Chapter 46 Cornered
For a moment, everything around me went still, my hands tightened around the doorknob, and my ears rang loudly.
I wasn’t even sure I heard her correctly.
“What did you just say?” I asked slowly.
Cassandra didn’t even blink. She just stood there as if she knew there was nothing I could do.
“I’m pregnant, Alex,” she repeated.
“That can’t be possible,” I said.
“Wait,” she muttered, reaching into her bag and taking out a small envelope.
She unwrapped it and held it up in front of my face.
“I’m six weeks pregnant.”
I felt a lump in my throat, then I snapped myself back to reality.
“So… how’s that my business?” I asked.
She sighed dramatically and pushed me slightly off the way, her heels clicking against the floor as if she had every right to be in my house.
I stood there and looked at her in disbelief.
I even tried to talk but no word came.
Then I closed the door behind me, harder than necessary.
She looked around the living room as if that was the first time she had been there, then turned slowly to face me.
“What’s so hard to understand in the words, I’m pregnant, Alex?” she said, dropping her bag on the couch.
“I understand that you are pregnant… the only part I don’t understand is why you are telling me that,” I chuckled dryly.
“You are the father,” she replied with a slow smirk.
I dragged a hand down my face, then I laughed.
It wasn’t supposed to be funny but I couldn’t help it.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here with that bullshit,” I muttered, my fists clenched beside me.
“Nerves?” she scoffed.
“Look, Cassandra. Let’s get something straight,” I started.
“Whatever happened that night shouldn’t have happened… and since it did happen, you should deal with the consequences yourself,” I added, my voice edged with anger.
“Listen to yourself…” she said and mimicked what I said.
Then she laughed again… mockingly.
“I never wanted you! Not then and obviously not now,” I skittered bluntly.
She just shrugged lightly, clearly unaffected by everything I said.
“Nobody asked for your feelings, Alex. This is reality… and you are involved in this whether you like it or not,” she smiled smugly.
“You mean to say trapped?” I scoffed.
“You can call it whatever helps you sleep at night,” she said.
Then she sank into the chair and crossed her legs.
If I said I knew what I could have done at that moment, I would be lying. I was just acting tough.
I turned away from her, pacing up and down the room as I tried to contain my anger.
“I don’t blame you… my mother caused this,” I said, my fists still clenched.
“She just wanted what was best for you,” she chuckled.
Then I turned to face her.
“If you think keeping a baby is going to let me care about you… you have made the biggest mistake of your life,” I said, my eyes filled with anger.
“I don’t need you to care about me,” she replied.
“I just came to inform you that you are going to be a father soon, whether you like it or not,” she added, her voice now firm.
“In your wildest dreams,” I scoffed.
With that, I walked to the door and pulled it open.
“I’m done talking to you,” I said, gesturing for her to leave.
She didn’t stand up at first. Then she curled her lips into a small demeaning smirk and picked up her bag.
When she got to the doorway, she paused and looked into my eyes.
“You can be defensive all you want, it still doesn’t change what has happened,” she let out that smirk again, placed her hand on my chest, and pecked me on the lips.
My face changed instantly.
“You have to get used to me being in your life,” she sneered.
Then she stepped out and headed straight to her car.
I slammed the door shut and kicked it, almost injuring my toes.
The news messed with my head that I didn’t even remember I was going to ask Joan out to dinner.
That night, I couldn’t even sleep a wink. I walked up and down my bedroom, running my fingers through my hair like a madman as I thought about what to do with what I heard earlier.
Every time I remembered Cassandra’s voice, anger erupted within me.
The following morning, I dressed up and headed for my mother’s house before I did anything irrational.
I didn’t call or care if she was home or not, I just needed her to fix the mess she created.
When I got there, I didn’t even bother to knock, I just pushed the door open and barged in.
She was in the living room, watching TV and smiling.
The smile I saw made my stomach churn, but I called myself down.
“Son,” she muttered, pausing the TV before finally looking up.
“Did you know about it?” I asked, my fingers trembling slightly as they wrapped around my keys.
“About what?” she asked, her brows pulling slightly.
“About Cassandra’s pregnancy,” I replied, straining to stay calm.
“I wanted to tell you when I came to your house, but you didn’t give me an audience,” she muttered, clearly unbothered.
“Wow,” I mumbled to myself.
“I’m not responsible for that pregnancy,” I said, my voice sharp.
“Of course you are,” she replied, almost immediately.
“And why is that?” I scoffed.
“Because I know you are,” she said.
“And if I refuse to take responsibility?” I chuckled, anger still rumbling inside me.
“That girl’s parents are powerful and well-connected. Do you think they will sit back and watch you deny their daughter’s pregnancy and tarnish their reputation?” she replied, her voice calm but firm.
“If anything, you have to take responsibility and do the needful. Nobody cares about how the pregnancy happened,” she added as she stood up and walked toward me.
I stared at her helplessly, questioning God in my head and asking him why he had to give me that woman as a mother.
“What do you mean by the right thing?” I asked, my voice low.
“You will have to marry her. You both are not having a baby out of wedlock,” she claimed.
“Is this really happening? Is my life about to be a movie?” I thought to myself, staring at my mother.
I wanted to talk… I really wanted to talk, but no word came.
“Did I hear that wrongly?” I finally said in a hushed tone.
“Of course you didn’t,” she replied.
“You want me to marry someone I don’t love? Really?”
“Give it time and you will,” she added without hesitation.
My own mother was planning my wedding to a woman I barely knew in my presence like it was a business merger.
“I won’t,” I shook my head in disagreement.
Then she looked at me with a piercing gaze.
“Is it because of Joan?” she asked out of the blue.
“Why are you bringing her name up in this? Why? Why are you bringing her name up in a mess you created?” I asked, my face burning as I almost lost my cool.
“Calm down, Alex,” she said, reaching for my hand.
“I already put Joan in her place,” she added.
“What… what does that mean?” I stuttered, yanking my hand off her grip.
“Is she about to do the same thing she did in the past?” I thought to myself.
Just then, my phone rang.
I looked at the screen and it was Joan.
My stomach tightened immediately.
“Is she calling to end things for good?”