The Trillionaire's Baby mama

Twelve

Nerissa

It had been a few weeks since the first awkward elevator encounter, and I was starting to get used to seeing my neighbor with a new girlfriend every week. Honestly, it wasn’t my business, and I kept reminding myself of that. Still, I made sure Luke didn’t come in contact with him. The last thing I needed was Luke picking up any habits from someone who clearly didn’t care about anyone else’s comfort.

The loud music blasting through the thin apartment walls didn’t help either. Sometimes it started early in the morning; other times, it kept going well into the night. I’d started using earplugs just to get some sleep.

At work, things were surprisingly better. Asher hadn’t been coming to the office lately, which was a huge relief. I didn’t have to constantly worry about accidentally saying or doing something that might give away my secret. I could actually breathe.

I’d also made a few friends. Dan, from the IT department, was a sweetheart with a quick wit, and Leah from accounting always had the juiciest stories. We usually met at lunch in the break room, where Leah would launch into one of her tales while Dan tried not to choke on his coffee from laughing too hard.

“…so she caught him in bed with her cousin,” Leah was saying one afternoon, eyes wide with dramatic flair. “And you know what she did? She took his favorite sneakers—all of them—and soaked them in hot sauce. Then she put them back in the closet like nothing happened.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Did he find out right away?”

“Oh yeah,” Leah grinned. “The next morning, he put them on without looking, and his feet were burning all day. He didn’t even know why until she sent him a picture.”

Dan snorted. “Man, that’s brutal.”

Just as I was about to ask Leah how her friend handled the fallout, my phone alarm went off. I checked the time and felt a pang of panic.

“Oh no, I have to go pick up Luke!” I said, grabbing my bag.

Leah gave me a sympathetic look. “Want me to cover for you if anyone asks?”

“Thanks, but I’m off anyway,” I replied, rushing out. As I made my way to my car, a thought crossed my mind. Maybe I should hire a nanny. My paycheck had increased—Asher had kept his promise and paid me ten thousand dollars for the month.

When I first saw the alert, I’d checked and rechecked my account. Ten thousand dollars. That was way more than the original amount I’d been told. I knew I should talk to Asher about it—tell him to stop overpaying me. Even if I needed the money, I still had my pride.

After picking Luke up from school, I couldn’t help but smile at his cheerful chatter about his day. As we approached our apartment, I could already hear the thumping bass from my neighbor’s place. I gritted my teeth.

Once inside, I set Luke up with his homework and made him a quick dinner. But the noise just kept getting louder. Enough was enough.

I marched over to my neighbor’s door, took a deep breath, and knocked—hard enough to be heard over the music. I folded my arms, preparing to give him a piece of my mind.

A moment later, the door swung open, and there he was—half-naked, wearing only a pair of low-hanging jeans, his chest glistening with a faint sheen of sweat. I opened my mouth to yell but found myself momentarily speechless.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Can I help you?”

I snapped out of it, straightening my posture. “Your music is way too loud. People live here, you know. Some of us have kids who need to sleep.”

His smirk didn’t waver. “Didn’t realize I was bothering anyone.”

“Well, you are,” I snapped. “Could you at least turn it down a little?”

He leaned against the doorframe, not bothering to put on a shirt. “You’re that lady from the elevator. The one who looked like she wanted to vanish on the spot.”

I glared at him. “That’s not the point. You need to be more considerate.”

He chuckled, running a hand through his messy hair. “What’s your name?”

I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell him. The last thing I needed was any sort of relationship with this guy. “Just… turn down the music, okay?”

He gave a lazy grin. “Alright, alright. I’ll lower it.”

Just as I turned to leave, I tripped over my own feet and stumbled forward, crashing right into his chest. Before I could react, his arms came up to steady me, but the force sent us both tumbling to the floor.

I was lying on top of him, my face just inches from his. My heart pounded as I tried to push myself up, but his hands on my waist kept me in place. Before I could protest, the door behind us swung open.

A woman stood there, glaring daggers at both of us. “Jace, seriously? I knew you were cheating, but you have the audacity to do this when you knew I was coming?”

Jace muttered a curse under his breath while I scrambled off him, cheeks burning. This was definitely not how I wanted my evening to go.

"If I can just.. "

"This b***h. How dare you touch my man?"

She said raising her hand, clearly intending to slap me. Before I could react, Jace grabbed her wrist mid-air, his grip firm but calm.

"Whoa, whoa! It’s not that deep," he said, his voice a mix of exasperation and amusement. "Calm down. You’re blowing this way out of proportion."

The woman struggled to free her hand, glaring at him. "You’re cheating on me with this? Are you serious, Jace?"

Before Jace could respond, Luke peeked out from behind me, his sleepy voice cutting through the tension. "Mummy?"

The woman’s jaw dropped, and she looked between me, Jace, and Luke with pure disbelief. "Oh my god, you’re cheating on me with a housewife and her kid?"

I had had enough. "First of all," I snapped, stepping forward, "I am not a housewife. Second, I wouldn’t touch Jace if he were the last man on earth. He’s not my type."

The woman scoffed, clearly unimpressed, but I didn’t care. I ignored her, scooped Luke into my arms, and walked back to our apartment, quietly closing the door behind us. As I leaned against it, I took a deep breath, knowing I should never have gone to Jace’s place in the first place.

I glanced at Luke, who was already dozing off on my shoulder. I whispered a soft apology to him, more to myself than to him. This was the last time I’d let Jace’s drama interfere with our lives.