The Billionaire’s Secret Baby

2

Rain poured relentlessly.

Hazel sat at the front of the hospital, completely drenched, the cold biting into her skin. Still, she didn’t move.

Maybe if she stayed long enough, the rain would wash everything away or maybe take her with it.

She was only eighteen and pregnant?

“Hazel!”

Her head snapped up so fast it almost hurt.

She saw him running toward her, his long strides cutting through the rain, a black umbrella held over his head.

“Raven…”

Something in her chest broke at the sight of him.

He reached her in seconds, pulling her up and into his arms without hesitation, without care that she was drenched. His embrace was tight, protective and that was what made it unbearable.

It was the kind of hug she hadn’t realized she needed until now.

“Raven… You weren’t replying to my calls and texts, I…” she whispered, her voice breaking as her fingers clutched his shirt desperately, like he was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.

But then… Her father’s words echoed in her mind and she shoved him away, harder than she meant to.

He looked at her, confused.

“I told you I’d take responsibility for anything that happens,” he said, holding the umbrella over them again.

Her lips trembled. “How?” she asked, her voice barely in a whisper. “How, Raven?”

He froze.

“Tell me,” she pushed, her eyes locking onto his. “Will you carry the child yourself? Or convince your mother to accept me…an eighteen-year-old who’s already pregnant?”

He fell silent.

“Hazel, I…”

“It’s too late,” she cut in. Her voice was steady, but her chest ached. “I already got rid of it.”

The words hit him like a bomb, he staggered back slightly, like the ground had shifted beneath him. The umbrella slipped from his hand, hitting the wet pavement.

“What…?” His voice broke. “What do you mean…?”

“There’s no baby anymore, I ended it,” she said. “

“I won’t bring a child into your world,” she continued, her voice trembling now despite her efforts. “A world where you can’t even make your own choices.”

Her eyes locked onto his again. “You’re a coward, Raven. You only do what you’re told. Tell me…are you really ready to go against your mother for this?”

He didn’t answer and that was all she needed. “You see?” she whispered, her voice breaking. “You couldn’t even say it.”

Pain flashed across his face.

“ Why would you do that to the child? ” he demanded, frustration breaking through. “ I told you I would keep my promise. You should have trusted me.

“And who would suffer the humiliation when people find out?” she shot back.” Me! Not you. “ Tears mixed with the rain on her face. “When people talk, they won’t point at you…they’ll point at me!”

“What power do you have to protect us?”

He had no answer.

“You’re nothing but your mother’s puppet,” she continued, quieter now. “And I refuse to let her control my child’s life too.”

A pause.

“So it ends here.”

She slipped the ring off her finger, the one he had given her on her birthday and threw it to the ground between them.

“I’m breaking off the engagement.” She turned and began to walk away, holding back the tears threatening to spill.

It was the hardest thing she had ever done.

“Hazel…!” he called after her. “Everything that happened that night… did it mean anything to you?”

She stopped… Her throat tightened as memories of that night flooded back…every detail.

But she didn’t turn around.

“Don’t ask,” she said coldly. “I was drunk. That’s all it was.” The lie burned as it left her lips. He stood there, watching helplessly as she walked toward a waiting car.

Without looking back, she got in…and that was the last time he saw her.

The car drove off, leaving him standing alone in the rain, his gaze slowly dropped to the ring lying on the wet ground.