Okay, this must be a dream because… I started biting my inner cheeks, and when it didn't change anything, I started slapping my cheeks.
“Mrs. Roberts, you need to calm down.” The doctor said his voice was soft. “It's not a dream, it's true; your baby is alive and healthy.” The director reassured me, realizing how unsettled I was after hearing the news. Well, he seemed to be the only person I could trust for now. He had a wedding ring on his finger, and even though that never stopped a man, I still respected a married man, so, clearing my voice, I asked that the doctor and nurse give us the room. They didn't hesitate; the nurse said she would be back with my breakfast, and I nodded, thanking her in my heart, as I didn't have enough voice for her, but I was surely hungry—that I couldn't deny. “How are you feeling?” The director asked after the door was closed, and I forced a smile, shifting slightly, “The two nurses begged and told me your sister put them to the task.” “You can't call my sister, please. None of my family can know I'm here. I–” “I know; that’s the reason I didn’t call any of your family. I did my research on you; you're actually quite popular.” “For all the wrong reasons.” I scoffed. “No, no, no, I mean, apart from the surrogate part and the recent scandal, I read somewhere that you're a strong, good woman; you once saved your husband's company, the Roberts, not to mention you run his two restaurants here in ATL.” “Yes, um, thank you for this.” I saw what he was doing, he was trying to encourage me. “No problem, I’m sure you will be a good mother. Are you going to tell him?” He asked a question that I've been avoiding in my head. I didn't respond; I mean, there was nothing to say, as I wasn't sure he wanted this baby either, but for what it's worth, I will try. “Can I borrow your phone?” “Yes, sure, here…” He quickly reached into his pockets and got his phone, then, after unlocking it, he handed it to me. “She's lucky,” I said as his ring came into view. He looked at his finger for a moment, and a smile appeared on his lips. “I'm the lucky one.” He said, and I nodded before turning my focus to the phone screen, as for a second I wished Rodrigo and I were like that, but, well, just like it has always been, I was just a placeholder. “I am going to check on that breakfast and get you some clean clothes, and remember, you can come with me today if you can't face your family. My wife will be—” “Happy to have you, whoever you are. Nice to meet you.” He was cut off by a beautiful blonde woman who came in without knocking. Well, she walked straight to him and kissed him, and looking at her finger, I quickly figured she was his wife. “Honey, I wasn't expecting you.” He asked, placing his hands on her waist. “Well, you said you were very worried for this patient; you even slept here. I had to come and see for myself—oh my god, is this Valeria Wilson?” She gasped when she faced me. Now, I didn't like that I was literally trending on the news as a crazy woman, so I looked away as tears started pricking the corners of my eyes. “Honey, let’s give her a moment.” I heard the director say, and the wife agreed immediately as they left. I knew that when I heard the door slam. “Hold it, Val, hold it…” I covered my mouth, stopping the sobs from escaping my mouth. “You're pregnant; you have to be strong for your baby,” I whispered, and it worked, as I suddenly felt a rush of energy. Taking advantage of that, I concentrated on what I wanted to do. First, I logged in with my details so I could have access to my photos, as I had pictures of all my credit cards. It was easy to log into my bank account then, and seeing none of my money was taken or frozen, I still had a quarter of a million, which was surely not enough living in Atlanta, especially with a baby on the way, as I wasn't sure what the Wilsons and Roberts had in store for me. I logged into my cryptocurrency account and saw I only had about a hundred thousand worth of currency. Now, this is a smart way to keep money if you're from a family like mine. Well, it wasn't enough, so with one plan, I tried to buy more, but it was declined. I needed about a million, at least, before I went and told Rodrigo I hadn't lost his baby. I first had to make sure I had money hidden in case he was in on it with them. I knew I was wasting minutes, so I asked the nurse to place the tray of food on my lap, and I started eating because, well, I was starved, but while I was holding food in my right hand, my left had dialed my bank contact. “Valeria Roberts, I tried to pay for cryptocurrency, but it was declined. Now, before that, I made sure to check my balance, and I have more than two hundred thousand. Also, there was no alert about my account having problems.” “Alright, Mrs. Roberts, just give me a moment.” The bank customer care person said, and I nodded my head even when she couldn't see me since my mouth was stuffed with food. She sure took a damn minute before asking if I was still on the line. “I'm here, so can I buy my cryptocurrency now?” I wanted to do this now before they freeze my accounts. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Roberts, but you can’t do anything with that account.” “Excuse me?” “Your husband, or rather, ex-husband—” “Ex-husband?” I don't remember signing any divorce papers. “Yes, Mr. Roberts asked us to freeze all your accounts, including the ones from other banks. He said you are not in a state to make any financial decisions, so to get this sorted, you would have to speak to him.” “Are you serious right now?” “I'm sorry, Mrs., but my hands are tied.” “I’m the owner of the account.” “Really sorry, now would you like me to help you with some–” I ended the call in her ear, the audacity. Shit. Hmm, I guess there's only one thing to do. Meet my husband!I honestly wasn’t believing my ears right now. I knew Christian had always been protective, and according to him, I shouldn’t bother looking for my mother because she didn’t bother looking for me. But this was my decision, and I needed him to respect that.I was with Parker, and she was already watching me since I’d exclaimed.I didn’t want to confront Christian in front of Parker—she might pick up some bad words or sense the tension, and I was really pissed at Christian, especially for causing me to leave that PI all alone in such a disgusting environment.So, I did what felt best at the moment—I cut the call without warning.“Mommy, did you just end the call in Uncle Christian’s ear?” Okay, how the hell did this girl know?“Yes, baby.” I couldn’t lie to her.“But isn’t that rude?” Again with these big questions! I swear, if Parker was someone else’s daughter, I’d be wondering what was going on, but she was my daughter—of course
