The CEO hidden heir

Crumbling World Nora I heard the crack first, then I saw the wood breaking like toothpicks, as thick dust poured down in thick clouds. Three workers stood under the half-restored beam of the old warehouse we used for our architecture final. One of them shouted as the beam tilted. I dropped my clipboard and ran. “Get out! Move now!” My boots hit the concrete. I grabbed the closest guy by the jacket and yanked him sideways. The second one just stood there, frozen. I shoved him hard. The third stumbled after them just as the beam crashed down. Wood scattered and nails flew everywhere. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I tasted blood inside my mouth. We stood in the street, coughing and exhaling the bad air. The site manager cursed under his breath. “Jesus, Nora. You could’ve….” “They’re fine,” I cut him off. My hands shook. I wiped dust from my face and checked my phone to see if it was intact but instead I saw three missed calls from Adrian and one text. Dinner at mine. Don’t be late. I have news. I didn’t wait for the manager’s thanks. I turned and ran toward the subway. The city smelled like rain and hot baked pastries. The braid in my hair loosened up as I ran and the strands stuck to my neck. I kept seeing that beam fall every time I blinked. By the time I reached Adrian’s building, my lungs burned but I never made it to the elevator. Just then, Victor Hale, his uncle I had seen multiple times in family dinners, stepped out of a black car like he owned the whole damn street. His Silver hair was styled perfectly. His suit was sharper than glass and those cold blue eyes locked on me and didn’t blink. I stopped in my tracks. “Miss Ellis.” His voice sounded too smooth. “A word.” I stopped, my chest heaving. “I’m late. Adrian is waiting for me.” “He can wait.” He held up a folder. “This cannot.” I didn’t take it. “What do you want?” He opened the folder himself and turned it so I could see. It was a letter on heavy cream paper with Adrian’s signature at the bottom. It was clear as day. I accept the arrangement with the Beaumont family. The marriage will proceed as discussed. Celeste and I will announce this engagement after the board meeting. My stomach dropped. I blinked multiple times hoping the paper in front of me would turn to dust, but it didn't. “That’s not real.” “Look closer.” Victor flipped the page. There was a photo of Celeste Beaumont with her platinum hair, hand on her flat stomach, smiling at a private clinic. The date was last week. “She’s pregnant,” Victor said, quietly and coldly. “Adrian already knows and both families know and have accepted their union. You were never part of the plan, Nora. You were a distraction. A pretty one, I’ll give you that. But a distraction.” I stared at the photo until the edges blurred. “He would’ve told me.” “Would he?” Victor closed the folder. “Adrian is the heir to a billionaire-dollar company and heirs do what is required to get them that position. You are just an architecture student with no money and name. Do the math.” My throat closed as tears swelled up in my eyes. “You’re lying.” “Am I?” He stepped closer. The smell of expensive cologne mixed with the rain. “Walk away tonight and leave the city. I would personally pay you a good sum of money as long as you do not contact him again. If you stay, the Hale family, I, will make certain your career ends before it starts. Do you understand?” I wanted to spit in his face and scream at him to leave me alone. Instead, I whispered, “Why are you doing this?” “Because legacy is everything.” He slid the folder into his coat. “Adrian will marry Celeste. The child will be Hale. You will be a footnote he forgets by Christmas. Leave him, Nora. Or we will remove you.” He walked back to the car without another word and shut the door. The engine purred and the black car disappeared into traffic. I stood on the sidewalk until my legs felt hollow. Just as my bad luck could have it, it started to rain. Cold water drops hit my cheeks and mixed with my tears. I pulled out my phone to call Adrian and demand answers. To hear his voice say it was all bullshit. That's when a notification from Flo lit the screen before I could unlock it. Period: 14 days late. Log symptoms? I stopped breathing. Fourteen days? I had been so busy with the final project, the late nights at Adrian’s, the plans we whispered in the dark about moving in together after graduation. I hadn’t noticed. The phone shook in my hand. I turned around and walked to the nearest pharmacy and bought the cheapest test kit on the shelf. I didn’t even look at the cashier when I paid. The walk back to my tiny apartment took forever and no time at all. I locked the door, dropped my bag, and went straight to the bathroom. The box said three minutes. I sat on the cold tile floor and stared at the little plastic stick on the edge of the sink. My mother’s necklace felt heavy against my collarbone. I pressed my palm flat over it like it could stop whatever was coming. The second line appeared first. It was soft pink, then it got darker. It was positive. I covered my mouth with both hands so the neighbors wouldn’t hear the sound that tore out of me as the remaining tears burned my eyes. My chest caved in. Everything Victor said crashed into the two pink lines until I couldn’t tell which hurt worse; Adrian’s arranged marriage or the baby growing inside me that he didn’t know about. The baby that would never be safe if Victor meant even half of what he threatened. I picked up the test. Stared at it until the lines were blurred out by my tears. Then my phone buzzed again. It was Adrian. I answered on the second ring because some stupid part of me still needed to hear him. “Nora? Where are you? I’ve been waiting.” His voice was warm and familiar. The same voice that had whispered ‘I love you’ against my skin two nights ago. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. “Nora?” he sounded worried. “Talk to me.” I looked at the positive test in my other hand. Outside, thunder rolled over the city. “I can’t,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.” I hung up. The phone lit again immediately. I turned it face down on the floor and pressed both hands over my stomach as the first real sob broke free.