It was now three weeks since we’d had sex. Darien still made sure I was comfortable and fed, he put gas in the car and left a credit card for me to shop with.
He put me as Ariel’s emergency contact at school, and put my name on her HIPAA forms at the doctor’s office in case I needed to take her there. And we’d had a few late night, tension-filled conversations, where our mouths spouted pleasantries about our day and our nerve endings screamed for us to touch each other.
We didn’t, but I knew it wasn’t any easier for him than it was for me. He started leaving for work earlier, leaving me to drop Ariel at school—which I never minded, of course. And he’d come home later, missing dinner, but always in time to tuck Ariel into bed. I knew why—he was trying to avoid temptation, and I guess it worked, because nothing physical went on between us that whole time.
Not that I’d been in the mood for it, really. Recently I’d been sick as hell. Nauseous, moody, and achy. My period was supposed to be here by now, but when I noticed I was gaining some suspicious weight, I ran to the store to get a pregnancy test.
The next morning, right after my regularly scheduled vomit session, I peed on the stick and waited for those sixty seconds to pass.
It was a long wait, but the results finally began to fade in.
Two lines.
“This can’t be,” I whispered to myself, covering my mouth with my trembling hand. I bent over the toilet to empty out this morning’s breakfast and looked at the stick. “Oh, God, what will I tell Darien?”
It was no mistake. It was right. I had all the symptoms.
God, we had only done it that one time. Well, those two times, but I felt like it had happened the very first time, though I guess there was no way to know.
I had to think of something.
Darien knocked on the door. I could tell it was him from the authority in his knocks. They were strong and vibrated off the door.
“Willow, do you want me to drop Ariel off at school this morning?”
I dragged myself over to the door and placed my face near the seam of it. “That’d be great,” I said weakly. “I’m not feeling very well.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I can take you to a doctor.”
“No, I’m fine.” I draped my arm over my belly.
His kid was growing inside me. That was all.
I had no idea how I could tell him. Not with everything going on in his own life. I felt like such an idiot, even though I knew it took two to… tango.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
“Bye, Willow!” Ariel called through the door. “I hope you feel better soon.” Her bubbly voice cheered me up.
“Thanks, Ariel.”
I waited for them to leave before I tip-toed downstairs to get some food. No wonder I had awful cravings recently. I was honestly shocked I hadn’t figured this out a bit sooner.
Opening the refrigerator, my appetite pointed to the orange juice. I grabbed it and took out a glass from the cabinet to the side. I inhaled it down as soon as the rim touched my lips.
“God, this orange juice tastes good.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” A familiar voice said from around the corner.
“Who’s there?”
Then she came around. Morgan.
“Hello, dear. Look at you. All at home while Darien is out with our daughter.”
“His daughter,” I corrected.
“Snappy little bitch, aren’t you?”
She must have just helped herself into the house after they left. She was just waiting to pounce.
She ran a finger on the marble island of Darien’s kitchen and stared at it with a coy smile. I moved over to where the knives were kept and took one out.
Shring.
That noise was warning enough.
“A knife?” She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “What’re you going to do with that?”
“Cut you if you step any closer to me.” I jabbed the knife up, showing her I meant business.
“I don’t need to touch you to hurt you. Not at all. You see, I gave Darien time. Lots of time, but he still resists. He won’t get rid of you, you little whore.” She inched around the island. I backed up in sync.
“Stay away from me, I’m calling the police—” I said, reaching for my phone.
“You don’t want to do that. There’s a good reason why.”
Morgan took out her phone and swiped around on it. “See, I have this video…” She flashed the screen at me. I didn’t get a clear look at it, but I could hear the sounds coming from the speaker. “Darien was never that tight about security, until he met you. I still had access to the cameras, and he forgot to take the camera out of your room once you moved in.”
She stopped the video and placed her phone back into her purse. Morgan’s dark makeup made her look just as evil as she acted. Ariel looked nothing like her.
“You’re trying to blackmail him, aren’t you?” I strengthened the grip of the knife in my hand. “All you care about is his money. Didn’t you ever care about him at all?”
“Money?” She stepped toward me again. “No, not just that. You see, if I show this to the court, and you know, accidentally leak it into the media, his life will be out there for everyone to see. His company will be tarnished, his reputation will be ruined, his daughter will never see him again, and half of all his assets are mine.”
Stopping, she bent over and rested her elbows on the island. We had made a full circle and a half around this thing now.
“Why are you waiting then?” I asked.
“You might want to tone down the attitude, darling. Because you’re the only one who can save him.”
“What? How?”
“Leave. Don’t contact him, meet him, or even think about him again.”
“And how does that help you?”
“I get to watch him suffer as he loses something he loves. He might even keep Ariel. I don’t want that sniveling kid anyway. I want to see him writhe in agony.”
“Just because you want his money?” I lowered the knife a bit.
Morgan may’ve been crazy, but she was on a different level of crazy. She was the kind that wanted to butcher the mind, not the body.
Damn.
“Yes. When he divorced me, he took away my power. No one wanted me around anymore. I was cast out.” Morgan looked out the window brushing a piece of her dark red wavy hair behind her ear. That was all that mattered to her; money and power.
“That’s your fault for using him,” I said. “No one wanted you around because you’re a manipulative bitch.”
“And? That’s what rich people do.” She smiled, standing up straight again.
“That’s what bad people do.”
“Look, I don’t have all day. I want you gone, and I want to see it. So go, pack your shit and I’ll dump you off in the city. Go!” she demanded, pointing up to the stairs.
At first I hesitated. But that video… Darien would be humiliated. He was such a private person, and he’d kept his personal life out of the media for so long. But far worse, he might lose Ariel, and I could never, ever, be the cause of that.
And I was pregnant. If she found out about the baby, she’d do something crazy for sure, just to hurt Darien.
Even though the circumstances in which it was conceived were crazy, I knew I wanted this baby. I hadn’t ever thought I wanted to be a mother. But some natural maternal instinct came over me now that I was pregnant. And probably, now that I had spent so much time around Ariel, and fallen in love with her just as much as I had fallen in love with her father.
Oh, my God. How did I let myself go and fall in love with him? And his daughter too.
I would miss them so much. But there was a new life to think about now. I was going to be a mother.
I ran up the stairs, my stomach churning with sickness from Morgan’s threats and the changes my body was going through. Good thing I didn’t have too much. I stuffed what I could into my old duffle bag and struggled to the steps.
Morgan was waiting by the main door. I looked up and around.
“I’m sorry, Darien…” I said quietly to myself as I dragged my things down the steps.
“Good girl. Let’s go.”
Her car was a Rolls Royce Ghost. She slammed my things in the back and got in. I walked around to the other side of the car and glanced back up at the house for one final look.
“Good bye.”