Page 50 of The Grumpy Billionaire Baby Daddy

The thought makes my chest tighten in fear, and I hyperventilate.

“Hey. Hey. Breathe.”

Richard shuffles closer, rubbing my back.

“Everything will be fine. It’ll go away. We’ll find a way to end the rumors. Jason can make a press statement to counter the speculations. They’re mere speculations and these kinds of things happen all the time. It takes one response from him for everything to go back to normal. Don’t be scared.”

Tears prickle my eyes. I should’ve known that it’s impossible for a famous person to keep a secret. God, I’m such a fool. And now I’m screwed. I need to end this whole thing with Jason and get out of here. But where will I go? It’s too late to end the pregnancy. My tummy is already protruding so much that I can’t wear tight clothes any longer. I pick up my phone from the TV stand and dial Jason’s number. He picks on the first ring.

“Fiona.”

His voice sounds like he’s saying so many things at once. Like he’s saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ Like he’s saying, ‘let me fix this.’ But there’s also anger, like he’ll hurt the person who published the article if he ever finds them. My throat closes.

“You saw already, didn’t you?”

His voice cracks.

“Jason, I don’t think I can do this anymore. There’s no point. The entire reason I came here was for discretion and to hide from my parents. But there’s no point if everyone already knows.”

“No. No. I can fix this. Please. Don’t make any rash decisions without my input. We’ll make a decision together. Just hang in there.”

Richard’s phone rings and he stands and paces, placing the receiver to his ears.

“Hello, Mom.”

Oh, God. He moves away from the living room to the balcony, lowering his voice. I strain to hear what he’s saying, but it’s difficult to make out.

“Fiona. Are you there?”

Jason’s voice brings me back to my call with him. I forgot he was on the other end of the line.

“Yeah. But Jason, It’s time to make my own decision.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, dammit. Seriously. Just wait until I get home. I’ll be getting off work in a couple of hours.”

My mind races with all possible solutions, but the only thing that keeps coming to me is that I need to leave this house. There’s no point anymore. I’ll miss Jason. Whatever we had was great while it lasted, for the most part, but I can’t. I just can’t. I sniffle as the tears fall.“No. Don’t cry. I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. I’ll fix it, I promise.”

“You can’t do anything about it. It’s too late.”

I end the call, cutting him off when he starts to say something. I don’t want him to try to change my mind.

He calls back but I ignore the call. He calls again. I drop my phone and stand as Richard approaches me. He looks me over and wipes the tears off my face, but they keep coming. My sobs get louder and he takes me into his arms, holding me in a gentle embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Fiona.”

He exhales deeply, keeping his hands steady around me.

“Mom’s on her way home. Someone called her to ask about the article. She says her phone’s been blowing up. She asked me to stay here with you.”

I look up at him.

“You don’t have to.”

“You’re like family to me. I want to.”

Oh, Richard. The sweetest person in the world.

My phone vibrates, drawing my attention to it. It’s probably Jason again. I walk over to it and look at the screen through the tears. It’s a bit blurry but it’s not Jason. It’s Mom.

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