The unexpected consequence
547 Words
Three weeks later...
Ariana stood in front of the mirror, staring at herself like she was someone else.
Pale.
Anxious.
Unsteady.
Her fingers gripped the small white stick in her hand. The little pink plus sign stared back at her, unbothered by the storm rising in her chest.
“No,” she whispered. “This can’t be happening.”
But it was.
Three weeks of nausea, dizziness, and ignoring the signs. Three weeks of blaming stress and heartbreak. She couldn’t deny it any longer.
She was pregnant.
From a man she barely knew.
A one-night mistake—if you could even call it that. She barely remembered the details. A foggy night. A handsome stranger. A warmth she hadn’t felt in years. Then gone by sunrise.
Except now she was carrying his child.
She sank onto the edge of her bed, heart racing. How was she supposed to explain this? To her family? Her friends? To him?
Liam Carter.
She had googled him after that night. CEO of Carter Enterprises. Billionaire. Untouchable. The media’s favorite obsession. The kind of man who probably didn’t even remember her name.
She hadn’t planned on seeing him again.
And yet...
“Miss Blake?”
Ariana blinked out of her daze, snapping her eyes up to the woman behind the glass.
“Yes?” she replied, trying to sound composed.
“You’ve been approved for the internship,” the secretary said with a polite smile. “Orientation starts Monday. Carter Enterprises is excited to have you.”
Ariana’s stomach turned.
What were the odds?
Out of all the companies in New York... why did it have to be his?
Monday – Carter Enterprises HQ
The building stood like a crystal palace in the middle of Manhattan. Sleek glass windows, polished marble floors, a towering logo that read Carter. It felt like walking into the future.
Ariana clutched her folder as she entered the elevator with a group of new interns. She kept her eyes low, hoping she wouldn’t run into him. Not today. Not yet.
The elevator stopped at the 27th floor—design department.
Perfect. That was her assigned area. Safe. Far from the executive floor.
She tried to breathe.
“You’ll be reporting to the junior architect team,” the manager told her. “You’ll assist with the Carter Legacy Project.”
She froze.
The Legacy Project.
The biggest skyscraper Carter Enterprises had ever planned. And the lead director?
Liam Carter himself.
Her pulse quickened.
Was the universe punishing her?
Downstairs in the executive suite, Liam leaned back in his chair, reviewing the team list for the Legacy Project. His assistant, Mark, handed him a folder.
“We added some new interns this week. Mostly clean resumes.”
Liam barely looked up. “They won’t last a month. Interns usually don’t.”
But then something caught his eye.
A name.
Ariana Blake.
His hand stilled on the paper.
That name. That face. That night.
He hadn’t forgotten.
He could still see the curve of her smile in the dark. The way she looked at him like she didn’t know who he was—and didn’t care.
It had been weeks, and yet… she stayed in his mind.
He hadn’t planned to see her again.
But maybe fate had other plans.
- Writer
