Chapter 5 –  “Two Lines and a Broken Promise”

Val’s POV

It’s been two weeks of hell.

I had no job, no money, no plans. Just endless applications, instant noodles, and the constant knot in my stomach that won’t go away. I’ve sent out thirty seven emails in the last seven days, begging for interviews, begging for anything. But its either i get ghosted or i get a message that starts “unfortunenatly” 

Let's just say the event planning industry is deeply committed to Harrison Cole's version of events. Two people warned me actually, Two separate people in two separate corners of this industry called me privately, kindly, apologetically to tell me my name is making rounds in a way that isn't flattering.

He did that. He made those calls. A man worth sixty million dollars picked up his phone and personally blacklisted a twenty three year old woman with a portfolio he stole because she told the truth in front of witnesses.

My savings are almost gone. Rent is due in nine days. Every morning I wake up and tell myself today will be different.

FYI today is not different.

I’m hunched over my laptop in my small apartment, drafting yet another cover letter when the nausea slams into me like a truck, my stomach flips hard and barely i make it to the bathroom before I’m on my knees, puking up what little I ate.

I rinse my mouth, splash cold water on my face, and stare at my reflection. I look horrible, pale and tired. Something’s wrong. I’ve been feeling off for three days, exhausted, emotional, queasy as hell.

Then it hits me.

I missed my period.

My hands start shaking. “No. No way. It was just one night,” I whisper to the mirror. “One stupid, drunk night. That doesn’t… it can’t…”

But the fear won’t leave. I throw on clothes, run to the corner store to buy a pregnancy test with the last of my cash. Back home, I pee on the stick with trembling fingers and wait.

Two pink lines stare back at me.

“Oh no no no no…” The words come out broken. My knees buckle. I slide down the bathroom wall, test still clutched in my hand.

I’m pregnant.

From a stranger whose face I never even saw clearly. From the man who left cash on the nightstand like I was a fucking hooker.

I can’t breathe.

I grab my phone and call Lexie before I can talk myself out of it.

She picks up on the second ring. “Hey, honey what’s up?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Silence. Then, “Oh my God… wow, how did… How did that happen?”

“I fucked a stranger, that’s what happened.”

“You what now?”

“Oh God, I don’t have time for this. What am I going to do?”

“Well… have the baby, I guess?”

“Have the baby?? Really?” My voice cracks. “I’m 23, jobless, frustrated, unmarried, pregnant, and I don’t even know the father. What will I tell Mama? I promised her I would not have a baby without marriage. This will break her heart. I know what she went through with me. I don’t want that for my child. I am not even settled enough to- .”

“Relax Val.. We could terminate it.”

“I can’t terminate it. It is against what I believe in!”

“Hmmm… so what can you do now? Get you married?”

“Yes, marriage… but to who? Who will accept a pregnant lady and marry me before this baby becomes known?”

“Val. She paused, then “I think I have a solution but you might not like it.” she says carefully.

“Tell me. I am desperate as fuck right now.”

“There is a firm. A firm I know of that sets people up for contract marriages for the time agreed from both parties.”

“Okay okay I like that .”

“But they are rich men… billionaires and CEOs.”

“NO.”

“I knew you wouldn’t like it, but that is your only choice right now.”

“I cannot stand these rich and arrogant people. I want a down to earth man who is polite and not the ones who look down on you because of their stupid money”

“Well sweetie, it’s either this, abortion, or you disappoint your mother. Besides, not all CEOs are the same.”

“Oh no, all of them are the same. I worked for and amongst these silly rich people and all they do is want to make people like me feel small.”

“Okay Val, I see your hate for rich people hasn’t changed, but in case you change your mind, just in case, you don't have to do anything with it,  I will send you the link. In the meantime, think about it. I love you… and congrats.”

“Shut up.”

She's already laughing when the line goes dead.

I put my phone down and chest heaving.

The apartment is too quiet. The positive test sits on the counter like a bomb. I think about Mama, her tired eyes at two in the morning, the way she smiled through every struggle, the promise I made her when I was old enough to understand what she sacrificed.

I can’t break her heart. I can’t let this baby grow up feeling like a mistake the way she sometimes made me feel like one, even if she never said it.

My hand shakes as I open the link Lexie sent. The form is simple, cold and clinical.

Name, age, shape of body, height, weight, reason for contract. 

Reason for contract? Pregnant and I need a husband who is ready to accept a pregnant lady ASAP. 

I fill it out with trembling fingers. Every field feels like betrayal. I hate rich men. I hate everything they stand for. But right now? Right now the love for my mother conquers everything.

I take one deep, shaky breath.

Then I hit submit.

My heart races so hard I can feel it in my throat. I just sold myself to the exact world I swore I’d never touch.

And there’s no taking it back.