Rejected By The Billionaire Devil

Mara’s POV Holy s**t! The power went off again. The whole apartment drops into darkness, except for the blinking red light on my phone. My stomach tightens so hard I scream and fall to my knees. “Not now… please… not now…” my whole body trembled. I grab my phone with shaking hands and hit Adrian’s number for the ninth time. It rings once. Twice. Then— Call Rejected. “Adrian! Pick up!” I cry, pressing call again. “Please—please—I’m in labor.” Another rejection. Another contraction slams into me like fire ripping through my spine. I bite my lips so hard while I drag myself up, holding the wall, breathing hard. He left last night. After that fight. After the one accusation no man ever forgets. He thinks the baby isn’t his. “God… Adrian…” I sob. “How could you even believe that?” I stumble out of the apartment, rain already pouring, cold and brutal. My hair sticks to my face as thunder cracks overhead. I bang on my neighbor’s door. “Please! I need help! Please, I’m in labor!” The door opens a crack—then slams shut. “Murderer’s daughter,” someone mutters behind a window. “She thinks we’ll help her?” “She should pay for what her family did.” Tears mix with the rain as my legs trembled. I didn’t choose my past. I’ve spent my whole life trying to erase it. Another contraction hits. I scream into the storm, bending over. I call Elias—my one constant, my childhood friend, my homeboy. Number Blocked. “What? No—no—Elias, why?” My breath shakes. “Not you too…” I stagger toward the road, one hand clutching my stomach. “Please don’t take my baby!” I scream to the sky as drain poured mixed with tears. “Please!” I was practically shivering while in labor in the rain. I didn’t know what to do. Lightning flashes—bringing a memory with it. “I’ll never leave you, Mara. Never.” Adrian smiled down at me the night he slipped the ring on my finger. Another contraction. “I need space,” he said last night, eyes cold. “Because of the rumors, Mara. I found messages. I found lies. I don’t know what to believe anymore.” Messages I’d never seen before. Messages I was very sure someone planted but didn’t know who neither could I prove myself. He threw his phone on the bed. “Were you ever honest with me? Is this pregnancy even mine?” Watching these words come out from the mouth of the only man who I had ever been intimate with all my life broke my heart to pieces. The memory slices through me. I choked on my own breath as I continued walking on the streets which was practically empty due to the heavy storm. I reached the large iron gates of Adrian’s family mansion which wasn’t so far from our personal residence. The lights were on. Their cars were home. They were most likely there. They can help me. I pound on the gate. “Please! Anyone! Help me!” The doors clicked open halfway and Adrian’s mother steps out under an umbrella, perfectly dressed, not a drop of rain on her. Her eyes sweep over me—my soaked clothes, my blood, my shaking legs. She sneers. “You witch! What are you doing here?” My jaw dropped. I knew she didn’t like me but I had never seen so much hate from her and that too in my condition. “Even stray dogs know where they are not wanted.” She steps closer, voice low and venomous. “Go fend for your bastard.” My heart stops. “What…?” My voice breaks. “Mother Cassidy… I swear… Adrian is the only man I’ve ever—” “Oh, save your filthy lies.” She laughs softly. “The whole city knows now. You’ve been exposed.” My chest tightens. “Exposed? For what?!” “A paternity test was leaked this morning. Not matching.” She tilts her head. “Didn’t you wonder why my son hasn’t come home?” My legs nearly give out. “No… no… that’s impossible. What test are you talking about? That test is fake . How was the paternity test done? It has to be—” She spits at the ground near my feet. “You fooled my son, but not anymore.” “Please Mother help me. I’m dying, I’m in la labor…” I stuttered and whimpered with the last strength left inside of me. She stared me cold in eyes without any atom of sympathy. “Get lost!” The gate creaks. Adrian steps into view. My breath leaves me. “Adrian!” I cry, stumbling toward him. “Adrian, please—listen to me—please don’t believe any of this!” Rain pours down his face. Or maybe those are tears. I can’t tell. “Adrian… I’m in labor. I’m bleeding. I’m going to die out here. Please help me. Please.” I reach out a shaking hand. He looks at me. Not with love. Not with anger. Just… nothing. “Adrian!” My voice cracks into a scream. “I’ve never touched another man in my life! You know me! You know me better than anyone—you know I wouldn’t—” His jaw trembles. He looks away. My soul rips apart. “Adrian, don’t do this,” I whisper, collapsing to the ground. “Don’t leave me. Not like this. Not when I need you.” His mother’s hand rests on his shoulder. He turns. He walks away. “Adrian!” I scream so loud it shreds my throat. “Don’t leave me! Don’t—” The world tilts. I hit the ground. Cold and weightless and immediately passed out. White lights above me. Beeping machines. My head pounds. I turn my face slowly toward the man standing beside me. “Where… where am I?” I whispered. His expression tells me everything. “Hey dear. You are awake” he whispers with a soft smile. “Don’t worry you are in the hospital. “Where is my baby?” I was tensed immediately I placed my hand on my stomach and didn’t notice the large bump. “I’m so sorry” the doctor said. My heart stops. “Sorry for what? Where is my baby?!” Tears filled my eyes at that point. “We could only save one.”