Page 61 of The Revenge Plan

After the meeting ended and we were on our way back to the office, Alicia asked, “so what are you going to do?” she was the only one I had told. I had gone to her place soon after I left Caiden. She was the only person I knew who could take me in and was close by. I had cried into her shoulder as soon as she opened the door. She had taken good care of me, and I was grateful.

“Not attend, I guess.”

“I don’t think that would work. People would be suspicious.”

“He said the sight of my face makes him want to vomit,” those weren’t the actual words but it was close, “I would rather not make everyone endure that.”

“Please. He probably said it in anger.” I made a face when someone with a lunch box full of seafood on their way to the kitchen passed us. I felt like retching again, but kept it in. Alicia noticed my contorted face.

“You know,” she said as we got into the office. She closed the door. A sign that she was about to say either something serious or private, “you should get yourself checked.”

I frowned as I took my seat. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been displaying signs.”

“Signs?” What was she trying to say?

She leaned over her desk and whispered, “pregnancy signs.”

I laughed.

She was serious. “When was the last time you had your period.”

I couldn’t remember. Things had been hectic recently and if I hadn’t had my period, it was probably stress. It’s happened before. “I’m not pregnant,” I said it more to myself than to her.

“Were you on birth control?”

Not really. Not at all. But since Caiden was religious about protection, I never thought about it that much. But that one time when he…

“Hailey.”

“You don’t think I could be pregnant, do you?”

“Get a test and make sure. You don’t want that hanging on your head the next time you see him.”

Over the next few days, the office was hectic. There were a lot of things that had to be done ahead of the fundraiser by people who weren’t fundraisers. We had to create reports to provide information for the planners and other stuff. It was made even more hectic because this was clearly Rachel’s first big event and she was panicking. No one told her so to her face, though. Come the end of the week though, Alicia showed me a bunch of pregnancy tests she had bought, “just to be sure,” she said. I took one.

After lunch we went to the restroom together. My heart was racing the entire time.

“Fuck,” I said a few moments later. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but I had been expecting it. All the signs had been there and obvious looking back. ‘Positive’ the words on the pregnancy test tube read. I flushed the toilet and got out of the stall. Alicia was waiting for me with her arms crossed around her chest.

“Are you keeping it?”

“How did you know?”

“You swore.”

I suddenly felt a rush of emotions. Fear. Nervousness. Joy. I nodded.

She came over to me and gave me a big hug. “Are you going to tell him?”

38

Idon’t know why I said yes. I should have declined. I should have ignored them. But I didn’t have the willpower to say no. I wanted to see her again. There was a part of me that was still harboring some feelings for her. I had to stop myself from thinking about her by going to Liam’s grave every day to remind myself what he meant to me. Who she was. What she did. If I did, the pain returned and so did the hatred. That was good. I hated her, and reminding myself of this helped me focus. My plan was finally coming to fruition.

The flowers on the grave didn’t help matters. I knew it was her who kept leaving the lone rose. I threw it away each time. Typical of her to feel sorry after she had already caused the damage.

I checked my phone on my way to the gala. Ax had sent a couple of messages. Our little acquisition was doing well, and Ax had sent a fresh batch of adverse news to the press that would definitely hurt the Lyndell corporation. I was surprised the old man hadn’t called it quits yet. There were talks of a buyout, but I was making sure that wouldn’t happen. I was constantly putting out information to ward off investors who might want to save it. I had been waiting for years for this moment. A buyout would only benefit him. He needed to be destroyed. Not that difficult. Bryce was a terrible COO, his incompetence was actually hurting than helping the company.

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