On one condition

~A week later~

With a face drowning in amusement and happiness, Aurora took a walk around the villa with Carter at her side to keep her company.

“I’d love to ask you some questions, Carter… about Mr. Arthur.” She uttered, and Carter looked at her with a faint smile.

“I hope they aren’t going to be personal questions. I wouldn’t be able to discuss his personal life with you Miss Aurora.”

“Can you at least hear me first? I am a little curious, that’s all.” She insisted.

“Okay, Ma’am.” He answered, slightly lowering his head as they continued walking into the large, beautiful ornamental garden in the backyard.

“So, my first question is, has Mr Arthur ever been with any woman? I mean… since you’ve been here for years, you’ll know, right?” Aurora asked, looking at Carter’s face.

“Yes. And since I’ve been in this mansion, I’ve never seen him with any woman.”

Aurora raised her brows and nodded slowly. She wasn’t so surprised, given that she knew his attitude was unbearable.

“Not even female friends?” She further asked, and he shook his head.

‘Well, that explains the meaning of “I won’t have to smell a woman” he said’ She thought, keeping her eyes on the sunflowers a few feet away from them.

“And do you know why? Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“I’m not sure, Miss Aurora. We have never discussed this before.”

“Really? So you’re not his friend either? Just a worker of his.” She mumbled.

Chuckling softly, Carter nodded to her response. “Mr. Arthur has no friends, only business partners and workers. He loves keeping to himself.”

“But why is that? He has the money and the fame. Though his attitude is truly annoying, every woman and man would want to be associated with such a kind of person.”

“What about you? You love that you’re associated with him?” Carter asked, turning to look at her.

“What? No… of course not. I’m here because I had no other choice. Plus, I hate him so much. I can’t wait to leave this place.” She answered, walking forward so she could touch the sunflowers.

Carter smiled softly as he watched her stare at the sunflowers. Though she stared at them, her mind seemed far away from them.

“What of his parents? They hardly visit too?” Aurora asked, sniffing the sunflowers.

“Mr. Arthur is an orphan,” Carter answered, and immediately, Aurora took a halt.

She stood upright and turned to look at Carter. “Were you supposed to tell me that?”

“I wouldn’t have if it were a secret. It’s all over the internet. It’s no news. It happened a long time ago.” Carter further explained.

‘Is that why he’s so cold? Because he lost his parents? I don’t think so. He’s an adult and should be responsible for his actions. That doesn’t explain why he hates women or people…’

“Miss Aurora??” Carter called, pulling Aurora out of her thoughts.

“Hmm… yeah?”

“Are you alright?” He asked, and she nodded, forcing a smile.

“Of course I am. Sorry. My mind just wandered off. It does that frequently. So he has no family?” She further asked as they continued their stroll.

“Why do you seem bothered about that, Miss Aurora? Mr. Arthur seems to be doing just fine alone.” Carter answered.

Aurora shook her head and stopped walking. She turned to look at him, taking a few steps closer to him.

“Carter, I am about to bring an innocent baby into a world where there seems to be love and affection missing. The baby will have only Mr. Arthur, and I know damn well he wouldn’t leave his work and career to cater for it.”

“Why would he have to do that? You’ll be here, won't you? The baby will have you too.” Carter innocently asked, causing Aurora to narrow her gaze at him.

“You really don’t know much, do you?” She asked, heaving a loud sigh as she began to walk away.

“What do you mean, Miss Aurora?” Carter asked, following behind her.

Before she could respond, her phone began to vibrate in her hand. She checked who it was and it happened to be from the hospital.

Instantly, she felt her heart sink to her belly in fear.

“What’s wrong, Miss Aurora?” Carter asked, after noticing the look on her face.

“The hospital. They don’t call unless something has gone wrong.” She muttered.

She began to breathe heavily as she answered the phone.

“Doctor Alex.” She called, trying not to sound unstable. Her eyes were locked with Carter’s as he held her left hand, trying to give her some emotional support.

“How are you, Miss Aurora,” Alex answered in a low tone, and she creased her brows, still staring at Carter.

“I’m okay. You don’t sound good, Doctor Alex. How is my father?” She inquired. Her chest raised and fell as she anticipated his response in fear.

“Like I told you some days ago, the transplant was successful, but…”

“But what?! Tell me what happened!” Aurora’s voice became loud and shaky, creating fear in Carter too.

