Chapter 2 It gets Worse

Outside, the morning sun was too bright. The noise of the street was too loud.

I flagged down a bus and squeezed into a seat by the window, holding my bag tightly against my chest.

My phone buzzed. A message from my former colleague at the cafe.

Don’t forget, the new CEO will be present at the orientation today. Try not to stare. He’s stupidly handsome.

I frowned.

New CEO?

I had not paid much attention when they explained the company background to me. I just needed the job. Another message came in.

Google Adrian Vale. You will understand.

I almost ignored it, but curiosity won.

I opened my browser and typed the name.

The first image that popped up made my breath seize.

I knew that face.

I knew those eyes.

I knew those lips.

I had kissed those lips.

My fingers instantly went numb.

The headline under the photo read:

Adrian Vale, Billionaire CEO, Investor, and the Nation’s Most Eligible Playboy.

I struggled to breathe

"No......No, no, no".

I scrolled down with shaking hands. There were more photos, articles, and gossip columns.

Him stepping out of clubs with models, on yachts with actresses, at galas with different women on his arm.

Caption after caption had nothing modest to say about him.

#"The CEO who never sleeps alone".

# Another week, another woman.

# Adrian Vale spotted with a new mystery date.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

I tapped on one photo, enlarging it.

It was really him. In a black suit, smiling at the camera like he owned the world.

The same smile he had given me in the elevator when he said, “You look like you need an escape.”

The bus suddenly felt too small and too hot. I scrolled back up to his name.

Adrian Vale. That was his name.

The stranger and my one-night mistake, now I knew why his face was familiar that night, if only I had not had too much to drink, I should have known.

He was the father of the baby growing inside me.

And today, I was going to meet him again, as his employee.

My heart began to pound so loudly I was sure the woman next to me could hear it.

This couldn’t be happening.

This had to be some sick coincidence.

But the more I stared at his face, the more certain I became.

The slight curve of his eyebrow, the sharp line of his jaw. The way his eyes seemed to look right through the camera.

I knew him and he would recognize me too.

I quickly locked my phone and stared out the window as the city rushed by.

"Please",... I muttered under my breath. Please let him not remember me.

Because if he did…

I didn’t even know what that would mean.

I arrived at the company building twenty minutes later.

It was taller than I remembered from the map. All glass and steel and intimidation.

I stood outside for a moment, trying to steady my breathing, you need this job, nothing else matters.

You are not even sure you’re pregnant and even if you are, he doesn’t need to know.

You will handle it, alone, like you always do. I walked in.

The lobby was huge, with polished floors, quiet voices, and people who looked like they belonged here.

I felt like I did not.

I gave my name at the front desk,

"The orientation room is on the twelfth floor". The receptionist said calmly.

The elevator ride felt like a countdown to execution. My reflection in the mirrored wall looked pale.

"Pull yourself together", I whispered.

The door slid open and I walked in.

The orientation room was already half full. New employees chatting nervously, flipping through folders, checking their phones.

I took a seat at the back.

Maybe he wouldn’t come.

Maybe this was just for senior staff.

Maybe....

The door opened and the room went silent. You could feel it before you saw him. That shift in the air when someone important walks in.

I looked up and my world collapsed.

Adrian Vale walked into the room like he owned it.

Black suit. No tie. Sleeves rolled slightly. Confidence dripping from every step.

People straightened in their seats, some smiled too widely, others looked starstruck.

He didn’t look at anyone. Not at first.

Then his eyes swept the room lazily like he was bored and uninterested. Until they landed on me and stopped.

His gaze sharpened like he had just seen a ghost. My breath got stuck.

He knew.

I saw it in the way his eyes lingered on me. For a long second, neither of us moved.

The entire room faded away, It was just him and me and the memory of that night.

His eyes dropped briefly to my stomach and then back to my face.

A question passed between us without words. My palms began to sweat.

"Please don’t say anything".

"Please don’t come closer".

"Please don’t remember".

But the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, not a smile but interest.

And I knew, with a sinking certainty that made my knees weak, Adrian Vale had just recognized the only woman who had ever walked away from him before morning.

And I was carrying his child.