Page 21 of Billionaire's Baby Mistake

“Hi.” She steps shyly into my office not quite sure what to expect. “Is everything okay?”

I suck in a deep breath, wanting to find the right way to form the question, but it spills from my mouth regardless, possibly in the hardest way. “Are you David Connelly’s daughter?”

She looks so stunned that it quickly becomes obvious that it’s the truth. For a horrible heart- wrenching second I fear she might be about to lie. “I… I am…” she stammers. “Yes.”

Her expression is hollow, and her face is pale, but I decide to take it as a good sign that she’s confessed. See… no betrayal here!

“The company’s future is strong at the moment, but it wouldn’t take a lot to endanger it,” I tell her, with a slight warning to my tone. I need her to understand that while I accept her, I won’t take any funny business… not that I suspect any.

“No, of… of course not,” she stammers, almost silently. “I… I…”

“I trust you,” I reassure her, causing my voice to sound as warm as it can. “It just threw me a bit, that’s all. Finding that out from someone else wasn’t the best.”

“It doesn’t matter who I am or who my parents are. It doesn’t change how I feel about you or the company.” She looks a little needy, making me smile, so I slide out from behind my desk to place a kiss on her lips. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Alex.”

“It’s going to be fine as long as we’re honest with each other.” I feel good about it now, certain she’s trustworthy, and that’s what I’ll tell anyone that challenges me again. I know I don’t have to worry. I’ve always trusted myself and can continue to do so.

“Okay,” she nods slowly, allowing my acceptance to finally be processed. “Thank you. You’re a good man, Alex.”

Zaya

EversinceAlexconfrontedme about who I am, I have been holding back on the plan, doing what I can to blend in and make it look like my sole intention is to grow the company. I’m terrified that I’m being watched from every single angle, and it’s causing me to shut down. It doesn’t help that I don’t know what to do anymore. A big part of me wants to just grab the fucking formula and get out of here and finish what I started, but another part wants to call Dad and ask why he lied. Ever since meeting Jenny, sparks of old memories have been slowly creeping in, and they don’t make for pleasant thoughts. Dad might not have mentioned what happened with the business for a very long time, but it’s all he used to speak about when I was young, even more so than what happened to my poor mom. Now I’m starting to wonder if this was his plan all along.

The day he stopped talking about it nonstop was the day I told him I would seek revenge for him. I was only a kid, which is why I’ve mostly forgotten it, but now that it’s in my brain, it’s all I think about. He never stopped me, never encouraged me, or never told me to get my own life rather than worrying about all the old madness. He might have seemed like he was trying to put me off when I was older, but my mind was already set. I had already chosen my path in life, and I stubbornly am taking it no matter what. We’re both stubborn people, so I’m sure he saw that in me.

It may seem like paranoia and I am thinking into things far too deeply, but then there’s the fact that he’s seemingly had Van as an inside man for far too long. Maybe he was the original person to carry this plan out, but he needed to wait for the formula to be perfected. Maybe by that time, he realized that Van was a loose cannon and a bumbling idiot, so he dragged me into the picture. And of course, there I was ready and willing…

But should all that be enough to put me off now, after all this time? Even if I have been a pawn, that’s because the end goal is such a noble one. Maybe I need to concentrate on that rather than worrying. God, this issohard.

“Zaya?” Van’s voice breaks into my office, making me jump from these thoughts. “Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you?”

I want to say no and turn him away, but I can’t. There’s a seriousness to his expression that I’ve never seen before that has me intrigued. “Come in and shut the door behind you,” I hiss. “Now what is it?”

“Your dad is getting worried,” he informs me in a hushed voice. “He thinks we’re leaving things too late and will end up screwing it up. He told me that he tried to call you, but you didn’t answer…” I didn’t because I wasn’t quite ready for this exact lecture. “So I think… I think we need to start making progressing.”

Shit,I’m not ready for this. I don’t know how to deal with it. I’m still undecided, but how can I express this to Van? If my suspicions are correct, he’s been working with my father for a very long time, and undoubtedly has his own agenda. I doubt there’s anything I can do to change his mind… even if I wanted to.

“What… what are you saying?” I stammer, cautiously.

“I think we need to do it today,” he whispers as he leans in closer. “Alex is becoming increasingly suspicious. The closer the release gets, his security will be much higher. Plus, we need to get this done quick enough for your dad to do whatever it is he needs to do as well.” Van sits back and regards me curiously, waiting for a response. “So from all the calculations I’ve been doing, it needs to be today.”

This is it: now or never, no more going back and forth, no more doubting myself. I need to make my choice. do I pick Dad – the man who raised and loved me, who deserves some recognition of his contribution, or do I pick the man that I might be falling in love with, despite everything he represents?

When I consider it like that, there is only one option, however much I don’t like it. “Okay,” I whisper sadly. “Let’s do it today.”

“Great,” he snaps, reading to go into action. “I will set the fire alarms in about an hour. I have smoke machines installed secretly in the walls, so it will seem more believable. I will ensure that the security cameras are down seconds before everything starts.” Finally, his knowledge is coming in handy. “While everyone files outside, you head into Alex’s office…” with that he hands me a key, cut specially for me. “Grab whatever you can. I will arrange for your father to meet you nearby…”

“Do you know what happened a long time ago?” I suddenly jump in, needing to fully get where Van is coming from. “In the beginning…with… Jenny?”

His facial expression hardens, but he doesn’t seem to be swayed. “Whatever happened back then doesn’t matter. It isn’t fair for someone to get nothing for what they created.”

“So this is all about money?” I ask curiously. “You think that’s the only end goal here?”

“Of course,” he shrugs casually. “What else would it be about?”

I don’t want to answer that question as it puts my whole background in jeopardy, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s more to do with love. Jenny was seemingly the love of Dad’s life, and Mom was just some woman he knocked up to get revenge, or to get over her. I don’t know. The result was me… but if Dad never loved Mom, did he love me at all? I’ve always thought so, but maybe I’ve spent my entire life being naïve.

“Okay, well let’s just do this.” I need an end now and to be away from all this.

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