Chapter 14

SEBASTIAN

Getting drunk and occupying himself with work has been Sebastian’s routine for the past weeks. Jayda’s face haunted him no matter what he did to forget her. Every time he thought about what Lilian had told him, he wanted to explode with furious jealousy.

She’d sent the money back, and he couldn’t stop thinking of that, either. Any other woman would have kept it and even asked him for more. Nobody else would’ve called him harsh names or thrown a shoe at him.

He tried to convince himself Jayda was just like the other women. All the tears she shed were fake and most importantly, their passionate night together had meant absolutely nothing to her.

She’d told him her name. He could have looked her up at any time but refused. He was too proud to chase a woman, not even one who’d made him feel the way Jayda had—and still did, he had to admit. Since their night together, he hadn’t slept with another woman.

His intercom pinged. “Yes?”

“There’s someone here to see you, sir.” Maria, his receptionist, said over the intercom.

“I’m not expecting anyone.”

“She said it’s urgent, sir.”

“She?” Sebastian groaned, hoping it wasn’t one of his flings.

“Yes, sir. Her name is Jayda.”

Sebastian’s eyes went wide at the mention of her name.

“W…what? She…Jayda is here?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes, sir. Should I let her in?”

Sebastian thought for a few seconds. He wondered why she was there to see him.

“Let her in,” he finally said.

***

JAYDA

Jayda had paid the driver to wait for her in the parking lot. The Millers, Inc. building was even more impressive in person than the pictures she’d seen, but the eighth-floor office where she waited now was even grander.

At first, the receptionist had told her she couldn’t see Sebastian without an appointment, but Jayda had lied and said they were good friends.

“You can go in, ma’am. His office is down the hall to your right,” the receptionist said.

Jayda’s heartbeat increased. She couldn’t tell if she was nervous or excited. This was the first time she would be seeing him again after their night of passion.

“Thank you,” she replied with a smile that did not reach her eyes and headed to Sebastian’s office.

She took a moment to prepare herself before knocking on the door. She heard that unique, gruff voice that had been haunting her dreams tell her to come in, and she did.

Sebastian’s eyes never left Jayda’s body as she shut the door behind her and elegantly walked toward his desk.

“Good morning.” She placed her handbag on the table and took a seat opposite him.

SEBASTIAN

“To what do I owe this visit?” He kept his expression stern and distant to hide his happiness at seeing her.

He was hoping she had come to apologize or plead for another chance with him. Just like how the other women he had been with had done. But how could he have forgotten that Jayda Wright wasn’t like any of those other women?

“Trust me, this is the last thing I want to do. It’s just that I have no choice,” she replied firmly.

Sebastian gave Jayda a confused look.

“I’m pregnant with our child.”

JAYDA

He started laughing as if what she said was funny. Jayda frowned, irritated by his reaction. There was no humor in this situation, at least not for her.

“I knew you were no different from the others I’ve been with. Just like your predecessors, you’ve come to claim you’re pregnant with my child so you can get a fortune out of me.”

Jayda stood. “Excuse me! Do I look like a gold digger to you?”

Her voice shook with rage.

“Tell me why the hell I should believe you.” Sebastian rose to his feet too.

Jayda grabbed the paper with her test results from her handbag and threw it at him.

He opened it and was silent for a moment while he read it. When he looked at her, she wanted to run away from the fury in his gaze...but there was something else in his eyes. A different kind of burning, and ~that~ look made her want to stay.

“I’m sure you made this up. You paid someone to give these fake results so you can deceive me, but sorry to disappoint you, Jayda, you’ve failed. There’s no way I’m believing this!”

Words could not describe how angry Jayda was. She felt like strangling the man who was standing before her. If not for the huge mahogany desk separating them, she would have slapped some sense into him.

“I know you’re not pregnant, you’re just looking for ways to get money out of me. Even if you really are pregnant, it’s probably with Liam, your present fuck buddy.”

Jayda gave him the full weight of her own anger. He’d known that first time she’d been a virgin, and certainly he was able to do the math. It was evident she had conceived that night.

Tears were like flames in her eyes, but she held them back. She would never let him see how much he’d hurt her. More than that, she promised herself she wasn’t going to be weak. She would never give him another chance.

Sebastian was no good and of no use to her. She would never allow her child to grow up with someone as cruel as him.

She was done with Sebastian. He didn’t deserve her or her child. She would raise her child alone and give her baby everything a child could ever ask for.

“You and your fortune can go to hell for all I care. You mean nothing to me and ~my~ baby. You’re just an arrogant, bitter man who has no reason to think so highly of himself. Once again, I hope you rot in hell.”

Jayda grabbed her purse and kept her head high as she left his office, slamming the door behind her.

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian removed his suit jacket, ran his fingers through his hair, and started to pace around his office. Despite the fact that the air conditioner was on, he felt a heavy, strangling heat.

He had expected Jayda’s visit to be for any other thing except for her being pregnant.

The test results revealed she conceived the night they made love, but still, he didn’t want to believe that the baby was his.

He took a look through his glass wall and saw Jayda getting into the taxi. His life had never been the same since he met her.

He slumped down on the chair behind his desk, buried his face in his hands, and tried to convince himself that Jayda was a liar, just like Susan and the others. He wasn’t the father of the child she was carrying.

He tried to make himself believe he didn’t want to be.