"What now, Amelia?" She had no idea what to do as her feet dragged her back into her apartment.
Once inside her room, their room, remembering that she shared this house with the man she loved, she dropped down on the floor and cried.
Maximus Morton.
Oliver Morton.
Her boyfriend was apparently the future CEO of the Morton Group and next in line to the Mafia Don.
Damn! She thought she already knew him, inside and out. But she was mistaken.
"What am I going to do?" She asked. Confused. Afraid. Suddenly uncertain of the future.
Then, her eyes silently gazed at her flat belly, picturing the two pink solid lines from the test she had done earlier.
"I can't leave him. Not now." She thought, considering her present situation and the future.
"Oliver must have a good reason for lying." Deciding that she should trust him. That she should at least give him the chance to explain his side. After all, every coin has two sides.
Quickly, fixing herself, she waited for him to come home.
Ding! Dong!
It must be him.
Again, she rushed to the door, but only to get slightly disappointed.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Not that she didn't want to see her mother, it was just bad timing.
Her eyes looked over her mother's shoulder, expecting to see her father. But her mother was alone.
Moreover, her mother appeared distraught.
"What's wrong?" Quickly, she pulled her mother inside. Worried. "Where's Dad?" Usually, her mother didn't come to visit without him. She always joked that her parents were the dynamic duo.
Her family might not have much, but they were happy and content. Her father worked in a large corporation for years as an accountant. While her mother was a preschool teacher at their local school.
They earned enough to give her what she needed, but the rest, she tried to earn on her own. When she secured a scholarship at a prestigious university, it saved her parents' hard-earned money on her education.
Instead, they could use it for their retirement since her parents were not getting any younger.
"It's your father, Amelia." Her mother said as tears began rolling down her face.
"What about Dad?" She asked, but, of course, she already had this dreadful feeling that it was no good news.
"The police just picked him up an hour ago. They are charging him with embezzlement. They said your father stole company funds." Her mother informed her through broken sobs.
"What?" Her heart almost stopped beating. Finding the accusation unsettling. "That could not be true." She knew her father. "Dad would never do such a thing."
Edward Clarke was the most honest, loyal, and hard-working man she knew. He would never steal from his company. He would never betray the people for whom he had been working for almost all his life.
"I tried to call you, but you were not answering your phone." Her mother's panicky voice echoed in her ears as the intensity of her father's situation slowly sank in.
Her phone. Where was it?
With the dinner preparation and the sudden appearance of Oliver's father, she had forgotten to check on her phone.
"But they said they have evidence." Her mother hugged her, looking worse than when she arrived. "But one of the cops said that if you want your father's case dropped, you already know what to do."
At that instant, she knew.
Oh my God! It was him.
He did this.
He framed her father.
"What did he mean by that?" Her mother looked at her with hopelessness that almost crushed her heart. "Do you know a way to help your father's case?"
She did. But at what price?
"Let me see what I can do." She thought about it. But looking at her mother, did she even have a choice? "Don't worry, Mom. I'll take care of this. But I need you to go home, Mom. I'll call you later."
After sending her mother off, she immediately looked for her phone and keys. Then, she drove her old, beaten car and dialed the number on the card.
"Where do you want to meet?"
A few minutes later, "Mr. Morton," she sat across from the man, who had just sent her father to jail.
They met at one of the city's fanciest restaurants.
Booking a reservation at this place took weeks. Then, the meal costs a fortune.
Of course, she already knew why this man chose this place. It was blatantly obvious.
"I think you already know what I'm more than capable of doing, Ms. Clarke." Mr. Maximus Morton arrogantly said, not even bothering to look at her.
"Yes." She responded, swallowing her pride, as she looked at the man who could easily destroy her family and make hers a living hell.
"Good." He nodded his approval, putting down his knife and fork and leaning confidently on his chair. "Now, you'll do what I ask if you want to keep your father out of prison. If not, then he could rot in there for all I care."
Her heart pounded inside her chest, rebelling against her decision, but her mind was made up. She believed it was the only thing she could do, even if it went against all the fibers of her being.
"Yes, I understand." The words slipped through her gritted teeth, sounding forced, heavy, and defeated.
