A Billionaire's Baby

The Packing

Clarissa sealed one last box and stared at the boxes piled up in her living room. It had taken her several days to pack all of her stuff, whatever meagre belongings she had. 

“I suppose we can discard this?” Jane walked out from her room, holding a ratty torn rug with two fingers at arm’s length, her face scrunched up in disgust. “Why do you still have it anyway? It’s so worn out and I can’t even make out the original colour anymore,” she added.

Clarissa grinned at her friend’s expression. The rug was a house warming gift from her dad. She had kept it out of sentimental value. It was originally orange with “Love Keeps Us Sane” written on it with a red heart. Now, the words were barely discernible except for a red blotch for the heart. 

“That was a gift from my dad!” she said. “I want to keep it,” she lied.

Jane scrunched up her face even more. “Ugh. Okay. But maybe we need to wash it or clean it somehow?” she turned the offending piece of material over, thinking of ways to salvage it. 

Clarissa laughed. “I’m just messing with you, you can throw it away. Thank you so much for helping me pack,” she said gratefully.

It has been a month since she told Max about her pregnancy and despite Max’s “orders” for her to move into his place and get their marriage “privately” registered as soon as possible, things somehow did not move as fast as he wanted.

His lawyer did contact her with the pre-nup. It was a stack of tedious documents listing out some of the terms Max told her and more. In short, she will not be entitled to any of his fortune or company except for a settlement of $50 million for her upon an amicable divorce but she would not be entitled to a single cent if she had an affair while they were still married.

She had read the $50 million settlement in shock, gasping so loudly the lawyer had looked at her weirdly. She assumed Max was rich but not that rich. Of course there were the terms regarding the baby too, if she lost it during pregnancy through no fault of hers (such as not partaking in bungee jumping while pregnant), they will divorce immediately and she will still be entitled to the same settlement amount. There were also a bunch of other terms about her family not having any rights to his fortune and company or the settlement for her. It was all to protect his fortune except for the sum that he agreed to give her. 

Finding no issues with it, she had signed it. After all, she has no interest in his fortune or his company. She doubt that her family has any interest in his fortune or company either. Not that she has told them about Max or her pregnancy yet. 

She would have settled with a $5 million settlement, much less $50 million. How does one even spend $50 million?

After signing the pre-nup, she had curiously asked the lawyer about Max. He had stiffly told her that Max is one of the top 10 billionaires in the country and was on the front page of Forbes for his innovative tech start-up company which is now a Fortune 500 company. 

Not having a best friend anymore was a drag. She didn’t have anyone to talk to about the pre-nup, the marriage to Max and her pregnancy. Instead, she turned to Dr Jane Cho who had been a friend for many years but their interactions previously were usually doctor-patient related. 

However, due to her frequent calls to Jane over the last few weeks, they became close. So, when she told Jane she had to start packing, the other woman had offered to help her. 

“Talking about your dad…have you told him about Max and your baby?” Jane asked, dumping the rug in the large black plastic bag set aside for garbage and unusable items. She walked over to Clarissa and slumped onto the armchair. She had helped pack most of Clarissa’s stuff in her room and helped to move the boxes out to the living room. 

Clarrisa shook her head. Her dad calls her every week and each time she contemplated telling him but chickened out. 

“I don’t really know how to broach the subject…how do you tell your dad that you got knocked up by a stranger and its a very rich stranger and the stranger has offered to marry you?” 

Jane tilted her head, as if thinking of a way. Then she shook her head.

“I suppose it won’t be easy. Just our luck to have typical Asian dads, eh? I am certain if I was to tell my dad this, he would either have a stroke, take the next flight out to kill me, kill the guy who knocked me up and then kill me all over again,” Jane said drily. 

“But then it would take a miracle for anyone to knock me up. I think I would die of a heart attack if I suddenly get pregnant after a one-night stand! All eggs and no sperm does not a baby make,” she added. 

Clarissa laughed. She really liked Jane’s dry sense of humour. She is a refreshing change from Bella. At least she knows Jane will never steal her boyfriend, or in this case, her soon-to-be husband. Jane is gay and still single, though she do sleep around a lot. 

“Okay, so tell me, how do you come out to your parents then? Maybe I’ll use the same technique… to announce my pregnancy,” Clarissa said. 

Jane rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? My parents still think I am their pious innocent Catholic virgin straight daughter who is too busy being a doctor to date. Can you imagine the war that will break out if I come out to them??” 

“You have a point there. What are we gonna do? No, actually, what am I gonna do? You don’t have to come out to your parents anytime soon but obviously, I have to tell mine soon, very soon, ” Clarissa sighed heavily. She kicked her feet up on her coffee table and stared at the small lump on her belly. 

She is now almost 12 weeks along. She could feel the baby shifting and fluttering inside her, like a butterfly. Not for the first time, she wondered if she will be having a girl or a boy and if Max had wanted a girl or a boy. 

She is due for a scan next week and had asked Jane to accompany her. She was contemplating telling Max to come along too but had not done so. 

The only communication they’ve had since the night she told him were some very short messages. He was often quite brusque in his messages. He would send her “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” messages and she would always reply “I’m okay, I miss you”. He would sometimes reply with “I miss you too. Soon, we will be together.” but in recent days, his replies were just “Take care. Max”. 

Sometimes he would call her but he would always be in a hurry. He always appeared to be rushing to a meeting and to be calling her in between meetings. Their conversations were always around the baby and how she was feeling and if she needed anything. 

“I suppose you can do it like how we rip off bandages, fast and direct to the point,” Jane suggested. 

“I guess…since dad is in another state, I guess, it won’t be so bad to tell him over the phone,” she said.

“But seriously, there won’t be a wedding at all? I mean he’s a billionaire, why can’t he afford a small wedding? I mean, you are getting married! Even if it’s for the wrong reason,” Jane said.

Clarissa shrugged. She would have wanted a nice private wedding with family and close friends but does marrying someone because you are pregnant constitute an actual marriage? It felt like such a sham. 

Does she really want a wedding even though their marriage isn’t an actual marriage?

“I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to want a wedding and I would look horrible in a wedding gown with my bump,” she said, gesturing to the tiny bump on her belly.

Jane laughed. “Are you mad? That’s a tiny bump, no one would even notice! I think you should demand a wedding at the very least,” she said.

“It wasn’t in the pre-nup right? It never said that you can’t have a wedding!” she added.

“But it will be such a hassle to plan a wedding…I am so exhausted these days, I just don’t want to bother, actually,” Clarissa replied.

“Hello, earth to the future Mrs Maximillian Forest The Third! He is rolling in dough. He is so rich he has money coming out of his asshole, so I am sure he can afford the best wedding planner money can buy to do everything for you. All you need to do is to go for a gown fitting and walk down the aisle. How hard is that?” Jane pointed out.

“To quote Katniss Everdeen, I volunteer!” she said, “To be your maid of honour, that is,” 

“To quote a certain Dr Jane Cho, I don’t have money coming out of my asshole, that would be highly uncomfortable,” a deep amused voice said behind them. 

The women gasped.