Chapter 19: Victor's warning
1044 Words
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*Monday. 10:03am. Cole Ventures. 40th Floor.*
It was supposed to be a normal Monday.
Adrian was in a meeting.
I was at my desk, 6 months pregnant,
eating crackers and answering emails.
Then my assistant buzzed.
“Um, Ms. Cole? There’s a Mr. Hayes here to see you.
He doesn’t have an appointment.”
My blood went cold.
Victor.
“Send him in,” I said.
Voice steady.
Hands shaking.
The door opened.
Victor looked different.
Thinner.
Tired.
Suit wrinkled.
But his eyes were the same.
Sharp.
Angry.
“Zara,” he said.
“Victor,” I said.
“What are you doing here?”
He held up a box.
Plain. Brown.
No wrapping.
“I came to give you this,” he said.
“And to warn you.”
Adrian walked in right then.
Stopped.
Saw Victor.
The air in the room dropped 20 degrees.
“What are you doing here,” Adrian said.
Not a question.
Victor turned to him.
Smiled.
Not a nice smile.
“Bringing a gift for the baby,” Victor said.
“And a warning for your wife.”
“Get out,” Adrian said.
“I’m not here for you,” Victor said.
“I’m here for her.”
He looked at me.
“Zara. You deserve to know who you married.”
---
*The Box. 10:07am.*
Adrian moved between us.
“Don’t talk to her.”
Victor set the box on my desk.
“Go ahead,” he said to me.
“Open it.”
I didn’t move.
“Zara,” Adrian said. Soft.
“Don’t.”
But I did.
Inside:
Photos.
Documents.
Bank statements.
And a contract.
Not our contract.
A different one.
Adrian Cole.
NDA.
Settlement agreement.
$5 million.
Dated 4 years ago.
To: Amber Lane.
My hands started shaking.
“What is this,” I whispered.
Victor leaned forward.
“That’s what Adrian paid Amber
to keep quiet about their affair.
About the baby she lost.”
The room spun.
Adrian grabbed the papers.
“THAT’S A LIE,” he yelled.
“Is it?” Victor said.
“Then why did you pay her, Adrian?
Why did you sign this?”
Adrian looked at me.
Eyes desperate.
“Zara. Let me explain.”
“Explain what?” I said.
Voice shaking.
“You paid her? After me?”
“No,” he said.
“It was before. It was—”
“Before what?” Victor cut in.
“Before you cheated on Zara 4 years ago?
Before you broke her heart and ran?”
“SHUT UP,” Adrian roared.
I stood up.
Pregnant.
Shaking.
And walked out.
---
*My Office. 10:15am.*
I locked the door.
Adrian pounded on it.
“Zara! Open the door! Please!”
I slid down to the floor.
Picked up one photo.
Amber.
And Adrian.
At a hotel.
4 years ago.
2 weeks after we broke up.
My chest hurt.
Like someone was squeezing it.
Knock knock.
“Zara. Please. That wasn’t what it looked like.”
I didn’t answer.
“Zara, the baby she lost wasn’t mine!”
he yelled through the door.
“I paid her to shut up because she was threatening
to go to the press! To ruin you! To ruin us!”
I closed my eyes.
Tears falling.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.
“I was ashamed,” he said.
“I thought if I told you, you’d leave.
Again.”
---
*10:30am.*
Victor was gone when I opened the door.
Security had escorted him out.
Adrian was sitting on the floor.
Head in his hands.
He looked up when he saw me.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t say anything.
He stood up.
Slowly.
Like I was made of glass.
“Zara. Talk to me.”
I handed him the photo.
“Is this real?”
He looked at it.
Nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes. Once.
Two weeks after you left.
I was drunk. I was destroyed.
And she... she took advantage.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he said.
“That’s it? Okay?”
“What do you want me to say, Adrian?”
I yelled.
“That it’s fine? That you lied to me?”
“I didn’t lie!” he said.
“I omitted. Because I was scared!”
“Of what?”
“OF LOSING YOU AGAIN!” he shouted.
We stared at each other.
Breathing hard.
My hand went to my stomach.
`kick`
Right then.
Like the baby knew.
Adrian saw it.
His face crumpled.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he said.
Voice breaking.
“I don’t want to lose us.”
---
*6:00pm. Penthouse.*
We hadn’t talked all day.
I was in the nursery.
Sitting in the rocking chair.
Staring at the crooked crib.
Adrian knocked.
“Can I come in?”
I nodded.
He came in.
Sat on the floor in front of me.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” he said.
“What I did was wrong.
I was hurt. I was stupid.
And I’ve regretted it every day since.”
I looked at him.
“But I swear to you,” he said.
“On our baby.
On everything.
I have never loved anyone but you.
Not before. Not after.
Not ever.”
Tears fell down my face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Because I thought you’d think I was
the same man who left you 4 years ago,”
he said.
“And I’m not. I’m trying not to be.”
I wiped my face.
“I need time,” I said.
“I know,” he said.
“I’ll give you all the time you need.
Just... don’t shut me out.
Please.”
He reached out.
Took my hand.
Put it on his chest.
“Feel that?” he asked.
My hand on his heart.
Beating fast.
“That’s you,” he said.
“You’re the only one in here.”
I cried.
And he pulled me into his arms.
And we sat there.
On the floor of the nursery.
For hours.
---
- Writer
