0001.

"What is this?" Jerome bellowed, throwing the pregnancy papers in Stacy's face. His dark hair was disheveled, his eyes wild with rage. "How could you be pregnant? You know you're not supposed to be!"

Stacy sat frozen on the couch, the papers fluttering to the floor around her. "It's not my fault," she stammered, trying to defend herself. "You're the one who...who..."

"Don't you dare try to pin this on me!" Jerome roared, his voice shaking the room. "I was drunk, you took advantage of me,” Jerome replied.

"You think being drunk gives you an excuse?" Stacy retorted, standing up to face him. "You're a grown man, you should know better. And don't you dare try to blame me for what happened? I'm not the one who initiated anything. You're the one who couldn't control yourself."

"Oh please," Jerome scoffed. "Don't act like some innocent victim. You know you wanted this, that is why you planned it. You wanted it just as much, if not more."

Stacy recoiled as if struck. "That's not true.”

"How could you blame me for this? You broke the marriage rule first," Stacy said, her voice wavering.

"You were the drunk one. I was caught off guard, I didn't know what to do. And you're saying I should have stopped you? How could I, when you were so insistent?"

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself as she continued. "I didn't have any control over the situation," she mentioned. "And you're accusing me of planning it? That's just not true. I never wanted this to happen."

"You can't be serious," Jerome said, his tone doubtful.

"I am serious," Stacy insisted. "I'm telling the truth. I didn't plan any of this. I was just as shocked as you were when it happened. I never wanted this to happen."

"I find that hard to believe," Jerome said, disbelief in his eyes.

"You think this is all my fault?" Stacy said, her voice rising in anger and disbelief. "This whole situation is a mess, and you're trying to pin the blame on me. I'm not the only one who's at fault here. We're in this together, and we need to figure out how to move forward. But I can't do that if you're not even willing to acknowledge your own mistakes."

Jerome's expression hardened, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed. "This isn't about blame," he said through gritted teeth.

"I know you're the one who caused this mess, Stacy," he said, his voice cold and accusing.

"Maybe you wanted it to happen. Maybe you could have prevented it, by taking a contraceptive the next day but you didn't. And now you expect me to take responsibility for your mistake."

Her eyes widened in shock and fury, and she slapped him across the face. "Don't you dare call my baby a mistake!" she yelled. "And who do you think you are, telling me what to do with my body?"

His own eyes flared with anger, and he clenched his fists at his sides.

"We're not going to get anywhere if we keep talking like this," Jerome said, his voice tight with barely contained rage. "We need to calm down and try to talk this out. We need to find a way to work through this and move on."

"I'm not the one who needs to calm down," Stacy shot back, her hands shaking. "You're the one who's blaming me for something that's not my fault. I'm not going to just sit here and let you put all the blame on me. We're not going to get anywhere if you keep that up."

"I don't care what you want," Jerome said, his voice full of malice. "You're not going to keep that baby. I'm not going to let you ruin my future because of your stupid mistake. I'm not going to be stuck with you because of some unwanted child, so you have to terminate that pregnancy."

As he spoke, he tore the papers into tiny shreds, his hands shaking with rage. Stacy looked at him in shock, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"How dare you tell me to terminate the pregnancy? Did you think I wanted this marriage?" she asked, her voice hoarse with emotion. "Did you think I wanted to marry you?”

“You should be thanking me because it was my marriage with you that saved your family’s company from being bankrupt. Now I'm asking you to pay me back by terminating the pregnancy your mistake has resulted in and you don't want to. Our marriage is ending in a month. Don't you want me to move on with my life? I have dreams to pursue and things to achieve, Stacy. Please think wisely. Let's keep to the end of the bargain till the end,” Jerome pleaded but Stacy wasn't ready to hear him out.

“You are just being selfish, Jerome. Do you think I don't also have a dream to pursue? Did you think I was going to waste my life after our marriage came to an end? But things are spoilt for me now because of the pregnancy, I cannot pursue my dream,” Stacy said, there were stains of tears on her eyelid.

“Seriously?” Jerome scoffed.

“Why do you think you cannot pursue your dreams because of the pregnancy? All you have to do is get rid of it since it's an unwanted pregnancy. It's not like it's a big deal after all,” Jerome said, adjusting his tie.

"Gosh, Jerome!" Stacy said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "You're asking me to...to do something I can't. You can't seriously expect me to just...just get rid of it. You don't understand what this means to me. This is...this is everything."

She shook her head, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "I can't believe you are still hell-bent on asking me to terminate the pregnancy, you are ridiculous."

“But_”

“But what Jerome!” Stacy cut him off in anger.

“You think that I am going to risk my life to abort my baby? Do you think that I am going to have an abortion? Then dream on because it is never going to be possible and I will make sure you take responsibility for it,” Stacy said and started heading towards the door to leave Jerome’s bedroom.

“Stacy, we ain't done with this conversation,” Jerome yelled frustrated but Stacy didn't even turn to look at him.

“Stacy, are you seriously walking out when we ain't done with our conversation,” Jerome said after her, following on her heels.

“If you ain't done with the conversation, then I am,” Stacy said and shut the door as she walked out of the bedroom.

“Damn!! You think that I am going to allow you to ruin things for me?” he yelled at her.

“Shit!” he groaned as he punched the door in frustration.

"I've never felt good about this marriage," Jerome shouted, slamming his fist against the door. "I don't know why I ever agreed to help you."

He turned and paced around the room, feeling a growing sense of frustration and anger. "It's all ruined now," he muttered to himself. "And it's all her fault."

He sank onto the couch, running a hand through his hair. "What am I going to do?" he asked himself.

"I can't allow this pregnancy to ruin everything I've worked for. But how could she be so careless?"

He wasn't going to allow Stacy and her pregnancy news to ruin everything for him. He had to do something about it because if the news of the pregnancy went out, he would be losing a life-changing deal that was supposed to upgrade his status in society to the highest. He was going to lose the business marriage he was supposed to go in with Debbie D-Jones, the heir of the biggest corporation in the society.

How could he allow some pregnancy to cost him a marriage worth billions of dollars, collaboration, and landed properties? No, he was going to do something about it.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Jerry, inform the family doctor. I will be visiting him tomorrow with Stacy. She is going to be having an abortion.” With that, he ended the call.