Page 68 of Pursued By My Grumpy Fiancé
“This is about,” I get up and round the desk, crouching down so that I’m eye-level with her, “You forging paternity papers to make it look like I’m the father, when really Ivan Sokolov is the father.”
She gasps and brings a hand up to her chest like she’s in a soap opera. My eyes roll at her theatrics.
“I can’t believe you’d accuse me of such a thing! Where did you hear that? Did Hailey convince you of that awful lie? She’s trouble, you know.”
“Please, don’t talk about my fiancée in such a manner. And cut the act, Victoria. I have proof.”
Sauntering back to my desk, I pick up the two papers that were placed there face down and hand them to her. The desk holds my weight as I lean back against it, casually tucking my hands in my pockets.
Victoria licks her lips anxiously as she looks at the papers. She closes her eyes, the papers falling to the floor as she drops her head in her hands.
“I’m sure you know that this was an absolutely despicable thing to do. I’d say that I expected better of you, but the truth is, I didn’t. This is exactly the type of thing you’d do. I just want to know why. Why would you rope my sweet, innocent mother into your scheme?”
She’s quiet and unmoving, sitting in the chair. A sigh leaves my lips as my eyes find their way back to the clock on the wall. I’d really prefer not to spend a ton of time on this.
“I’m so, so sorry, Landon,” Victoria finally says softly. She lifts her head slowly, tears streaming down her face.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t have a good answer! Just, I missed you, okay. I’m still in love with you. When I saw on the news that you were engaged, I was just struck with insane amounts of jealousy. And I realized, oh my god, I’m still in love with Landon.”
“So, you’re in love with me, yet pregnant with Ivan’s baby. What did you really expect to happen? You knew that I knew that we didn’t sleep together eight months ago, that there was no possible way that I could be the father of your baby. You can’t rewrite history.”
Her face lights up bright red.
“That’s why I had to tell your mom. You’d have turned me away, especially if I was pregnant with Ivan’s baby. But if your mom was involved, I knew that you’d be too much of a gentleman to embarrass me like that in front of Eleanor. You wouldn’t want to take away her excitement. You’d raise the baby with me, and we would eventually be happy.”
“So, your plan was to manipulate me into raising a child that is not mine by using my mother. Do you realize how low that is? My mother is an innocent woman who has already lost a lot. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.”
“Well, it wasn’t really my plan.” Our eyes lock, mine narrowing.
“Tell me what you mean by that.”
She licks her lips and takes in a breath, preparing to tell me something bigger than all of this.
“Technically, it was Ivan’s.” My fist slams down on the desk before I can control my reaction.
Victoria doesn’t even flinch. “We both wanted something from you. He’s the one who figured out your arrangement with Hailey. All he had to do was ask around, find the right people. We made a deal. Ivan wants your company, and I want you, so it only made sense.”
She refuses to meet my eyes. Good. At least she has enough about her to be embarrassed, even if only a little bit. What am I going to do about her and Ivan? That’s the question now. The truth is, bringing my mother into this certainly complicated things. Suddenly, she looks at me, her face brightening.
“We can still be together, you know. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I mean. We could be a happy family—the baby may not be yours, but Ivan won’t be raising my baby. Ivan and I are finished. In fact, you’ll be my one and only. I’ll never cheat on you again. I made the biggest mistake of my life—”
“You cheated on me more than once,” I interrupt.
She grits her teeth and rolls her eyes.
“Fine, I made the biggest mistakes of my life, but I won’t let it happen again.”
That speech was completely unmoving. The truth is, Victoria disgusts me. The previous cheating aside, to then plot a scheme like this is abominable. Worse, it’s unforgivable.
“Victoria, even if I could forgive all of that, which I can’t, it wouldn’t be possible to reunite with you because I genuinely love Hailey. I’ve never loved anyone like I love her, and regardless of how it started, it’s not ending, not now and not ever.”
She does nothing, doesn’t even move a muscle. If it weren’t for the look on her face, I wouldn’t even know if she’d heard me.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. Assuming you want to avoid charges for falsifying medical records, you are going to write my mother a nice apology, pack your bags, and vacate her home immediately. After that, you will never contact me or my family ever again. Do we have a deal?”
Victoria looks me in the eye, sucks in a deep breath, then nods.
