The Ceo's Destined

CHAPTER 2:DISOWNED

It couldn't be anybody other than Marion, because she knew they'd been very careless.

Elise's hands trembled as she tucked the test into her pocket. She needed Marion.

The family dinner, hosted by Marion's parents, loomed ahead. The Rowlands' family would be there. Elise decided to reveal her secret to Marion during the dinner, hoping the familiar surroundings would soften the blow.

The evening for the dinner finally arrived. Laughter, small talk, and the clinking of glasses filled the air. The dinner table bustled with conversation, Elise's family and Marion's blending seamlessly.

Marion's father boomed out a toast. "To new beginnings!"

Elise mustered her courage.

"Marion, can I talk to you for a minute?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Somewhere private?"

Marion's brow furrowed. "Everything okay?"

Elise nodded. They excused themselves and stepped into the adjacent garden.

"Elise, what's going on?" Marion asked, his voice low and concerned.

She took a deep breath, the words tumbling out.

"Marion, I'm pregnant."

Marion's expression transformed – shock, surprise, and a hint of fear.

"Elise..." he whispered, his voice trailing off.

The moment she was hung, her voice was heavy with unspoken words. Suddenly, laughter and chatter from the dinner table faltered. Heads turned toward the garden, curiosity etched on faces.

"Elise, Marion, everything okay?" Elise's mother called out.

Marion's recovery was swift, but his tone chilled Elise to the bone. "It's fine, Becky. Just a minor disagreement."

Marion's eyes, once filled with love, now conveyed rejection.

"This can't be happening," Marion whispered, his voice laced with panic. "I'm not ready for this."

Elise's heart shattered. "You're not ready? You're the one who kept saying 'I've got you.'"

Marion's expression hardened. "That was just passion, Elise. Not a commitment."

Elise's mortification boiled over. With a fierce cry, she stormed out of the garden, leaving Marion and her shattered dreams behind. The dinner party dissolved into chaos, with whispers and worried glances following Elise's retreat.

As she fled into the night, Elise realized:

She was alone.

And pregnant.

Elise could not believe that her life would eventually come to what it was. That the man she fell in love with would turn out to deny her because of the fact that she was pregnant for him.

Well what else did he expect after all their escapades of unprotected s*x?

But Marion had suddenly changed his feelings and wanted nothing to do with the pregnancy.

Elise felt her heart beating faster than normal. She was in the car and her hands were on the steering wheel, but all she could hear were the breaths coming out of her mouth.

If someone told her that her world was turning upside down, she would have believed it. Because at some point, she felt her hands leave the steering wheel, but she didn't have the power to put them back immediately.

Her head spun and she lost control of everything around her.

The other car approaching hers on the highway crashed into hers, hood first.

***

"Elise? Elise?"

The voice sounded far off, like it was coming from a distance. Then it wasn't just one voice that she heard. There were others as well.

Elise's eyes fluttered open, and there was a familiar face staring down at her.

Her mouth found words to speak and she said, "Father?"

"Elise, are you all right?" Derrick asked, his face etched with a lot of concern.

Elise realized that she was lying on a sofa and when she tried to sit up, there was a sharp pain on her forehead that dropped her back. "Ouch," she said.

"What in the lord's name were you thinking, Elise? Driving off like that?" Derrick demanded.

Elise said nothing. She just looked around her. Back at the Oswald house and there were people around her. But it seemed that the party was already over.

The doctor, Gabe, came into her line of vision. "You hit your head against the steering wheel during the collision, Elise. The other driver happened to be someone who was on his way here. So Mr. Greaves called your father immediately and he called me. How do you feel?"

"Hurt," Elise replied, and she swallowed.

"You'll get something for the pain soon," Gabe said. "Other than that, you're all right."

But she wasn't. And Elise wasn't even referring to the throbbing on her forehead as the cause of her pain. She wanted to get herself far away from the house but she had ended up back there where the memory of Marion rejecting the pregnancy was still fresh. And it just multiplied the pain a hundred times more.

She should not even be in the house. In Marion's parents house. But since fate would not allow it, maybe she would have another chance to speak to him and try to get him to change his mind.

It was important that she did.

Elise got to her feet, denying the help that came from observers. But she only had one question for them. "Where is Marion?"

She found him at the table, and he was laughing at something his mother had said as if he had nothing in the world to worry about. But when he looked up and saw her, that smile disappeared off his face.

Marion got up from the table and walked right to Elise. "What happened to you?" he asked, but he didn't show much concern as before.

"Marion, please," Elise begged. "Don't do this to me. Don't leave me this way."

"I am not leaving you this way, Elise," Marion claimed, his voice down to almost a whisper. "You can do away with the baby."

Elise stared at Marion as if he had suddenly gone mad. "No!" she blurted out.

That was when both families knew that something was really amiss between the two. Derrick was the first to come closer because he had his suspicions first.

"What is it, Elise?" Derrick demanded.

Elise turned to her father, and in a state of tears, she said, "I am pregnant for him!"

"Who's him?" Derrick asked, his face stolid, with the hint of alarm in his voice. If his daughter was pregnant for someone in the party, then why was she crying about it? Wasn't that supposed to be a happy thing?

"Marion, dad," Elise revealed. "It's Marion."

Derrick looked at the man in question. But the look on Marion's face was nonchalant. It was as if he wasn't the one Elise was referring to.

"Are you responsible for my daughter's pregnancy, Marion?" Derrick asked.

Marion scoffed. "Of course not, sir."

Elise stared at Marion in shock.

Marion's parents flanked him on both sides.

"What is happening here?" Rivermore asked.

The little dinner party was already over but the people who lingered about had their ears pricked and eyes open.

"I'm sorry, Rivermore," Derrick started. "My daughter here just said she's pregnant for your son. But he says it isn't true."

"Marion?" Rivermore asked, as he looked to his son.

"Dad, she was drunk the same night I saved her when she fell into the river. Saw her at my bar getting herself drunk later and I took her to my hotel room because it was much closer. She thought we had s*x, but I can assure everyone that we didn't do anything."

"Marion that's a lie and you know it!" Elise said.

Marion didn't need to say anything else. The truth was plain to everyone. Elise had gotten herself drunk and she had thought Marion had slept with her when he hadn't even touched her.

Elise felt blame in the eyes of those who looked at her. There was a big lump in her throat and she could not stop the tears from falling.

Derrick shook his head from side to side, ashamed of the embarrassment that his daughter had brought upon the family. He turned to his hosts with an apologetic face and said, "I am very sorry for my daughter's behavior. Marion, forgive Elise. I'll take her home right this minute and have this sorted out."

Derrick held Elise and took her out of the house. Before they went past the door, Elise heard Marion's mother whisper, "She doesn't even know who slept with her."

When they got back home, Derrick was furious with Elise. His voice was like thunder, and Julia stood beside him all the time, sneering at Elise.

"You have failed this family, Elise" Derrick accused. "But I will not let this stain of yours bring us down. You are to leave this house now and never come back since you have no idea who the father of that child inside you is! You have insulted this family and the family out there! And I will not take that from you."

Elise could feel her world tumbling down. She could not believe it.

"Father! Are you disowning me?" Elise questioned.

"Yes, I am!"