Chapter 24
Zavier’s POV:
“Amara—” I called out, rushing behind her. Luckily, I managed to catch up to her before she went into the elevator.
“Zavier. Not now.” She glared at me then turned to abuse the button for the elevator to come, as if that would speed up the process.
“Please, let me explain,” I pleaded, wanting to clear the air. I hadn’t seen her this angry since the night I accused her of lying.
“Explain what, exactly? You know, for a moment, I believed you and even started liking you. I was willing to give you another chance, and then I found this out. Were you ever planning on telling me?” Amara said nonstop, never giving me a chance to prove my innocence. When she finally stopped speaking, the elevator opened, and she went in.
“Amara—” I called out, but she had pressed the button already.
“I have to go pick up Bash,” she replied, unamused as the doors slid closed. I let out a groan and ran my fingers through my hair, looking through the glass door and seeing that the others were still there and discussing the situation. I took a deep breath and walked back inside.
“Zavi—” Grace called out, touching my arm.
“Don’t ever touch me again,” I hissed at her as I removed her hand from my bicep.
“Don’t speak to her that way.” Carolyn glared at me as she gently patted Grace’s back, offering her comfort, but for what?
“You’ll ruin my chances of meeting my granddaughter,” Mother scolded me, causing me to let out a chuckle.
“Trust me when I say that child isn’t mine,” I concluded, watching as my mother’s facial expression turned worse.
“Zavier, do the math. I got pregnant while we were still dating,” Grace insisted, the smallest smile on her lips. Did she enjoy doing this?
“So? Don’t pretend like you weren’t fucking around with two other men during that time too,” I retorted, making Arlo chuckle, but he stopped when Mom glared at him.
“Zavier Alejandro Fuentes! Don’t you dare disrespect her like that.” My mother pointed her finger in my face again.
“Why? Tell me why I shouldn’t? In fact, go ahead and tell me why I can’t have her kicked out by security,” I mocked, taking a step closer to Mom.
“This building is not yours. It’s ours, and secondly, she’s the mother of your child,” she yelled back, pointing to Grace, who stood there with an angelic look on her face.
“Did you treat Amara any differently?” I queried, watching her as she couldn’t answer me. “Why didn’t you ever show up? Hm? Why now?” I turned back to Grace, looking at her, which only served to remind me of what a snake she was and how I believed the lies that rolled from her silver tongue.
“You put her up to this, didn’t you?” I looked over at Carolyn. Out of everyone here, Carolyn was the closest with Grace.
“Zavier, calm down.” Tessa gripped my arm, pulling me back a little.
“B-because I was scared of rejection, Zavi,” Grace said in a broken tone, one I was familiar with.
“There’s only one thing you love more than life itself, and that’s money,” I hissed.
“This is your child, and I expect you to step up to your duty, as you did for your son,” she yelled at me, poking my chest until I slapped away the hand.
“We’ll do a DNA test.” I shrugged, knowing that would prove she was lying.
“No, I don’t consent to that. How dare you!” she yelled again, her sharp voice giving me a headache.
“We’re done talking for today, then.” I waved my hand around and walked away. I could hear my mother and Carolyn ordering me to come back.
“Zavier?” Tessa said quietly as she walked with me to the elevator. “Zavi, how sure are you that that girl isn’t yours?” she asked in a whisper, looking around.
“If she got pregnant a year before, there would be a chance, but the last six months of our relationship, she was trying out different types of birth control pills because the old ones gave her issues. I remember that vividly because she asked me to wear condoms again, which I did every time,” I replied, taking a deeper breath and finally starting to calm down a little.
“Oh. A little TMI, but wow. You think she’d lie about something like that?” Tessa frowned a little.
“Grace can be manipulative, and my mother surely must’ve gotten tricked. I need that child tested,” I replied, biting down on my lip. I had to find some way.
“But she didn’t consent.” Tessa's brows furrowed as she looked at me.
“We have to find a way around it then.” I sighed.
“I-I actually think I can do it,” she replied quietly. I raised a brow at her.
“Don’t even worry about it. You go talk to Amara, and I’ll fix this, okay?” She patted my shoulder. Usually, I’d ask what the plan was, but this was Tessa, so I trusted her enough to leave it in her hands.
~~~
Grace's POV:
After a lot of discussion, I finally left. I knew I had Carolyn’s and Tiffany’s support. Usually, it was easy for me to get Zavier to do what I wanted, but this time, it didn’t work, and I didn’t understand how that was possible. It was probably because of Amara and their son Sebastian. When I first read that Zavier had fathered a child, I assumed it wasn’t true or that the child wasn’t his, but when Tiffany called me months ago, I was told a DNA test proved differently.
Even after everything I had done to Zavier, I noticed Tiffany and Carolyn still wanted me back in their lives, so I devised a devious plan. After I left him, I found out I was pregnant. I had no clue who the father was, but the child’s eyes were blue, and her hair was pitch black. Andrea looked a lot like the businessman I had slept with, but I refused to admit that, convinced that Zavier was the father. Since I had left him, my funds were running low after I made some wrong investments. Getting back into the Fuentes’ lives would secure me something, which I could do through my little girl.
~~~
Tessa's POV:
I took a deep breath as I stood in front of Grace’s address. It took everything in me to do this, but it was necessary. I had to do this, and it wasn’t just for Zavier but also for Amara. I saw the hurt look on her face. I had been Zavier’s friend for long enough, and he only thought he impregnated a woman once, and that woman was Amara. I knew Grace always searched for my approval after she failed to remove me from Zavier’s life. Once she figured out I would forever be in Zavier’s life and that he trusted me a lot, Grace knew she had to win me over somehow, but she never managed to do so.
