Chapter 2

ADELINE

“The hospital report you asked for is here, boss. The doctor just sent it.”

Nova’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts as she handed over the pregnancy report I had forced a doctor to forge earlier that afternoon.

Fake.

Everything about it was fake.

Just like the hope I had been clinging to.

And yes, I forced him because I had the ability to.

"Boss?" She called a second time, hesitating before gently placing the file on my lap.

I took the file from her, my fingers trembling slightly as the weight of everything from yesterday pressed down on me all over again.

I had cried until my head hurt, until my chest felt hollow, trying to understand the one thing that refused to make sense.

Noah knew.

He knew… and still blamed me.

Still looked at me like I was the one failing him.

Why keep something like that from me?

Why let me carry the guilt alone when

he already had the truth sitting neatly in a file somewhere?

And now… he wanted a divorce.

A shaky breath slipped past my lips as I tightened my hold on the document.

“Boss… are you sure about this?” Nova asked softly, her fingers fidgeting together. She only did that when she was nervous.

I glanced at her reflection through the mirror and gave a small shrug, even though nothing about this felt light.

“Something isn’t right, Nova. I can feel it. Noah loves me, he cried yesterday. I watched him cry. this isn’t like him. If there’s something he’s hiding, I need to know.”

She nodded slowly, though the worry didn’t leave her face.

“Let’s go.”

The ride to his company was quiet, almost suffocating. I spent most of it staring out the window, rehearsing different versions of the same question in my head.

Why?

That was all I wanted to ask him.

Why he hid it.

Why he let me try.

Why he watched me break over and over again.

And if he refused to tell me… then I would make him.

I glanced at the file in my lap.

This fake pregnancy report would force his hand one way or another.

The car slowed to a stop and Nova pressed the brakes gently.

“We’re here.”

I lifted my gaze to the building ahead of me and checked the time. Closing hours.

Of course.

He wasn’t working late.

He was avoiding me.

“Ill be back in a moment.” I said, stepping out of the car before she could respond.

The building was nearly empty, the quiet echo of my heels against the floor making everything feel colder than usual. Most of the staff had already left, and the only office still lit was his.

I should have expected that.

I reached his door, my hand hovering over the handle as I prepared myself for whatever excuse he was going to give me.

But before I could push it open—

“Youre supposed to force her to sign the divorce papers not just hand it to her and wait for her to sign it!" The feminine voice inside froze me in place.

The voice was too familiar that I froze on the spot, my fingers tightening slowly around the handle.

“Delilah, can you stop?” Noah’s voice came, edged with irritation. “Shes still my wife! It’s sudden, she needs time to process it.”

My breath caught.

Delilah?

Delilah as in Delilah Laurent?

“You should have thought of that before you knocked me up, Noah!” she shot back. “ Talking about she's your wife yet I can bet that she doesn't know she could never bear kids for you. But I can. This baby right here is yours, it's proof!”

The world tilted.

My grip slipped slightly from the handle as her words settled in, each one hitting harder than the last.

Pregnant?

She was? No. No, that wasn’t possible.

Delilah Laurent…?

The same girl I had helped? The same girl I had trained, supported, given a place in both our lives?

My fucking goddaughter? Noah fucked my god daughter? The more I thought of it, the more gross it became.

My chest burned as the realization sank in.

He cheated.

And not just with anyone, with my....God daughter!

I forced my hand back onto the doorknob, ready to push it open, to demand answers, to tear the truth out of both of them when a familiar scent hit my nostrils and almost immediately, strong veiny hands suddenly covered mine, stopping me.

“Really, Skye? You've always been a disappointment but this is a new low.” A low voice murmured near my ear and I shut my eyes in anger.

Dear God, why do you send people my way as though you're trying to test how quick I could send them to you.

Only one person ever called me that. Skye.

Slowly, I turned my head.

Nikolai Rye Hastings stood behind me, far too close, his lips just inches from my ear.

My pulse spiked.

“Rye. ” I whispered, my voice unsteady despite my effort to stay composed.

Out of everyone… it had to be him.

“I asked you to come see me,” he said calmly.

“And I said no.” I pulled my hand away from his.

"No? Please that is no way to treat your ex fiancee who you practically jilted just go marry your true love. See that? Your true love is fucking your god daughter. Congratulations, you got twice as stupid as me."

His gaze didn’t shift and I squinted my eyes.

Did he just call himself stupid just to insult me?

Good to know he was still a freaking weirdo.

“Shut the hell up, Rye and it's none of your concern whether I walk into my husband’s office or not.” I didn’t wait for a response this time as I turned around.

"At least it's Rye and not Hastings." He chirped and I turned around, anger in my eyes.

"No. The name of a family that killed my parents won't escape my mouth unless I'm planning their murder."

I hissed and then pushed Noah's door open.

“Noah,” I called, forcing brightness into my voice like nothing had just shattered inside me.

He stood up immediately, clearly startled, while Delilah dropped her gaze, slipping into that same timid act she had fooled me with countless times before.

“Adeline… what are you doing here?” he asked.

For a moment, I wanted to scream.

To ask him everything.

To throw every word I had heard right back in his face.

But I didn’t.

“You haven’t been home,” I said calmly, stepping further in. “So I came to see you. Looks like you’re still working… since your assistant is here.”

I glanced at Delilah briefly before placing the file on his desk.

“I actually came with good news.” He frowned slightly picking it up.

"What is it?" He raised a brow and I just gestured to it.

The moment he read it, his expression changed.

“What?” The paper slipped from his hand. “You’re pregnant?”

Delilah’s head snapped up, her composure breaking instantly. “You’re pregnant?”

I tilted my head slightly, watching both of them carefully.

“Yes. Why? Shouldn’t you be happy for me?”

Silence.

Heavy. Awkward.

Wrong.

Noah sank back into his chair, his face pale as he tried to rearrange his expression into something believable.

“That’s… that’s impossible,” he muttered under his breath.

I heard it.

Every word.

I stepped closer, my heart pounding.

“Impossible?” I repeated softly. “Noah… we’re having a baby. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

He shook his head quickly.

“No, I mean, this is good news. Of course it is. I just…i have a lot to finish here. Can you go home? We’ll talk properly later.”

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

I almost flinched but I forced a smile anyway.

Thanks to dad who had put me through countless successor trainings, whispering to me that as an heiress, I had to learn to smile no matter the situation .

In the business world, I would give more fake smiles than real ones.

Funny how I'm using that for my own husband right now.

“Alright.”

Before stepping away, I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, ignoring the way Delilah’s expression twisted.

Then I walked out.

I didn’t stop smiling until the door closed behind me.

By the time I got back into the car, the tears had already started falling.

Nova didn’t ask any questions.

She didn’t need to.

My phone buzzed in my hand moments later.

Unknown number.

I opened it and threw was a video attached to the message.

My stomach dropped when I saw the name attached to it.

From Rye not Hastings

Of course.

Fucking weirdo.

I pressed play and he footage from Noah’s office pulled up.

Current.

Delilah’s voice came through first.

"She's pregnant? How? Didn't you say you wouldn't sleep with her after me? Do you—"

"Don't forget you're still just a mistress, Delilah. Just a mistress! She's my wife!" He shut back.

"I don't care what you say Noah but she just can't. You have to convince her to get rid of it.”