Chapter 50 The Pregnancy Scare
Harper stared at the pregnancy test in her hand, her vision blurring at the edges.
Two weeks late. She was never late.
The test sat on the bathroom counter, still processing, the little window showing nothing yet. Harper's hands shook as she set a timer on her phone. Three minutes. Three minutes to find out if her life was about to change completely.
Sebastian was at the emergency board meeting. Fighting to keep his position as CEO after their public confession about the contract marriage. He'd kissed her goodbye this morning with promises that everything would be fine, that the board would understand, that truth was their strongest weapon.
Harper had smiled and nodded and waited until he left to take the test she'd bought yesterday.
Her period was late. Two weeks late. And she'd been nauseous every morning for the past week.
It could be stress. Everything they'd been through would make anyone's cycle irregular. The attacks, the press conference, the constant fear and adrenaline.
Or it could be pregnancy.
Harper sat on the edge of the bathtub, phone in one hand, trying to breathe normally. They'd been careful. Mostly. There had been a few times when careful had turned to passionate and neither of them had been thinking clearly.
The night after he'd proposed with his grandmother's ring. The morning they'd reconciled after her brief separation. That weekend when they'd thought everything was finally over.
Any of those times could have resulted in this.
The timer went off. Three minutes.
Harper's hand shook as she reached for the test.
One line meant not pregnant. Two lines meant pregnant.
She looked.
Two lines. Faint but unmistakable.
Harper set the test down carefully and pressed her hands to her face. Pregnant. She was pregnant.
With Sebastian's baby. Her contract husband who'd become her real husband. The man she loved and who loved her back but who'd explicitly said he wasn't sure about wanting children.
They'd had that conversation during their DTR talk. Both uncertain. Both willing to figure it out eventually but not ready to decide.
Eventually had just become now.
Harper's phone buzzed. Sebastian calling.
She let it go to voicemail. She couldn't talk to him yet. Couldn't hear his voice and keep the secret and pretend everything was normal.
She needed time to think. To process. To figure out what she wanted before telling him what was happening.
Did she want this baby?
Harper put her hand on her still-flat stomach. A baby. Their baby. The product of a relationship that had started as pure transaction and become something real and messy and beautiful.
She tried to imagine Sebastian as a father. Gentle with a tiny infant. Patient with a toddler. Present for school events and birthday parties.
But she also remembered his words: "I had a terrible father and I'm terrified of repeating his mistakes."
What if he didn't want this? What if the pregnancy scared him away? What if this was the thing that finally broke them?
Harper stood and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same as yesterday. But everything had changed.
She took the test and wrapped it in tissue, tucking it deep in the bathroom trash. Sebastian wouldn't look there. She'd have time to figure out what to say.
Her phone buzzed again. This time a text from Sebastian.
"Board meeting went better than expected. Coming home early. Want to celebrate?"
Celebrate. Harper felt hysterical laughter bubble up. She was pregnant and he wanted to celebrate keeping his job.
She texted back: "Sounds good. See you soon."
Then she went to her room, the separate space Sebastian had said she could keep, and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling.
A baby. Their baby.
Harper tried to imagine telling Jessie. Her friend would be thrilled. Would immediately start planning baby showers and offering parenting advice and talking about how Emma and Lucas would love having a baby to play with.
She tried to imagine telling Claire. Sebastian's sister would cry happy tears and immediately start buying tiny clothes and planning nursery designs.
But Harper couldn't get past imagining telling Sebastian. His face when she said the words. The moment he'd either step up or pull away.
She'd watched her own life change when her parents died. Watched her aunt struggle to raise a child she hadn't planned for. She knew how unprepared love could leave you when reality demanded more than emotions could provide.
Harper's hand went to her stomach again. "I don't know what to do," she whispered to the tiny cluster of cells. "I don't know if I'm ready. If he's ready. If we're ready."
The apartment door opened. Sebastian's voice calling out. "Harper? Where are you?"
She sat up, wiping her eyes. "In my room."
He appeared in the doorway, still in his suit but looking lighter than he had in weeks. "The board voted. Eight to two in my favor. I keep the CEO position." He crossed to her, pulling her up into a hug. "We won, Harper. We actually won."
Harper let herself be held, breathing in his familiar scent, feeling his heart beat against hers. Inside her, cells were dividing. Growing. Becoming a person who would tie them together forever regardless of contracts or feelings or choices.
"That's amazing," she managed. "I'm so proud of you."
Sebastian pulled back to look at her face. "Are you okay? You look pale."
"Just tired. The past few weeks have been exhausting."
"I know. But it's over now. Patricia's in custody. The board supports me. We can finally just live." He kissed her forehead. "No more crisis. No more threats. Just us building the life we want."
Harper felt tears threaten. "Sebastian—"
"I know. It's overwhelming. But Harper, we made it. We survived everything they threw at us." He cupped her face. "And now we get our happy ending."
