Chapter 7

Valerie Vance POV

I went back to the apartment in my wet clothes.

I took a hot shower, changed, and sat on the edge of the bed in a daze for hours.

My mind was filled with the memory of Julian's lifeless, icy eyes.

I should have given up on him long ago. How could I have ever believed that a man like him could possess even a shred of genuine affection for me?

From beginning to end, I was just a fool living in a dream.

Suddenly, a violent wave of nausea hit me. I rushed to the bathroom and collapsed over the toilet, throwing up until there was nothing left but bitter bile.

I sat on the cold tile floor, completely drained of strength.

Lately, I hadn't been able to keep any food down, and my period was weeks late. I had assumed it was just stress.

But a sudden, terrifying thought crossed my mind.

I dragged myself up, put on some dry clothes, and walked to the nearest pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test.

In the pharmacy's public restroom, I watched as two bright red lines slowly but clearly appeared on the stick. My knees buckled, and I slid down the wall onto the floor.

I was pregnant.

Just when I was completely prepared to leave him forever, a new life, half-belonging to Julian, had taken root inside me.

I placed a trembling hand over my flat stomach, tears streaming down my face.

This baby couldn't have come at a worse time.

Julian would never want it. And if Serena found out, I wouldn't even be able to leave this city in one piece.

I had to leave before Julian found out. I had to leave immediately.

I took a cab back to the apartment. But the moment I saw Julian's black Maybach parked at the curb, my heart plummeted into a freezing abyss.

I pushed the door open. The apartment was pitch black.

Julian was sitting on the sofa, a lit cigarette smoldering between his fingers.

On the coffee table lay a crumpled medical bill. It was the receipt from my OB-GYN visit last week when I went in for a checkup.

Hearing the door, Julian slowly raised his head.

Those eyes, usually so indifferent and cool, were now filled with a terrifying, murderous rage.

He stood up, his voice dangerously low. "Valerie Vance, are you pregnant?"

I instinctively took a step back, my blood running cold. "I..."

Crash!

Julian hurled the heavy crystal ashtray at my feet. Shards of glass exploded across the hardwood floor, cutting my bare ankles.

He strode over in three giant steps, grabbed my jaw in a vice grip, and forced my face up. His grip was so tight I heard my bones protest.

"I personally made sure you took your birth control pills every single time. How the hell did you get pregnant? Did you tamper with the condoms? Or did you spit the pills out?"

He sneered, looking at me as if I were a disgusting stranger.

"Valerie, I never realized you could be this calculating. You saw that I was getting engaged to Serena, so you decided to trap me with a bastard child?"

His words stabbed straight into my chest, tearing my heart to shreds.

"I didn't..." Tears finally spilled over. Ignoring the pain in my jaw, I desperately grabbed his wrists, my voice cracking into a sob. "I only found out today... Julian, I don't want anything. I don't want your money. I'll leave right now. I'll go far away and never trouble you or Serena again..."

"Go far away?" Julian let out a dark, mocking laugh. His eyes were cold and merciless. "And let a stain carrying half my blood exist in this world? Giving you a permanent excuse to blackmail Serena in the future? In your dreams!"

He violently shoved me away.

In my weakened state, I lost my balance and fell hard against the sharp edge of the dining table, hitting my abdomen.

A sharp pain shot through my stomach, and I gasped, curling my body tightly to shield my womb.

Julian loomed over me, looking down at me like a god delivering a sentence. "Only Serena has the right to bear my children. The thing inside your stomach doesn't deserve to see the light of day."

I forced my head up, my eyes wide with utter despair. "Julian, this is your child too!"

Five years. Even if you raised a dog for five years, you would have some affection for it. Yet he didn't show a single ounce of hesitation.

"So what?" Julian adjusted his tie, his voice entirely flat. "Tomorrow morning, my medical team will perform the procedure."

Without another look, he turned on his heel and walked toward the door.

"If that thing inside her isn't cleaned out by tomorrow, you're all fired," he barked at the bodyguards waiting outside.

The heavy door slammed shut, crushing my very last hope.

My suitcase was standing right behind that door. I was only one step away from escaping with my baby.

I lay on the freezing floor, the blood from my ankles mixing with my tears on the wood.