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1143 Words
Isabel stared at the doctor like he’d just spoken in another language.
Pregnant.
“Miss Manor?” the doctor asked again, gently. “Did you hear me?”
She nodded slowly, though the answer didn’t feel real. She wasn’t ready to say it out loud yet. Her hand fell to her stomach, resting there.
Mercy leaned closer, eyebrows drawn tight.
“Wait...Isaac’s??” she panicked, whispering, “but you didn't go through with the insemination! You said...oh my God,” her eyes widened, “did you sleep with him?!”
Isabel didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. The silence was loud enough.
She looked away, blinking fast. Her mind went to that night, she hadn’t been thinking clearly, hadn’t been thinking at all. There’d been no plan, no protection. She had completely forgotten about taking contraceptives as she was busy trying to get her ways to save her brother.
Mercy’s phone buzzed against the plastic chair for the third time in under a minute. She sighed, picked it up, and squinted at the screen. Her expression shifted from confusion to mild frustration.
“They’re calling me into work,” she muttered, dragging a hand through her curls. “Now of all times.”
Isabel didn’t say anything. She was still sitting up in the hospital bed, staring at nothing in particular, her fingers curled lightly around the thin blanket.
Mercy stood, sliding her bag over her shoulder. “You owe me a story, a big one.”
Isabel blinked and gave her a small, tired smile. “I’ll explain everything. Just… not today.”
Mercy nodded, but her eyes softened as she leaned in and gave Isabel’s hand a quick squeeze. “Try not to run off to billionaire towers or faint in kitchens again, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
Mercy started toward the door, then paused. “I’m sorry I can’t take you home myself.”
“It’s alright. I’ll manage.”
She lingered a second longer, then finally left. The door clicked quietly behind her, and Isabel was alone again.
Isabel's fingers clenched the blanket.
She wasn’t even fully out of the hospital yet when her phone buzzed in her lap. She almost didn’t check it but something told her to.
It was an unknown number. She tapped to open it.
*you have one week until your brother dies.*
Her stomach dropped.
The phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor, they weren’t bluffing anymore. She didn’t have time to think, she grabbed her bag, signed the discharge papers with shaking hands, and walked straight out of the hospital.
There was only one man who had the kind of money to fix this, only one man who could even afford to look at that kind of number like it was spare change.
The receptionist at Dun International didn’t even get a full sentence in before Isabel walked right past her.
“I’m sorry, miss, do you have an appointment?”
“I’m not leaving until I see him.”
Security stepped in.
“Ma’am, we’re going to have to ask you to calm down.”
“I’m calm,” Isabel snapped, fire burning in her chest. “I just want to see Mr Dun by all means, drag me out, let the press outside get a good look while you're at it.”
The noise started to build, phones ringing, staff watching but she didn't care.
Her hands were shaking, her heart going wild, but she kept her feet planted like roots. She wasn’t leaving not without speaking to him.
Then the elevator doors opened and he stepped out in a charcoal suit, tie slightly loosened like he’d just finished a meeting. He paused when he saw the crowd, then his eyes landed on her, and they didn’t leave.
His expression was unreadable, he walked straight toward them, “let her through,” he said, cool and clipped.
The guards backed off immediately, her chin rose.
Isaac’s eyes narrowed. “Follow me.”
The office door shut behind them with a quiet click and second they were alone, he glared at her, “I’m pretty sure,” he said, without looking at her, “I told you to stay away.”
She was already trembling, already bracing herself.
“I wouldn’t be here if I had a choice,” she said. “I’m pregnant.”
He turned his head just enough to look at her, no emotion, just a slow blink, “so?”
She flinched at the poison laced in his voice, “It’s yours.”
For a second, the room went dead silent and she felt like she was dying in that moment and then he broke the silence by breaking into loud laughter.
“And I’m supposed to believe that?” he asked, "you think I’m that stupid?”
Her chest tightened. “What are you...”
“You crawled into bed with me like it was nothing, maybe someone else got there before me, or after, who knows.”
Her hand moved before her thoughts caught up, the slap echoed across the room.
He staggered back a step, eyes wide.
“You really think I’m that kind of woman?” she asked, voice shaking. “Is that the real reason why you ended things? I knew me having an ex boyfriend was not it, it was too easy for you to end things. So was that it?Because you decided I was some desperate slut who couldn’t keep her legs closed?”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak.
She took a breath, tried to stay standing. “You think you can control everything, that if something doesn’t fit into your cold, perfect plan, you throw it away, you threw me away.”
“I protected my life,” he said quietly.
“No,” she whispered. “You protected your pride, why do I get the blame? You were the one who climbed in bed with me like it was nothing! So you're just as much a slut as I am!”
Issac was stunned. No one had spoken this way to him in ages, everyone trembled where he walked, tried to make things look perfect for his sake but here she was, this stranger, yelling at him after slapping him.
She stepped closer, chin high, her voice steady now.
“You listen to me, Mr. Dun. The contract is back on.”
He frowned. “Excuse me?”
“I said it’s back on and this time, I'm going to add my own elements to it, I’m carrying your child and I’m begging for your money, yes, but I threw away my dignity when I let you f**k me, so I have nothing more to lose but your next decision is going to decide what happens to this child you want so bad.”
- Writer
