Chapter 37 Chapter 37
Hailey’s POV
Isabella’s eyes were cold as ice as she stared at me, her lips pressed into a thin line of disapproval.
“I received an anonymous tip,” she said, her voice clipped and precise. “At first, I didn’t believe it. I told myself my son wouldn’t be so foolish as to settle for a college girl with no family, no connections, no understanding of our world.” She paused, her gaze raking over me from head to toe. “But here you are. Proof that I was wrong.”
The words stung, each one landing like a small cut. I tried to keep my face neutral, tried to pretend that her contempt didn’t hurt, but I could feel my cheeks burning with humiliation.
“Mother, that’s enough,” Damien said, his voice carrying a warning edge.
“Enough?” Isabella repeated, turning her fury back on her son. “I haven’t even begun. This girl has no place in our family, in our organization. She’s a liability, a weakness that will be exploited by our enemies.”
She turned back to me, and the disgust in her expression made me want to disappear.
“Security!” she called out sharply. “Remove this girl from the premises. Immediately.”
Two large men in suits started moving toward me, and panic shot through my chest. I took a step back, my good hand instinctively moving to protect my stomach.
“Stand down,” Damien’s voice cut through the room like a blade, sharp and commanding.
The security guards froze, uncertainty flickering across their faces as they looked between Damien and Isabella.
“Did you not hear me?” Isabella demanded. “I said remove her!”
“And I said stand down,” Damien repeated, his voice dropping to something dangerous. “Now.”
The guards took a step back, and I could see the shock rippling through the room. Damien had just countermanded his mother’s order. In front of everyone.
Isabella’s face went pale, then flushed red with fury. “You would defy me? For her?”
“Yes,” Damien said simply, moving to stand between me and his mother. “I would.”
Before Isabella could respond, the sound of footsteps on the stairs drew everyone’s attention.
Sophia appeared, descending gracefully in designer clothes, her face lighting up when she saw Isabella.
“Nonna!” she exclaimed, rushing over to embrace her grandmother. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
“Sophia, darling,” Isabella said, her expression softening slightly as she hugged her granddaughter. “It’s good to see you.”
They spoke quietly for a moment, Sophia whispering something in Isabella’s ear that made the older woman’s expression darken even further.
“Is that true?” Isabella asked, her voice tight.
Sophia nodded, shooting me a venomous glance.
Whatever she’d said had made things worse. Much worse.
Isabella turned back to me, and now there was something beyond disapproval in her eyes. There was rage.
“You have some nerve,” she hissed, taking a step toward me. “Coming into my son’s life, manipulating him, trying to…”
“Mother, stop,” Damien said, but she ignored him.
Isabella was moving toward me now with clear intent, her hands raised, and I stumbled backward, fear shooting through me.
“HAILEY IS PREGNANT WITH MY CHILD!”
Damien’s voice exploded through the room, loud enough to make everyone freeze.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Isabella stopped mid-step, her hands dropping to her sides. Her face had gone completely pale, her eyes wide with shock.
Sophia’s mouth fell open, her expression shifting from smug satisfaction to utter disbelief.
“What?” Isabella whispered.
“It’s true,” I said quietly, my voice shaking. “I’m pregnant. About three weeks along.”
“You…” Isabella stared at me, and I could see her mind racing, recalculating everything. Then her expression hardened again. “You did this on purpose. You’re a gold digger who saw an opportunity and trapped my son.”
The accusation made anger flare through my fear. “That’s not true.”
“Of course it is,” Isabella snapped. “Girls like you see men like my son and think you can secure your future by getting pregnant. It’s the oldest trick in the book.”
“I didn’t plan this!” I said, my voice rising. “I didn’t even want this! I’m terrified, and the last thing I wanted was to be trapped in this world with people who look at me like I’m garbage!”
“How dare you…” Isabella started.
“ENOUGH!” Damien’s voice cut through again. “Everyone calm down. Now.”
“Damien, you can’t possibly believe this was an accident,” Isabella said, turning to her son. “She’s playing you.”
“She’s not,” Damien said firmly. “I know you’re angry, and I know this isn’t what you wanted, but it’s done. Hailey is carrying my child, and she’s under my protection. That’s final.”
Isabella looked like she’d been slapped. “You would choose her over your own mother?”
“I’m not choosing anyone over anyone,” Damien said, but the tension in his jaw suggested otherwise. “But this is my decision to make, not yours.”
“Get out,” Isabella said suddenly, turning to me. Her voice was cold, controlled, more dangerous than when she’d been shouting. “Get out of this room. I need to speak to my son. Alone.”
“Mother….”
“Now,” Isabella said, her eyes never leaving mine.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned and practically ran from the room, my heart pounding, tears already streaming down my face.
The hallway blurred as I rushed through it, and I burst out the front door into the cool morning air, gasping like I’d been drowning.
Gold digger. Manipulator. Liability.
The words echoed in my head, each one a fresh wound.
“Hailey!”
I looked up to see Benita running toward me from the adjacent property, concern written all over her face.
“What happened?” she asked, reaching me and immediately wrapping her arms around me. “Why are you crying?”
“His mother,” I gasped out between sobs. “She called me a gold digger. Said I trapped Damien on purpose. She tried to have security throw me out.”
“Oh, honey,” Benita said, holding me tighter. “I’m so sorry.”
“And Sophia told her something that made it worse,” I continued, the words tumbling out. “And then Damien told everyone I was pregnant, and Isabella looked at me like I was the worst thing that had ever happened to her son.”
“Breathe,” Benita said gently. “Just breathe. It’s going to be okay.”
But it wasn’t going to be okay. Nothing about this was okay.
We stood there on the driveway, Benita holding me while I cried, and for a moment, I let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, I could survive this.
That’s when Benita suddenly went rigid.
“Hailey,” she whispered, her voice tight with fear. “Don’t move. Don’t turn around.”
“What?” I started to turn anyway, but she grabbed my shoulder.
“There’s a car,” she said quietly. “Black sedan. Been sitting there since I came outside. And the driver, he’s watching us.”
My blood turned to ice. Slowly, carefully, I turned my head just enough to see what she was talking about.
A black car was parked about fifty feet away, its engine running. And through the windshield, I could see a man staring directly at us.
As our eyes met, he smiled.
Then he raised a gun.
Pointed it directly at us.
And gestured for us to come closer.