Live with it
~ Camilla
I paced outside his office for a good five minutes before I finally worked up the courage to knock. My palms were clammy, and I could feel my heartbeat banging in my chest like a drum.
“Come in,” Stephano’s smooth, bored voice floated out.
I pushed the door open. He was behind his desk, flipping through some files like the world revolved around his papers. His eyes flicked up to me once, sharp as a blade. “What is it? Don’t tell me you’re here to finally sign that contract.”
I swallowed hard. “No.”
His brow arched. “Then what is it about? Don’t waste my time.”
I didn’t answer right away. The words clawed at my throat, heavy, choking. My silence must’ve annoyed him because he leaned back in his chair, lips curling into that smug little smirk.
“Well?” he pressed.
I blurted it out before I could back down. “I… I’m pregnant.”
For a second, he just stared at me.
And then, he burst into laughter.
Loud, unrestrained, as if I had just told the world’s funniest joke.
My stomach tightened. His laughter cut deeper than any insult. I stepped forward, pulled the folded test from my pocket, and dropped it right on his desk.
The laughter trailed off. He reached for it, his smirk dimming, eyes narrowing as he read the report.
Before he could open his mouth, I spoke. “I know you probably want me to get rid of it. But I’m not interested in some procedure that could take both my life and the life of another. And yes…” I met his gaze head-on. “It’s yours. I haven’t had sex with Alex… yet.”
His head snapped up, eyes dark, a glare sharp enough to cut glass. The silence stretched, cold and suffocating, until he finally said flatly, “I told you to go on birth control.”
The audacity of it made my blood boil. “And you should’ve worn condoms,” I snapped back, “or maybe not finished inside me!”
He shoved back his chair so suddenly it scraped against the floor. His jaw flexed, veins bulging at his temple as he strode across the room and twisted the lock on his office door. The click echoed.
“Keep your damn voice down,” he hissed.
I stared at him, my chest rising and falling, words trembling on my lips. “What? Are you afraid someone might hear what you’ve done?”
He turned back slowly, a dark look in his eyes I couldn’t quite read, part rage, part panic. He jabbed a finger in my direction.
“You think this is funny?” he barked. “You think this is some kind of game, Camila? Do you even realize what you’ve done?”
“What I’ve done?” I shot back, anger finally drowning out the fear. “You did this too, Stephano. You can laugh, you can sneer, but you don’t get to stand there and act like I created this mess alone.”
He went quiet then, too quiet. Just staring at me, like the walls of his perfect control were starting to crack.
And for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.
He scoffed, tossing the report back on the table as if it had burned his hand. “Mess I've caused?” His voice was sharp, like he was daring me to repeat it. “You’re the one who couldn’t follow a simple instruction. I told you birth control wasn’t optional.”
I squared my shoulders even though my stomach was turning. “And I told you, maybe you should’ve kept it in your pants. Or worn a condom. Or maybe, just maybe, not finished inside me like I was your personal dumping ground.”
His jaw clenched. He strode toward the door, locked it with a sharp click, then turned back slowly, his eyes like steel. “Keep your voice down. You want the whole office to know you’re stupid enough to get knocked up?”
I bit my lip but refused to look away. “I’m not the one panicking.”
He laughed, humorless this time, dragging a hand through his hair. “Panicking? You think this is panic? No. This is me trying to process how you’ve just complicated everything.” His tone hardened, and then he sneered. “So what now? You’re pregnant. What? Do you expect me to play house with you? Move in together, pick out curtains, get married, raise a family in suburbia? You think I’m about to hold your hand in delivery like some fairy tale?”
The bitterness in his voice made my chest tighten, but I kept my face steady. “What, no. I don’t expect anything from you. I didn’t come here asking for your ring, your house, or your hand. I came to tell you what you did…what we did…and the consequences of it.” I folded my arms, my voice colder now.
“Congratulations, you’ve successfully created an evil spawn. Own it or don’t. But don’t put your arrogance on me.”
He flinched at that, just a flicker, quickly masked by rage. He slammed his palm against the desk, the sound making me jump. “You think this is a joke? You think I want to be tied to you forever? To a child that was never part of the deal?”
I lifted my chin. “Then maybe you should’ve thought of that before whoring your way inside me.”
His nostrils flared, his breathing uneven now, the perfect mask of control slipping as the weight of it hit him. He was freaking out, though he tried so hard to hide it behind sharp words and mocking smiles.
He threw his hands up like I’d physically assaulted him, his jaw tight, eyes blazing. “Who in the hell is stupid enough to allow themselves to get knocked up?!” His voice cracked at the edge, and I could see the frustration boiling over, making him almost unrecognizable.
