Page 55 of Doctor's Baby: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

She looks like I’ve slapped her across the face. She’s deathly quiet, a very bad sign.

“A child?” she echoes. The vein at her temple all but pops out from under her skin. “A child?” she shrieks. Mother points one of her claws at Eve. “You. I knew you’d ruin my son’s life, you sl—”

“Stop!” I shout, booming over her.

The anger inside of me threatens to burst forth. My shoulders are tense, my chest is puffed out, I’m this close to losing my cool.

But I don’t. For Eve’s sake, I will remain in control no matter what nasty things spew from Mother’s mouth.

“A few simple calls,” Mother seethes. “That’s all I need to ruin you.”

“You won’t be making any calls.”

She looks incredulous. “What makes you so sure?”

“If you so much as look at your phone, you’ll leave me no choice but to expose you. I wonder what all your socialite friends will think when they find out you’re blackmailing your son’s girlfriend.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I’m sure a social climber like you wouldn’t be able to outlive your reputation as a classist racist.”

“Classist? Racist? What on earth are you trying to imply here?”

“Don’t try to deny it. If Eve were white and from a wealthier family, would this seriously be an issue?”

“I’m not—”

“Someone like you—it’s not that hard to imagine a woman of your status would think a half-Chinese woman, the daughter of an immigrant, the child of a single mother, would tarnish your upstanding, squeaky clean image of the perfect American elite.”

Mother shakes her head. “I’m not—”

“You threatened to ruin her career,” I say gravely. “And for what? Because we care about each other? Because we’re happy and you’re miserable? What happened to Jacob—”

“Don’t you dare bring your brother into this.”

I ignore her. “What happened to Jacob was tragic. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. He was my big brother. I looked up to him. I loved him as much as you did. But his death, no matter how you look at it, was an accident. An accident. The fact that you blame Eve and I, that’s just proof that you’re fucking unhinged.”

“Watch your fucking mouth.”

“No. No, I won’t. I’m not going to tiptoe around you. I’m not going to bother wasting my time trying to spare your feelings. You were the one who sent me away. When I was grieving, when I needed your comfort the most, you sent me away. You were so wrapped up in the fact that you lost a son that you didn’t care if you ended up losing both of us.”

I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen Mother this pathetic. She’s at a loss for words, mouth opening and closing like she’s trying to formulate sentences. Nothing comes. The rage, the anger that seems to make up her soul, is replaced with something confused and sad and terribly small.

“I’m happy,” I continue. “We’re happy. You have to understand that Eve means more to me than pretty much everything. If you’d stop being so fucking hateful and got to know her, you’d understand that she’s the kindest, most talented, intelligent, funniest person in the world. You should consider yourself lucky to even cross paths with her.”

Mother’s lips are a thin line. There’s nothing but hate in her glare, but she says nothing. After attempting to stare me down for what feels like an eternity, Mother turns on her heel and leaves down the hall, disappearing from sight.

It’s not how I wanted things to go. I’m not expecting a full one-eighty-degree change in her attitude, but I also wasn’t expecting Mother to give up. Maybe the threat of exposing her was enough to get her to back down. For now, it’s a win.

I’ll take what I can get.

Eve and I exchange glances. She’s shivering against the evening chill, even with all the layers she’s got on. I’m about to ask if she wants to wait in the car, but Pops approaches hastily. He throws a cautious look over his shoulder, likely looking out for Mother. He turns to us and smiles.

“Is it true?” he asks, a little choked up. “Are you expecting?”

Eve nods and places a hand on her belly. “Yes, it’s true.”

“I’m going to be a grampy?”

Even though I’m tired, I manage to chuckle. “Yes, Pops. You’re going to be a grampy.”

He throws his hands up in the air and pulls Eve and I into a hug. He’s alarmingly strong for an older man recovering from a back injury.

“I’m so happy for you two.” He holds Eve by the shoulders. “You listen here. Don’t let my wife scare you. She’s—difficult. I’ll talk to her, I promise. But for now, you let me know if there’s anything you need. Grampy’s going to spoil the three of you rotten.”

“Thank you,” Eve says, gracious as ever. “Really. We’re so appreciative.”

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