Chapter 7: Nothing Will Change

The following day, I heard a knock on my door. I checked the clock, and saw it was only a little after six. I quickly put on my robe and peeked to see who was visiting me so early.

A man in a very expensive looking suit and tie stood on the opposite side of my door. Dax had notified me that someone would come over to give a retainer of $10,000 per month. This was for the duration of the pregnancy.

I answered the door and the man said, "Here is the money that was promised to you. This is to help cover any expenses."

He held out the envelope to me, and I took it. "Thank you for delivering this to me."

"You're welcome. Mr. Ryan would've done this himself, but he had an early business meeting today."

"It's no problem. I understand how busy he is."

The worker went off without another word, and I shut the door before re-locking it again. Then I got ready for my day.

After putting on my uniform for my job, I went to make breakfast. I decided to make a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. After I ate, I grabbed my coat and keys to get ready to leave.

I had to visit my sister before work, so it was good I had woken up earlier than usual today. I had to give her most of this money, since I knew it'd keep the gangster satisfied for a bit.

I grabbed my car keys, locked the door, and rushed down the stairs to my car. I wasn't planning on ruining my on-time record at work. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to visit Lola as long as I would have liked to. She would

understand, as she also had a job that began in the morning too.

When I arrived at Lola's house, it seemed like she had been expecting me. She opened the door right away and let me in. Her place was still kind of messy but not as bad as the day I'd come over and told her I'd be a surrogate.

Maybe she was becoming more at ease. I hoped that I'd be able to get rid of all of her worries with her difficult situation. As her older sister, I felt an extra sense of protectiveness towards her. We only had each other after all.

I sat down when she motioned for me to join her on the couch. Lola had a curious look on her face.

"What's the occasion for visiting me this time?"

I smiled and said, "I've got some money that I'd like to give you. I was just given this for expenses, but I want you to have most of it. You need it more than I do."

Lola came over to me and hugged me tightly. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You're welcome. I'm so glad to help you out."

Lola suddenly looked at the clock and asked, "Don't you have work today?"

I checked the time, and it was 7:20 already. "Yeah, I do unfortunately. I'll try to text or call you again soon."

"Sounds good. Have a good shift at work."

"I'll try but I can't make any promises."

I gave her a quick hug and made my way out of her apartment. Hopefully the world would be on my side and not make me late to work.

I didn't want to risk being fired. I really couldn't afford to lose this job, no matter how much I disliked it.

My manager was very strict and once yelled at a busboy for coming in two minutes late. I didn't want to face his wrath and used a shortcut to get there, avoiding some of the main lights.

When I got to work, I knew it was going to be a long and boring shift. There were hardly any customers around. Only one other co-worker stood around by the jukebox and was texting on her phone.

Our first customer was an obnoxious guy who smelled of alcohol already. It was only 9:15. I served him as politely as I could but couldn't wait until 5:00.

Thankfully, the rest of my shift went by quickly. I was so happy to be able to go home for the day that I almost skipped out the door.

After I got home, I ate and checked on my sister with a text. She told me that she had given the money to the gangster by sending it to his sketchy hideout's address.

It made me relieved to know that I had helped stall him. I texted back that I was glad that she had done that and to keep me updated. I just hoped that he wouldn't ask for more money too quickly. We had many months to go until I had enough for the full payment.

On the following morning, I got a knock on the door. It made me a little startled hearing that loud noise so early.

I cautiously made my way to the door and snuck a look at who was visiting me. I did a double take when I saw it was Dax.

Was I dreaming? That was a silly question, as I had no interest in him. Thankfully, I was dressed for work already. I didn't want him seeing my plain nightgown and disheveled hair. Not that I cared how he thought of my appearance.

Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer, I opened the door. He asked, "May I come in Ms. Winters?"

"Sure. Come in. Make yourself at home."

Suddenly it dawned on me what my place must've looked like. My apartment was a dump compared to a billionaire's place. I wished I had cleaned up more the other day. The carpet was vacuumed, but I still hadn't done all my dishes.

Why hadn't I finished them last night? I tried to see his reaction to my place and saw it wasn't great. Dax looked very unimpressed and seemed to be assessing every single item in the apartment.

His eyes fell on the cluttered sink and then moved to my outdated small oven. A look of disgust colored his features.

Dax looked at me and said, "I can't have you living here. This apartment doesn't seem safe enough for you to stay in for your current condition."

"I've been living here for years, and it's been fine for me. Where else could I go? I don't have a lot of money."

Dax replied, "You can stay with me for the duration of your pregnancy. I'll call my workers to help pack your clothes and personal items up right now."

He got his phone out and made a few calls.

I was so shocked at the turn in events. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this happening to me. It was almost like a fairytale. My sister would say "I told you so" at this point.