Chapter 21: I can’t wait to have this baby

Ivy’s pov

My legs almost gave out. I had to slap a hand against the wall to keep from falling to the ground but I couldn’t stop the muddy shoes from slipping.

"I can’t wait to have this baby."

The sound echoed through the silence of the penthouse, suddenly chasing away all my exhaustion. I flattened myself against the cool, smooth wall, my breath caught in my throat.

"I know, I know," he was saying. "But you have to admit, it’s a pretty perfect name."

A dry chuckle left my lips. No, it couldn’t be what I was thinking. He was probably on a business call. I could handle that. I pushed off the wall, my limbs growing heavy with each step down the hallway to his study.

His door was slightly open. The abstract art on the walls blurred into meaningless shapes and colors. I was so tired. All I wanted was to peel off my clothes and crawl into bed.

But as I got closer, the conversation became clearer.

"Just think about it," Angel continued. "A little boy of mine, running around. I can’t wait."

My steps faltered. A little boy?

Who was he talking to? I moved closer, my hand trailing along the wall for support until I reached the door.

He was on a phone call.

My hand shot up to grip my chest. Angel sat behind his desk in his study, with a woman on his lap. Her forehead was pressed against his while she giggled as he rubbed her belly.

His eyes were shining with awe. A look I had once dreamed he would give me.

Was he not just sleeping with Jake? Was my husband sleeping with other people as well? How in the world... How...

I pushed the door open with my weak arms and the woman turned her head, her laugh dying on her lips.

No. No, it couldn’t be. Angel would not go that far. He wouldn’t impregnate a woman and then have the guts to bring her into MY home. And of all the women in the world...

"Pamela?"

Kingsley and Co’s receptionist paled when she saw me, her skin turning white as a ghost.

The air was sucked from my lungs, replaced by a crushing vacuum of pain and fear. I lost my voice, all the words I wanted to say was trapped behind the lump in my throat choking me.

My whole world, the facade I had been maintaining, suddenly reduced to nothing. It was bad enough that he had been sleeping with my stepbrother. But this... this was...he had gotten another woman pregnant.

Had he been the date she was talking about when she gave me the card to the masked party? Oh goodness.

The scandal. God, the fucking scandals this would bring. Just how long had the asshole been deceiving me? Just how... How could he stab me in the one place that was definitely going to hurt?

Pamela tried scrambling to get off Angel’s lap, but the bastard tightened his arm around her waist, pulling her back down into his lap, eyeing me coldly. "Oh, stay where you are; Harper can’t do anything."

And that was what drove me crazy. Not the affair... or the baby. It was those casual, nonchalant words that he was so sure that I was powerless. That I was nothing.

"Get out," I hissed, glaring daggers at Pamela. "Get. Out. NOW!"

She didn’t need to be told twice. She shot up from his lap and fled the room, stumbling over her legs as she apologized profusely. "Harper, I’m sorry-"

"Don’t talk to me!"

The tears welled up even hotter against my eyelids; I could barely hold them back.

"You son of a bitch," I breathed once we were alone. "You absolute vermin."

The scumbag leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the corner of his desk. "Is that the best you’ve got? Really?"

"I might not divorce you," I snarled, my hands clenching into fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms. "But I swear to god, Angel, I will let the world know what you are."

"Thank you?" He chuckled, rolling his eyes.

I slammed my hands down on the desk, gritting my teeth in fury. "You think I have nothing on you? Have you forgotten the video I took of you and Jake?"

That had him stiffening. His legs dropped from the desk while his eyes narrowed into squints.

"Harper-"

"I’ll release it. That’s killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it? Jake won’t be able to compete with me for CEO of Kingsley & Co, and the world, your father, my father, will finally see you for the demon you are! I’ll tell them everything. I’ll tell them how you got the Kingsley & Co receptionist pregnant! How you..."

He was on his feet in a flash, storming around the desk, closing the distance between us in four strides. He was so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body, smell the faint scent of his cologne mixed with Pamela’s perfume.

It made me gag.

He leaned in, his face inches from mine, and spat, "Go ahead."

I flinched.

"Seriously? That’s fine with me," he snarled. "Everyone can then see what a barren, frigid, utter waste of time and effort you are."

"You’ve got some nerve!" I screamed, turning around because the tears were getting so heavy they would fall.

"Oh, don’t go," His hand grabbed my right wrist, tightening his grip around it painfully. "Now you want to chicken out? No Harper. You’re going to hear every fucking thing."

"Let go of me!"

His words were like acid, burning through my skin down to the bone.

"Would I have had to impregnate someone else if you could give me a child? Uh? Tell me!" He let out a short, ugly laugh.

"Oh, I’m sure the directors on the board would just loveeeee to have a barren, entitled bitch as their CEO. They’ll be thrilled to follow the orders of a woman whose own husband has to go elsewhere to get the fucking job done."

"It’s not my fault," I cried, shoving him away from me. "I tried everything. You know I tried everything to have children!"

"That’s the thing," He scoffed. "It doesn’t matter how much you try, Harper; you’re not good enough. You never will be. For me, and even for your Dad. All you’ll ever be doing is trying everything and running in circles."

My body went limp, eyes widening in terror. It wasn’t true. It wasn’t true, I was... I was my father’s only child. Jake was adopted; I was his only, his true child. I had to be good enough. He would have to acknowledge me at some point. A long distant memory pierced my foggy mind.

What have you done? What did you do, Harper!

Red blood led down the white tiles stairs to the red spreading pool below.

I didn’t... I didn’t mean to-

Angel’s grubby hands grabbed my jaw, his fingers digging painfully into my cheeks, yanking me out of the dark, bitter memory that had haunted me for fourteen years, forcing me to look at him. His eyes glared down at me in contempt.

"When will you quit your whining and just know your place?" he hissed, his spit hitting my face. "You need me, Harper. You need me to please your Daddy and everyone else. So you will keep your mouth shut!"

Then he shoved me hard. I fell backward, my heels caught on the thick rug, and I crashed in a heap on the floor while he stormed out of the study, slamming the door so hard the framed picture of my father, him and me on our wedding day, crashed to the floor, the glass shattering.

A raw, agonizing scream tore from my throat, followed by gut-wrenching sobs that shook my entire body. I had never felt more alone.