Chapter 10

JOHNNY

I must admit that the house is beautiful and very big for just one person. When I asked where we were going and you handed me the paper with the address, I was surprised. I didn't expect that your angry father had bought you such a well-located and nice house.

"If he bought you this house while angry, maybe if he were happy, he would buy you a palace," I commented, standing beside you.

"And what makes you think it was my father who bought the house?" you asked, frowning.

"Well, because you're the 'princess' of your family and you have everything you want, whenever you want it, and wherever you want it," I sarcastically replied without looking at you.

"I'm not anyone's 'princess'," you retorted, blushing with anger. "I bought it with the inheritance my grandparents left me when they died," you looked at me angrily, a hint of sadness in your beautiful green eyes. "Besides, my father didn't know about my pregnancy when I bought it, you idiot," you added hatefully.

I raise my eyebrows, hiding behind the mockery of the confusion caused by knowing that the princess has her own money, even if it's an inheritance. And this place is one of the best villas in Los Angeles, one of the most luxurious, and the house looming in front of us is not the simplest in the area. On the contrary, it is one of the biggest and most beautiful.

I open my mouth to respond to the insult when a sports car parks behind mine. Laura and I turn our attention to the person getting out of the vehicle. A man who looks at the mother of my future child with a smile on his lips.

"Good afternoon, I'm Dave Sandoval, the real estate agent. You must be Laura Mason, nice to meet you," he introduces himself, extending his hand to Laura, who shakes it and smiles in response. "And who are you?" the man inquires, this time addressing me.

"The father of your child," I reply simply, feeling Laura's gaze on my profile and the man in front of me straightening up and forcing a smile.

"Ah... Well, let's enter the house to proceed with the signing of the document," he speaks seriously.

Laura nods and follows him to the entrance of the house. After glancing at both sides of the street in front of the house, I straighten my suit jacket and approach to join them.

Inside, the place is even more beautiful. The furniture and decorations remain in place, and the floor is perfectly polished, standing out in white.

The man and Laura take a seat on an L-shaped black sofa and immediately begin with the paperwork. I sit down next to Laura, patiently waiting for them to finish, which takes them more than half an hour with smiles, jokes, and finally, the signing and handing over of the keys.

The man says goodbye and, accompanied by the girl, exits the house.

It's the moment.

I convince myself once we're finally alone.

"I need to clarify some things to you," I say as she looks at me, nods, and finishes closing the distance to sit on the armchair in front of me. "We agree that what happened between you and me was a one-night thing, but due to our irresponsibility, we are now going to be parents," I try to be condescending. "I didn't ask for it and I didn't want it, but I also can't pretend like I know nothing and carry on with my life knowing that somewhere in the world, there's my child," I clarify, doing my best to make her understand my point.

"I know that what happened between you and me was a mistake and...

"Yes! That's it; a mistake! That's what that baby is, a mistake that shouldn't have happened, but ultimately did, and we can't do anything else but accept it.

I speak without thinking, and quickly sadness and disappointment pass through her expressive and beautiful eyes, followed by tears that don't leave her orbs. I lower my gaze and nod, I don't like doing this, I don't want to be a jerk and make her feel bad, but it's the truth; that child is a mistake that has distorted both of our lives in just three weeks of gestation.

"I'm sorry, Laura, but I have a life. A girlfriend who has been my fiancée for over four years." Upon hearing this, she stands up, and her gaze quickly becomes expressionless towards me. "A family to whom I can't suddenly say that I'll have a child with someone else. I am the owner of all the Smith companies, and the news that I will have a child with a woman who is not my fiancée would damage my public image.

"So, what do you intend to do then?" she asks with hardness, disguising her tears with annoyance. "I..." her voice breaks, and she pauses for a moment, lowering her gaze and taking a breath. "I'm not asking you to take care of my child financially, I just..." tears escape her, and she quickly wipes them away, turning away. "I just want you to be present in his life... nothing more.

"And I'm not saying I won't take responsibility," I clarify. "Just understand and accept that I won't be available all the time; I have a life that I need to attend to.

"I suppose I don't have any other option, do I?" she asks, disappointed, and I remain silent. "It wouldn't do me any good to refuse when I'm thousands of kilometers away from home, from my family. I guess I'll have to get used to living in your shadow with my child." I avoid responding again because that's exactly what I want.

Like it or not, whether she likes it or not. I don't want to lose the stability I have, and going out after years with her and my child in her womb would ruin everything.

In response to my silence, she nods resignedly and lowers her gaze.

"Yes, I understand. You'll be with him, on the condition that no one knows he's your child." She looks into my eyes again. "Fine." She accepts angrily.

I nod, not surprised that she agrees; I lived with her family, I know they are moralists, and right now she has no other choice but to accept what I impose.

"Perfect, I'll pick you up at half past five in the evening to go to the doctor," I announce, getting up and walking towards the exit, with her following behind me.

As we reach the door, I turn the doorknob and stop outside when she speaks to me:

"You know, Johnny?" she inquires, and I look into her eyes. "I had a family too, a home. A life that I left behind for this 'mistake'." She touches her flat belly, emphasizing the word. "And I'm sorry, it was very naive of me to think that you would also give up something of what I gave up for this baby, which in the end is just a mistake that shouldn't exist.

She continues emphasizing the word and adds with a sad smile:

"But I understand you, you know? I wouldn't want to risk everything for someone I've only known for a short while and who will just happen to be the

mother of your child. The only difference between you and me is that I'm the one carrying the child inside me, and I can't run away just like that, and just the thought of abortion makes me nauseous." Her green eyes moisten again. "I can't end his life because deep down I love him, and I know I'll end up adoring him, even though he has completely disrupted my life." She looks into my eyes intensely and smiles. "Goodbye, Johnny. I'll see you at five."

She closes the door before the accumulated tears in her eyes overflow onto her flushed cheeks, leaving me facing the white wood.

I can't deny that everything she said somehow unsettles me; she left everything behind just to give her child a father, who can only offer them money and scraps of his time. Simply put, I can't be with them even if I want to, my life... my father, forced me to be different.

The only person in my family who knows I'm going to have a child is my mother, and only because I told her amid a drunken state, but she will keep the secret, even though she doesn't agree with keeping my child a secret. However, the situation leaves us no other choice.

I won't be able to be with my child in the way he needs me to be.