Pregnant For My Billionaire Boss

Chapter One: I Didn't Sign Up for This.

Zoe’s POV

The annoying ring of my phone cut through the silence of the early morning, dragging me from a restless sleep. I groaned, the sound drilling into my skull like a relentless jackhammer. My hand fumbled across the nightstand, knocking over a glass of water before finally closing around the vibrating phone. The screen glowed in the darkness, displaying a name I’d come to dread seeing at this hour, my boss, Fiona Tinsley.

Of course, it was her. The head matron of the private clinic where I worked always seemed to know the worst possible time to call. She wasn’t the type to call this early and I was off the clock.

Whatever she wanted could wait.

I ignored the call and went back to sleep, but she was persistent. She kept calling, and I had to pick it. If it wasn’t important, she wouldn’t be biting my ass so much.

It better be.

With a deep sigh, I answered, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Hello?”

“Zoe! Why are you ignoring my calls?” She scolded, like I was in any mood for that this morning. “We need you here, now!” Fiona’s voice was sharp, grating against my already frayed nerves. “There’s a situation, and we’re short-staffed. I need you in the clinic in thirty minutes.”

I squinted at the clock beside my bed. It was barely 5:30 a.m. I wasn’t even scheduled to be at work until seven.

“What situation, Fiona?” I dragged drowsily. “It’s five in the morning, and I’m not supposed to be at work till seven.”

“The important patient Clara was supposed to be taking care of this afternoon, is coming. Clara called in sick and you’re the second best under-nurse after her.” Fiona blabbed.

Of course that b***h Clara would call in sick. She’s always sick when it’s her turn to really do work, and none of those big-headed ‘senior nurses’ can see she’s playing them. I was the only one Fiona assigns to fill in for Clara and I hated it.

The b***h too would come back to the hospital with hickies, and would lie they were rashes.

Like I was dumb.

“Fiona, I..” I pretended to cough. “I’m also sick, too.”

“I know you’re lying, Zoe. You were just speaking normally a couple of seconds ago.” Fiona said, catching my fib. Her jarring voice grated in my ear and I wasn’t in for that bullshit this morning. “Besides, you’re a learning nurse, you need these experiences.”

What? Was I any different from Clara? Maybe there was something going on between Fiona and Clara that I wasn’t in on.

“Fiona, my shift doesn’t start for another—”

“I don’t care!” she snapped, cutting me off. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to repeat myself. Get here. Now!”

Before I could respond, she hung up, leaving me staring at the phone in disbelief. The nerve of that old witch. My irritation quickly morphed into anger, but I bit it back, knowing that there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

The last thing I needed was to lose my job because of some silly change in my shift. Not when my mom’s medical bills were piling up higher by the day.

If Clara came with hickies to work, I was calling her out. No more of this girl code crap.

I threw the phone onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, wishing I could just close my eyes and pretend this wasn’t my life. But reality was staring me in the face, harsh and unforgiving, and I couldn’t afford the luxury of escape.

Rolling out of bed, I shuffled into the bathroom, my reflection in the mirror barely recognizable. The bags under my eyes were dark and heavy, showing off my sleepless nights spent worrying about my mother, my bills, and my future.

My once-vibrant and curly brown hair hung limply around my face looking very dull and lifeless. I didn’t have the energy to care anymore. There were more important things to worry about than my appearance. My dull Sp**geB*b pajamas were nothing to right home about either.

Who was I kidding? I hated the way I looked and the miserable life I lived. My dream of becoming a big shot fashion designer in the fashion world was unattainable because I had no money to build connections. Every fashion house I applied to interviewed me and my designs and would tell me I’d have to wait. They would never call back.

There was this snobby rich girl I was interviewed with one time at Glass Fashion House. She was rude to me and called my clothes cheap. When we were interviewed, more attention and pressure was put on me, and the other girl got treated like a princess.

Her designs weren’t even as good as mine.

