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chapter 37
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2024-10-29 19:42:56
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The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 38
DEIRAI was feeling cautiously optimistic about life. Cassius had asked his broker to send some apartment options, and amazingly, there were a lot of nice places that were in my budget. Makayla had spent a few more afternoons with Cassius, and she seemed to really like him.Work was still going well too. The first campaign I worked on had done really well, and I genuinely liked the team I was working with. The only problem was, my manager had just asked me to work overtime that weekend. Makayla and I actually had plans to meet Cassius for another day at the park. If I was honest with myself, I was really looking forward to it. Still, I was reluctant to say no, since I was the new recruit.I sighed, and texted Cassius to ask if he was okay going to the park alone with Makayla. As I predicted, he replied immediately, saying he was happy to help.The next day, Makayla and I met Cassius outside the company. She happily skipped off with him to go to the park, and I reluctantly went into th
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 39
The time stretched on. I was sure it had been hours, but the clock on my phone told me it had only been about 20 minutes since the police had arrived.I looked up, and realized one of the police officers was motioning us over. I practically ran over to him."Ma'am," said the police officer, "we actually think we've found something." He took me into the convenience store at the corner where they'd gotten the owner to check their security cameras. One of them pointed across the street at the row of stores opposite. They ran the tape back about 40 minutes, and showed me the footage. A small blond girl entered the frame and went into the toy store across the road. I gasped in relief."That's her. That's Makayla," I said. The officer nodded. "We reviewed the rest of the footage and she doesn't appear to have come back out."I was already halfway to the door by the time his sentence finished. I rushed past Cassius, who had just come back from the park."Deira, what is it?" he asked, but I d
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 40
CASSIUS I wasn't sure which feeling was worse, the absolute terror of hanging up my phone and looking around to realize that Makayla was nowhere to be found, or the gut punch I felt when Deira looked at me and told me not to call her. I had felt the briefest of reliefs when I'd looked into the store and seen Deira talking to Makayla. It was a sweet rush that only lasted seconds, because as soon as Deira turned and I saw her expression, I knew there was a chance I had screwed this all up for good. I answered the questions from the police and drove myself home in a daze. All I could do was relive the events of the day over and over again. An endless string of questions paraded through my mind, each and every one of them starting withwhat if. What if Makayla had gone into the street and gotten hit by a car? What if she'd fallen and hurt herself, and I was just cluelessly talking on my phone? What if while I wasn't looking someone had taken her? And those were just the questions of
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 41
DEIRA I had steeled myself for a fight when I called Cassius, so I was surprised when he agreed not to contact us. I almost felt bad, but then I remembered the way it had felt when Makayla was missing. I went over all the reasons that had led me to this decision. It had been nothing but chaos since he'd come into our lives, and I needed some time to let things calm down, and to figure out exactly how we could move forward.It had obviously been a mistake, jumping into some version of a happy little family where he could watch Makayla while I worked overtime. I blamed myself for that as much as I blamed him, because there was no way he could have known how unprepared he was to be a father. But I should have known. I had decided I couldn't let him back into Makayla's life this time until I was sure that he understood all the responsibilities that came with that. The trouble was, I didn't know how to be sure about that. There was no test for parenthood. Would I know in my gut when he wa
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 42
The next day, I went up to his floor on my lunch break. I didn't really want to ask his assistant if he was in, so I just walked through the cubicles like I had a reason for being there. His door was shut, and I was just thinking I might have to give up and ask, when I got lucky. The assistant seemed to be looking for something, and after a moment, stood up and went into the office. I quickly changed my direction so I could see through the open door.The assistant was looking through a drawer in the filing cabinet. I briefly remember how not that long ago I'd been undressing in front of that very filing cabinet. I shook my head to clear away the memory and squinted. I didn't see him inside."Trying to get a peek at the boss?" asked an unfamiliar voice. I looked up to see a cheerful woman holding a stack of papers and grinning at me."Oh, no. I, uh...""It's okay," she said conspiratorially. "It happens a lot. He's kind of like a celebrity. People hear everything about him, but they ra
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 43
CASSIUSThat night drinking with Scott was probably the most drunk I'd ever been. True to my word, I had managed to get so drunk I forgot all about Deira and Makayla. Unfortunately, the next morning reality came rushing back to me, and brought with it the worst hangover I'd ever had. My head was killing me, and even the dimmest light seemed too bright. I forced myself to drink some water, and then called my assistant to reschedule all my meetings. The hangover was too severe to even think about working, and I decided to just go back to bed.After I let my assistant know that I would be unavailable, I sent a text to check in on Scott. Once he confirmed he was fine (though in a very similar state to me), I turned off my phone so that no one could bother me. I wasn't worried about missing any calls, because the only people I wanted to talk to were Deira and Makayla, and Deira had just told me the day before that she wouldn't be contacting me for a while.When I woke up again, it was dar
