Chapter Three: Complications

Diego arrived home at 6 PM.

The house was quiet. Rosa was probably preparing the east wing for Lucia's arrival. Santiago was still out collecting her things.

Diego poured himself some whiskey as he stood at the window overlooking the gardens.

His mind was at peace now since Lucia had signed. Although she had fought, argued, and surely hated every second of it, she'd signed. If only he hadn’t left, all this would have been a Breeze.

His phone buzzed. Santiago: [On our way back. She's with the boyfriend now. Looks messy.]

Good. Let it be messy. He wants Alex to understand that Lucia wasn't his anymore. Was never his to begin with.

Diego drank from the glass of whiskey, which burned going down.

He shouldn't feel guilty since this was business. Just a mere transaction. She got money and he got a child. But his mind continued to race in her presence.

Because, nothing about Lucia had ever been simple.

The doorbell rang.

Diego frowned. He wasn't expecting anyone. Rosa would handle it.

Footsteps in the hallway. Then Rosa's voice, tight with discomfort. "Mr. Castillo? You have a visitor."

"I'm not seeing anyone tonight-"

"It's Miss Anna, sir. She says it's urgent."

Diego's hand clenched around his glass.

Anna.

His ex-girlfriend. The one he'd broken up with six months ago after catching her in bed with some associate from work.

"Tell her I'm busy."

"Sir, she's quite insistent. She says she won't leave until she speaks with you."

Of course, she wouldn't.

Diego set down his glass. "Fine. Send her in."

Rosa disappeared, then a minute later, Anna walked in.

No man could ignore her beauty. She had blonde hair and a slim figure that fitted perfectly in her expensive dress, with a red lipstick that could drive any man crazy.

But not Diego, it annoys him instead.

"Diego." She smiled. "Thank you for seeing me."

"You have five minutes. Talk."

Her smile faltered. "Can't we at least be civil? We were together for two years-"

"And then you fucked someone else. What do you want, Anna?"

She flinched. Good. He wasn't in the mood for games.

"I came to tell you something important." She moved closer. "Something that changes everything."

"Nothing you say will change anything between us. We're done-“

"I'm pregnant."

The words hit like ice water. He tightened his grip on the whiskey he held. His brain still analyzing what she just said.

"What?"

"Pregnant. Ten weeks." Anna's hand went to her stomach. "And it's yours."

No.

No no no.

"That's impossible."

"Is it?" Anna tilted her head. "We were together six months ago. Before you threw me out like garbage-"

"We used protection. Every damn time."

"Protection fails, Diego. You know that." She stepped closer. "I'm carrying your child. Our child." His mind raced. Six months ago. They'd had sex exactly once after he had found out about her cheating. It was just an angry sex to say goodbye and he was sure he'd worn a condom. He always had one with her.

"You're lying."

"I have medical records, ultrasound images, and blood tests." Anna pulled out her phone and showed him a photo. A grainy black and white image of what might have been a fetus. "Ten weeks, Diego. Due in January."

He stared at the image. His hands had gone numb.

"This doesn't make sense. We barely-we only-"

"Once is all it takes." Anna's voice went soft. "I know we ended badly and I've hurt you but this baby is real and it's yours. We can be a family-"

"Stop." Diego's voice was harsh. "Just stop. If you're pregnant, which I'm not convinced that you are, there's no we. There's no family cause it's over."

Anna's face hardened. "You don't mean that."

"I do. If this child exists and it's mine, I will accept it as my firstborn, and I'll pay child support. I'll be involved. But you and I? We're done. That won't change."

"Even for your child?"

"Especially for my child. I won't raise a kid in a house where I hate their mother."

Anna's eyes filled with tears. Real or fake, he couldn't tell anymore. "You're being cruel."

"I'm being honest. Something you should try." Diego moved to his desk, putting a distance between them. "When did you find out?"

"Three weeks ago."

"And you're just telling me now?"