There was no Christian. Presley wanted to continue seeing me. She wanted to sleep with me. Of course, she created such a narrative. She thinks I'm stupid.I chuckled to myself as Presley looked at me, probably thinking I believed her."So?" she asked as I turned to her."You know, being a lawyer, you have to learn to read people," I said, and she nodded."And so is being a PI. Now I am going to work on your friend and see why he's doing this.""No, you're not," I said, putting on my seatbelt."What?""Get out of my car.""I don't understand.""Listen." I turned and faced her. "I know Atlanta is full of straight women, but being this desperate will just jeopardize your career.""Okay…?" She laughed. "What's happening?""I know you want to keep seeing me, so you built this lie to get an excuse.""Ms. Sterling, I know you're pretty, and I won't lie, I would love to taste those lips, but my work comes first. I'm not lying to you. This woman—""Was my mother, and she's dead.""They used yo
At this point, I wasn’t even sure how I was still breathing. My heart had stopped beating a while ago.My mother.How could she just die on the very same day I came to find her? What kind of cruel joke was God playing on me? Why now?I could hear Presley and the lobby man still talking, but none of it made sense. The words were English, but they weren’t registering. My ears were blocked like I was underwater.First, I was born the wrong gender—my father wanted a boy. And I turned out to be a girl. That was the beginning of my curse.I never knew what a mother’s love felt like, and that scar still follows me. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m even a good parent to Parker... all because I never had a parent myself.My dad only ever gave me money. The only thing I learned from him was survival. How to please Aaliyah and his wife—or else I’d be cut loose. That was the training. That was my childhood.If it hadn’t been for the brilliant mother-authors who wrote parenting books, I don’t know how I
I took a moment to take everything in before telling Presley I was ready. I didn't want to waste a second. Sure, I was scared and didn’t know what I’d say to her… but I believed everything would fall into place when I saw her. Right now, I just needed that motherly hug—the one I never got.“I arranged this meetup. I insist I pay,” I said, pushing Presley's money back.“I thought so too, but you're so gorgeous, and I've never been on a date with such a pretty lady. So allow me.” She pushed her money back, and I sighed, then called for a waitress. As soon as she got there, I quickly handed her the money from my purse, payment, and a fair tip.“Damn, and you're smart too,” she muttered, watching how fast I worked.“If you're a lawyer, you'd understand,” I said as I stood up. She stood too, and then her phone rang. She told me she’d take the call outside. I asked for a bottle of water and told her to go ahead—I’d meet her out front.Presley left, and I sat back down, my knees too weak to
Have you ever had a gun pointed right in the middle of your forehead? God, if you don't have guts, you might actually pee yourself.Now, I’ve been in dangerous situations before—divorce settlements can get messy like that. I’ve had guns pulled on me, screamed at, nearly run over. So yes, danger wasn’t exactly new. But this? This was a different kind.“You better not move, lady,” the man warned.He was wearing a mask, voice muffled and shaky. I froze—not because I was scared for myself, but because I thought of my daughter. She only had me. I still had to bring another child into this world before I could die. So yeah, not today.I slowly raised my hands, trying to show I wasn’t a threat. That’s when he frowned and asked, “What are you doing?”Okay… clearly, this guy didn’t know what he was doing. His voice cracked, the gun wobbled, and I noticed something—his finger wasn’t even on the trigger. He was trembling. A total amateur.Still, I played it cool. He had a gun, real or not.Then
I moved back and searched for the document that had her profile. “Mrs. Roberts,” I said, glancing down at it. It said she was a businesswoman who owned a jewelry store. I almost laughed. There was no way she could work.“No, don't even think about it.”“Excuse me?”“Oh, don't act like you don't know. I know you're Valeria.”“I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you have the wrong person.”“Wrong person? Haha.” She laughed, and I kept my composure. “Did you hear that? She says I have the wrong person.” She turned to my secretary, who gave her a confused look.“Mrs. Roberts, would you like to sit?” my secretary asked, watching her like some kind of psycho. That clearly pissed her off because she snapped back.“This is Valeria. I know her.”“Ma'am, would you like me to call security?” the secretary turned to me. She obviously didn't believe her. And as much as I wanted to watch security drag my crazy sister out of here—and by security, I mean the two guys Christian insisted stay on me—I still hadn’