Page 26 of Billionaire's Baby Mistake

“I’m sorry,” she mutters quietly, with her eyes only on me. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I… I made a snap decision, and it was the wrong one. I can now see that my dad is a bad man and I should never have gotten caught up in his plan.”

“It wasn’t quite like that, or was it?” I scold. “I know that you concocted the plan for a very long time. You could have pulled out, but you didn’t.”

“I know,” she states as a fact, not asking for sympathy, which I respect. “I know I could have, and I was wrong not to. But now I want to help you to get back what should be yours.”

“Come into my office,” I tell her, with an iciness in my tone. “We can chat in there.”

Zaya, Nina, and I sit around my desk, gazing at one another suspiciously before Zaya speaks. “Look, I know what I did was wrong, and I’m very sorry, but I don’t think we have much time to debate it right now. We need to find a way to get the formula back before my dad does something crazy.”

“Like what?” I lean in, wanting to know just what all of this is for.

“Like sell it. He told me that he was selling it to Nomadic Medical, but he was lying – clearly, he didn’t trust me – so I don’t know where he’s going now. All I know is that I cannot solve this by myself. I tried my hardest to get him to stop and confess everything, but he turned me down.” Wow, the intense pain that crosses her expression at that statement tells me everything I need to know. She did believe somewhere along the line that she was doing the right thing. “I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t have to.”

I want to tell her that I’m grateful for her being here, even if just to get through that press conference in a more dignified way than I would have been able to. But I keep all that locked inside. I don’t want to gush, especially not in front of Nina. It’s embarrassing. “Okay, so what do you suggest we do?”

“I have been thinking about it. I feel that Van is the weakest link in the operation. He’s greedy and all he cares about is money. To be honest, Dad has probably already paid him a chunk, so his loyalty is likely wavering. Plus, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he might be great at computer stuff, but when it comes to everything else, he’s an idiot.” I hate to agree with Zaya at the moment, but never have truer words been spoken. “If we can somehow get him to agree to meet us, he will tell us everything before things go too far.”

This could be the way out that I’ve been looking for. All I need to do is to put my trust in the woman who betrayed me only days ago. Am I willing to risk my business over her? If not, what the hell am I going to do? I don’t have a plan; this is it. Maybe it’s better to just go with it, however scary. It makes me nervous but is the only option I have. I glance over to Nina, who gives me a shrug, proving she’s just as confused as I am.

“Okay,” I finally concede, praying that I’m doing the right thing. “Please, tell me your plan?”

“I have one, and I’m pretty sure it’ll work. There’s one person who can make Van talk, and that is Nina.”

Nina? What?“What do you mean?” I ask, the coldness returning to my voice. “I don’t intend to endanger people unnecessarily.”

“From what Van has told me, he has a thing for Nina,” she says, to which Nina nods in agreement.

“Oh, yeah, I know. He’s always asking me out as if he doesn’t get that I’m married.”He is?Why was I never told ?

“I think if you contact him and pretend you know nothing… and that you’re bored at the hospital, thinking of him…” Nina screws up her nose, but she nods, indicating that gets that it needs to be done. “Then we all go and pay him a little visit. What do you think?”

“Agreed,” Nina says quickly, leaving me no choice. Zaya has swayed us with her smart judgment. It figures. But maybe it’s for a good reason. “I just want an end to this mess. I don’t want to lose my job.”

“Yeah, okay, agreed.” I just hope this isn’t me getting back in bed with the devil. That would end up tearing me apart forever…

Zaya

ThemoreIthinkabout it, the more it seems obvious that Van has a thing for Nina… just from the way he mentions her name personally in his messy rant about the company. I mean, I could be wrong, but I desperately hope I’m right, or I might just screw up anything. Again.

“Do you think he will mind that Nina is married?” Alex asks, looking a little bit freaked out.

“No, a man like him has no morals. He won’t care about that. I imagine he believes it’s Nina’s problem, anyway. He won’t see himself as the one who’s cheating.” I can just see the cogs working in Van’s brain.

“I won’t have to like…doanything, will I?” Nina asks, feeling dubious. “I don’t know if I can go through with that.”

“No, you won’t,” Alex says, more confidently. “We’ll come with you. There won’t even be a moment where you’re alone with him. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Okay,” she agrees and types furiously on her phone for a few seconds. “This is what I’ve said: ‘Hi Van, it’s Nina. I’ve been in the hospital with my brother for days with nothing to do but think. To be honest, you’re on my mind a lot. Would you like to meet up and see where things go?’ Is that okay?”

“I’m sure ‘wanna screw?’ would work just as well, but this will do,” I tell her wryly. “Now we’ll just have to hope there aren’t any brain cells in there, and he doesn’t work out what we’re doing.”

“Doesn’t look like it; he replied already.” We jump up and gather around Nina’s phone, keen to know what he’s said.

Nina, sounds good. My place? You know where it is.

“Ugh, I only know where it is because I know where everyone lives. I hate that he’s worded that in a way that makes it seem like I’ve wanted to hook up before.” Nina screws up her nose, and weirdly, it makes me want to laugh. This situation is so absurd that it’s bordering on ridiculous; but of course, I can’t express that. I’m on the edge of trust here, very lucky to be let in. I can’t blow it by doing anything stupid, such as laughing at a terrible moment. I’m sure that Nina and Alex still have their doubts, and I need to do what I can to negate it. “Anyway, shall we go?”

The drive to Van’s home is stilted and in silence. All of us are lost in our thoughts; none of us knows how to express the fear inside. I am hoping against all hope that Dad isn’t there and that this isn’t some sort of trap… and I’m sure that idea must have occurred to everyone else as well.

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