CHAPTER 2: WE’RE NOT DONE

Nancy’s POV

Nancy was pacing back and forth in the small office Andrew had her thrown in. She couldn’t sit still. This wasn’t going how she expected. Of course, he didn’t believe her. She barged into his company looking like a crazy woman, ordering him to leave his responsibilities and come with her.

“You have about ten minutes to explain yourself before I have you locked up for trespassing.” Andrew said. He was sitting calmly behind a heavy mahogany table. He was angry and Nancy didn’t even fault him for it. She abandoned him with no explanation and now she needed his help.

“Andrew, I don’t know how else to make you understand. Liam is our son and he’s in the hospital. He was hit by a car. He needs a blood transfusion immediately, and they don’t have his type. You’re the only one who can save him.” She screamed at him, tears spilling from her eyes. She saw his face soften for one second before he went back to his stoic expression.

“I’ve told you everything. Why would I lie about this?”

His jaw tightened. “Our son?” he repeated, his tone mocking. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

Nancy’s voice cracked. “Do I look like I’m laughing?”

“Forgive me,” he said, leaning back in his chair, eyes sharp as knives, “if I find it a little hard to believe anything that comes out of your mouth. You vanished four years ago, Nancy. No goodbye, no explanation, just gone. And now you burst into my office screaming about a child?”

Her chest heaved. “You think I wanted this?”

“I think you’re desperate for something.” he shot back. “And you’re using the one thing you know I can’t ignore.”

Nancy’s tears spilled over. She couldn’t control herself anymore and she was functioning on pure rage. There was no reason to her words. “You arrogant bastard, I wish I was making this up. I wish I didn’t have to see your face again, but my child, our child, is dying, and you’re too busy being wounded by your pride to even listen!”

Something flickered in his eyes, pain, maybe, but he hid it quickly.

He rose from his chair slowly, walking toward her with that same deliberate grace that used to make her heart race. Now, it only made her skin prickle with dread.

“We were together for two months, Nancy,” he said quietly. “Two months, and then you decided you were done. You think you can vanish for four years and then walk back in here claiming I have a son with you?”

“Oh please,” she snapped, her voice trembling with exhaustion. “You think everything is about you. It’s not. This isn’t about what happened between us, Andrew. It’s about a little boy lying in a hospital bed who might not live to see tomorrow. So go ahead, call me a liar, call security, do whatever the hell you want, but if you had even an ounce of mercy in you, you’d come and see for yourself.”

He stared at her for a long, agonizing moment. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the tick of his expensive watch.

Finally, his voice came out low and rough. “You’re pulling me out of a very important meeting for this so if this is some kind of game…”

“It’s not!” she screamed, cutting him off. “I don’t care if you never forgive me, Andrew. I don’t care if you hate me forever. Just save him. Just help him!”

For the first time, she saw something break in his expression. His posture faltered. His fingers flexed at his sides. He muttered something under his breath before turning to his phone.

“Prepare the car,” he said to his assistant. “Now.”

Nancy’s knees almost gave out in relief.

The ride to the hospital was silent. The tension between them was so thick she could hardly breathe. Andrew sat beside her, his jaw clenched, his gaze fixed out the window.

Nancy couldn’t tell what he was thinking, whether it was anger, disbelief, or fear, but she didn’t care. All she could think of was Liam’s pale face and the way his small hand had felt limp in hers.

When they arrived, she jumped out before the car had even stopped moving. “This way,” she said breathlessly, leading him down the white corridors. Nurses stared. The same doctor from before approached them, startled to see the powerful Andrew King at his hospital.

“Doctor, this is him,” Nancy said, her voice trembling. “He’s Liam’s father. Please, test him now.”

Andrew didn’t argue. For all his anger, he rolled up his sleeve and let the nurse take his blood without a word. Nancy watched him in silence, clutching her trembling hands to her chest.

A few agonizing minutes later, the doctor returned. “It’s a match,” he said. “We can begin the transfusion immediately.”

Nancy let out a broken sob and covered her mouth. Her body shook with relief.

“Do it,” Andrew ordered quietly. “Whatever he needs.” 

The doctor nodded and disappeared through the operating room doors with the nurses. Andrew's blood was drawn for a few minutes. Liam was going to be okay.

Nancy sank onto a bench in the waiting area, her whole body weak. Andrew stood a few feet away, his hands in his pockets, staring at the floor like he’d been hit by a train.

Her mother came up to them, touched Nancy’s shoulder gently, then glanced at Andrew with wary eyes. “I’ll give you two a moment,” she said softly before walking away.

The silence that followed was unbearable.

Nancy rubbed her face, unable to look at him. “You’re not saying anything.”

“What do you want me to say?” he asked, his voice rougher now, lower. “That I don’t feel like a complete fool for not knowing I had a child? That I can’t believe you kept this from me?”

“Well, now you know.” She said between sobs. Her secret was out in the open now and whether she liked it or not, Andrew King would be part of her life now.

He glared at her, but his anger wasn’t as steady now. It wavered. He looked like he was about to explode from pure shock.

“Tell me why you disappeared. Why you made me spend four years hating you when you had my child all along. How the hell could you keep something like this from me?” He was shaking.

Nancy shook her head. “Not now, Andrew. I can’t do this. Please. Just… let me get through today. I understand if you want nothing to do with this. All I needed was your blood.”

Andrew didn’t answer. He just looked at her for a long moment, eyes unreadable, before turning away.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low, almost a whisper.

“We’re not done talking. Not by a long shot.”