Page 6 of Grumpy Ex's Secret Baby

By the time the sun was setting outside my window, orange rays shining, I was exhausted. Driving for part of the day, all through the night, and then working an entire day at the office was exhausting. I felt like I needed to sleep for a week, and then I could get back to work.

When I stepped out of the skyscraper that housed the Crestwood Capital offices, I was not surprised to see cameras on me within seconds. I had just signed on with a movie production company to flip. The company itself was controversial and had a bad reputation for working with stars that had been blacklisted in Hollywood.

I thought living in New York would keep some of the cameras out of my face, but it seemed like news outlets were willing to follow anyone, anywhere, for a good story.

Then there were the women I used to date who drew their attention too. All it took was dating one up-and-coming starlet I met at a club one night, and my face was splashed across tabloids the morning after our first date.

Since then, cameras have followed me around, taking pictures anytime I stepped out with a new woman on my arm or shortly after news that we acquired another business went public. The acquisition of the movie studio only hit the news yesterday, and I was expecting cameras as soon as I was back in New York.

I grinned and waved to some of the journalists, stopping to give a few generic answers to their questions before my driver pulled up alongside the curb. The cameras were still flashing even as the car drove away.

When we rounded the corner and the cameras disappeared from sight, I slumped back into my seat and ran a hand down my face. I loosened my tie and closed my eyes, trying to let the stress of the day fade away.

The trial for the embezzlement case had wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, and Leigh and Clarke’s wedding was in a couple more weeks. After my best friend and my baby sister got married, I would be free to step away from the city.

I would be able to say goodbye to the cameras and the people, thinking they were entitled to know every minuscule detail of my life. I wouldn’t be tied to the entertainment industry and all the bullshit that went along with it.

My move back to Richmond Valley couldn’t come soon enough.

3

HALEY

Idon’tknowwhatI had been expecting from Tyson when I gave him my number a week ago, but I thought he would have at least sent a message or called. Instead, I had spent the last week checking my phone every time it buzzed, only to be disappointed when I didn’t see a message from him.

After checking my phone again for the millionth time, I tossed the phone to the other end of the couch and got up to check the mail. I took the baby monitor with me. Even though Trinity wasn’t still a baby, I liked having a camera in her bedroom to watch her while she was playing independently.

With the baby monitor in hand, I slipped on a pair of slides and walked to the mailbox at the edge of my yard.

I had saved for years to buy a little house, and the one I found was perfect. There was a white fence that surrounded both the front and back yards. None of the exterior had needed repair and all the interior needed was a fresh coat of paint. It wasn’t a fancy or expensive house by any means, but it was perfect to raise Trinity in. When she got older, I would have to find somewhere bigger, but for now, our home was enough.

Buying the little home had drained all my savings, and I had been putting away as much money as I could each month to start building those savings back up. However, daycare wasn’t cheap, and there were more bills associated with a house than there had been with my apartment.

Even though my vet clinic was doing well, it wasn’t anything that would make me rich. We lived comfortably with money for a few extras, but it was nothing close to what I would like to be making.

When I opened the mailbox, I saw an envelope with the same slanting script as the first letter I got from my stalker. I found the first letter sitting on my doorstep when I got back from the lookoff with Tyson.

That letter was buried in the back of my closet until I decided what to do with it.

My hands shook as I opened the new letter. Everything came to a standstill when I read the words on the page.

You look so beautiful when you smile. I’d like to see that smile more often.

I looked around, trying to see if there was someone who had just recently placed the letter in my mailbox. When I didn’t see anyone nearby, I raced back into the house after checking the baby monitor. I slammed the door shut behind me and checked every room, making sure that nobody had come inside while I was outside.

“Momma,” Trinity said as I finished checking her bedroom. “Chicken nuggets?”

“Yeah, I’ll make some chicken nuggets for lunch. Why don’t you keep playing with your toys, and I’ll call you when they’re ready?”

I kept the letter tucked behind my back until I left her room. Before I went to the kitchen, I made sure that all the windows and doors were locked.

Back in my last year of university, I had a stalker. He had been harmless for the most part, but it was still terrifying. He had followed me to and from class. Sometimes notes and pictures had been shoved beneath my door.

After university, I had spent years moving around and trying to avoid having him catch up to me. Once Trinity was born, I still bounced around until last year when I decided it was time to settle down.

There was a strong urge to pack up our things and start running again, but I was not going to uproot my daughter’s life when I didn’t need to. I would call the police, hand over both letters, and let them do the rest.

As I dialed the sheriff’s office number, I wished I had enough money in my savings to buy a good security system. After work tomorrow, I would go out and buy a couple of cheap motion sensor cameras and install them. Something to see what was happening on my property would be better than nothing.

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