ONE. THE STRANGER
Riley opened her eyes slowly. She was surprised by the appearance of a strange man who was sitting arrogantly in the corner of her treatment room. His eyes looked at her sharply. The man had classic handsomeness with a dark aura shadowing his face. She was nervous, and tried to hide her face under the blanket, but his rough voice boomed loudly and told her to throw the blanket away.
"I want to talk to you, Riley Harlow."
Riley frowned because the man knew her name. She was sure she had never met him before. Even after she spent two weeks in that hospital, she had never seen him. The only man she had seen so far was Doctor Wren, a handsome and kind doctor who had always treated her like his younger sister.
"Who are you? How come you know my name?” Riley asked awkwardly.
Logan walked over to Riley's gurney. He chuckled hearing Riley talk to him as if he was an alien.
"My name is Logan Hatcher, I am the father of the baby you are carrying now."
“Baby?” Her eyes widened in surprise.
“No way! You liar.”
“It’s real. I’m not lying to you.”
"I can't be pregnant. I've never slept with any man, and I haven't left this hospital for the past two weeks.”
"It's a long story, but I mean what I said. And you don't have to be surprised if the father of the baby you're carrying is me."
"You look older than me."
Logan wanted to rip Riley's sassy mouth off. He knew their age gap was quite far, fifteen years. But age was just a number. It meant nothing to them as long as they could benefit each other.
"You owe me a lot. I paid for all your medical bills."
"I... I don't understand what you mean."
Riley stiffened. She didn't expect that a bomb would suddenly fall in her lap. She thought Doctor Wren was a good man because he helped her who had collapsed in front of a closed shop two weeks ago and took her to the hospital. It turned out it was all just a trap. Doctor Wren was hiding something big from her.
“Yes, I know you are shocked. But this is the reality. You're pregnant with my child now. And I take it as payment of your debts.
"But that's totally unfair. I never knew anything about this pregnancy. How could you force me to have your child?"
"Wren recommended you. He said you were the perfect candidate to pregnant my child."
Riley's face turned pale. She almost couldn't believe what he was saying, that Doctor Wren, who always looked good in front of her, would do such a cruel thing.
"Where's Doctor Wren? I haven't seen him today," Riley said coldly.
“I will talk to him and prove that your words are a lie. I can't be pregnant with your child.”
Riley's hand gripped the edge of the blanket so tightly that her fingers turned white. She felt sick with all the bad things that had happened to her lately. She thought she would be able to have a better life after this, but she didn't.
"He's checking on another patient on the fifth floor, but he'll be here shortly to let you go home."
"Home? Where should I go? I don't even have a home to return to," Riley muttered under her breath.
But Logan could still hear her muttering very quietly.
“You will come home with me. From now on, you will live in my house until my child is born.”
"Live in your house? No. I still don't agree with the plan to conceive your baby?"
Logan looked at Riley sharply. The last thing he wanted right now was to argue with a girl who was pregnant with his baby.
"My baby is growing in your belly. You have no choice. You will still get pregnant."
"I’ll report you to the police for all this," Riley exclaimed sarcastically.
Actually, her whole body was shaking with fear. She lied about reporting him to the police. She didn't have any money to sue him.
"Are you sure? I could have put you in jail for owing me so much. Or the hospital could sue you in court because you couldn't pay for your treatment."
Riley's eyes filled with tears. She felt unfair with life that never sided with her. Rich people always stepped on poor people like her.
"You jerk. You tricked me and took advantage of me," Riley threw a hateful glare at Logan.
"Watch your words, miss. You are carrying my precious baby."
\-00-
The room fell silent. Logan chose to check his emails and do a few things on his cell phone. He would let Riley cry as much as she wanted. He knew Riley needed it. She was just shocked by what had just happened to her. Riley would be fine after she cried. Besides, he didn't care if Riley thought he was a pedophile jerk taking advantage of a teenager. If Wren came later, he would make him responsible for his actions in choosing an underage girl to bear his child.
"Good afternoon."
