The Billionaire Tycoon’s Surprise Heir

3. Avery

I stare at the little boy sitting on a stool across the counter from where I was standing. We are in the middle of our usual morning school day routine where he would eat yogurt with mixed berries and a couple of banana pancakes, and I would be on my second cup of coffee.

I swear, as the days go on, he looked more and more like is father… if that were even possible. He’s a carbon copy of my ex-husband. He has his father’s tanned skin tone, black hair, nose, lips, and pale blue eyes. Everything screamed Evan Scott. So even though I tried hard to forget about the man that nearly destroyed me, it was a nearly impossible task. Around eight years ago, I found out I was pregnant. That very same day, my then husband and father of my child took the divorce papers I had given him and threw it at my face—signed.

To be honest, I still think about what happened the night before that day and am always left a little confused. So, yes, I did sign the papers and served it to him requesting a divorce, but after what happened that last night— I figured he was adamant against divorce. I thought that maybe we could still work out if he still wanted to work on our marriage. It takes two to tango. He walked out so quickly after his parting words that I never stood a chance at revealing my pregnancy. To be honest, I was shocked at his behavior.

“Earth to Mom!” My son’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. I chuckle and a take a sip of my iced coffee.

“Oh, sorry, sweetie. What were you saying?”

“So, since my birthday is coming up soon—”

I laugh. “Riley, your birthday is literally months from now.”

“Okay, but still… it’s coming up! And I really want this new video game coming out this week.” I can see where he was going with this. I roll my eyes as he continued. “Can I please get the game this week? It will be for my birthday, and I won’t ask anything else. Seriously, this is the only thing I am asking for. Please? Please?”

He looks at me with his puppy dog eyes and hands clasped together.

“I already know how this is going to go. If I agree to this, you are betting on the fact that I will either forget or feel sorry for you, and you would still end up getting more thing for your birthday.” I give him a pointed look.

He grins. “Hey, it was worth the shot.”

“Here is an idea. What if you see how much have in your spending budget and then we can see if you can afford it?”

“Bruh… Why can’t you just buy it for me?”

I give him a stern look. “First of all, I am not your ‘Bruh,’” I make sure to emphasis the term “bruh.” The struggle with him transferring to the new school and being in classes with a bunch of pre-teens. It was great for his academics, but he also picks up a lot of things from the older kids.

“Secondly, I can’t just keep buying you things whenever you want something. You need to learn how to manage money and be a responsible person.”

He huffs. “Sure. Whatever… let me go see how much I have then!” He quickly heads to his room presumably to count his money.

I continue to sip my coffee when I hear the front door open.

“Yoooooo…”

I didn’t even have to look to see who it was. Gabe was such a kid. It didn’t matter how successful he was and that he ran a multi-million-dollar company. I’ve known Gabriel for a little over a decade now. I met him while I was in college, and we were paired as partners in our university physics lab course. And since we were both STEM majors, we ended up in many of the same classes, and we were lab partners throughout.

After my divorce, I ended up here on the west coast since it was on the other side of the country furthest away from NYC. I just wanted to be as far away from Evan, and I had a cousin who lived in the Bay area who suggested that I come visit for a bit. I ended up staying and finishing my degree at the local university.

I ran into Gabe a few years ago at an event I was attending. He had just started a benchmark firm and it didn’t take long for me to agree to work at his firm. To be honest, I didn’t really need a job after my divorce settlement, but aside from using it to relocate, buy a small place, and finish my degree—I haven’t really touched it since. I figured I should keep most of it in a trust for Riley and the rest in savings and investments.

“Oh my god, Gabe. Can you be anymore childish?”

“Lighten up, Avery.” He grins before popping a grape into his mouth. If I were to be completely honest, Gabe is freaking hot. He’s tall, a little over six-foot, great body, wavy blonde hair on the longer side, blue eyes, and the dimples that show up every time he smiled – to die for. But as they say— he’s friend zoned. I just can’t look at him romantically. At one point, I had a huge crush on him. That was squashed immediately after I met Evan.

“Ha-ha. You’re so funny,” I reply sarcastically.

“Where’s my man, Riley?” He looks around the kitchen into the living room.

“In his room.” And I go on to explain how he wanted to buy a game.

“You’re such a good mom.” He says it with such softness and sincerity. I feel my face going red.

I change the subject. “So, you think we’re ready for the presentation later this week?”

He rubs his chin and plops another grape into his mouth before replying with a serious tone. “We’re gonna be cutting it close, but I think we’ll be good. We really need that cash flow so we can continue the research and development we need.” While Gabe was a playful guy at heart, when it came to work, he was all serious and focused.

I glance down at my phone screen to peak the time. “We should get going. We still need to drop Riley off. Can you go get him from his room while I refill my coffee?”

“You can your coffee obsession. I don’t think that’s healthy, A.”

“Leave my coffee alone.” I glare at him grabbing my insulated mug from the counter.

He just laughs as he walks toward Riley’s room.

I pick up my phone to text one of my good friends, Mina, to ask her if she would be able to pick Riley up from school today since Gabe and I would be attending an important meeting. She texts me back right away to let me know she would be able to pick him up. Smiling, I place my phone in my bag that was on top of the kitchen counter.

I grab the bag as I call out, “Hey guys, let’s go!"

I walk out to stand by Gabe’s brand-new black sports car. Since Gabe lived in the same development, we would sometimes carpool. It didn’t take long until the two came out of the house talking to each othe rin hushed tones. Who knows what they were up to? Probably no good. I shake my head.