I knocked on the door and waited till Grace came and opened the door.
“Tessa?” she asked, surprised, never expecting me to come by her place.
“Hey, Grace, I just came by to check on you,” I replied, a small smile on my face as I looked at Grace faking her kindness.
“Oh. Come on in,” she mumbled, taking a step back and holding the door wider for me.
“Of course…how are you?” I stepped in, looking over at Grace as she followed me to go sit down.
“Honestly, I feel terrible. I should’ve come years ago when I first found out. Now, it seems difficult to make him bond with Andrea…how did that other woman do it?” Grace started to talk, trying her best to seem kind in front of me, knowing my influence on Zavier.
“Amara never came to him. He found out himself.” I shrugged.
“Oh…” Grace mumbled and went silent.
“Wow, a little girl. I never would’ve thought Zavier would have two children.” I changed the subject and laughed softly.
“It was a surprise to me too.” Grace laughed too.
I continued to chat with her a little longer, showing some empathy, even if it was fake. I still tried to make Grace feel like she could trust me.
“Hey, can I use the bathroom?” I asked, looking around.
“Of course. It’s over there.” Grace smiled and pointed to the door.
“Thank you.” I smiled and got up, walking to where Grace pointed and locking the door behind me. I looked around and found a hairbrush with black strands of hair. I put them in a Ziplock bag, tucked it into the pocket of my blazer, and then flushed the toilet and washed my hands. I hoped this DNA would suffice.
After drinking some tea with Grace, I finally left and went straight to the doctor’s office, leaving Grace to her thoughts.
~~~
Grace's POV:
After Tessa left, I figured it out! I finally knew how to get back at Zavier: through the media, of course. What better way was there to hurt the man who hated his name being used in gossip magazines? I made several tweets in which I called him many disgusting names and called him out for being Andrea’s father and refusing to step up to his fatherly duties. It didn’t take long before they blew up and began to trend online.
~~~
Amara’s POV:
When I called Amelia to check if I could come pick up Sebastian, I was told she was at the park with him and Ivan and that he was playing with his friends. They’d only just got there, so I couldn’t get him unless I planned on ruining his get-together with his friends, which was the last thing I wanted. Maybe this was good. I got to have a small moment to myself to think things through. I started the car and started driving to a cafe nearby. I could use a caramel macchiato.
I parked the car once I found a parking spot, stepped out, and went to the cafe. I placed my order immediately then sat down, sipping my coffee as I scrolled through my phone.
“Angel? Is that you?” I heard a woman with a familiar voice say. I looked up to see it was my mother.
“Mylah?” I raised a brow at her. What was she doing here? And how did she even find me?
“Is that how you greet your mother?” she asked in a stern tone, almost as if that would work. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.
“She means nothing to me.” I shrugged and looked back down at my phone.
“Oh, you have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you,” she mumbled, taking a seat in front of me and resting her hand over mine.
“It shouldn’t have been difficult, but you blocked my number, remember?” I glared at her, pulling my hand away from hers.
“Listen, sweetie. I’m only here because of your little boy. I’d like to meet my grandson someday,” Mylah replied. I could hear how fake she was being. She was here for something—what for, I didn’t know yet.
“No,” I concluded and sipped my coffee.
“What do you mean no?” She frowned, anger rising in her tone of voice.
“We want nothing to do with you. Our lives are going perfectly fine without you, and we’d like to keep it that way,” I explained, giving her the fake smile I learned from her.
“You have no right to keep us from meeting!” she exclaimed, her fists slamming on the table but not loud enough to cause a scene.
“The day you kicked me out while I was pregnant was the day you lost your right to be in our lives,” I whispered-yelled as I glared at her.
Looking back at how she treated Amelia and me just brought a wave of sadness over me. Knowing your mother, the woman who went through the effort of bringing you into existence, never truly loved you was painful. To her, it was all just a task that ended the moment we turned 18.
“What do you really want, Mylah?” I asked, clearing my throat. I watched as she huffed then gave in.
“I need Amelia’s number. The house will be taken by the bank, and I expect you two to pay off the debts, as well as take care of me. I deserve it,” she requested, crossing her arms as she glared back at me.
I stared at the woman in disbelief before bursting into laughter. The entitlement!
“No. None of that will ever happen. From the moment we learned to cook, we needed to do that ourselves. Not to mention when we turned 19, we had to contribute to paying off the bills, so you have no right coming here and demanding money,” I told her. I was correct: she was here for something. I got up and grabbed my cup. I suddenly didn’t want the coffee anymore, so I started to walk away from her.
“You walk away now, and I will never accept you back into my life.” I heard the chair move under her as she stood up hastily.
“Good, that’s just what I want.” I rolled my eyes, walking to the car. I decided to take the long way back to the park.
~~~
Tessa’s POV
I looked down at my phone and saw it was Mr. Giovanni calling. I quickly picked up the phone and was told I could come by to get the results. I had to admit I was nervous about getting them. I signed the last papers I was required to sign and got up, grabbing my bag and water bottle and making my way to the car. Now, I was on my way to the doctor’s office.
“Thank you,” I said to the man after he handed me the results.
“You’re welcome, and have a good day.” He waved at me and was called back by one of the men working for him. I waved too and went back to my car. I looked into the envelope and took a deep breath before opening the letter.
I dragged my index finger over the words as I read the results. No, it couldn’t be. This wasn’t what I was expecting…