All Chapters of PREGNANT BY THE CEO: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Victor Hale had a legal document with my name on it filed before Sebastian ever proposed to Claire. It wasn't some complication that snuck up on them. I had been a problem they saw coming and already had a goddamn fix for.I photographed everything. Every letter, every page, and that final memo pressed flat under the kitchen light, my hands gripping the edges so hard my knuckles went white. My name, the cold heading, the handwritten note at the bottom: ‘activate as needed.’ All that clinical asset-management bullshit written about a twenty-year-old girl who had done nothing but love the wrong guy.I noticed that my hands didn’t shake once, I didn't know what it meant yet, but I made a mental note. Maybe it meant I was finally past breaking.I put the originals back in the box, tucked it under my arm, and said goodbye to Jade by my car. She touched my arm for just a second, no words. She knew exactly which version of me had shown up, the one that ran on ice and fury. That brief touch

He smiled and I remembered every single reason I’d spent sixteen years trying not to remember him. He left not long after.There was still a lot we needed to talk about. The photos, legal moves, Victor, but we both knew the kitchen couldn’t take anymore that morning. Some conversations just get too heavy too fast. He told me he’d reach out to his legal team, and I told him I’d be in touch. We kept it all businesslike and safe. I walked him to the door like I was still the one in control. The second the door shut, I wasn’t.I stood in the hallway with my back against the wall, chest tight, eyes burning. Then I went to my room, sat on the edge of the bed, and let myself be pissed at me for exactly twenty minutes. Not at him, at myself. At how one stupid, real smile from him had ripped through sixteen years of walls like they were nothing. I thought I was over it and stronger. Turns out I’d just gotten really good at lying to myself. The feelings had been there the whole damn time. Tw

He said, “She has my eyes,” and his voice broke right there. I had spent a whole sixteen years picturing this moment. I thought I’d feel powerful and angry. Like I’d finally won something after all the shit. But standing there in that dead conference room, all I felt was this heavy, tired sadness that made my chest ache. Not clean or strong. Just... messy. Like something inside me cracked open without permission.----The lights hummed overhead. Papers are still scattered from the earlier meeting. It was just us now, Friday night, building emptying out. I waited for the rush of satisfaction. It didn’t come.“Yeah,” I said. My voice came out flat.Sebastian stood there a second, taking it in. I'm really taking it. No bullshit shield on his face. Then his knees sort of gave, and he dropped into a chair like his body couldn’t hold him up anymore. Not dramatic. Just…done.I sat across from him. My hands were shaking a little, so I put them under the table.I started talking. I didn’t p

Victor had decided to make my personal relationship with Sebastian public. He had just made the worst decision of his very long career of bad decisions.I let the silence drag for two seconds after his question. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to crawl up my throat.‘Okay. Okay. You can do this. Just… just breathe.’ I said to myself. I gripped the folder tighter under the table, praying no one could see my fingers shaking.Then I opened it. “Thank you for raising that,” I said, keeping my voice steady and polite. “I’m glad to address it directly.”I looked at the board members instead of Victor. The old shame came rushing back anyway, hot and sickening. ‘Don’t think about it. Don’t—’“My contract specifies direct communication with the CEO for vendor approvals, budget authorisations, and event requirements. All my meetings with Mr. Hale were strictly for that.” My mouth was so dry. “I have full documentation…dates, times, topics, everything. I can hand it ove

The woman who once stood at that altar was now ready to help me burn the whole damn family down, and I agreed to it.We met the next morning at this quiet little legal office on the west side. Claire had picked it herself, somewhere the Hales would never think to look. That told me everything I needed to know. She hadn’t just woken up and decided this. She’d been planning it all along, quietly and carefully.Her lawyer, Denise Okafor, was all sharp focus and no bullshit. The papers were already waiting, three pages, neat and typed. Claire sat there when I walked in, simple dress, hair pulled back tight. Her hands were folded on the table like she was holding herself together by sheer force of will. She looked up at me for just a second, our eyes locked, then dropped her gaze back to the document.Denise slid the pen over. As Claire picked it up. Her fingers shook for half a breath, then steadied. She signed it three times. The scratch of the pen felt loud in that small room. Sixteen