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 44
"No," Deira said. "Don't get in touch. I'll call you when we're ready to talk."I could feel my whole body tense up. I was in the mood to fight, but I had to remind myself that Deira was not the one who caused these problems. That was on me, and Michelle. So, I nodded and left.After I left their apartment, I sat in my car for a long time without going anywhere, and then finally I made a call. I told the PI I would double the fee if he could get me the info I wanted in the next few hours. I guess that motivated him, because I hadn't even made it home before he texted me with an address. I turned around and headed in that direction.The apartment doorman called up, and she apparently told him to let me in. I hadn't given my name, so she must have been expecting someone else.Sure enough, when she opened the door, her eyes widened in shock. But she quickly composed herself and gave me a bright smile."Cassius! I'm so happy to see you!" she said, and leapt forward to hug me. I dodged the
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 45
DEIRAAfter Cassius left that night, I got a terrible night's sleep. It had seemed obvious from the way he reacted that he hadn't known about his ex, and hadn't been the one who told her about Makayla. That made me feel better about him, but worse about the situation as a whole. He had said that he would deal with it, but what was his plan?I tossed and turned all night, and finally gave up in the early hours of the morning. I got up and made coffee and sat thinking through the last few days. As I thought over our conversation from the night before, I realized that I had dumped all my emotions on Cassius, even though he wasn't the cause of some of them. I hated to admit it, but I might have been too hard on him. And if he hadn't told his ex about Makayla, then I probably did need his help in dealing with her.So again, I found myself lurking around his office at lunchtime. The door was closed, but this time I just went up to his assistant and asked if he was in. She shook her head."D
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The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 55
I held the door for her to get into the car. My dad picked up Makayla so she could give Deira one last hug while I walked around to get into the driver's side. We waved at everyone, and I drove away. As we wove through the grounds of the estate, I kept looking over, stealing glances at Deira as the dappled sunlight flitted over her, turning her hair gold and making her skin glow. I could feel heat pooling in my groin and a desperate need coursing through my veins. I thought again at how long it would be until we got to the hotel that night, and decided it was simply too long.Instead of turning toward the main road, I looped us around toward the back of the estate. I remembered a particularly secluded spot that was perfect for what I had in mind. A few minutes later, I pulled the car to a stop."Is something wrong?" Deira asked, looking over at me curiously."Nothing's wrong," I replied with a wicked grin. "I just don't want to wait until we get to Hawaii." When she realized what I me
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 54
CASSIUSThree Months LaterDeira made a beautiful bride.Watching her walk down the aisle toward me, with all our family and friends present, I knew that I had made the right choice in asking her to marry me. In fact, I knew that every choice I had made since that moment I decided to step into that steam room, despite it unexpectedly being occupied, had been the right choice.It was a simple ceremony, because once I'd proposed and she'd accepted, we both wanted things to move quickly. Neither of us saw a reason to wait. So, our whole wedding party was just three people. Scott was my one groomsman, and Dani was her one bridesmaid, and Makayla was the flower girl. In fact, Makayla was something of a flower empress, having demanded to be put in charge of all the floral decisions for the wedding. When that happened, Deira just laughed and looked at me."She gets this from you, you know," she had said, smirking.For my part, I thought she had made great decisions. The flowers looked beauti
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 53
A few days later,I was standing outside a hospital room, fidgeting with my dress. Cassius took my hand, pulling it away from the floral garment."You look great," he whispered. "Don't worry." We were about to go into his mother's hospital room, where his parents were waiting to meet Makayla and I for the first time. Makayla was bopping excitedly beside me. She had been on cloud nine ever since Cassius and I had explained that she had grandparents, and they were waiting to meet her. I, on the other hand, was very nervous."Ready?" Cassius asked. I took a deep breath, and nodded.It turned out that I didn't have anything to be nervous about. Cassius's father immediately stood up and gave me a warm hug, and his mother insisted I come sit by her so she could hold my hand and talk to me. They both were very kind to me and, more importantly, to Makayla. Just as she'd been with Cassius, Makayla seemed instantly at ease with them. It didn't take long before she was chatting away to them, talk
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 52