"I was scared! I didn't know how you would react-"

"Three weeks, Anna. You've known for three weeks and you show up today. Why today?"

Her eyes flickered. "I don't understand you-"

"Of course you don't." Diego's mind was working now. Calculating. "You've had your minions spy out and you've found out about Lucia. Haven't."

Anna's face went pale.

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Don't lie to me!" His voice cracked like a whip. "You show up here, pregnant, the same day I sign a contract with another woman to carry my child. That's not a coincidence. Who. Told. You."

Silence.

Then Anna's mask dropped. The tears stopped and her voice went cold.

"Does it matter? You're planning to have a baby with some random surrogate when I'm already carrying your child. How do you think that makes me feel?"

"I don't care how it makes you feel."

"Clearly." She laughed bitterly. "Who is she? This surrogate. Am sure she's some desperate nobody who needs money?"

"She's none of your business."

"It is if you're choosing her over me. Over our child." Anna moved closer. "Diego, please. Just think about this. I'm already pregnant. Already carrying your baby. You don't need her. You have me."

"I don't want you."

The words hung in the air. Brutal and final.

Anna's face crumpled. "You don't mean that."

"I mean every word. You cheated and lied to me. Whatever we had was long gone." Diego's voice was ice. "If that baby is mine, prove it. DNA test after it's born. Until then, I don't want to hear from you."

"I had IVF!" she confessed.

The words exploded out of her. The truth fell like shattered glass.

Diego froze. "What?"

Anna's chest heaved. "I had IVF. With your sperm. From the fertility clinic."

The room tilted.

"That's impossible. I never gave permission-"

"You didn't have to. I still had access from when we were together. When we talked about having our own kids someday." Her voice was shaking and desperate. "I used your sample and had them implant it. So the baby is yours. Biologically."

Diego's hands clenched into fists. "That's illegal."

"I don't care. I love you and I want to be the only one to have your child-"

"Get out."

"Diego-"

"GET OUT!" His voice shook the windows. "You stole my genetic material and illegally impregnated yourself. And what do you think I'd do? Be happy about that and accept it?"

"I thought you'd understand! You want a child so badly you're paying some whore to carry-"

"Don’t. You. Dare"

"I'm giving you one for free! Out of love!"

"This isn't love. This is insane." Diego grabbed his phone.

"No!" Anna's hand went to her stomach.

"It's my genetic material you stole."

"Try to prove it. Try to take me to court." Her eyes were now wild and crazy. "By the time the case gets anywhere, this baby will be born. And then what? Are you going to force me to give it up? Force me to abort? No judge will side with you on that."

She was right. The laws around IVF and consent were murky at best.

"I'll destroy you," he said quietly. "Every penny you have. Every connection. Every-"

"I don't care. I have your baby and that's all that matters." Anna backed toward the door.

He knew she was deadly, a plain liar.

 "And when that surrogate shows and finds out you've got another woman pregnant, I wonder how that will affect your little arrangement." Then she left, slamming the door behind her.

Diego stood alone in his study.

Anna was pregnant with his child. Through stolen IVF.

And Lucia was on her way here, to live in his home and carry his child.

He grabbed his glass and threw it against the wall. It broke and shattered. Glass everywhere.

Rosa appeared in the doorway. "Sir?"

"Clean that up. And when Lucia arrives, make sure Anna doesn't get anywhere near this property. Call security and ban her from the premises."

"Yes, sir." Rosa hesitated. "Is everything alright?"

"No. Everything is fucked." Diego ran his hands through his hair.

He had no idea how to fix this.

Diego looked out the window and saw a car pulling up the drive.

Lucia was in the back seat with her face turned away.

He should tell her about everything, Anna, the pregnancy and the clusterfuck this had become.

But if he does, she would use it as an excuse to break the contract and run away now, she'd run. Use it as an excuse to break the contract.

And he couldn't let her run.

Never again.

He would rather figure it out.