Finally, they got what they wanted and rejected my designs, flagging me as incompetent and the dumb blonde b***h with her trash designs better. I only found out she was related to the owner of Glass from a fellow rejected designer outside.

Classic nepotism.

Some leading designers would even keep the design and flatter me, calling me names like fashion prodigy and all that which I knew I was. They would promise to include me on their team but, same as always, would never reach out to me. I’d even see my designs on their magazines and would take all the creative credit for it.

Suing them wasn’t even an option. No lawyer was willing to take my case because they feared going against them. But I knew they didn’t take me serious because I didn’t have money reaching their standards.

I wanted to be pretty, to look nice, and show off my skills. But the world wasn’t fair to lower privileged people.

That wasn’t near the end of it and how I ended up in this sticky mess. I started dating this d**k I met at Glass one time. He looked very handsome and well put together. He radiated money and was moderately muscular with a slightly thin build and he was tall.

His name was Rover Baxter.

At first, everything felt like a fairytale. His mom was the creative director at Glass and literally controlled all the designers and models there. He hooked me up with a modeling gig there, and we hit it off since. His mother didn’t like me and wasn’t hiding it, but I didn’t care, I was in for Rover and not her.

Rover was very sweet at the beginning of our relationship, but he couldn’t hide his truth for long. He started cheating on me with my fellow models, and would even have the audacity to bring them home. He became verbally abusive towards me, calling me names like fat and unattractive and undeserving of the ladder he gave me to climb.

He would always apologize, and I would foolishly accept and give him love. I thought he was just misunderstood and needed someone to love.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Consensual s*x no longer mattered to him. He would forcefully f**k me, and sometimes forcefully force me to get it down with him and another lady.

My mom tried to calm a fight down between us, but Rover nudged her unintentionally down a flight of stairs.

Rover should have been the one paying for all this, not me. He was the reason my mother was in this condition, after all. But I cut the arrogant bastard off completely afternoon our breakup. He still tried to text and call me. Hell, he's even resulted to stalking me, but the damage him and his mom have done to me, I won't be able to forget. His mom and family name worked magic, leaving me to pick up the pieces of the life he shattered.

That hospital wasn’t even paying me enough to be bothering me early in the morning. I also didn’t sign up as replacements for displaced coworkers.

I got desperate and signed a contract with the hospital and I was meant to stay there for five years. That way, I would get the privilege of a health worker to apply for a loan for my mom’s bills.

I hated what I’d become.

I splashed cold water on my face, trying to wake up, then brushed my teeth with the same robotic motions that had become routine. My thoughts drifted to my mother, lying in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines.

When I went to see her, her frail body was a shadow of what it once was. The image was burned into my mind which reminded me of why I was putting up with Fiona’s bullshit.

I pushed the thought of Rover and Fiona away, focusing on getting ready for another painful day. There was no point in dwelling on him, on the past. It wouldn’t change anything, and I had more immediate concerns to deal with.

After throwing on my pretty pink scrubs I bedazzled myself to at least make myself happy and sane in my ordeal, managed to brush and pull my hair into a cute ponytail, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. Even with my attempt to feel fine, I still felt empty, and the day hadn’t even started yet.

“Zoe,..” I sighed, staring into the mirror. “ You’re beautiful, brave and you got this, boo.”

The thought of being overworked first thing in the morning was enough to make me want to crawl back into bed and hide under the covers. But that wasn’t an option, not if I wanted to keep my job and pay for ma.

The hospital staff where she is bother me for p*****t daily.

Hopefully, I get over it soon.

As I reached for the door handle, my phone buzzed again. I forgot I threw it. I glanced at it, expecting it to be Fiona, but the screen was blank. Strange. I shook off the unease that crept up my spine and opened the door, ready to face the day.

But the moment the door swung open, I froze.

Standing in the doorway, with a smug, infuriating smirk plastered on his face and a phone to his ear, it was him.

Rover.