Lena’s POV
“You’re pregnant, Miss Lena.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. My hands turned cold. I felt like the walls were closing in.
“Pregnant?” I asked again, just to make sure I heard right. “You mean... me?”
“Yes,” the doctor said, a little more slowly. “You are about few weeks along.”
I didn’t hear the rest, my mind was already somewhere else.
I remembered all the times I cried after seeing negative test results. All the visits to the hospital. The medicines, the injections, the IVF. Nothing worked. Then, one day, the doctors told me the truth: I couldn’t have children. I was infertile.
So how... how was this happening now?
I held onto the edge of the bed. My head was spinning, my heart was racing.
Was this really happening to me?
The doctor handed me a paper and left the room. I stared at it without reading. My brain couldn’t focus.
When I finally left the hospital, everything outside looked the same but inside, I was not the same Lena anymore.
As I walked home, my mind was full of questions.
Could this baby be Adrian’s? We tried for years, and it never worked. He left me, called me broken. He stopped loving me. So no, it couldn’t be his.
Then it hit me. The night with Damian.
That one stupid, careless night. I never expected anything from it, I never thought I’d see him again.
And now...
Now I might be carrying his child.
I reached home and sat on the sofa like a statue. The house was quiet, Kate was at work.
Later, she came in with a smile and started cooking. But when she saw my face, her smile faded.
“Lena?” she asked, worried. “Are you okay? You look... not okay.”
I looked up at her and whispered, “I’m pregnant.”
She dropped the spoon. “What?!”
“I’m pregnant, Kate. I just found out.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh my God. You tried so hard, Lena. You wanted this so badly.”
I nodded slowly. “But I don’t know what to do.”
“Is it Adrian’s?”
“No. I think it’s Damian’s. It happened only once, but...”
I didn’t finish. My throat tightened, and tears ran down my cheeks. Kate sat beside me and pulled me into a hug.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m scared,” I whispered. “I don’t have a job, I don’t have support. I don’t even know if I should tell him.”
“You have to. He deserves to know.”
“But Kate... after that night, he pushed me away. He threw me out like trash. He’ll never believe me, he’ll think I’m trying to trap him.”
“You still have to try. For the baby,” she said, wiping my tears.
That night, I barely slept.
The next morning, I put on the cleanest clothes I had and went to Blackwell Corporation. I sat in the waiting area, my hands shaking.
I waited, one hour passed. Then I saw him, Damian Blackwell. Tall, confident, perfect suit. He looked like a man who had the whole world in his hands.
I stood up quickly and walked toward him, but the guards blocked me.
“Please,” I said, trying to see past them. “I just need to talk to him.”
“Mr. Damian!” I shouted, loud enough for the whole office to hear but I didn't care.
He stopped walking. Slowly, he turned around and looked at me. Cold eyes, no smile.
“What do you want?” he asked sharply.
I swallowed hard. “Just one minute. Please.”
He sighed, then told the guards to back off.
“Speak.”
“I... I’m pregnant,” I said.
He stared at me like I had just told a bad joke.
“What?”
“It’s your child from that night,” I said, my voice shaking.
Then he laughed. But it wasn’t a happy laugh. It was loud and cruel.
“Of course,” he said. “You sleep with a man once and then show up with this story. What are you hoping for, money? A house? My name on the birth certificate?”
“That’s not true!” I said. “I just thought you should know—”
“Know what?” he cut me off. “That you’re a liar? That you spread your legs for a stranger and now want something from him?”
My hand moved before I could think. I slapped him hard.
Then I froze.
His face turned red. His jaw clenched. “You dare hit me?” he shouted.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I just—”
“Get out,” he snapped. “Now, before I make the guards drag you out.”
I ran.
I didn’t stop until I got outside. I stood on the street, crying, shaking, wishing I could undo everything.
Why did I ever trust anyone? Why did I sleep with him?
I felt so small, so lost, so alone.
That night, I sat in my bed, hugging a pillow.
Days later, I was in the room thinking about my life and what next I should do, my phone rang.
Private number.
“Hello?” I said.
A deep voice answered. Cold and sharp.
“Be at my office at 10 a.m, tomorrow. Don’t be late. We need to talk about the baby.”
Then he hung up.
My heart pounded. I knew who it was, Damian.
The next morning, I was there by 10:00 sharp.
His secretary led me in. He sat behind his big desk, calm and serious.
He looked at me, then spoke.
“Sit down.”
I sat.
“Let’s make a deal,” he said.
I blinked. “What kind of deal?”
He looked me straight in the eyes.
“You’re going to marry me.
