Chapter 2 : Unexpected pregnancy

“Congratulations! You’re pregnant!”

Catherine, the gynaecologist and Clarissa’s best friend said excitedly after handing over the medical report to Clarissa.

The latter who is having hard time to even stand is beyond shocked and held the report with her trembling hands.

Pregnant?!

How…how is it possible? Nicholas has always been careful when they were together so how….?

No! There was one time he lost his control and she was too tired to even think about contraceptives the next day.

Even so, she took the pills after recovering from her husband’s horny illicit act but it turns out the pills didn’t work because look at the report in her hands.

It’s crystal clear that she’s having a baby. Not just anyone’s but Nicholas’s. The man of her dreams and the love of her life.

Clarissa collapsed on the chair in Catherine’s office with tears streaming down her cheeks.

She should be happy with the good news but her situation is not favourable. What should she do with the baby now?

She caressed her abdomen smoothly, feeling lost. The baby came at the very wrong time because Nicholas wants to divorce her and….Natalie is back and….

“Clarissa, are you alright?”

Catherine came to her side and squeezed her shoulder in concern. She never saw her friend in such bad state.

She knew about her estrangement with Nicholas but she loves him dearly and if he hates her, he wouldn’t have made her pregnant. So, maybe her best friend still has chance with him.

“No, I’m not alright Cathie. Nicholas wants to divorce me. He proposed it last week. I don’t know what to do now.”

Clarissa burst into tears after saying those words and covered her face with the report, drenching it with her tears.

Catherine is dumbstruck with the news because after all these years, she thought Nicholas would change but that bastard filed a divorce. How cruel of him?

She came back to her senses when she heard Clarissa’s sobs and hugged her tight, unable to see her in grief.

Poor girl endured all the humiliation from Nicholas and never stopped loving him but is this what she’s getting in return? A divorce?

“What do I do now Cathie?”

Catherine rubbed Clarissa’s back soothingly, trying to calm her down. It’s not healthy to be in a bad mood during pregnancy.

Since Nicholas made her pregnant, he should take responsibility. It’s not like baby pops up on it’s own without his involvement.

“Tell him. Tell your husband about your pregnancy. Maybe this is your chance to get him.”

Clarissa raised her head from Catherine’s embrace and thought about her words. She is right.

Nicholas vowed to never love her or touch her when they signed the marriage contract but later he loved her intensely on bed.

With that little hope, she immediately took out her mobile before dialling Nicholas but he cut her call. She tried for another couple of times and it’s the same.

Feeling dejected, she put her mobile back in her handbag. He never picked her calls and their only communication was through texts but this is not something they can share through texts.

“I should go to his office Cathie. I shouldn’t drag this out.”

‘Maybe Nicholas would change his mind?’

She thought and put the folded report in her bag before hurrying out of Catherine’s office.

She shouldn’t lose hope so early. Maybe Nicholas is not as cold as she thought. He wouldn’t be cruel to his own child.

……………

An hour later, Clarissa stood outside her husband’s office, familiar with Romano group from past business dinners.

Nicholas never picked her up though, she always waited in his office until he finished work.

Despite the awkwardness, those dinners were better than waiting alone at home. Lost in her thoughts, Clarissa wondered why Nicholas always made her wait but that shouldn’t be her concern now.

She has something important to tell him. She has a baby, his baby growing in her belly.

She took a deep breath to control her nervousness and held the door handle. She can do it.

She braced herself and pushed the door a little only to be stopped by her husband’s harsh words.

“I should have never married Clarissa.”

Nicholas said through his gritted teeth with his back to the door but Clarissa can clearly sense the frustration dripping from his tone.

Beside him stood Natalie with her hands around Nicholas’s waist.

Clarissa couldn’t see her face as she rested her head on her husband’s shoulder. An intimate yet familiar envious posture.

Before their marriage, Natalie often hugged Nicholas like this. As his wife, Clarissa never had the privilege to touch him, except during their rare moments of togetherness, while her step sister does it so effortlessly.

The office is soundproof which is why Clarissa didn’t hear the whole conversation between Natalie and Nicholas but it doesn’t matter to her anymore when her husband hates her with everything he has.

Before she can digest his words, she hears him speak again,

“And I certainly don’t want her child.”

If divorce bruised Clarissa’s heart then his current words slashed it into pieces.

All the courage she mustered throughout the ride from hospital to Romano group disappeared into thin air and she’s left with enormous pain and suffocation.

She let go of the handle, bursting into tears and stepped back covering her mouth.

She tried her best to keep her movements low and ran away as fast as she could so that she won’t make a fool of herself in front of her prideful step sister or the office staff.

‘I don’t want her child.’

Nicholas’s words rang in her ears continuously till she reached the lobby. How much hate did he hold for her to say those words with so much disgust?

If he knows about her pregnancy, he wouldn’t even blink before summoning her for an abortion.

There is no way she’ll let him take away her child. She better keep this a secret from him till she gets a closure of her situation.