The man pulled something from the inside of his pocket and shoved it across the table. Again, it was another check.
"As I promised, I want you to have this." The man casually said as if he were just dealing with another business transaction, not people's lives. "But I want you to do two things for me."
"I don't need your money. I'll leave your son if that is what you want as long as you'll leave my family and me alone." That was her only condition. Then, she would have nothing to do with the Morton family.
Even if it pained her to leave the only man she ever loved, she knew she had no other option. She could never sacrifice her family for him.
"As I said, you'll do two things for me, or the deal is off." Mr. Morton warningly said. "Now, take the check. I even doubled the amount. Then, signed this." He snapped his finger as a man joined them.
"What's this?" She asked when the other man introduced himself as Mr. Morton's personal lawyer and then handed her a contract.
"I know you're carrying my son's child. But clearly, he doesn't know that yet." Mr. Morton revealed the pregnancy stick that she was supposed to give to Oliver tonight.
When she checked her pocket, it was gone. She must have dropped it earlier in his car.
"I want you to give my grandchild to me." The older man said, acting as if he were just buying some piece of meat. "Once he is born, you'll give the child freely to me."
"Of course, once you sign this, you're relinquishing all your rights to the child." The lawyer further explained to her.
Dumbfounded, she was left speechless for a second.
"Are you insane? What made you think that I would sell my own child to you?" She hissed angrily. Finally, finding her voice.
"He's a Morton. It is only fitting that he grew up under our protection." Mr. Morton claimed, assuming it was his right.
"No, I can't do that. You can't take my child."
"I will. And you will give the child, or you won't like what will happen next." The threat was quite evident in his words.
"What do you mean?" She asked, although she already had an idea.
"No Morton child will be born outside the family." He announced with finality.
"You're a monster." She uttered in disbelief.
Mr. Morton could not be serious. But the look he gave her said otherwise.
"I have been called worse." The man simply said.
"Ms. Clarke." The lawyer called her attention, pointing to the dotted lines. "Sign here."
Oh God, help me. She mumbled to herself, praying to the only one who could help her.
But—
Nothing.
With trembling fingers. With a heart torn into pieces. She looked down at the paper and sighed. "Fuck you, Mr. Morton, and your family. You'll pay for this." She cursed the man before signing the contract.
"I already did." The older man smiled, victory visibly etched on his face.
In a few seconds, she sat at the table, alone and feeling empty.
What did she just do?
Feeling lost, she walked out of the restaurant with one thought in her mind. She had to see Oliver even if it was the last time.
She had to go home, thinking that he must be waiting for her.
Grabbing her phone from her pocket, she immediately dialed his number. Then, it rang.
But as she was about to exit the establishment, she noticed something from her peripheral view.
Or rather someone.
"Oliver?" She muttered under her breath, her phone dropping down on her side.
Oliver just came out of his car. Then, he helped a woman out of the passenger side.
Quickly, she hid behind a column, not wanting him to see her. As he got closer, she finally recognized the woman holding onto his arm.
"Hazel Smith." He was here with her at what looked like a date.
On their anniversary.
Then, she saw him pull his phone from his pocket and answer.
"Amelia?"
"Hi, Oliver." She quickly put the phone back to her ear, but she kept her eyes on the two who just entered the restaurant. "Where are you?"
"Ahm! I'm actually still in the office." Then, a slight pause. "My boss wants me to finish my report, so I might be late tonight." He replied, but she didn't fail to notice the hesitation.
He just lied. This time, she actually witnessed it.
"Do you need something?" He added, sounding a bit guilty.
"No, nothing." She said, trying to sound as normal as possible, but in truth, she was quite disappointed. "I was just checking if you'll be home early."
Clearly, he had forgotten that it was their anniversary today.
Still, she could not believe that he could do this to her. But then again, what did she really know about him?
He kept saying that he loved her.
But did he truly mean it?
"Wake up, Amelia." She whispered through trembling lips. "You were nothing to him. A joke. Nothing more." As she compared herself to the woman that Oliver was about to marry.
Probably, embarrassed to be seen with her, he never took her out to dinner. They never dated publicly.
He had kept her hidden from everyone, including his family and friends.
All this time, she finally realized that all she was to him was his dirty little secret.