Suddenly, the white door opened and revealed Wren holding a stethoscope in his hand. He smiled softly at Riley and seemed to ignore Logan's presence in the room.
"Doctor Wren," Riley muttered weakly. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her face was puffy and confused.
Wren changed her cheerful expression to one of sympathy. He knew that Logan had done something to make Riley cry.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"
"Is it true what he said? I'm pregnant?" Riley asked blankly.
Wren glanced over at Logan, looking irritated that Logan was still focused on his phone and had no sympathy for Riley at all.
“You are in the process of getting pregnant. I'm sorry, Riley."
"Still processing, huh? Then I'm not pregnant, right?"
"Last time I checked on you, the insemination was successful. We only need to wait a few more weeks to see the fetus in your belly."
Riley gaped at Wren's explanation. She didn't know that the series of examinations she underwent last week were to prepare for that damn pregnancy.
"You've been deceiving me all this time. I thought you were good enough to pay for my hospital bill, and you were willing to wait until I had the money to pay off my debts. But why you—”
Riley's throat tightened. She couldn't say anything but sobbed pitifully as she hugged her knees to her chest.
"Logan Hatcher is my friend. You don't have to worry about your life. You will be safe as long as you are with him. He will protect you while you are pregnant."
"You didn't even tell me anything. So all the medical check-ups so far have been lies. You brought me to the laboratory many times not to do medical check-ups, but to implant something into my belly?"
Wren was upset that Logan had not helped him at all when Riley kept bombarding him with cruel accusations. However, he deserved it. He had forced a girl to become a mother without telling her honestly.
"This is only temporary. You will be free once you give birth to Logan's baby. Didn't you say that you have no place to live and no one. Logan will give you a place to live."
"But I don't want to be a mother yet. I'll find a job and start a new life. Besides, I don't know him at all."
"I already told you who I am."
Logan suddenly stood up and moved closer to Riley's gurney.
"I will guarantee your life as long as you bear my child. And after you give birth to my baby, You will get compensation from me. You will live well while under my responsibility."
Riley was daydreaming and lamenting her bad luck. Since her mother kicked her out, she lost her whole life.
"Why did you pick me? You can hire a surrogate mother or use the bitches out there."
"I only want a virgin. You're a virgin."
Riley's cheeks were flushed red, embarrassed and angry at the same time. She had never discussed such intimate matters with a man. She considered it quite taboo to talk about.
"You won't suffer any harm. You'll remain a virgin until you deliver the baby because we're going to have a cesarean section."
She didn't expect her life to be arranged in such detail. She was indeed planned to be a vessel.
"I'm not your doll, sir. I refuse to bear your child. I want to abort this baby."
Logan's jaw tightened. He was done with all this trouble.
"Dare you hurt my baby, I will make you rot in hell."
Before the argument turned worse and Logan showed his dark side, Wren took steps to calm Riley's hysteria.
"Please, this won't hurt you at all. I will be with you throughout your pregnancy."
Wren gave Riley a genuine smile that touched Riley's heart. She was in a dilemma. She didn't know what she was going to do at that point.
“You two come out. Give me time to think.”
"No. You are definitely just making excuses to hurt my baby. When we leave you, you will find a way to kill my child and escape from me."
Wren grabbed Logan's shoulder as he watched Riley's eyes get teary, and she looked scared.
"Please, don't be rude to her. Riley needs time. She's not going anywhere, and she's not going to hurt herself."
"I'm not going to take that risk," Logan exclaimed sarcastically.
"Trust me. She won't harm your baby at all."
Logan thought about Wren's words for a long time before he stepped out of Riley's treatment room and slammed the door behind him.
Wren grimaced, feeling guilty at Logan's rudeness. But he convinced Riley once again that Logan was a good man.
"We'll give you some time to cool off. But trust me, I couldn't have done all this if it cost you. You'll have a new, better life with him. Please, think about my words."
Riley's silence made Wren frustrated. He couldn't stay any longer in Riley's treatment room. He then walked out to give Riley time to think.