Chapter 5 - Baby on the way

“What the hell!” The lady exclaimed as she felt someone pulled her arm.

“Kate! Oh my gosh we looked everywhere for…. You’re not Kate” She stopped trying to catch her breath.

Bryan and Fiona came to a halt of their chase and were met with confused looks between the two.

“That’s not Kate.” They said in unison panting. 

“Why! Why can’t it just be my daughter.” Mrs. Delaney cried out swinging the hands of the lady.

“Hey! let me go..” 

“We’re so sorry for the inconvenience.” Bryan said setting her free from Mrs. Delaney’s grip. You just happened to be a lookalike of the person were looking for.”

“Yeah, right.” The lady said casting them a warning look as she walked away two times faster.

Mrs. Delaney collapsed into the chair devastated as they got back to the apartment. “At this rate, I don’t think we’re ever going to find her.”

Bryan rests his arm on her shoulder to comfort her. ” I’d tell the police to expand the search area.”

***

Avan dropped a folder on the table.

“What kind of terms are this? It’s even worse than being with Bryan!”

Avan wore a disgusted look.

“Why are you demanding forty-five percent?” 

“What I’d be helping you with is way more than what Bryan was to offer. Take it or leave it.” He remarked as he got up to leave.

“Fine, fine. But isn’t it ridiculous. You want an open relationship for yourself but I don’t get any of that?” She arched her brows.

“Yeah, as my wife you remain obligated to only me.” 

Kate scoffed. “Not like I have a choice.” 

She signed the deal with the stroke of the pen resonating in the silence.

“I’d be going to see my mom, to like, explain things to her.”

“Von would go with you.” 

“No, I’d be fine on my own. I wouldn’t want to draw any attention.”

“You’re stubborn.” He commented as he walked away. 

Kate goes off to see Bryan first instead. What if what happened between him and Fiona was just a one night stand. She needed to be sure she wasn’t being irrational with her decisions.

She sneaked into his house with his security code and found the house empty, while she was about leaving she saw them from the window, Bryan and Fiona returning to the house with his hand romancing her belly. She hid at a safe spot under the staircase.

“You’ve made me the happiest man on earth.” Bryan expressed pulling her closer for a kiss as they got into the mansion.

Fiona chuckled excitedly. “Do we break the good news to your family?”

“No! My parents would never accept you, you know that.” 

“But I’m carrying their first grandchildren.”

“Do you want them to take the children from you and discard you?”

“No.” She pouted. “Then, we should get married. What are you still waiting for?”

“We will, soon.”

“This is because of Kate, isn’t it?”

He didn’t respond.

“She won’t be a barrier to our happiness if she’s no longer alive. It’s not like you owe her anything, you’re the one doing her a favor. So we’d find her first and eliminate her.”

“Babe! no that’s…”

“That’s what?...You’ve become soft.” Kate noted standing up from his legs. “You’d have to choose between her and me.” She demanded folding her arms across her chest.

“I..”

“If you don’t, I’d let the entire world know of our relationship and that I’m carrying the heirs of the West family. Do you realize how scandalous that could be?” She smirked as if savoring the idea.

“Alright then, we’d eliminate her.” He yielded.

“Let’s go to the bed, it’s more cozier there.” Fiona said softly dragging him along like a puppet.

Kate held her hands over her mouth trying to resist her outburst of tears rising in her throat as she immediately dashed away from the apartment. 

Knock knock 

“I said I don’t need any disturbance..” Mrs. Delaney’s voice rang from the inside of the house.

“Mom.. It’s me” Kate said letting herself in.

“Ka..Kate!!” She said as she ran to pull her in a hug. “It’s you, it’s really you”

“Yeah, you’re hugging me really tight you know.”

“Are you alright? Did they ask for ransom, are you hurt.” She said checking her body.

“No, I’m perfectly fine. And I wasn’t kidnapped.” she said with a stifled laughter.

“What!”

“I mean, you already knew that.” Kate said taking a seat in the living room.

“I couldn’t bring myself to the reality that you’d really run away, you were threatened, weren’t you?”

Kate pulled out her hand and showed her the ring on her finger.

“That’s a pink star diamond ring.” She gasped “You’ve made peace with Bryan?. Oh this has to be the best day of…”

“I married Avan West.”

“You did what!” She gave out a hearty laugh. “Oh dear I actually missed your silly jokes.” 

“It’s not a joke mom, I really married Avan.”

“The illegitimate bastard, I thought he wasn’t in the country?.

“He came back.” 

“You don’t ever stop to disgrace me.” She said as she charged to land a slap on her face.

Kate held back her hand.

“You dare!” Mrs. Delaney warned, her eyes glazing with fury.

“Mom, please listen. Bryan cheated on me and that’s not even the main problem, it’s the person he cheated with… Fiona.”

“No-No, he could never. The trauma of the kidnap is making you think rubbish. Avan is going to pay for doing this to you.” She said as she grabbed her phone to make a call.

“She’s pregnant with twins for him.” Kate said as she bit her lower lip to the point she could taste the metallic sting of blood on her taste buds.

“Stop spilling nonsense.”

“Here see for yourself” She showed her the footage of them on her phone. 

“Avan must have photoshopped these and deceived you.”

“Godamn it! No mum. I recorded this myself. It was the night before the wedding.” 

Mrs. Delaney staggered backwards.

“Take a seat mum, I know this is all hard to process, I haven’t even recovered from it.” Kate said helping her to her seat.

“What’s going to happen to the company, we’re going to loose everything.”

“No, mum. Avan is going to help us.” 

“Will he?” her mom asked panic spread across her.

“Yes, he will.” Kate said unsure of her words.

“That wretch Fiona, regardless of her lower class, I accepted her because she was your friend and you trusted her. I even regarded her as my own daughter knowing she was an orphan. Now she stab us in the back like this!”

Kate shrugged. “I’d have to go now. Also I’d be hiring new security to watch over the house.”

“What, why?”

“For security purposes and if Bryan or Fiona asks if you’ve found me, please say no would you?

“Got that.”

“One more thing.” She said standing at the doorway. “Please leave the search on to not raise any suspicion.”

“Yeah, definitely.” Her mom responded pressing her thumb into her palm.