The Billionaire's Hidden Heiress

Chapter 3

"Mr. Blackwood likes to meet all senior design candidates personally."

Jennifer, who earlier introduced herself as Mr Blackwood personal assistant said but her words barely registered through the panic flooding my system. I sat in a sleek conference room on the fourth floor of Blackwood Innovations, wearing Celine's best interview suit and trying desperately not to throw up. I'd eaten nothing but crackers this morning and I'd already thrown up twice talking about weakening morning sickness, my feet were already dying in borrowed heels. I wasn't showing yet but I was so bloated anyone could see there's something wrong with me.

"That's great," I managed, my voice sounding steadier than I felt.

The building was everything I'd imagined and more, it was intimidating than it was in pictures and people here looked like they actually had their lives together unlike me. I felt like an imposter playing dress up, pretending to be someone who belonged in a place like this, like I was scamming others.

"He should be here any second," Jennifer said, checking her elegant watch. "Oh, here he is now."

The door opened and my whooshed out of my lungs, every part of my body froze it was like I was having an out of body experience, the world stopped rotating and everything happened in slow mo because right here, walking towards me all professional and CEO coded was the same man that had my emotions in a bunch for weeks

It was him, there was no mistaking his aura and that blue eyes.

The hot stranger from the gala, the same man from that night, was standing in the doorway in a charcoal suit that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe, his jet black hair was perfectly styled and those impossible blue eyes that frequents my dream were currently staring at me like I was any other regular newly signed staff.

No. This couldn't be happening, it shouldn't happen at all and it couldn't be real but despite my inner wars, there he stood. The popular billionaire CEO, Damian Blackwood and the same man I'd spent the last three weeks trying to forget. The father of my unborn baby.

"Mr. Blackwood," Jennifer said cheerfully, completely oblivious to the way all the oxygen had just been sucked out of the room. "This is Martina Royce, our ten o'clock interview."

His face was perfectly blank, not even a flicker of recognition or hint of emotion escaped him he extended his hand like we were complete strangers. "Ms. Royce, it's a pleasure to meet you."

His voice was exactly the same, smooth as honey, even if I wasn't convinced about his identity, the voice is enough to bring back every memory of the dirty words he whispered in my ears.

I shook his hand on autopilot, my brain short-circuiting, even his grip was firm and professional and that gorgeous eyes gave absolutely nothing away. If I didn't know better, I'd think we really had never met.

But I could sense him and I expected him to do the same or was I just another random f**k to him, does he not even remember anything about me? Nothing at all? Nothing remarkable?

He just wasn't going to say anything?

"Thank you for taking the time," I heard myself say and surprisingly my voice sounded calm and normal like my entire world wasn't currently collapsing. "I'm excited to be here."

"Of course." He released my hand and sat down across from me, his expression still carefully neutral "Jennifer speaks highly of your work so why don't you walk us through your portfolio?"

This was insane, most insane ever and here I was, sitting across from the man I'd slept with, the man whose baby I was carrying right now, and he was acting like we'd never met. Like he hadn't had his hands all over my body and he hadn't whispered things in my ear that still made me blush.

Focus, I told myself. You need this job and your baby needs to survive.

Our baby.

Oh God.

I pulled up my portfolio on the tablet Jennifer provided, my hands somehow steady despite the chaos in my head. "I specialize in user interface design with a focus on accessibility and intuitive navigation."

I showed him my best designs, my best works and explained my process. The corporate part of my brain took over overshadowing every emotional heartbreak, The whole time, Damian Blackwood watched me with those blue eyes, his expression was unreadable and he even asked intelligent questions, made thoughtful comments, and didn't once acknowledge that he'd ever seen me naked.

It was the most surreal hour of my entire life.

"This is impressive Ms. Royce," Damian said finally, and I noticed he didn't even use my first name, not that I told him but the formal distance of Ms. Royce sounds cold. "Your approach to user experience is exactly what we need for Project Phoenix."

"Project Phoenix?" I asked, grateful to have something to focus on besides the fact that this man had no memory of the best night of my life.

"Our flagship product redesign which is the most important initiative we have right now." He leaned back in his chair, those blue eyes assessing me like I was a piece of equipment he was considering purchasing. "The timeline is aggressive and the stakes are high but I need someone who can handle pressure and deliver exceptional work under tight deadlines."

"I can do that," I said,all emotions asides this is a dream come true for me and I can't afford to lose it based on my emotions

"The position reports directly to me which means we'll have daily check-ins to review progress and weekly strategy sessions to align on direction." He pulled out his phone, already typing something. "You'll be working closely with my team, which means long hours and frequent collaboration. Are you comfortable with that level of intensity?"

"Yes," I said, even though every instinct was screaming that this was a terrible idea, considering the fact that I'm growing a human. "I'm comfortable with that."

"Good." He stood, buttoning his jacket with precise movements. "Jennifer will handle the paperwork and onboarding. Welcome on board, job starts on Monday.”

He extended his hand again and I shook it, feeling the same calluses on his palm that I'd felt all over my boobs that night. The same warmth and familiar strength but unfortunately his eyes held nothing but professional courtesy.

"Thank you, Mr. Blackwood," I managed. "I won't let you down."

"I'm sure you won't." He released my hand and walked to the door, already pulling out his phone. Then he paused, glancing back at me with a slight frown. "Have we met before? There's something familiar about you."

My heart stopped, maybe he was going to remember and would realize who I was and everything was going to fall in place finally for me.

"I don't think so," I said, forcing my voice to stay calm hoping he would see through my thin lie. "I have one of those faces."

He studied me for another moment then he shook his head slightly. "Must be my imagination but you look really familiar Ms Royce”