Lena’s POVI was in the living room when someone knocked on the door, it was one of Damian’s guards.“Mrs. Blackwell,” he said, his tone calm but serious. “A package just arrived, It’s addressed to you.”My heart skipped. A package? Addressed to me? At a time like this? My arms instinctively tightened around Dylan. “What is it?”“I don’t know, ma’am. It was delivered directly to the gates and cleared by security but it bears official markings.”Official.The word alone made dread sink into me like ice.I shifted Dylan carefully, laying him in his carry bassinet beside me. He stirred but didn’t wake. Then, with hands that were already trembling, I took the brown envelope the guard held out.“Thank you,” I whispered, though my throat was dry.As soon as the guard left, I placed the envelope on the coffee table. My hands stayed above it for a moment, frozen. A part of me didn’t even want to open it, my gut already told me what it was.Still, I tore it open. Papers slid out then my eyes c
Damian’s POVThe next morning, I woke before dawn.Sleep had been a luxury I couldn’t afford, I spent the early hours pacing my study, reviewing numbers, contracts, deals and proof that under my leadership, Blackwell Group had not only survived but thrived. Today was going to meet another set of shareholders.By nine, I was in the car with Jack, heading toward the shareholders’ meeting.“Are you sure about this?” Jack asked cautiously, flipping through his tablet. “You’ve got resistance, some of them… well, sir, they’re not shy about it anymore.”“I don’t need them to like me,” I said coldly, staring out the tinted window. “I need them to respect me and I need their votes.”Jack nodded, though his jaw tightened. He’d seen the same reports I had, whispers of shareholders leaning toward “a change of leadership.” As if my position was something they could trade like stock.When the car pulled up in front of the private club where we’d arranged the meeting, I saw them already arriving. S
Damian’s POVThe private meeting was arranged and two more shareholders finally agreed to meet.The restaurant smelled faintly of polished wood and old whiskey, a place where silence was currency and conversations never left the room. I sat in the private room I’d reserved, the low light casting shadows across the table. The clink of ice in crystal glasses was the only sound until the door opened.Mr. Sterling entered first, silver hair, perfect suit, the kind of man who’d learned to keep his face unreadable even when sharks circled. Mr. Choi followed, slimmer, sharper, his gaze assessing from the second he stepped inside both men carried themselves with the kind of authority that came from decades of money moving at their command.Two shareholders, two votes not nearly enough but a start.“Gentlemen,” I greeted, rising slightly before retaking my seat.Sterling gave me a courteous nod, Choi a slight incline of his head. They sat, not touching the drinks already waiting for them.“Dam
Damian’s POV The house was quiet when I came in, I loosened my tie as I climbed the stairs, each step dragging like I carried more than my own weight. I paused at the bedroom door, my hand on the handle. Inside, I could hear the faint sound of Dylan breathing and beneath it, was nothing from Lena. When I stepped inside, the scene was exactly what I feared. Dylan slept peacefully in his bassinet but Lena sat curled on the couch, her eyes red, a blanket clutched tight around her. She looked up when she heard me and the relief in her eyes stabbed me straight in the chest. “You are back,” she whispered. I crossed the room, kneeling in front of her. “Yes, I am.” Her lips trembled but she didn’t speak. I reached for her hands, cold even through the blanket and covered them with mine. “They can talk,” I said quietly. “They can write their articles, spread their lies, hold their damn conferences, none of it changes the truth. Dylan is mine.” Tears welled in her eyes again but this t
Lena’s POV Dylan was sleeping, his tiny chest rising and falling in his bassinet beside me. I should have felt calm watching him but instead my heart thudded like a drum inside my chest. I pulled the blanket higher around me, curling into the couch. My phone lay on the table in front of me but I didn’t dare touch it. I didn’t need to, I already knew what it held. Every channel, every article, every whisper on the internet carried the same story: Adrian Huntley demands DNA test for Lena Blackwell’s son. I shut my eyes tightly but the words burned behind them. Damian had already spoken. He had stood in front of the press, his voice full of certainty as he declared Dylan his son. He had refused the DNA test, refused to bow to Adrian’s demand. For a brief moment, when I watched it on television, my chest had swelled with gratitude, love and pride but now, with the house silent and reality sinking in, fear gnawed at the edges of that pride. Adrian wasn’t a man who bluffed. He had lo
Damian’s POV The shareholder meeting was scheduled for ten o’clock sharp. By the time the clock on the wall ticked to 10:15, only two men were seated across from me. Tony Horton and Williams Sonoma. Out of thirteen major shareholders, only two had bothered to appear. I folded my hands in front of me, forcing my expression into neutrality even as irritation coiled tight in my chest. The two men studied me closely, like hawks circling above a wounded animal. Jack shifted uncomfortably at my side, his phone already in hand. I gave him a nod. “Call the others again.” He moved quickly, stepping aside to make the calls. His voice dropped low but the quiet room carried his words. “Good morning, this is Jack Reynolds, calling on behalf of Mr. Blackwell. He’s waiting in the conference room…” Pause. “Yes, sir, I understand but this is urgent.” Another pause. Jack’s face tightened. “I see. Thank you.” He ended the call and immediately dialed the next number. Within five minutes, his