Chapter 0010

•DARLA•

The next morning, when I left Atlanta with Ethan, it finally hit me for the first time that Elijah would never belong to me.

When the flight took off from the ground, my heart broke once again, and I couldn't believe that he had chosen someone else over me.

Just a few days after we broke up and filed for divorce, the pain felt new like the night he brought me those divorce papers and told me that Abigail was pregnant with his child.

I couldn't imagine any greater pain like that. Reality slapped me in the face when the last memory of him was with Abigail.

I knew when I left that I would never be able to love another soul as much as I loved Elijah, even though he made it known to the world that there was no other woman in his heart, but Abigail.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ethan asked, snapping me back to earth from the heartbreaking flashback.

"Yeah, of course." I smiled at him. "I'm looking forward to a new beginning in San Francisco."

"We'll be there in an hour."

I nodded at him with a smile on my face before I turned to the window and caressed my bloated lower stomach.

***

"This is the contract. I don't want you to think that I made up the whole thing," he chuckled softly as he handed me the document.

I scoffed as I took from it and went through it.

"I'm very impressed, Ethan. You're a true businessman. I mean -" I looked at him. "I have my own villa right next to yours. Amazing. So, what's going to be the plan when your business associates come for dinner?"

"I have a house for that. Two blocks from here," he replied rather proudly.

"Oh, yeah?"

"I have people decorating it with our pictures and furnishing it with that family vibe." He smiled as he grabbed his can of beer on the table contour and sipped.

"I think you might have to tell them to baby-proof the whole house," I grimaced.

"What? Would we be expecting a baby?" He chuckled as he took another sip of his beer.

I looked at him with a smile on my face and said nothing, hoping that it would be obvious that I was.

He gasped. "Darla, you're pregnant?"

"I found out like four days ago," I scoffed as I scribbled my signature on the contract.

"Does he know?"

"No. He won't know anything. The kid will be yours now that I've signed the contract," I said as I pushed the contract to him so that he would scribble his signature on it as well.

"That makes sense. But Darla, I hope you know what you're doing. If he finds out that the baby belongs to him, the situation won't be pretty."

"As far as he's concerned, there wasn't any chance that I could get pregnant, so no, he won't know anything. Once the baby is here, you will be known as the father since we'll still be married when I have the baby."

Ethan nodded before he scribbled his signature next to mine and sealed the deal of our fake marriage.

“There’s something else I need us to get done.”

“What is it?” He asked.

“I need to change my surname. Instead of using yours as my last name now that we are legally married, I want to use my mother’s.” I breathed. “This is going to be the first step of me moving on from my old life and giving my child a better future without any interference from my family and Elijah’s.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Ethan. Are you going to help me with getting that done?”

“Of course.”

"Thank you. I know that I can rely on you. You have been a very good friend to my brother - Anthony, so there's no doubt that our friendship would be any different."

"It's alright, I got you. This is our safe space, and whatever you need help with, I'll help you. Just say the word."

I smiled at him as he reached for my hand and squeezed it.

My heart was finally at peace that I had someone to look over my shoulder and make sure that I did not lose my sanity.

***

“Darla -” the sonographer looked at me and then back to the screen. “Did you know that you’re pregnant with twins?” She asked. 

I gasped as I looked at the screen and couldn’t believe what she had just said. 

“No,” I chuckled softly. “That’s impossible. I can’t be pregnant with twins. They don’t even run in my family.”

“I don’t know about that, but I see two sacs here. You’re definitely carrying twins,” she insisted as she printed pictures for me. 

"No, I'm not." I shook my head in disapproval.

She didn't say anything to my stubborn ass and gave me the sonogram pictures.

On my way back home, I received a notification of one hundred and fifty million deposited in my account and a text explaining that the divorce had been finalized and that I had been paid alimony in full. 

I sat in the car for a few minutes, caressed my lower abdomen, and told myself that I was going to make it a point that I raise my kids and make it work all my own. 

***

“Hey, Dee. Can I come in?” Ethan knocked outside the door. 

I quickly wiped off the tears on my face and got up from the bed. “Yeah, come in.”

“I need a favor,” he stated as he walked inside and closed the door behind him. 

And when he saw me and the sonogram pictures on the bed, his countenance changed. 

“Are you okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” I nodded with a smile on my face. “Of course, I’m okay. What do you need?” I asked even though I felt like everything in my life was falling apart. 

“No, it’s okay, Dee. We can reschedule the meeting for some other time. I don’t want to overwhelm you, and besides that, you really need some rest.”

“What do you need a favor with, Ethan?”

He sighed. “Those Iraq men I told you about are coming to town and invited us for dinner to get to know each other. I thought that you might -”

“I’ll get ready,” I replied as I took the sonogram pictures and put them inside my bedside drawer. 

“You don’t have to -”

I interjected him again. “Until I’m paddling like a penguin, you don’t get to tell me to rest instead of doing what we are here for.”