She wanted to tell him. The words were right there. But fear locked them in her throat.
What if he wasn't ready? What if this was too much too fast? What if she was about to ruin everything they'd just won?
"I need to tell you something," Harper said finally.
Sebastian's expression shifted to concern. "Okay. What is it?"
Harper opened her mouth. Closed it. Tried again. "I'm—"
Her phone rang. Jessie's ringtone.
"Don't answer it," Sebastian said. "Tell me first."
But Harper was already reaching for the phone, grateful for the reprieve. "It might be important. Just give me a second."
She answered. "Jessie?"
"Harper, thank God. Turn on the news. Channel seven. Right now."
"What? Why?"
"Just do it. Trust me."
Sebastian grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Channel seven was showing a press conference. The headline made Harper's blood run cold.
"Patricia Chen's Attorney Claims Client Has Evidence of Colton Industries' Financial Fraud"
They watched as Patricia's lawyer stood at a podium, looking smug and professional. "My client has been unfairly targeted by Sebastian Colton to cover up massive financial irregularities within his company. She has documentation proving that Colton Industries has been engaging in money laundering, tax evasion, and fraudulent accounting practices for years."
Sebastian's face went white. "That's not true. That's completely fabricated."
"Mrs. Chen was attempting to expose these crimes when she was falsely arrested," the lawyer continued. "We will be filing a lawsuit against Mr. Colton for defamation, false imprisonment, and conspiracy to conceal corporate fraud."
Harper felt the room spin. This wasn't over. It would never be over.
"Sebastian," she whispered. "Your board just voted to keep you. If Patricia has evidence, even fake evidence—"
"They'll reverse the vote." Sebastian's voice was hollow. "They'll have no choice. The scandal would destroy the company."
The lawyer was still talking. "We're calling for an immediate independent audit of Colton Industries. We believe this investigation will reveal systematic corruption at the highest levels."
Sebastian's phone exploded with calls. Board members. Lawyers. Press.
Harper watched him take the first call, watched his expression shift from shock to resignation. She heard him say "I understand" and "I'll cooperate fully" and "No, I won't fight the audit."
When he hung up, he looked at her with exhausted eyes. "The board is suspending me pending investigation. I'm out as CEO effective immediately."
Harper felt the pregnancy test burning in the bathroom trash. The secret growing in her body. The words she still hadn't said.
"Sebastian, I'm sorry. This is—"
"Not over. It's never going to be over, is it?" He sat on the bed heavily. "Every time we think we've won, another attack comes. Another accusation. Another crisis."
Harper sat beside him, taking his hand. "We'll fight this too. We'll prove Patricia's lying."
"Will we? Or will we just keep fighting forever until there's nothing left of us?" Sebastian looked at her. "Harper, I'm tired. I'm so tired of dragging you through my family's dysfunction. Of watching you suffer for being married to me."
"I chose to marry you. Really marry you."
"Did you? Or did I just trap you with emotions and grand gestures and proposals you couldn't refuse?"
Harper felt panic rising. "Sebastian, don't do this. Don't let Patricia win by destroying us from the inside."
"She already won. Can't you see that?" Sebastian's voice cracked. "I just lost my company. Our marriage is a public scandal. Your hotel's reputation is tainted by association with me. What exactly have we won, Harper?"
"Each other. We won each other."
"Is that enough? When everything else is burning down?"
Harper's hand went to her stomach without conscious thought. Sebastian noticed the gesture and his eyes widened.
"Harper. Why do you keep doing that? Touching your stomach like—" He stopped. Stared. "No. Tell me I'm wrong."
Harper felt tears spill over. "I was going to tell you. Before all this. I was going to tell you and now everything's falling apart and I don't know what to do."
"Tell me what?" But his voice said he already knew.
"I'm pregnant," Harper whispered. "Two weeks late. I took a test. It's positive."
Sebastian stood abruptly, walking to the window. He stood there silent, shoulders rigid, for what felt like hours.
When he finally spoke, his voice was barely audible. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"How long have you known?"
"Two hours. I found out right before you came home."
Another long silence. Harper watched him process, saw the moment the news truly hit him.
"A baby," he finally said. "We're having a baby."
"Yes."
"In the middle of all this. With everything falling apart. With my career destroyed and our lives under siege." Sebastian laughed, but it sounded broken. "Perfect timing."
Harper felt something crack inside her chest. "Sebastian—"
"I need some space. I need to think." He grabbed his jacket. "I'm going to Claire's. I'll be back tomorrow."
"Sebastian, please. Don't leave. Not now."
He stopped at the door, not looking back. "I love you, Harper. But I can't do this right now. I can't process the company and Patricia and a baby all at once. I need time."
Then he was gone.
Harper sat alone in the too-quiet apartment, one hand on her stomach, tears streaming down her face.
She was pregnant.
Sebastian was gone.
And once again, everything was falling apart.