Chapter Four: His Baby, Another Man's Ring!

Vanessa's POV.

Two pink lines on the pregnancy test strip glared back at me like a cruel joke.

My fingers trembled as I stared at the test strip, my heart hammering inside of my chest like it wanted to leap out. I had taken three tests. All said the same thing.

I was pregnant. With Zane's child.

I couldn't even begin to process it. Just three weeks ago, I was flirting shamelessly with him, teasing, touching, and daring myself to cross lines I shouldn't. And now…this.

And yet, deep down inside of my heart, a strange warmth bloomed beneath the guilt. Doctor after doctor, test after test. They all said the same thing: I could conceive, but still I tried so hard, and I still wasn't able to give Damon a child. And yet, here I was, holding life between my fingers.

Maybe the doctors weren't wrong after all. I wasn't infertile. Maybe the universe just didn't want Damon to be the father of my child. Maybe that was the blessing hidden in all of the pain.

The sharp knock on my bathroom door sent a jolt of panic through me.

“Vanessa! Open this door!” My mother's voice echoed from outside. “What are you doing in there?”

Shit. My hands moved quickly, wrapping the test strip in toilet paper and shoving it into the back of the cabinet under the sink. I splashed cold water on my face, trying to erase the panic from my facial features.

“I'm coming, Mom!” I announced, unlocking the door as I adjusted my robe to step out.

The door flung open before I could fully compose myself. My mother barged inside, her eyes scanning the bathroom.

“Why did you lock the door earlier, and what is taking you so long to leave the bathroom? You have been in here for over twenty minutes.” She asked, and I rolled my eyes at her, though my heart was still pounding in my chest.

“I had a headache. I just needed a minute.” I said, knowing fully well she didn't believe me. She stared at me for a long time, but she didn't press further.

“Mrs. Adisa's son likes you, and he wants you. He won't take no for an answer. I don't know why you are acting moody these days. That boy is from a good and wealthy home. He is successful, and he can give you a stable life.” 

I nearly laughed at my mother's words, but I knew better than to hold it inside of me.

Stable? She had no idea.

“I’m not interested in him, Mom,” I said calmly, moving past her, and she grabbed my arm.

“You are twenty-five. I was already married and pregnant with you by this age. What exactly are you waiting for?” She questioned in a raised voice, and I removed my hand from her tight grip.

“Can we not do this right now? Please, I have a terrible headache, and I need some alone time to myself. Also, I will think about Mrs. Adisa's son's proposal.” I lied just to make sure she would stop pressuring me.

She hesitated, then she gave me a long look before walking out of my room. And the second the door shut, I locked it again and leaned against it, trying to catch my breath.

What the hell was I going to do?

I opened my laptop and typed in the only thing I remembered. Zane. Jogger. Tall. Dark hair. Grey eyes. That wasn't much to go on, but I was a Roothmoore. We didn't quit.

After some serious digging and maybe a little hacking help from an old friend who owed me a favor. I found him. 

Zane Stonehart. CEO and founder of Stonehart Dynamics, one of the fastest-growing tech security firms in the country. Worth billions. Philanthropist and private. The man had more walls than a prison. And apparently, enough money to buy twenty countries.

So that is why he vanished. 

He didn't ghost me. He erased me.

I jotted down the address to his company headquarters. I wasn't going to text. Or email. This wasn't a situation to throw into someone's inbox. He was going to hear this from me, face-to-face.

***********************

The glass doors of Stonehart Dynamics loomed above me like the gates of judgement. The lobby was sleek and intimidating, like everything here was too polished for real people to exist.

“Do you have an appointment with Mr. Stonehart?” the receptionist asked, looking at me over her designer glasses.

“No. But it's urgent. Please.” I said, and she gave a forced smile at me.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Stonehart does not see anyone without an appointment.”

“I know it's against your rules, but if you don't help me out, I'm going to make a scene.” 

Her eyes widened just a little before a tall man in a sharp blue suit stepped in.

