice. I smile at everyone and treat everyone right because grandpa told me that no matter how bad my life started out to be, anyone who smiles will alw
Tanya walked out of her room and found out that Jackson had left her already. Dejected, she sank onto the couch like a puppet with broken strings.A few moments passed. Finally, she sent a text message to the man who had called her earlier: ‘I want to see you.’The man appeared by her doorstep exactly by three in the afternoon. He stood tall and straight as he showcased his handsome features. Jackson West may inspire more women to fantasize being with him, but this man boasted quite a presence, too.Tanya had only seen him a few times; three of them were for the sex that eventually led to the conception of the fetus inside her now. Other times were during Tiffany’s meals with Alejandro Smith.Indeed, the man was none other than Jett.Tanya was visibly embarrassed when talking to him. After all, he was the real father of the child, despite being someone she did not know all that well.“Look, can I abort this kid, and then come clean to Jackson? I’m done doing this. He’s never goin
Tanya had slipped in a drug into Jackson’s drink that night. That was the real reason why he had been so thoroughly knocked-out, and why it was impossible to have him do anything, let alone sex. The blood on the sheet? Tanya staged it.Per Alejandro’s scheme, she had sex with Jett three times. The best-case scenario was to make Tanya pregnant and to make the conception seem as realistically tied to the hoax as possible. Even if she did not manage to get impregnated on time, Tanya was supposed to fake it until she made it. Even the worst-case scenario—if Tanya just could not get pregnant—had contingency plans.She had been overjoyed and relieved when she succeeded in her pregnancy. But now, looking back, all she had achieved was shackling herself with a self-made burden.For her pregnancy, and also because she was too ashamed to continue working for Eric, Tanya had been subsisting on Alejandro’s allowance after she quit her job. It was Alejandro who paid for her livelihood, which was