Chapter 0005

Charlotte's POV

“What do you want, Mia?” My arms folded across my chest, instinctively shielding the part of me that felt most vulnerable, my still-flat stomach, carrying the one truth no one could twist.

Mia's ruby-red lips curved into a smile that never reached her eyes as she strode into the room with the confidence of someone who believed they already owned everything in it. .She didn’t speak right away. She just shut the door behind her and turned the lock.

That soft click echoed louder than a gunshot.

“You sent Drake a message,” she finally said, her lips curving into a smirk too practiced to be human. “Didn't you?”

I didn’t respond. Had Drake showed it to her?

Her eyes drifted downward, just for a second, but just enough to make it clear that she'd noticed. It was obvious…my hand over my belly. The protective stance. Her lips curled tighter with contempt, not curiosity.

I forced my voice to remain steady. “What I told Drake is none of your business, Mia.”

Mia walked to the desk, her fingers grazing the surface like she was dust-testing a product she intended to repossess.

“Oh, but he made it my business.” Her tone was musical and taunting, but with a poisonous edge. “He forwarded your little text. The announcement. Room number and all. His exact words?”

She lifted her phone and tapped the screen. ‘Can you handle this? I can’t deal with her right now.’

It hit me like a slap.

The message I’d sent, simple, desperate, hopeful.

‘We need to talk. I’m pregnant. Meet me at room 218. I’m in the hospital, I can see you. Please, Drake.’ It had become a joke between them. Passed like a chore. Delegated like trash collection.

“You’re lying,” I whispered, but I already knew I was wrong.

Mia turned her screen so I could see it. There it was. My own words. His reply underneath, sterile and dismissive.

Something inside me cracked wide open and all I saw was red..

“He wants you to get rid of it,” Mia said casually, like she was suggesting a haircut, that annoying smile permanently etched on her face. “He said, and I quote, ‘Let’s not add fuel to an already dying fire.’”

My knees buckled, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, fists clenched in the duvet. “You’re lying.” She had to be. Drake was supposed to be excited for this. This was what his father wanted of him…this would solidify his position…

“He’s already arranging an NDA,” she continued, withdrawing a card from her designer clutch and setting it on the table like a calling card from the underworld. “You’ll sign it. You’ll take the settlement. You’ll move on.”

“You want me to disappear.”

She tilted her head. “Same thing.”

I stared at the card. Black and gold. Embossed. Cold. ‘Drake Watson—Acting CEO: Watson holdings.’

This was real.

“Is this his solution? Pay me off like a mistress and erase a child?”

Mia crossed her legs elegantly, perching on the edge of the bed. “That’s being generous, Charlotte. He doesn’t even consider you a mistress. Just a...business gone sour.”

I straightened myself. My voice rose like something ancient and defiant clawing up from the center of my chest.

“Tell him I won’t kill my child to tidy up his new life. Tell him I’m not afraid of NDAs or lawyers or your smug little fake smile.”

Mia’s expression didn’t falter, but her gaze sharpened. “Then don’t expect mercy. You were useful once. Now you’re just noise and I personally, hate noises.”

Her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, and in an instant, her face softened like she’d stepped onto a stage.

“Yes, darling,” she purred into the receiver. “I’m with her now. Everything’s sorted out.” A pause. A breathy laugh. “Be right down.”

She stood, smoothed her dress, and looked me over like I was the dirty secret she was about to have laundered.

“Dinner with his parents,” she said, as if that detail was a blade. “They adore me, by the way, but then, I’m sure you already know that.”

I stood slowly, like a rising storm. “Tell them to get used to disappointment. You’ll bring plenty.”

Mia only smiled. “Be smart, Charlotte. Take the money. Raise your baby somewhere quiet, away from all this. Away from him. He won’t ever be yours. He never was.”

“Get out.”

She raised both hands in a mock-innocence. “Gladly.”

The moment she left, I surged after her. I wasn’t done. Drake owed me more than a courier. If he wanted to get rid of me, he should come by himself.

I caught sight of them at the elevator, his arm draped around her waist, their heads close. They looked perfect, polished, like magazine royalty.

“Drake!”

He turned. That brief moment where his eyes met mine was like standing in front of a locked door I used to have the key to.

“We need to talk. Alone. Please.”

He looked at Mia, then back at me, like I was a problem he thought he’d already deleted.

“Baby, I don’t feel good,” Mia murmured, swaying just enough. Her performance was flawless.

Drake’s attention snapped to her instantly. Concern. Affection. All the things he never gave me. All the things I begged for.

“Whatever you want to say, say it now,” he told me, his voice flat, clipped. “I’m busy.”

“You’re busy running away from consequences,” I felt a sharp, stabbing pain on my stomach and gasped.

He exhaled sharply, already pulling Mia closer. “Look, Charlotte. It was never going to last between us. We both knew that.”

“Owww!” I winced, feeling the pain again.

He glanced at me and shook his head. “You’re so pathetic.”

I placed my hands on my waist to steady myself, not understanding where the pain had come from. “Drake,” I gasped and forced myself to stand straighter. “This child? You mean to tell me that it’s just collateral damage?” I couldn’t control myself from sounding shaky as I spoke.

He faltered. A flicker of guilt? Doubt? But Mia leaned onto him, playing the part of the damsel in distress. “Look, Charlotte, your fake acts aren't going to get you anywhere. You better get used to this. It was your idea after all.”

I groaned, feeling the pain even worse. “Drake…”

“I’m dizzy, Drake,” she murmured, just as it seemed like he wanted to say something.

That was all it took. His arms swept her up like a prince rescuing a poisoned princess.

“I’m done here,” he said, stepping into the elevator without another word. “Goodbye, Charlotte.”

The doors slid shut. I stood frozen, my eyes locked on the glowing numbers.

‘10… 9… 8… Gone.’

The searing pain came back again, this time, stabbing through my abdomen. I gasped, the breath leaving me in a rush. I staggered back, grabbing the wall for balance. Then came the warmth, the unmistakable wetness sliding down my inner thighs.

No. My eyes widened and my lips parted.

Not now. Not this. I shook my head rapidly as I glanced down. Red. So much red.

Terror surged through me. The pain was unbearable now, rippling through my body like punishment.

I didn’t know when a piercing scream left my lips.

The last thing I saw was the ceiling spinning above me and a smear of blood on my dress, Drake’s legacy, slipping away with every heartbeat.