chapter 5

Dari was confused, she doubted if she had made the right decision, everything in her life was changing too fast, and was not sure If it was changing for the best or the worse.

Was her decision to keep the Baby worth losing her father's love and support? thankfully they had driven Caroline's car to her parent's house, because she was not in the state to drive, or she take a taxi to her apartment.

She was all tears on the drive home. Now all hopes of her reconciling with Michael were gone, there was no way she could be with him now while carrying another man's child, she would have to cut communication with him.

Dari was truly alone now, the only person by her side was Caroline, it felt like the entire world was against her.

Three weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Dari booked an appointment with Doctor Thomas, her OBGYN, and Caroline's friend for her first ultrasound.

Thankfully, Caroline was coming with her. She was thankful for Caroline's undying support and loyalty. Jenny and Jess have never called since her fight with her father, and whenever she calls them they always found a reason to cut the call short.

Her Mother only calls her when her father is nowhere near, which is rarely.

Lily on the other hand calls her every time but never visits. even the children her niece and nephews have not been to her apartment she had no doubt they were all too scared to go against her father's wishes.

Caroline was a rare gem and irreplaceable. She has not left her side since her family abandoned her.

Dari called in sick to work, so she had enough time to put everything in her small apartment in order, while she awaited Caroline's arrival since her appointment was at eleven o'clock that morning.

*****

Maxwell Greenfield was sitting in his office, going through some documents on his table.

Since his break up with Amanda, he has buried himself deep into work, never giving himself time to indulge in fun.

The one time he did that, he had ended up in bed with the honey-coloured hair woman and wouldn't want that to happen again.

mostly now that he has started to build a relationship with the daughter of one of his business associates, her name Was Miss Sonia Cooper, a beautiful lady of Twenty-seven years, and he has been featured in the BUSINESS TODAY magazine. A scandal was the last thing he wanted.

Though a very wealthy man Maxwell has never liked the spotlight, he loved his privacy hence he kept a very low profile, this has enabled him to go about without any type of recognition, but now that was all over, he had to be more careful to avoid scandal, not that he lived an exciting life before the magazine feature.

Just then his secretary Mrs. Anderson came in to remind him about his Meeting with His hospital's Board of directors and also his check-up with his doctor at the same hospital, he instructed her to call his driver to wait for him outside.

he took the file he was just going through and went downstairs to meet his driver, and together, they left for the hospital.

At the hospital Board meeting, they talked about changing some of the hospital equipment and how to improve the hospital services. After the check-up, he went to see his friend Doctor Thomas in his office.

Maxwell and Thomas have been friends since their college days, Thomas was his oldest friend. When Maxwell established the Greenfield Hospital, he made Thomas a partner because he had the knowledge he lacked in the medical field.

During his talk with Thomas, Maxwell his secretary called to remind him about his one o'clock meeting. Since it was already a few minutes past noon he made to leave so he would not miss the meeting, Thomas stood to walk with him to the door and to usher his next appointment in since has been informed of their arrival, together they walked out of the office into the hallway.

*****

Caroline finally came to pick Dari up, and together, they left for the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital they were informed that Dr Thomas was in a meeting so they waited for him right outside his office, few minutes later Dr Thomas emerged with another man whose back was turned to them.

He was dressed in an Armani blue suit which was expensive, and the back of his tall frame was turned to them.

Though the voice of the man whose back was turned to them sounded familiar to Dari, she could not quite place where she had heard the voice before, just then the man turned and she saw him.

There was no way she could ever forget that face, there was none like it, the man with whom she had spent a night was staring right at her, the man responsible for the huge mess her life has become and the father her baby was staring at her.

She was too shocked to utter a single word. They stared at each other for so long, and it became obvious to Caroline.

Dari never thought she would ever meet him again, the least at the hospital, with her doctor. Caroline noticed her friend's dazed expression and tried to draw her attention to know what was wrong.

" That's him, Caroline," Dari muttered

Caroline could not make out what she was saying.

" That's him," she repeated this time, almost shouting, " The stranger from my one night stand, that's him."

Caroline could finally understand why Dari looked like she had seen a ghost. She realized that this might be the last time they might ever see the man whose name they still don't know. She made up her mind to seize the moment, so she walked up to him.

Maxwell stared at the girl he had only spent one night with, a red-haired beauty was standing beside her, looking at her with concern, he could never forget those big blue eyes, they seem to see right through him, he watched as She said something to her red hair companion and saw as the look of concern was replaced by a look of realization.

His eyes were still on the honey-coloured hair girl, he saw her companion walk towards him. Meanwhile, Dr Thomas watched the unfolding scene with curiosity.

Dari watched as Caroline walked towards him, so she willed her legs to move.

When Dari and Caroline got to where Thomas and the man were standing, they stood in uncomfortable silence, Until Thomas made an awkward introduction, not knowing what else to do, He introduced the man as just Maxwell Greenfield knowing Maxwell will prefer the introduction that way, he introduced Caroline as his friend and Dari as his patient.

"Hello Mr Maxwell nice to meet you, I know this is unexpected but I would like to speak with you in private" Dari finally spoke for the first time since the awkward silence, forcing the words out of her mouth, faking a confidence she did not feel inside.

" That will be fine." Maxwell was curious to know what this was all about.

"Dr Thomas, do you mind if we use your office?"

he addressed Thomas, who replied, " Yes, you can go ahead."

Maxwell held the door to the office open as Dari walked in, while he walked in behind her, once they were in they both sat down while Dari try to work out what to say, finally she spoke.

" First I need you to understand that this is a very awkward situation for me, I never thought I will see you again, whatever you do with this information I'm about to share with you is up to you, and will not in any way change or affect the decision I have made on my own already I'm only sharing the news with because I feel I own it to you to at least make you aware of the situation now that you are here," Dari said all In one breathe.

"What news or information do you have for me?" he asked

"Mr Maxwell, if you could remember that we spent a night together two months ago," she looked at him for confirmation.

" Yes, I remember clearly." he was impatient at this point, he was not good with suspense.

"Our one night together results in something permanent." she took a deep breath.

" And, what could that be ?" he asked her impatiently, not sure where the whole conversation was going.

" I'm pregnant, Mr Maxwell, I'm carrying your child," she said, looking him squarely in the eyes.