“Is there a problem here?” he asked, and I turned to look at him.

“I’m here to see Zane,” I said.

And he extended a hand towards me. I'm Ezra, Mr. Stonehart’s personal assistant. And you are?”

“Vanessa Roothmoore.” I replied, and his expression flickered just for a second before going back into neutral.

“I see. Please give me a moment.”

He stepped aside and made a call. Moments later, he returned, smiling at me.

“Mr. Stonehart has decided to see you. Please follow me,” he urged as I trailed behind him, walking down the hallway. Then I decided to ask him that one question that has been on my mind.

“How do you know who I am?”

“You are a Roothmoore,” he said plainly. Everyone knows, just by your name alone.”

He opened a large door for me. The office was massive. Clean and cold.

And I heard her voice before I saw her.

“Baby, your assistant said it's a woman. Who is she?”

Zane's voice followed, smooth and detached. “I don't have any meetings scheduled. Let's see who it is.”

Then came the sound of lips meeting. It was a kiss.

“Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Don't forget to get something beautiful for your wife,” she said.

Wife?

My chest tightened. My hand knocked over a flower vase, sending it crashing to the floor as the woman jumped.

“Who are you?! You just barge in and eavesdrop on a couple? Do you have no manners?!” She screamed loudly as anger swooshed over her.

Zane rose up slowly, raising his eyebrow. “Don’t worry, baby. I will handle it, my love,” he said, placing a kiss on her lips as he turned to me.

“Who are you, young woman?”

Young woman?

Was this a joke?

“I need to speak with you. Alone.” I said.

“Baby. Please, can you give us some privacy?” Zane said as the woman beside him pouted her lips at him, and he placed a kiss on her lips, then on her forehead.

“Okay. I will give you guys privacy, but tell her to hurry up with whatever discussion she has to finish up with you. Because I am clingy as fuck, and I need you with me soon.” she said, scrutinizing me intensely as she brushed past me, walking out of the office and closing the door behind her.

“She's gone now. So speak,” he said as he gestured towards the closed door.

I stepped forward to him with raised shoulders. “You seriously don't recognize me? The woman you had a one-night stand with three weeks ago? The one you kissed like your life depended on it?”

“Oh. I get it all now, so you are one of those women. Look, if you're here to fantasize or pretend we had something—”

“Don't insult me,” I snapped at him. “I didn't come here to play games with you. I'm pregnant. With your child. That night between us. It was unforgettable to me.” 

He laughed at my words. He actually laughed at me. 

“Do you think I'm going to believe all of that? I don't even know your name. Forget about knowing your name. I don't even remember you; I don't even think I have set my eyes on you before except for right now.” 

“It's Vanessa Roothmoore.”

“Vanessa, right. Listen to me carefully; I don't know what game you are playing, but this isn't the first time someone has tried to trap me. I'm married. And I love my wife so much.”

“So you were married then too? And you still climbed on top of me like your life depended on it?” I expressed myself, and he stepped closer to me, coldness pouring off him.

“If you don't know the father of your child, maybe terminate it. Save the kid the confusion,” he said, and I flinched at his words. But I didn't break.

“You are cruel. But don't worry, I didn't come here to beg. I came to inform you.”

He pressed a button on his desk. “Security. Escort Ms. Roothmoore out.”

“Don't bother. I will see myself out.” I said.

And I walked away with my head held up high. Tears biting my eyes but not falling.

When I got home. I stood in front of the mirror later that night, hands on my belly. Everything had changed, and I was still standing. 

Zane may have rejected me.

But this baby? This life?

It was mine. And I was going to protect it.

Even if it meant marrying a man I didn't love.

I picked up my phone and called my mother. “Tell Mrs. Adisa her son has my yes.” I said, and there was a pause in the background. 

“Vanessa…are you sure?”

“I have never been so sure in my entire life.”

Because love didn't protect me. But power might.

And this time, I will play the games on my own terms.