DEIRALeave it to Cassius to make a dramatic entrance, I reflected as I stared at him from afar. Whether it was barging into my steam room or crashing into my car or running through the airport yelling my name, he never did anything subtly. I looked at him, standing there breathing heavily. Had he run through the airport looking for me?I glanced back at Dani, and she raised an eyebrow. She didn't have to say anything more for me to understand the question she was asking. That raised eyebrow said, well, what are you going to do? It might as well have said, well, Deira, what do you want? I hadn't expected to have to answer that question at the airport, right before we went through security, but apparently, that's what was happening. Now I had two choices.I could turn my back on Cassius, take Makayla's hand, and walk through the security gate toward a totally new life, or I could go over to Cassius and ask him why he was here. I could give him one last chance to be part of my life. It
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 51
CASSIUSThough my mother was doing well, I still spent the next week or so in the hospital. Now that I'd reconciled with my parents, I wanted them to know that I was there for them. But also, I knew that once I returned to my real life, I would need to talk to Deira, and I wasn't ready. Not because I wasn't sure what to say—in fact, the opposite. I knew that I wanted Makayla and Deira to be part of my life now, and forever. But we'd had such a rocky path, I was a little scared of how Deira would respond to me.So, I put it off for days, until my mom finally prodded me to leave the hospital."You've been here forever," she said. "Go home, get a shower, and get a good night's sleep. And then, once you're refreshed, maybe talk to your girlfriend about us meeting our granddaughter." She winked at me."She's not my girlfriend, Mom," I protested, feeling like a teenager."But you like her, right?" my mother asked, and all I could do was grin in response. "See," she continued. "You have to g
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 50
The next morning, Dani took Makayla to school on her way to work, letting me sleep in. I laid around her apartment all morning in my pajamas, then went for a quick run before getting myself some lunch. I was very consciously not thinking about work, or Cassius, or anything else. I had half-expected him to call me at some point, but he didn't, and I couldn't help but be relieved. I didn't think I could talk to him until I decided what to do about Mr. White.In the afternoon, I picked up Makayla from school and took her to the park to play. That night, the three of us made pasta and played board games. It was nice to have some time to just have fun, without thinking about all of the stress of the past few months. The next day, after dropping off Makayla at school, I found myself thinking about my blog. I hadn't thought about it in months. I went to the home page and started looking over some of my past entries. Before long, I found myself writing down ideas for new posts. It had been ye
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 49
DEIRA I had hurried inside after getting out of Cassius's car, but I didn't want to go back to Dani's apartment when I was so upset. I waited until I saw Cassius drive away, and then I went back out to take a walk around the neighborhood. I had meant to calm down, but I found myself reliving our conversation and soon I was crying. Cassius not believing me about Mr. White hurt even more than I had let on. I'd let out all my anger on him, but beneath the anger was a deep pain and a sense of betrayal. Why did he think I would make something like that up? What did I have to gain from that? And did our relationship mean so little to him that the word of an employee he barely knew was better than my word? That last part stung more than I wanted to admit. For all the ups and downs of our relationship, it had never felt meaningless to me, but it seemed for Cassius this always came second to his job. He believed Mr. White over me, just like he had taken a business call instead of watching
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 48
After I got my dad calmed down, I went to find the doctor. I wanted a clear understanding of the accident and my mother's injuries. The doctor confirmed that the coma appeared to be because her body had been through a trauma, and that there was nothing worrying on the scans. All her other injuries were minor, especially considering the severity of the accident, but we wouldn't know her true status until she woke up. I made sure he understood that I was the point person now, and that my mom was to want for nothing. He nodded and reiterated that there was nothing to be done but wait. The waiting was excruciating.I found myself wanting to call Deira, but remembering the look on her face as she'd slammed the car door, I didn't think that was a good idea. I called Scott instead. He offered to come to the hospital, but I asked him to take care of the business instead. That way, I could concentrate on taking care of my parents."Of course, man. Whatever you need. Anything else I can do?" he
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 47
The address wasn't far, and I made it there in twenty minutes. Deira was just taking Makayla inside when I pulled up. I waited in the car and a few minutes later she emerged. I was going to get out and meet her, but she walked right to the car and got into the passenger seat."I can't talk long," she said. "But I realized storming off like that earlier wasn't helpful, so I wanted to try to explain." She fidgeted, like she was nervous."I did talk to Mr. White," I said, wondering if what he said was true, and now she was nervous because she regretted her actions. At his name, she glanced over at me sharply."Did he admit what happened?" she asked, seeming surprised."He told me his side of things. Why don't you tell me yours?" At the phrasehis side of things, her face fell. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. Finally, she spoke."He accused me of sleeping with you to get my job," she said quietly."What?!" I hadn't been expecting that at all, and I was so shocked I fel
