Chapter 46 - Cunning

Carbon was already in the living room, waiting for me. I walked in and sat down next to him. "I'm not in the mood for anything," I said to him, as soon as I realized he was going to kiss me and start a night of sex. "Stay away. We need to talk," I said, still angry. All I wanted to do was drink some good wine, but even I knew I couldn't do that.

"What happened?" he asked me, visibly confused. Some men were all the same; all they cared about was sex. "Go on, tell me. After all, I pay for your service," he said. Occasionally, I felt angry with Carbon. Sometimes he seemed like a nice, kind guy, and sometimes he seemed like a rude guy who thought the world revolved around him. Maybe men with a lot of money were like that. Although most of OWE's clients were well-off, and even Dorian and Axel, Carbon was still richer than all of them put together.

"I know you pay for me, but I thought all that stuff about you wanting to conquer me and Amelie was even more important," I said, sighing angrily. "Anyway, I don't care. I have to ask you. What do you think about children?" I asked. I expected to hear a negative answer.

"I think they're a good way of taking our money and acquiring an inheritance without any effort," he said. "On the other hand, they are our legacy. I think that if I'm going to die and leave something, I'd rather it be to my son, not to a relative or something," he said.

"I think that's an ambiguous answer," I said. "It's not clear whether you want children or not," I said. After Carbon's ambiguous answer about having children, I felt a mixture of frustration. It was as if we were speaking different languages, even though we were in the same room. His indifferent tone towards parenthood made me wonder what kind of person he really was. Of course, I expected him to be against the idea of having children. "Are you serious?" I asked, unable to contain my disbelief. "Do you see children only as a means of preserving your wealth and not as human beings who deserve love and care?" I asked, trying to sound like a person who was overly concerned about motherhood. In any case, I needed to think it over, as I didn't want him to think that I was interested in carrying on with any pregnancy. I wasn't.

Carbon arched an eyebrow as if surprised by my reaction. "Of course, I see children as human beings, but you know the world we live in. It's better to be realistic about these things. I have the money to provide stability, and I don't know how many generations there are, but looking after a child is complicated. In today's world, these children of millionaires are very spoiled."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Carbon's worldview was so distorted, so disconnected from the reality I knew. It was as if he were living in a bubble of privilege, where money could buy everything, including the deepest feelings and relationships. Of course, there really were spoiled children, but that was more about upbringing than the money itself. Some people didn't seem to have enough intellect to have all the money they had.

"I don't know if I can go on with this," I muttered, more to myself than to him. It was hard to reconcile, to think of all the problems, hearing that kind of thing. Of course, I wanted him to deny the idea of being a father, but the reasons for this seemed so strange that I was almost regretting having asked. In fact, I was considering not telling him at all. If we decided to go ahead with the pregnancy and the child wasn't Dorian's or Axel's, Amelie could pretend that it was. Although, on second thoughts, Carbon seemed like the kind of person who would find out that he was a father of choice, and would want to know if it was him or not. In any case, it would also be impossible to hide a pregnancy for so long, especially in OWE.

He frowned, as if processing my words: "What do you mean? I don't understand the concept of all this. Do you want children? Does Amelie?" he finally asked. There was no point in hiding it any longer. It was better for everyone involved to know at once.

"I'll get straight to the point. I, or rather Amelie, or better yet, we, are pregnant," I told him, without showing any sense of joy. Any other woman would have been jumping for joy and celebrating the news. Maybe Amelie had done it; I still didn't know the details. A heavy silence hung over us as I wondered how it had all come to this. In any case, the biggest blame lay with Amelie and her irresponsibility. It had been agreed from the start that she would go after protection, after all, she had a lot more free time for that.

Finally, Carbon sighed, looking resigned. "So that's it," he said, just as nonchalantly. "I don't suppose you know who the father is," he mentioned. It was a bit disgusting to hear over and over again how obvious it was. If I didn't already consider myself a slut at that moment, I would start to. I nodded. "And are you going to have it or are you going to take it out?" he asked.

"I think it's obvious that I don't want a child. If I wouldn't trade my life in OWE to live a romance, imagine trading it to take care of an entire life, which will forever be linked to me." I said. It sounded poetic, in a way. "And you? Can you give a more concrete answer now?" I asked. I was still hoping for a negative answer.

