Chapter 11

The plate in my hand falls to the floor breaking into pieces. The sound echoes, making me gasp. My heart breaks into a million pieces within my body, piercing my pride and self-esteem.

I get on my knees without thinking to pick up the broken pieces with shaking hands.

"Let me take care of this," Louis says, helping me up.

I blink back the tears while trying to avoid his eyes.

"No, I will do this. It's just a plate," I say. I go find a dustpan and broom. I clean my mess fully aware that everyone is watching me.

"Your fiancée? I see…" Emma says. She is clearly angry. "You must be Samantha Rosaline Atlas, the daughter of Matthew Atlas, who deals in the distribution of electric appliances."

I knew she looked oddly familiar. Her dad was Colt’s, Chance’s father, partner for the years now. I have only seen her in the papers, but she is more elegant in real life.

"Yes, and you must be Emmalynn Harley Hector," she says curiously.

I grab a new plate from the cabinet and walk into the dining room. I place it on the table and avoid eye contact as much as possible.

"You are pregnant," she says, sounding amazed.

I sit between Louis and Damien, choosing to keep quiet.

"Yeah, we can all see that," Emma says staring at her like she is the most ridiculous person ever.

I give Emma a look and smile politely. "Yes, I am pregnant."

"is it from a one-night stand?" she asks.

I cough awkwardly, serving myself a small portion of food. "Um…yeah, I was trying to loosen up, be a big girl, and do something crazy," I say, fumbling with my food.

"Oh, too bad. I hope you learned from your mistake, and you have to be grateful to my baby here for letting you stay," she says sweetly before kissing Chance on his cheek.

"I am actually running late for my scheduled class this evening, so please excuse me," I mutter. I push my chair back before walking up the stairs to my room. I push the door closed and my walls come crumbling down. My body quakes with sobs.

"Why? Why?" I cried for my lost love.

This is what I get for loving him. He got engaged just because I refused to abort this baby. It hurts to love someone and have dreams about living happily with them and accomplishing goals with them only to end up watching them do those things with someone else.

Walking into the bathroom, I wash my face with water while avoiding looking in the mirror. I refuse to look in the mirror and see disappointment looking right back at me. I refuse to look in the mirror to see how broken I have become. I refuse to look into the mirror to see how helpless I have become. I refuse to look in the mirror to find my mother's eyes staring back at me telling me, “I told you so.”

I dry my face with a hand towel before blinking to ease my aching eyes from crying.

I put on sunglasses to hide the evidence of crying and walk out of my room. I walk into the dining room. The tension is so thick, a knife could cut through it.

"I am leaving now," I announce, walking as fast as I can out of the room.

***

Chance’s POV:

I watch her run out of the room. I could not bring myself to look into her eyes. I know I would only see distress and pain.

But I have to do this for her sake, to protect her, even if it means breaking her heart. She will heal in time and move on from me. I am angry at myself for causing her this much pain and betraying her love for me.

"Chance, what is this?" Emma snaps, glaring at me with fervor.

I lock my gaze with hers, not finding any words.

"How could you do this?" she yells.

I notice Damien trying to calm her down, but she jerks out of her seat, making the chair fall back loudly to the floor.

"I won't let you do this," she says. There’s a hidden promise in her words. She walks out the front door leaving us staring after her.

I felt irritated with myself.

"Let’s go," I say to Samantha, and I stand up to leave while trying to hold my anger in.

I unlock my car and get in. I wait for Samantha to get in before driving off towards Samantha's home.

The drive is silent with me ignoring everything she says or asks. As soon as she got out of the car, I drove off without saying goodbye. I really need to speak with Mum before I go crazy.

At the house, two guards by the door greeted me. I ring the doorbell and Lisa, the oldest maid working for us, opens the door. She’s more like family since she was my nanny. She should be in her forties now.

"Welcome, young master," she says, smiling.

She pulls the door wider for me to come in.

"Is Mum home?" I ask her.

"Yes, she’s working from home today," she answers with a smile.

I thank her before walking up the stairs to my mother’s room. I knock on her door.

"Come in," she says.

I push the door open and enter to find her sitting cross-legged on her bed. There are papers lying on the bed and a laptop resting in front of her.

Her hair is packed neatly into a bun, and she’s dressed in a blue and black dotted shirt and black jeans.

She grins widely. "Hey, son. I was thinking you wouldn't come to see me after I returned from my trip," she says with a smirk.

I frown and pull a seat from the desk to sit beside her bed. "Don't do that Mum. I was trying to solve some issues," I say, taking her hands in mine.

"Is everything okay?" she asks. holding my hands tightly in hers.

I haven't yet told her about Shiloh's pregnancy because she was on a business trip, but my Dad knew before I could even say anything.

“I have something I need to tell you," I say gazing at our hands. "Shiloh is pregnant." I stare into her eyes, and they are full of surprise and amusement. At least, she is not disappointed.

"Wow, that’s such good news! Even though I was expecting you guys to get married first, but all the same. It means we have to get prepared for the wedding and my grandchild," she says with a big grin. Her eyes sparkle with excitement until she sees the expression on my face.

"There is more, right?" she asks.

I nod my head before replying. "Mr. Dante kicked her out of his house, confiscated her bank account, credit cards, and even her car, but he stills pays for her tuition," I say.

"Oh my god, how could he do something like that?" she says stunned and bewildered. "And what is her mother doing about all this?" she asks curiously.

"She actually called me after everything to tell me to take care of Shiloh," I shrug.

"That woman will never learn, leaving her pregnant daughter out on the streets," she says, angrily balling her hands into fists.

She never got along with Mrs. Dante because they are rivals. They get at each other’s necks at an opportunity.

"Mum, don't let your anger cloud your better judgment," I say, trying to make her see reason here and not just get angry.

"I know, but I feel for Shiloh. She has always been like an alien in that family, and this is just too much," she says sadly. Her voice cracks a bit.

Mum loves Shiloh like a daughter and has been supportive of her ever since we started dating.

"I did something to hurt her even more," I continue, bowing my head in shame.

"Chance, what did you do?" she asked warily.

"I tried to make her miserable. I made her do all my housework…and I took Samantha home and introduced her has my fiancée," I say reluctantly.

"Why would you do that? That’s awful! She’s pregnant and should not be doing all your extra housework. And Sam? You never dated Sam. You don't even get along with her but now you are engaged to her?" she asks. She stops momentarily like she solved a puzzle. "Your Dad is behind all this, isn’t he?" she says.

I blink twice. "Mum, no, this is all my idea. I am doing this for Shiloh's sake," I say, surprised by what she came up with.

"And why do you think this the best solution?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

I exhale shakily, finding the best way to answer her question.

"I am not sure, Mum. I am flustered by everything, and I really don't know what I’m doing anymore," I say, running my hands through my hair and feeling frustrated.

She pulls me into her embrace. I rest my head on her shoulder and savor her embrace. She pats my hair softly.

"The only thing I can tell you right now is to try to figure this out the right way before you make the wrong decision," she says. "Don't make dumb decisions like make her your maid, so that you lose her and your baby forever. You’ll come to regret that forever." She withdraws from the embrace with a smile on her lips.

"I need to see Shiloh. I can only imagine what she’s going through right now," she says thoughtfully.

"Mum, please don't tell her about anything we discussed.”

"Trust me, son, this is between us," she says with a warm smile. A smirk appears on her lips. "Okay, you are having dinner with me," she says, standing up from the bed.

"I have to get going. It’s dark already."

"Exactly. All the more reason for you to stay. Your father will be joining us as soon as he gets back from work," she says, leaving no room for argument.

I grin widely at her feeling a little bit at ease.