Page 23 of Secret Baby for Dr. Billionaire

“It’s okay.”

“But I think I will.” This was new. Billy Anne was not an easy nut to crack when it came to talking to new people. She had only met this teacher once, and she already wanted to talk to her. That meant something.

“Yeah?”

“I like the way she teaches art. It’s not boring. And she told me she’ll give me a reference tomorrow. What does reference mean?”

“It’s like a guide you can follow when you paint.”

“Maybe she’ll bring me flowers tomorrow. I’d like that.”

“You’d like to get flowers?” I could get her flowers. She didn’t have to go to art class to get them.

“I think so. So I can paint them.”

Done. I’ll get her flowers tomorrow. And the next day after that. And then the next and then the next. And I wouldn’t give a fuck if this penthouse would be filled with clashing colors from a wide variety of flowers. If Billy Anne wanted them, she’d get them.

Would it be bad to send Chloe flowers, too? Maybe a vase full of red roses. But she didn’t look like someone who could be easily swayed by such things. If I needed to step up, flowers wouldn’t do it.

But I already had a plan in mind. I just needed to make a call.

Chapter nine

Chloe

TheelevatorpingedwhenI reached the highest story of the building. With a bag of groceries in my arms and Sofi in the other, I sent up a small prayer that Ben wouldn’t be in the lobby when the elevator door opened. I knew I should be glad about the fact that I was spared another round of conversation with him, but I didn’t expect the small wave of disappointment that washed over me when the elevator doors parted, and the floor was empty.

It had been over a week since Ben and I had confronted each other in my penthouse, and I hadn’t seen nor spoken to him since. Still, that man had been running my mind every day nonstop.

Sofi had stopped crying herself to sleep after I went back to chilling her teething rings. Ben had been right. Sofi was teething. Her molars were starting to grow, and the pain was making her upset.

It had also been a week since I started at the school as the substitute art teacher, and I didn’t think I could love teaching any more. The kids in fourth grade were so focused on their art and were actually pretty talented when it came to painting. One student had stood out from the rest, even though her silence was meant to hide her in a crowd.

One of the teachers told me that Billy Anne had always been a star student in her fourth-grade art class, but despite her beautiful paintings, she was the quietest child I had ever met. She was painfully shy, and painting was her compulsory therapeutic activity in school. She did them twice as much as the regular students.

Billy Anne hadn’t spoken a word to me since I started, and she’d always have her head down when she passed her work, avoiding eye contact. It broke my heart to see her that way, but I made it a personal goal to crack her open.

After I discovered that she was fond of painting flowers, I brought her flowers every day to paint. The first time I brought her a big sunflower, her eyes grew wide in awe and joy. The corners of her lips started to stretch, and it was the first time I’d ever seen her smile. It made my heart joyous just seeing her smile like that. It’s always the little things.

That following day, I gave her a nosegay of chrysanthemum, then three tulips. Every day was different, yet her excitement and enthusiasm to paint these flowers on her canvas only grew. Although she hadn’t spoken a single word to me yet, her smiles were progress.

“Baba?” Sofi babbled in my arms as I set the grocery bags on the floor to retrieve my keycard from my pocket.

“You’re gonna get your baba, honey.” The door beeped green, confirming my access.

I pushed open the door and switched on the lights. I’d never get used to the fact that I had been living in this place for almost a month. Every time I’d open my door, I’d still get overwhelmed with joy that I was living in this beautiful penthouse.

Tonight, though, as the room illuminated, I was glued to in place. The penthouse was still beautiful. Sofi’s toys were still scattered, and everything seemed to be where I had left it this morning.

But I couldn’t possibly be making up the Duette blinds covering my glass walls. I was sure thattheyweren’t there when I left. They were there all right, and they were blocking my evening view of the waves kissing the shore.

“Mama,” Sofi complained in my arms once more, breaking the trance I was in. “Baba.” God, sometimes this child was sassy to no end, but I couldn’t hate her because she got it from me.

“Yes, baba.” I walked further into the house and set Sofi in her crib in the living room, filled with an array of toys to keep her busy as I prepared her bottle and unpacked the groceries.

It was when I was about to put the carton of milk in the fridge that I noticed the white horizontal latch keeping the refrigerator door in place. I swallowed, putting the milk on the counter instead to study my surroundings.

When I looked around my kitchen, I saw that there were more locks on the cabinets under the sink, covers on the stove knobs, and there was a transparent door guard against my oven.

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