Chapter Two

Valerie. 

This was all a bad dream, the ones that you wake up from and glad it was a bad dream. But that was not the case, this was no dream, this was my reality now. 

I stood there, in the middle of the driveway, as the world around me spun and twisted. My heart was too heavy. My skin felt foreign. Everything I’d believed in, my love, my body, my safety was gone. 

My family had just thrown me out, the only people I had known my whole life, the people who were supposed to protect me. 

I looked back at the house I had grew up in one last time before I picked up my bag and started walking. I had no money and no idea where I was going, but I needed get out of there, so I started walking aimlessly. 

I didn't have even a phone, tim had thrown my phone across the room and broken it. I just walked and walked, tears flowing freely down my cheeks. Everything I had known had all been taken away from me in an instant. 

I had no idea how long I had walked, until I realized I was on a highway. Cars zoomed past, honking angrily, but I couldn’t hear them clearly. My mind was a looping reel of betrayal: Tim’s face twisted in disgust, my father’s voice screaming, Amina’s triumphant smirk.

I stumbled over something, maybe a piece of metal, maybe my own feet and that’s when I heard the blare of a horn.

A loud, sharp, angry honk, followed by screams and my body went into shock mode immediately waiting for the impact, but it never came. I just saw headlights and then nothing. 

I opened my eyes slowly, and heard the beeping sounds around me. 

That’s the first thing I heard when I opened my eyes.

Slow, rhythmic. Machines. A soft beeping noise that confirmed I wasn’t dead. Yet.

The second thing I felt was pain. Not sharp, just a dull ache across my whole body like I’d been wrung out and left in the cold. Then I looked around the room, plain white walls. 

I was in a hospital.

White walls. Tubes. A scratchy blanket over my legs. The smell of antiseptic.

A nurse appeared beside me, smiling gently. “You’re awake. That’s good. You’ve been out for almost twelve hours.”

I swallowed. My throat felt like sandpaper. “What... happened?”

“You fainted in the middle of a highway,” she said, checking a monitor. “Lucky the driver saw you in time and swerved. You didn’t get hit. You passed out. Probably a mix of shock and exhaustion.”

Shock. Yes.

That would do it, I thought to myself. 

The door opened, and a doctor stepped in. Tall. Grey hair. Glasses. He looked at the chart in his hand and then at me.

“You’re very lucky,” he said. “Dehydrated, low blood pressure, and severe stress. But nothing permanent. We ran a few tests to make sure you and the baby are okay.”

My heart stuttered at the mention of the baby. Tim was really right I was pregnant and Amina had not been bluffing either. I was pregnant. 

I turned my head away, tears stinging my eyes. It all came rushing back. The test. The screaming. The betrayal. Amina’s confession.

“Your baby is doing fine,” he continued gently. “We’ll keep you overnight for monitoring, and then.. ”

“Excuse me.” a deep calm voice cut him short from the door. 

I looked up.

The man who entered didn’t belong in a hospital. Not with that tailored navy suit, polished shoes, and sleek black watch that probably cost more than my father’s car. He looked... powerful. Clean shaven. Early forties maybe. Piercing green eyes.

“Hi,” he said, approaching the bed. “I’m Max Black.” he said, and our eyes met.

I tried to say something, but I was too lost in his green dreamy eyes to form any words. 

He turned to the doctor. “How is my baby doing?”

The doctor nodded. “Stable. Healthy heartbeat. We’ll keep her under observation, of course, for at least another twelve hours just in case.”

My heart skipped. My brain stumbled.

I blinked. Did he just say baby? What baby was he referring to? 

“Wait, your baby? ” I asked, finally forming the words. 

He turned to me, his expression softening. “Yes. You’re carrying my child Valerie.”

I looked at him, speechless. This night just kept on getting worse. 

“I think... there’s some mistake,” I whispered. “I don't know you, we have never met before.”

He pulled out a chair and sat beside the bed, calm and composed like this was a business meeting.

“I understand how strange this must be,” he said. “But I’m the donor. The sperm used during your procedure was mine.”

I stared at him, eyes wide, chest heaving.

“What?”

"The doctor that did this has already been dealt with, I can promise you that," he added. 

I shook my head, tears springing back. “I don't know what's happening to me,” I whispered. “I didn’t sign up for any of this.”

"Neither did I, but we are here now." he said, his tone cold and business-like. 

I looked up at him, "How did you even find me?" I managed to ask him, this man was intimidating. 

"None of that matters, what matters is that you are okay and carrying my child." he said taking my hand in his, "But Valerie, no child of mine will be illegitimate, so you are going to marry me." 

"What?" I asked immediately, pulling my hand from his. "I am not marrying you, I don't even know you sir."

"You really have no option in this Valerie." he said getting up, "actually you do have two options, one you marry me and stay in the child's life, or you have the child and leave, and you will never see him or her again. Either way I am okay with whichever choice you decide."