Chapter 4 : daddy
1474 Words
The pregnancy test in my hand was positive. Again.
I threw it in the trash with the other three. Like if I hid the evidence, the truth would disappear too.
It wouldn’t.
My stomach was proof. Four months. And growing.
The door to my tiny apartment creaked open and my roommate Lola walked in.
“Girl, you still ain’t eating,” she said, dropping her bag. “You look pale.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“You’re not fine. You’re pregnant for the coldest CEO in Lagos and you’re pretending he doesn’t exist.”
I flinched.
“Don’t say his name.”
“Why? Adrian Cole? The man who—”
“Lola, please.”
She sighed and sat next to me on the couch. “Tash. You have to tell him.”
“And say what? ‘Hey, remember that night you called a mistake? Well congrats, it’s a baby now.’”
My voice broke.
Lola rubbed my back. “What if he wants to be in the baby’s life?”
“What if he doesn’t?” I whispered. “What if he looks at me the same way he did that morning? Like I was nothing.”
I couldn’t do it. Not yet.
So I did the only thing I could. I buried myself in work.
Stary needed a feature on top CEOs in tech. And guess who was number one on the list.
Adrian Cole.
CEO of Cole Enterprises.
The father of my baby.
The man I hadn’t seen in six months.
The email from his PR team came that evening.
_Mr. Cole will grant one interview. Friday. 45th floor. 10am._
My hands shook as I typed back.
_Confirmed. Tasha Adele, Freelance Writer._
Tasha Adele. Not Tasha Mills.
If he saw my real name, he’d know. And I wasn’t ready.
---
*Friday. 9:58am. Cole Enterprises.*
The elevator felt like it was going up forever.
45 floors.
45 floors to face the man who ruined me and made me all at once.
The doors opened and the air hit different up here. Cold. Expensive. Like him.
“Miss Adele?” The receptionist smiled. “Mr. Cole is expecting you.”
Expecting me.
God help me.
The boardroom doors opened.
And there he was.
Adrian Cole.
Black suit. No tie. Sleeves rolled up. Dark hair messy like he’d been running his hands through it.
He looked older. Tired. But still the most dangerous man I’d ever met.
His eyes lifted from his laptop and found me.
For one second, the world stopped.
Recognition flickered. Then it was gone, replaced by that cold CEO mask.
“Miss Adele,” he said. His voice was deeper than I remembered. “Sit.”
I sat. Ten feet between us. It felt like nothing.
He started the interview. Questions about Stary. About branding. About his company.
I answered on autopilot. My mind was screaming: _He doesn’t know. He can’t know. Hide the bump. Hide the bump._
Then he paused mid-sentence.
His eyes dropped.
To my stomach.
The oversized blazer wasn’t enough anymore.
I shifted, crossing my arms.
“Are you alright, Miss Adele?” he asked.
“Fine,” I said too quickly. “Just didn’t sleep well.”
He leaned back. Studying me.
“You look familiar.”
My heart stopped.
“I... I don’t think so, Mr. Cole.”
“Hmm.” He tapped his pen on the table. “We need to talk after this.”
The interview ended in a blur.
When everyone left, the door closed with a click that sounded like a gunshot.
Now it was just us.
He stood and walked around the table. Stopped in front of me.
“Take off the blazer.”
“What?”
“Take. It. Off.”
I shook my head. Tears were already forming.
“Tasha,” he said.
Not Miss Adele.
Tasha.
He knew.
My hands were trembling as I unbuttoned the blazer. Slowly.
Underneath was a loose dress. And the bump.
Small. But undeniable.
Adrian stared at it.
His jaw clenched. His eyes went dark.
“Is it mine?” he asked. No preamble. No softness.
I nodded. One time.
Because if I spoke, I’d cry.
“f**k,” he whispered. He turned away, running both hands through his hair. “f**k, Tasha.”
The silence was worse than yelling.
“How long have you known?”
“Four months.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” He spun back. Anger now. “You let me sit here for an hour pretending you were a stranger?”
“You called me a mistake!” The words exploded out of me. “You said ‘don’t make this weird’ and walked out! What was I supposed to do, Adrian? Send you a sonogram?”
He flinched at his name.
“I was drunk. And stupid. And you left before sunrise.”
“So did you!”
“I went to find you! You were already gone!”
We were shouting now. Six months of pain in one room.
He came closer. Stopped just short of touching me.
“Is it a boy or girl?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Do you need anything? Money? A doctor? My company’s insurance—”
“I don’t want your money!”
“Then what do you want, Tasha?” he snapped. “Because I’m trying to fix this and you won’t let me!”
“I want you to not look at me like I’m a problem to solve!”
“I don’t!”
“You do! That’s all you’ve ever done!”
He was quiet for a long time.
Then he did the last thing I expected.
He knelt.
Right there on the boardroom floor.
In his 5,000 dollar suit.
In front of me.
“Look at me,” he said softly.
I did. Through tears.
“I was scared,” he admitted. “That night scared me. You scared me. Because for the first time in my life I wanted something I couldn’t control. So I pushed you away. And I’ve regretted it every day since.”
My breath caught.
“I don’t want to be your mistake, Adrian.”
“You’re not,” he said fiercely. “You’re the only real thing in my life. And this—” he gestured to my stomach “—this is not a mistake. This is my child.”
He reached out and placed his hand on my bump.
Gentle. Like I was glass.
“Hello,” he whispered to my stomach. “I’m your daddy.”
The word broke me.
_Daddy._
I collapsed. Right there.
And he caught me.
He held me while I cried. Rocked me like I was the one who needed protecting.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured into my hair. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
“Don’t be,” he said. “You’re not doing this alone. Not anymore. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
For the first time in four months, I believed someone.
---
*One week later*
My phone was blowing up.
Headlines everywhere:
_BREAKING: BILLIONAIRE CEO ADRIAN COLE EXPECTING FIRST CHILD_
_WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN?_
Adrian didn’t care.
He moved me into his penthouse that weekend.
“Temporarily,” he said. “Until you feel safe.”
Safe. With him.
The man who used to terrify me.
He came to every appointment. Held my hand during the ultrasound.
When we heard the heartbeat, he squeezed my hand so hard I thought my fingers would break.
“It’s fast,” the doctor said. “Probably a girl.”
Adrian looked at me. Eyes shining.
“A girl,” he repeated. Like it was a miracle.
That night he made me dinner. Burned the pasta.
“I don’t cook,” he said, embarrassed.
“I noticed,” I teased.
He pulled me into his lap on the couch. His hand resting on my stomach.
“Tasha,” he said.
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
Three words.
The three words I never thought I’d hear from Northman.
“I love you too,” I whispered back.
He kissed me. Soft. Careful. Like I might break.
And maybe I did.
Into a million pieces, and he was putting me back together.
---
*Chapter 4 ended with a knock on the door.*
Adrian opened it.
Standing there was his mother.
Elegant. Cold. And staring directly at my stomach.
“Well,” she said. “So it’s true. You’re going to be a daddy.”
Adrian stepped in front of me. Protective.
“Mother. This is Tasha.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“We need to talk. Now.”
And just like that, the peace was over.
*TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 5*
---
- Writer
