CHAPTER 2: THE DISCOVERY

ATHENA'S POV

My fingers hover over the call log, my breath still coming out very uneven from the mysterious phone call.

“To meet the father of your child.”

The words run on and on through my mind, coiling around my thoughts like a tight operation stitch.

Who on earth was that?

And how did he find out that I am pregnant when I haven't even had the chance to process it myself?

I rub my toes on the rugged floor, grabbing my bag from the side of the couch.

I can’t sit here and just keep thinking like it would give me answers by itself.

I need answers and I know exactly where to start from, so I'm going there. Hospital ethics should throw itself in the trash bin.

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The Sterling Fertility Institute is as overly clean and sterile as it always is when I step inside, but I feel totally different now than I would feel when I'm on my shift.

The receptionist, Lisa, offers me a nervous smile, twitching her fingers against the keyboard of the large stocked up computer that she's operating on.

“Dr. Foster! I— um— I wasn’t expecting you today.”

I level her with a look and I don't even bother asking her why she's addressing me by my last name.

“I need to speak with Dr. Patel. Now.”

Lisa hesitates, wringing her lips to the right. “She’s… in a meeting.”

“Then pull her out," I say almost snapping entirely since my patience is wearing thin.

"THIS. IS. AN EMERGENCY,” I grit out, trying to keep my temper in check while I grip the edge of the counter.

Lisa twitches her lips nervously again, but she nods, and leaves her computer by itself, hurrying down the hall.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady my pulse and look around me.

There are a lot of hushed whispers I didn't notice as I came in and I catch some of my colleagues glance my way, then quickly avert their gazes.

Something is very, very wrong.

---------

Dr. Patel walks into the consultation room five minutes later with the 'doctor poker face' expression on her face.

“Athena,” she says carefully, shutting the door behind her.

“I heard you needed to speak with me.”

I breathe out quickly then waste no time in starting to explain what I'm going through.

“There’s been a mistake," I blurt out and see her stiffen a bit.

“The donor file for my insemination was wrong, ” I inform her, watching her closely, then add.

“I need to know how that happened.”

Dr. Patel breathes out rather sharply, rubbing her temple and pinching it in the process. “Athena—”

“No.” I cut her off.

“I saw the records. XK-0906. That was not my chosen donor. That was not who was supposed to father this child.”

She flinches at my phrasing but doesn’t try to deny it.

I feel my jaw slacken and my mouth hang up, parting open a bit.

“You knew,” I all but gasped, breathing out shakily.

Dr. Patel meets my gaze, some kind of emotion moving about just behind her eyes.

“We… we only discovered the glitch after the procedure was completed.”

My throat tightens and I glare straight at her, “You knew and didn’t tell me?!”

She flinches again, guilt fully written all over her face.

“Athena, please—”

“Who is he?” I ask, trying again to control myself.

“Who does that ID belong to?”

She stays quiet for a while and I'm about to ask her again when she exhales, calling out the person's full name.

“Xander Knight.”

The name alone sends a bolt of shock through me.

Xander Knight. The billionaire. The ruthless corporate tycoon.

The man whose name alone sends shivers through boardrooms and stock markets alike.

Suddenly I feel lightheaded.

“I—I was supposed to have an anonymous donor,” I whisper, allowing my hands to grip the table for support.

“How did this happen?”

Dr. Patel opens her mouth then pauses before pulling out a file and placing it in front of me.

I open it up, and go ahead to scan the first page, gulping as I read the report.

A system error.

It showed a swap of ID tags during the sperm retrieval process.

And that's when I realise...

Xander Knight was never meant to be a donor at all.

My blood literally freezes and I drop the document.

“What the hell is this?” I demand.

Dr. Patel swallows hard.

“It appears Mr. Knight’s sample was mislabeled and sent to the donation bank by mistake.”

By MISTAKE?

That single word makes me want to scream.

I’m carrying a billionaire’s child because of a mistake?

For Pete's sake!!!!!

I push the file far away from my view till it hits the floor but I don't care and Dr Patel doesn't make any move to pick it up as well.

“Does he know?” I ask just as the new, horrible thought slams into me.

Was he the one that made phone call?

Dr. Patel pauses AGAIN!!!!

“I… don’t think so. But he will soon.”

The ground should just swallow me.

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XANDER'S POV

The moment my assistant, Reed, enters my office looking paler than usual, I know something is wrong.

“Sir, there’s been… an issue.”

I set my pen down, arching a brow. “An issue?”

Reed clears his throat, shifting uncomfortably. “With Sterling Fertility Sir.”

I lean back in my office seat, not liking the use of phrases he's been making use of. “Get to the point.”

Reed pauses and clears his throat.

“THEY called this morning and they said there was a mistake in their system, and… well, sir, you may want to hear this from them directly.”

I exhale harshly, ticking my jaw in annoyance.

“I don’t have time for games, Reed.”

Reed’s jaw tenses and he says, “You’re about to become a father.”

The words hit me like a damn coal train and I stare at him, not moving.

“Excuse me?”

Reed swallows, most likely from seeing my expression,“There was an error in their database. A sample mix-up.”

He pauses, then adds carefully, “Your DNA was used for a fertilization procedure.”

I go very still for a second then just dully register the sound of my chair scraping against the marble floor as I rise to my feet.

“You’re telling me,” I say slowly, “that some random woman is pregnant with my child?”

Reed doesn’t flinch. “Yes, sir.”

Rage runs through in my veins, almost blinding me.

“Who?” I demand.

"A woman named Athena Foster.”

I hear the name but it means nothing to me, however it will.

I grab my coat from my chair back handle and move to the door.

“Where are you going?” Reed asks.

I turn around giving him with a cold stare just over my shoulder. “To fix this. Now.”

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ATHENA'S POV

I’m pacing in my apartment, wondering in my mind when my phone rings again.

I pick it up quickly and realise it's another unsaved number.

This time I don't wait before answering. “Hello?”

The voice that I hear doesn't sound at all like the one that called earlier.

“Miss Foster.”

I freeze at the tone in the person's voice and I don’t need to ask who it is.

Because from the sound of his voice I know and can tell that it's Mr Xander Knight.

“What do you want?” I ask, forcing my voice to remain calm.

He doesn’t answer right away, but when he does, his words send all the hairs on my arms standing up till their roots.

“I’ll be at Sterling Fertility in twenty minutes. Be there.”

I grip the phone. “I—” I start to say but he hangs up.

This shouldn't be what I should be thinking now, but I've got to say...

This man has less courtesy than the man that called me before him.

---------

By the time I arrive, I can feel the tense energy literally moving through the building.

Staff members are whispering and stealing glances toward the private conference room at the end of the hall.

And I don’t need to ask why; I already know who’s inside.

Lisa catches my arm, and I see that her face is paler than I would give her.

“Athena,” she whispers urgently.

“He’s… he’s waiting for you.”

I swallow hard and with a deep breath, I walk towards the private conference room and push open the door.

And there he is.

Xander Knight.

His presence alone is seems to be suffocating everyone in the room.

He’s leaning against the table, with his arms crossed.

The moment his piercing gaze lands on me, I feel my stomach drop.

“Athena Foster,” he murmurs, sounding so calm.

“We finally meet.”

My heart pounds but I get a grip on myself and open my mouth to speak, but before I can say even one word he takes a step forward to me, narrowing his eyes and looking down at my belly.

“You’re carrying my child.”

His voice sounds like he's so angry, but then he says.

“And now… you belong to me.”