"When I said I wanted to have you and Amelie with me, I meant it. Of course, I have plans to have heirs and everything. If I want you to be my wife, you'd obviously be the mother of the child," he said. Great, another lover of false fatherhood. Would I only have Axel on my side?

"I never said you were the father," I said, trying to provoke him. Maybe that would be enough somehow. "Of course, you'd have to wait for the child to be born to find out, but what if the child isn't yours? Do you really want a woman who has someone else's child? I think it would be a scandal for you. Won't it be better not to risk it?" I said as if I were sure he would change his mind.

To my surprise, he laughed. "EVE, it's not like I'm the kind of guy who would care about that. I told you, remember? When you were my wife, I wouldn't hide your life in OWE and your work from anyone. Raising another guy's kid wouldn't be anywhere near that," he said.

The atmosphere seemed charged with tension between us, as if every word exchanged was a step into a minefield. I had to admit that Carbon's response was much calmer and more rational than I had expected. I was used to dealing with men whose pride was more sensitive than a bird's egg, but he seemed to be handling the situation in an unexpectedly mature way, at least to a certain extent.

Still, his calmness bothered me. It was as if he was emotionally disconnected from the situation as if he were observing everything from a distant, impersonal point of view. There was no passion in his words, just a resigned acceptance of reality. Carbon seemed more attached to superficiality than a real interest in love. In any case, I still had to admit that the attitude of raising a child who wasn't his was beautiful.

"Are you saying that you would raise a child that isn't yours? And do you think Axel or Dorian would allow that?" I asked while mocking him. It was unlikely that the boys would even let him near the child if it wasn't his.

"From what I know of them, Axel must not be very interested in fatherhood. I can use that to my advantage in the future. If he doesn't want the child, why forbid someone who does?" he asked rhetorically as if he were sure of Axel's choice. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Axel really wasn't that interested in having a child. "About Dorian, let's just say that the fact that he's aggressive and violent can end up hurting me, but depending on the point of view, I can also use that to my advantage, as well as other very interesting questions about him," he said, again singing victory. "And about Amelie, there's nothing to say, since my intention from the start was to win her over. If she chooses me, and she will, the rest is easily solved. By the way, if the child is mine, it means it's yours, not hers, and since you don't want to have it, it would also be easy to keep it," he said. Inside, I was open-mouthed, thinking how calculating he was, but outside, I was only disgusted that he already had everything worked out in his mind. "So, what are we going to do?" he asked.

I didn't have a ready answer, but he seemed to. The truth was that I had no idea what to do next. What was right or wrong in this situation? Should we keep the pregnancy and wait for the next chapters of the soap opera? What would our lives be like during the day? What about my career at OWE? That pregnancy wouldn't do me any good. "I don't know," I admitted, letting out a sigh of frustration. "I have my answer, and if it were up to me, I'd sort it out myself, like I've done before," I said. I no longer had any reason to hide my past abortion, not least because it was completely legal and no one had the right to judge me.

Carbon nodded, seeming to understand. "I understand how you feel. This is not an easy situation, EVE," he said. "It must stink to live the way you do. I know that for you, having an abortion is normal and natural; after all, it was like that the other time. Of course, I know it happened, because I've done research on you. From the photos and images of that day, you looked very happy and relieved to have had the procedure. No remorse," he said. What a cunning son of a bitch!

Thinking about it all exhausted me. I was tired of pretending to be someone else and of living a life that wasn't mine. "It's not as if the way you talk intimidates me, Carbon. Axel and I are against pregnancy. If it's proven in the future that Axel is the father, feel free to take it for yourself, if he lets you. Besides, I don't think Amelie would let things end this way; after all, even if it wasn't with her, I'm sure she'd still consider it a child since it came out of her body," I mentioned. "Anyway, some kind of conflict will come out of this, and I hope I'm not involved," I said.

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "I know," he confessed, "but I think it's important to make everything clear. I was already aware of all your thoughts and all my options. Honestly, my only surprise now is finding out that Amelie didn't take care of herself," he said.

Finally, to my relief, the session ended, and I was able to leave the room and get rid of talking about the pregnancy. As I left, I told the guys that now the last person involved knew everything. I couldn't tell if they liked it or not.