His Secret Baby…or Someone Else’s

Chapter 4

Eden’s POV

Julian didn’t help me up. He just looked down with a cruel smile on his face. “Well. Some people never change.”

Chloe shrieked, dabbing at her spotless dress. “She ruined everything! What the hell is wrong with her?”

I wanted to scream, to tell the truth and to expose her for tripping me but I couldn’t. I was too humiliated and broken.

My manager came rushing over , his face red. His eyes bouncing between the ruined table and my ruined uniform.

“What the hell happened here?” he demanded.

Before I could open my mouth, Chloe jumped in with her high-pitched voice.

“She just dropped the whole dessert on us! Chloe yelled, brushing invisible crumbs off her designer dress. “This i***t ruined our dinner! This is unacceptable.”

Julian leaned back in his chair, cool and detached. “It’s disappointing,” he said smoothly, “but not unexpected.”

“I tripped,” I tried to say. “Someone-she-“ But my voice cracked.

My manager raised his hand, silencing me. “Enough. Not here.”

But it was already too late.

Every guest was watching. Waiters had frozen mid-step. Someone was still recording. The whispers grew louder.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

The manager looked coldly into my eyes. “You’ll hand in your badge at the end of the shift. Don’t come in tomorrow.”

I froze. The words struck sharper than the fall. “You’re firing me?”

Julian let out a low chuckle and then leaned towards my ear. “Wow. First the marriage, now the career. Rough week, pastry princess.”

I ignored him and I could see the annoyance on his face. He turned to the manager. “You should get rid of her now.”

The manager didn’t waste time. “Please just go, Eden.”

My throat hurt. I stood up, brushing raspberry and cream off my apron, but just like my humiliation and embarrassment, it was sticky and impossible to wipe away.

I didn’t cry. Not until I walked out of the restaurant with everything I own. Besides my marriage and career, they had taken the little bit of dignity I had left.

I found myself wandering around the city of New York. The city felt colder then usual but I didn’t care. My thoughts were swirling around like a storm in my mind. I had nowhere to go, no place to rest my head.

I kept walking, my feet dragging, hoping for some kind of comfort. But all I got was the sound of my own grumbling stomach. I hadn’t eaten much today.

I looked around for a place where I could get food but instead I noticed a glamorous building as I walked past. I couldn’t help but glance at the sea of people stepping out of limousines, their faces glowing with elegance and their outfits screaming, “I have money to burn.” I looked at them, feeling like an outsider and it didn’t help that they gave me disgusted looks.

“Don’t worry guys, I know I’m definitely not invited to this party”, I muttered.

As I stood there, feeling like an outsider at a high society gathering, a voice called out to me from behind. A voice I hadn’t heard in years.

“Eden?”

I froze.

I turned around slowly, heart pounding, and there he was, my ex-boyfriend, the first love of my life, Max.

And of course. He looked like he had walked straight out of a magazine. His dark coat fit him like it had been tailored for his body. His blonde hair? Perfectly messy.

“Eden…wow”, it’s really you,” he said, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Yep, it’s me, Max” I replied, trying to sound casual even though my whole world was falling apart.

He smiled, brushing his hand through his hair. “I haven’t seen you in years.”

“No kidding,” I replied, forcing a laugh. “You look good.”

“You look…”, his voice softened. “Are you okay?”

I gave a short laugh. “I’ve been better.”

He took a step closer, scanning my face, then my suitcase. “What happened?”

I hesitated.

A hundred things passed through my head. How Max knew me as a wealthy heiress and now I didn’t have a home. I also thought about the way we ended, how he was always too busy, too buried in deadlines and ambition to see that I was lonely and that our relationship was slowing coming to an end. I waited for him, supported him, and loved him, but in the end. I wasn’t enough to compete with his career.

We drifted until we broke.

Our families didn’t take the breakup well. Mine thought I was going through a phase, like I’d come to my senses and we’d be back together in no time. So they ignored it. For months.

Until I did the unthinkable.

I told them I was marrying someone else. Someone I barely knew, Julian. We had known each other for nine months at that point and I thought I’d found something real again.

They didn’t believe me. Not until I walked down the aisle and then they cut me off completely. As if love was the worst thing in the world.

I never told Julian. I let him believe I had no family, no legacy, and no past. He called me an orphan and I never corrected him because at that point I was.

Some lies were easier to carry than the truth.

And now here Max was standing in front of me, his eyes filled with questions he hadn’t asked yet.

“Are you sure you’re okay?… You look different,” he said in a cautious tone.

I shrugged. “Yes, I am. Honestly, I just had a long day and I was just passing by.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push either. He never did, back then.

Instead, he tilted his head towards the glowing entrance across the street. “Come on. Join me.”

I blinked. “To that?”

He grinned. “It’s a masquerade party, my party, and technically you could be anyone tonight. It could be an escape from that long day you were talking about.”

I followed his gaze and noticed the guests picking the highly decorated masks from the silver trays as they entered.

I shook my head. “Max, I’m not exactly dressed for this.”

He smirked. “Lucky for you, darling, I have a suite upstairs. Full access to room service, designer gowns and a standing offer to save beautiful women from the pain of terribly aching feet”

“So you carry designer gowns now?”

“No. But I may have dated a woman who thought a weekend away meant ten outfit changes. I just learned to be prepared”.

I gave him a look. “How romantic.”

He grinned. “You always said I wasn’t sentimental.”

I nodded.

“Come on. One night. You look like you need a little fun.”

I hesitated, then sighed. Maybe I did.

Just one night to not think, worry, or remember my problems.

“Fine. But if I end up in a viral video dancing with a prince from Spain, I’m blaming you.”