All Chapters of Loving my fathers best friend : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Bella It was past 10 p.m. and the office had gone quiet, the kind of silence that only happens when everyone else has finally gone home. Only the low hum of the cleaning crew’s vacuum echoed somewhere far down the hall. Most people had left hours ago, chasing dinners and families and normal lives. But Alex and I were still here, putting the finishing touches on the Thompson campaign presentation that was due first thing tomorrow morning.I sat at my desk with my legs crossed tightly, trying to focus on the last couple of slides. My concentration kept slipping. Every time Alex leaned over to point something out on my screen, his arm brushed mine. Every time he spoke in that low, focused voice, heat bloomed low in my belly.The memory of last night at his house kept flashing through my mind his hands pinning me down, his voice commanding me as he drove into me again and again.We had promised ourselves we’d behave at the office.We were doing a terrible job.Alex pushed his chair back

BELLAI stared at the little plastic stick on the bathroom counter until my vision blurred.Two pink lines.Clear. Bold. Undeniable.Positive.The word echoed in my head like a siren. My knees buckled. I slid down the cold tile wall until I was sitting on the floor, back pressed against the bathtub, the test still clutched so tightly in my hand that the edges dug into my palm.Pregnant.I was pregnant with Alex’s baby.A sob tore out of me before I could stop it. I clamped a hand over my mouth, eyes wide with terror. Mom was downstairs humming while she made dinner. Dad would be home any minute. If they heard me, they’d come running, and I had no words to explain this. None.“Oh God,” I whispered, rocking forward, forehead pressed to my knees. “What have we done?”Tears came hot and fast. I cried silently at first, shoulders shaking, then the sobs grew louder no matter how hard I tried to hold them in. My mind spun in frantic circles. We had been careful or at least we thought we wer

BELLAI drove home from the parking garage with tears streaming down my face, the kind that wouldn’t stop no matter how many times I wiped them away. My hands shook on the steering wheel.Every red light felt like it lasted forever, giving my mind too much time to replay Alex’s words on loop.Is it truly mine?I had gone to him with my heart wide open, full of fear but also hope and love. I had pictured us figuring this out together, even if it was messy. Instead, he had looked at me like I might have betrayed him. Like the baby growing inside me could belong to someone else.By the time I pulled into my parents’ driveway, the hurt had hardened into something sharper. I couldn’t stay here anymore. Not under the same roof as my dad, who had no idea what was happening. Not sleeping in the bedroom I had grown up in while carrying a secret this big. I had been saving for months quietly putting aside money from my salary, dreaming about my own place. I had hesitated because I loved being

Alex I woke up on the couch with a pounding headache and the sour taste of regret in my mouth.The empty whiskey bottle lay on its side on the coffee table, the last few drops pooled at the bottom like an accusation. Sunlight streamed through the living room windows, too bright, too harsh. My head throbbed in time with my heartbeat. I sat up slowly, rubbing my face with both hands, and the memories from last night crashed back in.Bella’s text.We’re over. I can’t do this anymore. At the office, please don’t speak to me unless it’s about work. I’m going to raise this baby on my own. I love you, but I can’t keep hurting like this.I had read it at least twenty times before I started drinking. Each time the words cut deeper. I had hurt her. Badly. In the parking lot, when she told me she was pregnant, I had asked if the baby was mine. The look on her face the shock, pain, betrayal haunted me now in the cold light of morning.What the hell had I been thinking?Of course it was mine. Th

BELLA A few weeks had slipped by in a haze of quiet isolation.I hadn’t been back to the office since the day in the parking lot. I told Dad I needed time to rest and finish settling into my new apartment. He had been understanding, even a little proud that I was taking the step toward independence. “Take all the time you need, sweetheart,” he had said over the phone. “The firm can survive without you for a bit. Just don’t become a stranger.”I hated lying to him, but the truth was far worse.My new apartment was small but bright a one bedroom on the third floor of a quiet building a few miles from my parents’ house. I had spent the first week unpacking boxes, arranging furniture, and trying to make the space feel like home. It helped keep my hands busy, but it did nothing to quiet my mind.Every night I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, hand resting gently on my still-flat stomach, feeling the weight of the secret growing inside me.Today was my first prenatal appointment.I drove