Semua Bab The Fathers of My Child?: Bab 21 - Bab 30

#Dorothy’s POV#The phone’s still ringing. My cheeks are wet, my nose is stuffed, and my throat burns like it hasn’t known water in days. I wipe my face fast, trying to pretend like I wasn’t just curled up in bed sobbing like a pathetic little girl who just got told Santa’s fake. I breathe hard and put on a smile before sliding to answer.Cass.She’s in a satin robe, face glistening from some serum she’s pressing into her cheeks. Her curls are pinned up and her mouth’s moving a mile a minute, no hello, no pause, no filter.“Babe, you won’t believe the day I’ve had. First off, I nearly missed my pitch meeting because these Milan Bolt drivers are demonic—anyway, I got there, and boom, they loved me. I swear they better sign this partnership by Friday or I’ll go full bitch mode—”I manage a small smile, but it’s weak. I love her, I do, but right now, her energy is so different from my current hell, it’s like she’s on another planet.“I had to call you first,” she continues as she rubs cr

#Rico’s POV#The elevator dings. My foot taps like it’s wired to my pulse. I’ve been trying to calm myself on the ride up, trying to prep my words, trying not to punch another hole through another wall. But my jaw is still tight, heart still sprinting. I’m not even sure if I want to scream, cuss, or just look her in the eye and walk out.But I know I need answers.When I get to the hallway and stop in front of Room 707, the door is already cracked open.Of course.Typical Paulina move. Open door. Lingerie. Dim yellow lights behind her and that smug little smirk like she already knows exactly how this is going to go. Like she thinks my blood won’t betray me before my brain does.I almost fold.Almost.But I bang the door all the way open, walk in, and slam it shut behind me.“Jesus,” she laughs. “Dramatic much?”She doesn’t move from the doorway. Just rests her shoulder against the frame, her black lace robe hanging open like she wore it for this scene. Like she studied it. Like she kn

#Joel’s POV#If the week wasn’t already messy enough, the call from Languini had to land like a stray bullet to the back of my head. It’s not even noon, and I’ve had three board complaints from two of our major estate projects in Queens and Pasadena, a delay on a Seychelles offshore inspection, and now this meeting my father’s oldest lawyer insists must happen today. Like we’re running out of time for something.I step out of the company building, jacket already over my shoulder, loosened tie hanging against my chest. The heat isn’t helping. The moment I enter the backseat of my car, I exhale deeply and let my head fall back. I tell the driver to take me to Vespero's, the exclusive café by the waterfront where only men like me, or men trying to become like me, gather to talk power over pastries and bitter coffee.Languini D.T is already seated when I arrive. Black suit. Pinstripe. Gold-rimmed glasses. Looks like he never ages past sixty even though he’s been around since my grandfathe

#Rico’s POV#She’s quiet.Like… scary quiet.And that’s how I know something went down yesterday.She was already at the breakfast table this morning when I came down. Still in my shirt, arms folded across her chest like she didn’t want anyone or anything touching her. Joel walked right past us. Didn’t even glance at her. Just grabbed his keys, told the maid to call his driver, and left the villa like she was air.When I sat beside her and asked how she slept, she just said fine.When I joked about the ugly hairstyle I left her with in the garden, she barely even smirked.When I asked if Joel had come into her room again, she didn’t even answer.And I didn’t want to push.But now, as I drive her to the clinic, both hands on the steering, my right palm keeps itching to just reach over and grab hers.She’s looking out the window, legs curled beneath her, head leaning on the glass like she wants the outside world to swallow her whole. She hasn’t said a single word since we left the house

#Rico’s POV#Fuck Joel.Like really—fuck that entitled, manipulative, pathetic-ass bastard.I’m pacing the hallway now, barefoot, heart punching my chest like it’s got something to prove. I can still hear the echo of his voice in my head, still feel the tension in my arms from where I yanked him off her. If I stayed there another second, I would’ve broken something. Probably his jaw. Or maybe his whole fucking neck.What the hell would’ve happened if I hadn’t been there? Would Joel have actually forced himself on her? Is that what he’s been doing this whole time? For two goddamn years?And the way he grabbed her? Held her like… like she was property. His thing. He looked her in the eye like she owed him something. Like that wedding band meant ownership. Like if he shouted long enough, she’d lie back and open her legs out of loyalty or fear. And the fact that this isn’t new to her? That this wasn’t a surprise? That’s what guts me.If I hadn’t been there—I swallow hard.If I hadn’t be