A contract for his heir

The Confrontation

Zara sat on the edge of her best friend's bed, staring at the pregnancy test in her trembling hands.

She had barely spoken since she arrived.

Her friend, Maya, sat beside her and watched her carefully.

"Zara, you've been staring at that thing for almost ten minutes."

Zara swallowed.

"I'm pregnant."

The words finally came out.

Maya's eyes widened.

"You mean..."

Zara nodded.

"Two months."

Silence filled the room.

Zara looked down at her hands.

"I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You have to tell him."

Zara immediately shook her head.

"No."

"Zara—"

"I don't want him to know."

Maya frowned. "He's the father."

"I know."

"Then why are you saying you don't want to tell him?"

Zara's eyes filled with tears.

"Because I already know what men like him will do. He'll think I'm after his money. He'll accuse me of planning this. He'll probably offer me money to disappear."

She wiped her cheek quickly.

"I don't want his money, Maya. I just..."

Her voice broke.

"I want my baby."

Maya softened.

"Are you thinking about keeping the baby without telling him?"

Zara didn't answer.

That was answer enough.

"I could leave the city," Zara whispered. "I could find another job somewhere else. Raise my child myself. He doesn't even have to know."

Maya stared at her.

"You're making a huge decision because you're afraid of his reaction."

"I'm not afraid."

"You are."

Zara looked away.

Maya sighed.

"You don't know what Adrian will say until you tell him."

"What if he doesn't believe me?"

"Then let him take a paternity test."

"What if he humiliates me?"

"Then you walk away knowing you did the right thing."

Zara was quiet.

Maya reached for her hand.

"But don't make a decision that your child might one day ask you about simply because you were scared to face the father."

Zara lowered her eyes.

She hated that Maya was making sense.

"I need to tell him," she finally whispered.

"Exactly."

"But how?"

That was the problem.

Adrian was not an ordinary man.

His company occupied one of the most expensive buildings in the city. Security surrounded his office, and people waited weeks just to get a few minutes of his time.

Zara couldn't simply walk into his office and announce that she was carrying his child.

Maya suddenly sat up.

"Wait."

Zara looked at her.

"I know somewhere he goes."

"Where?"

"A club."

Zara's eyebrows lifted.

"You know Adrian goes to clubs?"

"Not just any club. Apparently, he visits the same one regularly."

Zara hesitated.

"You want me to go to a club?"

"You're going there to talk to him, not to party."

"How am I supposed to get close enough to him?"

Maya looked at her for a moment.

Then a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"I have an idea."

Two hours later, Zara barely recognized herself in the mirror.

Maya had chosen a fashionable outfit for her, something completely different from what Zara normally wore.

Her hair was styled differently, and her makeup was more dramatic than usual.

Zara stared at her reflection.

"I look like someone else."

"Good."

"This is ridiculous."

"It's a plan."

"It's a terrible plan."

"It's our only plan."

Zara sighed.

"Fine."

Maya grabbed her purse.

"Remember why you're doing this."

Zara touched her stomach instinctively.

"For my baby."

"Exactly."

The club was louder than Zara expected.

Music filled the room while people talked, laughed and moved between tables.

Zara immediately felt uncomfortable.

She looked around.

Then she saw him.

Adrian.

He was sitting with several men at a private table, dressed in a dark shirt with his sleeves rolled up.

Even from across the room, he was impossible to miss.

Zara's heart began pounding.

"That's him," Maya whispered.

"I see him."

"Go."

Zara looked at her.

"You can't be serious."

"You came all this way."

Zara took a deep breath.

Then she walked toward him.

Adrian noticed her after a few moments.

His eyes followed her briefly before he looked away.

Zara stopped near his table.

"Can I sit here?"

One of his friends glanced at Adrian.

Adrian looked up at her.

"Do I know you?"

"No."

Something about her answer made him almost smile.

"Then why are you here?"

Zara forced herself to remain calm.

"Maybe I wanted to meet you."

Adrian studied her.

"You chose an interesting way to introduce yourself."

His hands fell and rubbed her lap.

Zara's heart raced.

For several minutes, they talked.

She tried to find the right moment to tell him.

But every time she opened her mouth, fear stopped her.

Adrian, unaware of the reason she was there, seemed unusually relaxed.

At one point, he leaned closer so he could hear her over the music.

"You don't look like you belong here."

Zara gave him a small smile.

"Neither do you."

He actually laughed.

It surprised her.

For a few minutes, the tension between them disappeared.

Then Zara remembered why she had come.

"Adrian, can we talk somewhere quieter?"

His expression changed.

"About what?"

"It's important."

He studied her face before standing.

"Fine."

They walked toward a quieter hallway away from the crowd.

Zara's hands were shaking.

Adrian noticed.

"What is this about?"

She took a deep breath.

"I need to tell you something."

"Go ahead."

Zara looked directly at him.

"I'm pregnant."

For a moment, Adrian didn't move.

Then his expression hardened.

"What did you say?"

"I'm pregnant."

He stared at her.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"How convenient."

Zara's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Two months later, you suddenly appear in a club and tell me you're carrying my child?"

"I didn't know how to tell you."

Adrian's anger grew.

"You knew exactly what you were doing."

"No!"

"You think I don't know women like you?"

Zara's face fell.

"I'm not asking you for money."

"Then what do you want?"

"I wanted you to know about your child."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"My child?"

"Yes."

He turned away, trying to control his temper.

Then he picked up the glass in his hand and threw it against the wall.

The crash echoed through the hallway.

Zara flinched.

Adrian turned back toward her.

"How much?"

She stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"How much money do you want?"

Tears filled Zara's eyes.

"I don't want your money."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you're the father!"

His expression remained cold.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I don't care if you believe me right now."

She wiped her tears.

"I just thought you deserved to know."

Adrian scoffed.

"You think you can walk into my life with a story like this and everything will change?"

Zara shook her head.

"I never wanted your life."

She turned to leave.

But before she could take another step, bright flashes came from the entrance of the hallway.

Both of them froze.

Cameras.

Someone had been recording.

Several paparazzi stood nearby, capturing everything.

Zara's heart dropped.

The argument.

Adrian.

The broken glass.

Everything.

Someone had recorded it.

"Zara!"

She heard Adrian call her name, but she couldn't stay.

She covered her face and hurried away, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She had come to tell him the truth.

Instead, she had just walked straight into another nightmare.

Behind her, cameras continued flashing.

And by the time Zara reached the street, neither of them knew that the video was already beginning to spread across the internet.

By morning, everyone would know about them.

And the biggest scandal of Adrian's career was about to begin.