The Billionaire's Bundle of Joy

Chapter 11

RIZ

“Even if you don’t say it, I will find out who did that, and there will be hell to pay. No one hurts the mother of my child and gets away with it.” His voice was cold, and there was no emotion in it except for the impending anger.

The car was ready when we reached the basement. Manong opened the door for us. Once we had our seatbelts on, the vehicle started moving. Just like the owner of the car, the interior was intimidating, as if the design was made for executives like him. The seats were leather, the inside smelled good, and there wasn’t a speck of dirt. Even the damn windows were clear despite the dark tint.

As we drove, he was typing on his cell phone. When he finished, he put it back in his chest pocket.

“What is it?” he asked me. He must have felt my gaze on him.

“I just wanted to know what to call you. I met you as Paul, but I don’t think the people around you call you that.”

“They call me Justin, but you can always call me Paul. That’s my name too.”

I tapped my fingers lightly on top of my purse that was on my lap. “Thank you.”

He nodded and turned his attention to the outside of the window. I felt sleepy and only jolted awake when I heard his phone ring.

“Veronica,” he answered the caller. “No, I’m not available. I’m not in the area. When? I’m not sure. We’re not doing this again.” His brow furrowed, and irritation was evident on his face. “No. If you want to have dinner with your parents, then join them. I don’t need to be there.”

He didn’t even say goodbye to the caller, but it seemed the woman hung up on him.

“Was that your girlfriend?” I asked him boldly.

“No.” Here we go with his one-syllable answers. “She’s my fiancée.”

I take that back. This was getting more complicated than I thought.

I fell silent at his response. I felt regret for asking him, but on the other hand, it was good to know where I stood. Why didn’t I think that he might already have a wife or a girlfriend? Just by looking at him, he wouldn’t lack female attention. I felt relieved, though, that he wasn’t married. I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened between us and he was already committed to someone else.

“Were you planning to tell me about her?” I then asked him.

“I didn’t think it was important.”

“Your fiancée. And I think she needs to know about the baby, as well as my staying in Batangas.” I felt like a candle about to be extinguished. “I think this is a bad idea. Are we far from the city? You can drop me off here. I can take it from here.”

From what I could tell, we hadn’t even gotten far from Manila. I didn’t want any more complications. I didn’t want to mess things up with his fiancée. As for the baby, I wouldn’t deny him the chance to be involved in our child’s life. He could always come to visit.

“Don’t start.” Those were just two words, but he was already beginning to irritate me again.

“I’m just thinking about the possible outcomes. I don’t want any trouble. Your fiancée will not like any of this: my pregnancy with your child and my staying in your house in Batangas. I shouldn’t have come to you. I just made the situation worse.”

I felt frustrated and lost. Why is it that when I take one step forward, I take two steps back? What kind of curse do I have that makes everything so difficult for me? I don’t deny the opportunity to be a mother—my baby is a blessing—but why does the father have to be a Calderon?

“She’s not my wife.” There was improvement. Four syllables.

“She will be soon. That’s why you call her your fiancée, right?” I didn’t get a reaction from him. “All I’m saying is that I’m trying to avoid trouble. What happened between us that night was a one-time thing, and believe me, it’s not something I usually do. I certainly didn’t expect to get pregnant so quickly. Didn’t you use a condom?”

He shrugged. Right. How could he answer my question if he didn’t remember?

“Justin, let’s just forget the whole thing,” I suggested to him. I felt like something bad would happen if we continued this.

“Don’t think about her. I will deal with Veronica.” I leaned back and closed my eyes. “Are you afraid of her?”

I suddenly opened my eyes and looked at him. “I am not afraid of her. What I don’t want is for a woman to confront me because she thinks I’m stealing you away. And not only that. How am I supposed to explain that I’m pregnant with your child when you’re not even married to me? Do you understand me? I am not being difficult this time. I know I’ve been acting crazy since you met me. Believe me, it’s not my usual. I’m blaming it on the hormones, but I’m thinking straight now. Let’s go back, and just drop me off at the plaza. I will call you when I find a place so you can visit the baby.”

A long silence filled the car. It was as if he was deep in thought and had no time to talk to me.

“Then let’s get married.”

“What?!” If this is what the calm before the storm feels like, I don’t want to repeat it. “That’s not funny. I have no time for your jokes. If you’re just teasing me, stop it. It’s not a good time.” My stress level was through the roof. If he wanted to annoy me, he could do it tomorrow.

Instead of answering me, he took his cell phone out of his pocket. “Tony, can you call Judge Sanchez? Tell him I’m getting married tonight. Yes, to Arizona. You have all the details. You know what to do.”

Now I had his full attention. Everything was happening so fast that I could hardly breathe.

If we got married, my father would find out about him. My head was starting to hurt even more. The problem was ten times bigger now. And what about his fiancée who was expecting him to marry her?

“Call him back and tell your friend that we are not getting married.”

“No.” Justin looked bored, and whatever I said didn’t seem to matter to him.

“I’m not marrying you,” I whispered, crossing my arms.

“If you are not going to marry me, I will have this car turn around and we will go straight to your father. At least, if we’re not getting married, I know I returned you to him and didn’t just leave you somewhere.” Justin looked upset.

“You wouldn’t dare.” If they faced each other, it would be chaos.

“Baby, I don’t joke about marriage. And just so you know, I don’t remember proposing to Veronica. After my accident, I didn’t remember much, but I know I dated her, and she was there. She started telling me that we were engaged. I’ve seen a couple of photos, so I went along with it. Does that make you feel better?”

It does, but I will not admit it to him. He called me “baby.” What am I supposed to think about that? That I’m special to him?

“We are doing this for the baby. When we arrive in Batangas, we will talk about our terms and have them drafted. The marriage is not going to be forever.”

Whatever I was thinking and feeling before, that I was special to him, suddenly melted away.

“So it’s going to be a f-fake marriage?” That’s a trend in soap operas. Rich people can pull that off too.

“It’s not going to be fake. It’s real. It just has an expiration date. This way, the child can carry my last name when the time comes. If you’re telling me the truth that I was the only man in your life, and the DNA test proves that I am the baby’s father, we won’t have any problems.”