“I…I didn’t allow anything,” I shot back, heat rising in my chest. “It takes two to tango, Stephano!”
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing the small space behind his desk, the sound of his shoes clicking sharply against the floor. “It’s not just that. It’s you! I didn’t agree to this when we started…this…this whole... whatever we had!”
“You didn’t agree?” I laughed bitterly, crossing my arms. “Neither did I agree to you treating me like some… disposable toy every time it suited you. And now look at this, huh?” I jabbed a finger toward the test on his desk, my pulse racing. “Look at the chaos your dick and your ego created!”
He slammed his palm onto the table, rattling papers. “Chaos?!” His voice went up a notch. “Do you know what this does to me? Me? I have a reputation to maintain! The last thing I need is some scandal about me knocking up my…”
“Your what?” I cut in sharply, my stomach flipping. “Your whore? Your… plaything?”
He stopped mid-step, spinning around to glare at me. His nostrils flared. “My assistant, Camilla. My assistant! That’s who! You think you just stroll into my life, throw this at me, and I don’t care about the consequences? You think I want people whispering about me, laughing, questioning my judgment?”
I felt my teeth grit. “Oh, so it’s about appearances now, huh? Not about me? Not about this… life inside me that’s growing because of you?” I stepped closer, refusing to shrink in front of him. “Your reputation? Really? And here I thought you might give a damn about the woman you…”
“You think I don’t?” he cut me off, snapping, his entire frame vibrating with anger. “I’m trying to figure out how the hell I’m supposed to manage this without it becoming a complete disaster! You’ve done this to me, Camilla! I didn’t sign up for this kind of…” He stopped again, chest heaving, words failing him for a second as he tried to breathe through the outrage.
I raised an eyebrow, letting a little mockery slip through. “Oh, poor Stephano! You didn’t sign up? Boo-hoo. Maybe next time, try thinking before you cum, hmm?”
His teeth ground together, fists clenching at his sides. “You just don't get it, do you? It’s not just me. You think this doesn’t affect my position? My image? The way people see me?”
“Oh, I see perfectly,” I said, sarcastically . “You’re furious because everyone might find out you knocked your assistant up. Not because you care that I’m pregnant.” My chest tightened. “That’s the part you forgot to factor in, isn’t it?”
He ran a hand down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, pacing again. “You think I planned this? That I wanted this kind of scandal on top of everything else? You, you’ve thrown my whole week, my whole life, into chaos!”
I laughed bitterly, but it felt hollow. “Chaos? No, Stephano. That’s what your ego did. That’s what your arrogant, self-centered ass has done. You think because you own the office, because you can command respect, that you can just control life, women, consequences…? Wrong.”
He stopped, mid-stride, and stared at me, breathing hard, chest rising and falling. The fury in his eyes carried a kind of… disbelief, like he couldn’t believe I had the audacity to speak to him this way.
“You… you’re impossible,” he muttered, almost to himself.
“Impossible? Maybe. But unlike you, I don’t get off scaring women with my authority and my ego. Unlike you, I have a conscience.” I crossed my arms and refused to back down. “And unlike you, I don’t just think about how this affects me. I think about us, or at least, what little bit of humanity is left in the situation you created.”
He exhaled sharply, running both hands through his hair, and for a moment, he looked… broken. “You’re…” He stopped, lips pressed tight, as if trying to find words that could even justify what he felt.
I tilted my head, daring him. “Say it, Stephano. Tell me I’ve ruined your perfect little image. Tell me I’m the problem. Go ahead.”
He flinched at my words but then stepped toward me, closing the distance, and his voice dropped low, almost a growl. “You have no idea what you’ve done. You… you’ve just made my life infinitely more complicated.”
“And yet,” I whispered, leaning slightly forward, letting my anger flare, “I’m the one carrying your ‘problem’ inside me. Not you. Not your image. Not your precious reputation. Me. My body. My life. And you know what? I hate that I even feel anything for you, because that just makes it worse.”
His eyes darkened, and I could feel the raw intensity radiating from him. He didn’t answer, just stared, like he was trying to process how someone could be both fearless and defiant in front of him.
I swallowed hard, trying to calm the shaking in my hands. “So… there. Now you know. You can fume, scream, panic, whatever you want. But the fact remains you’re the father. Deal with it.”
He exhaled through his nose sharply, pacing again, fists clenching and unclenching. “Father…” His voice was low, almost a growl. “You really just threw that at me, didn’t you?”
I nodded, flatly. “I did. And I’d do it again. Because unlike you, I don’t get to erase consequences with my charm and my arrogance. I live with them.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
She smirked and it was deep cutting.
“Well, congratulations Stephano. You fucked me. Now live with it. Just like I will.”