The CEO’s Unexpected Child

CHAPTER 4

CATHERINE SMITH

Two months later...

"Pregnant? You're pregnant, Cath!" Claire exclaimed, holding the pregnancy test in her hand.

I got out of bed desperately, ran to her, and held the test. For a few weeks, I woke up every day feeling sick and my blood pressure had been causing some oscillations. I didn't understand what was happening until my friend said that I could be pregnant.

At first, I thought it was crazy, but soon I remembered that my period was late, which made me alert, so I bought a pregnancy test and went straight to Claire's house to get tested. Now I'm seeing in disbelief the word Pregnant on the test display.

"No, this can only be a mistake, I must have done the exam wrong, there's no way I'm pregnant. I haven't had s*x with Hector in a long time, and we always use condoms," I said scared, holding the pregnancy test.

She inhaled deeply.

"Friend, you are, but it's only a few weeks, and you haven't been with Hector for two months. That is, there's no way you can be that unfortunate." She frowned when she remembered him.

Hector never looked for me again since the day at the hotel. The dinner was paid for and deducted from my salary. To this day, I still haven't been able to get another job, because everyone says that I stayed a short time at the last one and when they called the hotel to ask for a reference. They informed me why I was fired, so I'm not a reliable employee to stay in any company.

Damn!

"If it's not Hector's, it can only be..." I closed my eyes trying to remember his name, but I don't remember, I don't think I asked or saw his face.

Shit!

"You got pregnant by the handsome masked man at the club. How can you not remember anything about that man? You went with him to the room. You must remember something. Make an effort Cath.”

I closed my eyes trying to remember something, but I don't remember much, just that he has a tattoo, but I don't remember what it looks like.

“What are you going to do?" I asked as he descended to the middle of my legs. I felt his fingers in the middle of my slit.

“This," he replied, running his tongue all over my v****a, getting me moan louder and louder.

"Damn it!”

“I only remember flashes from that night. Oh my God, I got pregnant by a stranger.” I started crying desperately.

“Oh, friend, don't cry,” Clay said, trying to calm me down. I shook my head negatively.

"How can I not be, Clay? My mom has been going through such a tough time since I lost my job, my dad is getting worse every day, I don't have a job, and now I'm going to bring a child into all of this. How can I not be desperate?" I said, placing my hand on my belly. "How could I have been so reckless?" I added.

"Friend, I will help you," she said.

I shook my head no as I laid down on the bed.

"You’re being transferred to the hotel in Los Angeles, Clay. You know you won’t be able to help me from there, and it wouldn’t be fair to you," I said, crying, overwhelmed by despair, thinking about my whole situation.

She took a deep breath and sat down next to me on the bed.

"Cath, you are a strong and brave woman. I’m sure this child will have an amazing mother, and besides, children are a blessing in our lives, so don’t feel this way, my friend. If God gave you this child, it’s because He will give you the means to take care of it, trust me!"

I caressed my belly and responded.

"I hope so, I really do." My words came out with no certainty at all, but I tried to focus positive energy on them.

A few hours later, I left my friend's house and went to my apartment. The moment I walked in, I saw my father, Lucas, watching TV and my mother, Lilia, sitting at the small table that was lying on the couch peeling potatoes.

"Daughter, you are here." My mother opened a huge smile when she saw me.

“I hope you've found another job since you left the last one,” my father said angrily as he watched a basketball game.

I'm holding on a little bit because my dad's going to be out when I get the news.

“Don't talk to her like that, Lucas, our daughter is working hard to find a job.”

“Hahaha... your daughter left her last job out of pure stubbornness. Discovering the betrayal of the groom was not the end of the world, not to mention that if she knew how to do things right, he would not have sought another woman.”

My mother shrank back, and I felt even sadder for never having my father's support. He completely blamed me for the end of my engagement. He said he spoke with Hector, and my ex-fiancé told him that I didn't know how to keep him. My father, being the scoundrel he is, sided with my ex instead of his daughter, who was humiliated and betrayed.

"Are you okay, my daughter?" my mother asked.

I swallowed hard, trying to gather courage.

"I want to talk... with you both," I said, trying to control my fear.

"If it's to say you found another job, I'll listen," my father said.

I shook my head no.

"It's not about that, Dad," I said as tears formed in my eyes.

"Daughter, are you sick?" my mother asked worriedly, coming towards me.

I shook my head no as the tears fell.

"Then tell me, what happened?" she asked, distressed.

"Speak up, girl, and stop the drama," my father exclaimed impatiently.

"I'm pregnant," I told them all at once.

My mother was in shock, just like my father, but soon a smile appeared on my father's lips, and he said,

"Ha ha ha... It's Hector's! Now he wouldn't have any other option but to marry you. That was great! Finally, you've done something right, and our lives will change." I noticed the hope in his words.

I swallowed hard and nodded my head.

"My baby isn't Hector's, Dad! I haven't had any relationship with him for a long time. I got pregnant at a party... that I went to, and I hooked up with a... stranger. My baby doesn't have a father." My words came out broken and full of fear.

My father got up from the sofa, furious, and slapped me hard across the face, causing me to stagger back and fall into the corner of the room from the impact.

"You slut! You broke up with your fiancé for what?! To get pregnant by some random guy on the street?! And now you bring this child here for me to support?!" He exclaimed furiously.

"No, Dad, I'll work," I said quickly.

