CHAPTER FIVE — I WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO MATTER

POV: Myra Carter

By the third month of my pregnancy, a quiet routine had formed between us, Aiden started sitting at the breakfast table with me every morning before he left for his office.

"How is your mother doing after her checkup yesterday, Myra?" Aiden asked, setting his coffee cup down on the table while he looked across at me.

"She's doing much better, Aiden, the doctor said her test results are completely stable," I replied, taking a small bite of my toast while I looked back at him. "I'm hoping that once this year is over, I can save enough of my remaining money to rebuild my father's business."

"You have the determination for it, Myra, and you've shown you are much stronger than anyone gave you credit for," he said, giving me a rare, genuine smile before standing up from his chair.

That weekend, Aiden's extended family came over for a formal dinner, and while we were all sitting around the long dining table, his aunt looked directly at me with a sharp smirk on her face.

"So, Aiden, how much are you paying this girl to be a womb for your family?" his aunt asked loudly, causing two of his cousins to burst out laughing while Celeste looked down at her plate without saying anything.

I kept my eyes fixed on my water glass, forcing myself to remain calm, but before anyone else could speak, Aiden slammed his hand down flat on the table.

"She is carrying my child, Aunt Clara, and you will show her absolute respect in this house, or you can leave right now," Aiden said, his voice cold and sharp as he glared around the room, instantly shutting down the laughter.

Later that evening, after his relatives had left, I found Aiden standing near the stairs in the hall, and I walked up to him quietly.

"Thank you for standing up for me at dinner, Aiden, you didn't have to do that," I said, looking up into his face.

"I didn't do it for you, Myra," he answered plainly, adjusting his cuffs while he looked down at me. "I did it because disrespecting you in front of my family is disrespecting my child, and I won't allow anyone to treat my child's mother that way."

I forced a smile onto my face, pretending his words didn't hurt, because I knew he still saw me simply as the person carrying his heir.

Late that night, I went into the unfinished nursery upstairs, sitting down on the chair near the window while holding a pair of tiny white socks I had bought at the clinic store earlier that week.

The door opened quietly, and Aiden walked into the room, stopping a few feet away from me when he saw what was in my hands.

"Are you thinking about what the baby will look like?" he asked softly, looking down at the small socks in my lap.

"Yes, I think about it every day, Aiden," I admitted, looking up at him while I held the socks in my palm.

"Have you thought about what happens when the nine months are up and you have to leave?" he asked quietly, stepping closer to my chair.

"I think about that every single day too, Aiden," I replied, my voice shaking slightly as I looked into his eyes. "And I don't know how I'm supposed to just give away a baby I've spent nine months loving."

Aiden stood completely still, unable to find any words to answer me, as the full weight of what we had set up hung in the quiet room between us.

Before either of us could say anything else, his cell phone rang loudly in his pocket, and he answered it immediately when he saw his lawyer's name on the screen.

"Mr. Blackwood, we have a serious issue with the legal documents," his lawyer's urgent voice came through the speaker. "The clause connecting Celeste to the family inheritance strictly requires your relationship with her to stay intact until delivery, but if your personal circumstances change or if Celeste discovers you are developing feelings for the surrogate, what do you think she'll do to the contract?”