Getting married in two months

~ Loise ~

I thought I had heard him wrong, but when he repeated the sentence one more time, my heart almost leapt out of my chest. There was absolutely no way I was going through with an abortion, especially not after three months. 

“I am not aborting my child,” I stated matter-of-factly, although my heart was hammering so violently against my ribs that I could barely hear my own voice.

He only looked at me, completely calm, his eyes devoid of even the slightest hint of emotion, as though my answer meant absolutely nothing to him.

Silence settled heavily between us while he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He tapped one against the box before placing it between his lips, lighting it with an almost lazy movement, then taking a long drag and slowly exhaling the smoke into the room.

I watched him through narrowed eyes, growing more irritated by the second.

“Well, sadly, you don't have a choice, Miss Surrogate.”

“Loise,” I corrected, unable to hide the offense in my voice. His expression didn't change.

“Last I checked, I never asked you to steal my sperm and get yourself pregnant.”

My brows knitted together.

“I didn't steal your sperm.”

“Whatever.”

He waved his hand dismissively, taking another drag from his cigarette before continuing as though the argument wasn't worth his time.

“The child you're carrying is still mine, and I don't want it. Do you understand?”

His words made something twist painfully inside my chest.

If I had thought Mr. Andrew was disdainful toward me, then this man was something else entirely. He didn't even bother hiding his contempt, looking at me as though I were an inconvenience that had somehow found its way into his perfectly organized life. Perhaps I was. 

I'd never understood how someone could reject their own flesh and blood so easily when there were people in this world who would give anything just to have a child of their own.

I glanced down at my stomach, my hand instinctively moving over the small bump. Whatever he thought, whatever he wanted, this baby was innocent. And I wasn't going to let him decide its fate simply because he had money.

“If you don't want the baby, then that's on you,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady as I pushed myself to my feet. “I will keep it. Thank you for your time.”

I turned toward the door, refusing to give him another second of my attention.

I had barely taken two steps when his voice stopped me.

“Did I ask you to leave?”

I froze before slowly turning around to face him.

He was still sitting comfortably on the couch, one arm resting against the backrest while the cigarette burned lazily between his fingers, his eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my stomach tighten.

“No,” I admitted.

“Then sit down.”

There was no request in his voice—It was an order.I swallowed hard before slowly returning to the couch, my mind still trying to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes.

Just then, Mr. Andrew walked into the room carrying a thick stack of papers, which he silently handed to Mr. Morgan. He scanned through them briefly before tossing them onto the center table in front of me.

I hesitated for a moment before reaching for the papers, my fingers slightly trembling as I picked them up and began scanning through the contents.

My eyes widened when I saw the figure written near the bottom of the first page.

Five million dollars.

“You give birth, hand the child over, and disappear from my life forever,” Mr. Morgan said, his voice cold. “You will be compensated.”

I stared at the number on the document again. 

That was more money than I could have imagined having in my entire lifetime, and for someone who currently had nothing but a crumpled twenty-dollar bill sitting inside her purse, it was almost impossible to look away from.

Five million dollars could change everything.

I could pay my rent, get a proper place to live, take care of myself, and finally stop worrying about where my next meal was coming from. I could even put enough away to make sure I would never have to live like this again.

I lowered my gaze to my stomach, my fingers tightening around the contract. Originally, I had agreed to give the baby to Tony's aunt anyway. That had been the entire reason I became a surrogate in the first place, so perhaps this wouldn't be so different.

The only difference was that the baby's biological father was someone else. And he was willing to pay me five million dollars to walk away, way less than Tony's aunt would have paid me. 

I sucked in a deep breath, fighting the strange ache forming in my chest before finally lifting my eyes toward him.

“Deal.”

The word left my lips before I could change my mind.

Mr. Morgan gave a single nod, as though he had expected nothing less.

He took one final drag from his cigarette before casually dropping it into the glass of red wine sitting on the table beside him. The cigarette hissed as it met the liquid, and I couldn't help but stare at the strange combination.

Then—

“Babe! I've been calling you since forever!”

A feminine voice suddenly tore through the quiet atmosphere.

I turned toward the entrance just as a woman walked into the room, and for a moment, I simply stared.

She was beautiful.

Her long blonde hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, complementing her striking blue eyes and perfectly shaped nose, while the dress hugging her body accentuated every curve effortlessly. She looked like the kind of woman who belonged in a magazine.

And then I noticed the way Mr. Morgan's expression changed.

The coldness disappeared from his face almost instantly, replaced by a warmth I hadn't even known he was capable of. His smile was completely different from the one he had given me earlier.

That one had sent a chill through me—but this one was warm, almost sweet, like caramel slowly melting over something soft.

“Tell me you missed me,” the woman said playfully as she walked toward him.

“I missed you,” Mr. Morgan replied without hesitation.

Before I could look away, she climbed onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his in a deep kiss.

I immediately looked down at the contract in my hands, suddenly finding the words much more interesting than the scene unfolding in front of me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, pretending not to notice them as they kissed, although every second of it seemed to stretch painfully long.

When they finally pulled apart, I lifted my eyes again, only to find Mr. Morgan staring directly at me.

For some reason, I felt caught.

His gaze remained on me for a moment before he turned toward the woman in his arms.

“Meet my fiancée, Bella. We'll be getting married in two months.”