"Lucas, don't do this, she is our daughter." My mother said, stepping in front of my father to stop him from attacking me.

"She got pregnant by some nobody, Lilia! Your daughter is a slut, and it was all your fault for letting her be too loose. You didn't know how to raise her with a firm hand," my father shouted, pushing my mother, who hit her back against the sofa and fell crying.

"Dad... I didn't mean to," I said, crying.

"Didn't mean to? What do you mean you didn't mean to? You let a fiancé with good prospects slip away, and now you're pregnant by a stranger? But you know what, I'm going to teach you not to be so shameless." I saw my father taking off his belt, and fear overwhelmed me. I quickly bent over, covering my belly with my arms in an attempt to protect my baby.

"No, Lucas, please don't do this," my mother pleaded, trying to take the belt from his hands, but it was in vain as I felt the first strike of the belt buckle hitting my arms. He pushed my mother away again and gave me more lashes, where I felt my skin breaking and burning.

“Lucas, don't do this, she is your daughter!” My mother finally managed to push my father, who was much taller than her and stepped between us. “You will not harm my daughter anymore,” she screamed desperately.

My father shook his head in disapproval as he looked at my mother and then at me, huddled in the corner, crying.

“I will not support this child. If your daughter decides to go through with this baby from some random guy, know that I wouldn’t do anything to help. She'll have to figure out how to provide for this child, and don’t count on me for anything!” he yelled and stormed out of the apartment.

My mother took a deep breath and came to me. She helped me up and laid me down on the couch with my head on her lap.

“Calm down, dear, we will find a way,” she said as her tears fell.

“I'm sorry, Mom, sorry for getting pregnant and not even knowing who the father is,” I said, and she wiped away my tears and then ran her hands through my hair, which was just like hers.

“Ah, my Cath! You are so strong and brave. If my little saint decided to send this baby, it's because she knew what she was doing. Now, come on, I'll help you take a bath, and then we'll put some ointment on those wounds.”

I nodded in agreement.

I entered the bathroom, and the pain I was feeling from the belt buckle my father hit me with on my arms, legs, and back doesn't even compare to the pain I felt in my soul, from taking so many blows in such a short time.

I wondered what I did wrong to deserve so much suffering.

...

Five years later...

“Cath, is the new owner of the supermarket really going to send us all away?” asked my coworker Ashley worriedly.

"I don't know," I responded anxiously.

The market where I worked as a cash operator had been sold and there were reports that there would be staff cuts, but we were all worried because we hadn’t expected the new owner to do that. It took me so long to get this fixed-job after my children were born that every second we stayed in this agony was a heart test for my heart.

A lot of things have happened in those last five years. I found out that the pregnancy was of triplets, my children were born prematurely in a cesarean delivery and I almost died in childbirth because I had eclampsia due to high blood pressure, where all this was as a result of a pregnancy troubled with high blood pressure. My father was always humiliating me and still letting several people on the street talk badly about me.

Then Hector, when he found out I was pregnant, said that I had betrayed him, and I ended up getting the reputation of being vagabond throughout the neighborhood. Of course, Vangie loved all this.

When my kids were three years old, we had to move to Los Angeles because my father ended making up some debts in the neighborhood where we lived, where we couldn't even bring a lot of things. Luckily, Claire helped me get that job here as soon as I arrived because until then I was in a bucket selling candy at university doors. Since then, I've been working hard to support my babies and help my mother.

My children were already 4 years old. Their names are Gab, Laurence, and Bryan. I could say that these kids are the light in my life, the strength I found every day to endure anything.

My babies were very intelligent, beautiful, and loving, but also very restless. They could hardly sit still and always ended up irritating some grumpy neighbor because they played all the time with their huge smiles and contagious joy. None of them were born looking like me, except for Laurence who was born with dark brown hair like mine. Gab and Bryan were blond, but they all had light eyes, just like the eyes of that masked person I slept with and still don’t know the name of or see their faces.

Every day when I came home and was greeted by my boys, I noticed that their smiles were the same as their father's, and I think it’s wonderful that my babies smiled so much, even while still living with my horrible father who gave not a bit of love to his grandchildren. Just as he never gave any to me throughout my life. He had only gotten worse over the years, he couldn't hold a steady job and even when he did find work, he never had any money. If I didn’t buy things for the house, we wouldn’t even have food. I knew I should have moved out by now, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave my mother alone, so I just kept on living as best as I could through the highs and lows.

Claire was now the manager of the hotel from the chain I used to work at, which was even sold. My friend thought she would be fired at the time, but no, she ended up being promoted and had a great career.

Now that we're close, she always comes to my house, showering my kids with presents. They called her Aunt Clay, and they were always thrilled when she arrived with sweets. They go crazy to eat them, even though I told them it would harm their teeth. However, my babies never listened, there was a big problem. They never listened to anything. They have a very strong personality and like to be independent. They also enjoyed creating small problems, especially when they disliked someone.

“If they fire us, at least there's a nightclub nearby hiring,” Martha said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Which one?” I asked, curious.

“Park's Billionaire Club. I have a flyer here.” She took it out of her bag and handed it to me.

I looked at the flyer but didn't pay much attention because working in a nightclub was not in my plans, especially at the last one I worked at. I ended up pregnant with triplets.

“Look, the owner has arrived,” Martha said, and I quickly turned towards the meeting room entrance, and my eyes couldn't believe what they saw.

No, it can't be!