“I’m sorry, Miss Aurora. We lost him.”

Hearing this made Aurora’s body freeze. Her breathing stopped and everything became blank. Her hand weakly slid down her ear, with Doctor Alex’s voice shouting her name from the other end of the phone nonstop.

“Miss Aurora,” Carter called in terror, quickly reaching for the phone before it fell to the ground.

Tears heated and filled her eyes in the twinkle of an eye and began to pour out like a stream.

“No. No. No.” She mumbled as her lower lips began to quiver. “Nooooo!” She cried, breaking into tears.

Her feet wobbled and she began to fall to the ground, but Carter was vigilant enough to grab her before she could hurt herself.

“I’m sorry, Miss Aurora. I’m truly sorry.” He uttered as she hugged him tightly, pouring out her heart in tears.

“Haaa!” She screamed, almost piercing Carter’s back with her fingernails.

~A few hours later~

“I should have been there with him. If I had been there with him, maybe he wouldn’t have died. He needed me and couldn’t find me. I wasn’t even there to say my last goodbye to him. It’s all my fault!” Aurora mumbled as she held onto Carter and kept crying.

They were seated in the living room, and in front of them, on the table, were tissue papers that Aurora had used to clean her tears.

“Stop saying it’s your fault, Miss Aurora. You were not there because you did what you had to do to keep him alive.”

“But now he’s dead, isn’t he? It was all for nothing!” She muttered, breaking into tears again.

Just while Carter was reaching for some new piece of tissue paper, the door opened and Arthur walked in.

He took an abrupt halt immediately after he saw what was going on. He creased his brows and moved closer to them. Carter let go of Aurora and stood up, taking a few steps away from her.

“Welcome, Mr Arthur.” Carter greeted as he turned to leave.

“What’s going on?” Arthur asked, dropping his briefcase on the couch and reaching for his tie to loosen it.

“My father is dead,” Aurora mumbled, raising her head to look at him.

He gulped hard and looked away slowly. “My condolences. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“You should have let me visit him after they told me the kidney transplant was successful.” She muttered as she stood up.

“Aurora, the doctor said everything was fine, and your father knew you had to work. You signed a contract, Aurora. No stepping out of the house once you’re in.” Arthur answered with a straight face.

“My father is dead, Mr. Arthur! I couldn’t even say goodbye to him!”

“And I just said I’m sorry for your loss. This isn’t my fault, okay? I’ve had a long day. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.” He answered, picking up his briefcase as he began to walk away.

“I want out. I did this because of my father and now he’s dead. I don’t want to continue anymore, okay? I’ll work hard and pay you back your money.” Aurora uttered, making Arthur stop.

He heaved a sigh before turning to look at her. “Aurora, I’m deeply sorry for what happened to your father. I do understand…”

“Because you’re an orphan?” Aurora slotted in, causing Arthur to clench his jaws.

“You signed a contract. You cannot just break it. I can sue you.” He answered.

“Can’t you understand??! I just lost my father. He’s the reason why I agreed to do this in the first place.”

“Yes, I know, and I’m telling you, you signed a contract. How is your decision fair to me? I paid you $200,000 upfront, and now you want to back out?”

Aurora clenched her jaws and lowered her head as she broke into more tears.

“Please, Mr Arthur. I beg you. I don’t think I am ready for this. I can’t do this anymore. I just want to go home.” She cried weakly.

Arthur tightened his fists and looked away. He hated to see her that way. He preferred the loud and confident Aurora.

“I’ll let you go on one condition.” He uttered, swallowing hard.

Aurora raised her head and nodded, hoping to hear what his condition was.

“Stay here one more week, and then we’ll run the pregnancy tests. If you aren’t pregnant, I’ll let you go, and then you pay me back in a week. I don’t care how you’re going to get it. But if you are, we’ll have no choice but to keep the baby.” He explained.

“But, Mr…”

“That’s all for now, Aurora.” He cut her short and turned to leave without looking back.

On his way to his room, he met Carter walking towards him.

“Carter, book an appointment with Doctor Alex tomorrow. I want to know what the hell went down in just a few days. He uttered, as he headed into his room.

‘He better be able to give a reasonable explanation as to why they lost her father or I’m suing the f**king entire hospital.’