Page 72 of Secret Baby for Dr. Billionaire

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“You know you should decorate your office.” I jumped as I turned on the lights in my office, spotting my sister on the couch, her phone melodically jingling as she played a game with candy pieces popping and cracking.

“Jesus Christ, Maggie,” I complained as my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. “Have you been hanging out here in the dark all this time?”

“I have.” She shut her phone off and pushed herself up. “Your couch is comfy.”

“What are you doing here?” glancing at my wristwatch, I saw it was almost eight p.m. The meeting had gone later than expected. And I feared that Chloe might complain about Billy Anne staying with her so late, but she hadn’t texted me since this afternoon.

The surgery went swimmingly well, and contrary to what Mitchell said about my resident being ready to pass out, she was amazing in the OR, and I probably wouldn’t hear the last of it for the next couple of weeks.

My sister in my office at this hour, and not spending her evening with her family was odd, though. She wore white trousers, a black top, and loafers which matched on that she got from me in Milan last Mother’s Day.

“I was just in the neighborhood. Decided to go see my brother.”

“You’re in the city on a school night? That can’t be right.” She was very particular about her schedule and wanted to be the one to put her kids to bed. “Billy Anne can’t come with you tonight. She has school tomorrow.”

“I’m not here for Billy Anne.” I could feel her eyes lingering as I walked to my desk to pack my things and go home to my girls. It had been a long day, and I was still planning to have a quick talk with Chloe. “I’m here because of what she said.”

“Is she gossiping again? You know you’re the one who taught her that. So it’s on you.” I opened my phone, wishing that Chloe texted me something. I needed to know that even with what had happened, we were okay and could finally have a chance to address the elephant in the room.

“She said she has asister,” Maggie scoffed like it was unbelievable that Billy Anne could make up such a lie. But it wasn’t a lie.

“She said she plays with her every day, and she couldn’t play with clay because she might accidentally eat it.”

What?

I paused mid-packing a small stack of papers in my briefcase as I slowly settled my eyes on my sister’s. She narrowed her eyes at me and waited for me to reply.

“She said that?”

“Is it true?” She stood, her stare glazed with anticipation. Fuck. I mentally weighed the pros and cons of telling her about Sofi.

If I told her now, it would save me a lie, and at least I would have someone to talk to about Sofi and Chloe about without having to tiptoe around the truth. If Maggie was aware of Sofi’s existence, that meant I only had to talk to mother about it.

But telling her would also mean compromising Chloe’s trust. We had talked about how we’d tell my family when she was ready and when she felt comfortable. And with this thing with Franklin, I probably shouldn’t do something to piss her off even more.

“Benedict,” Maggie called, waiting for my answer. She took a step closer to me. Fuck. There was no lying to my Maggie. She was my younger sister, and we were brought up like we were two peas in a pod. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

I took a deep breath, and I knew from the look on her face that there was no point in lying to her.

“Heart attack,” I sighed defeatedly, pulling out my chair before pointing at the adjacent chair by my table for my sister. We both needed to sit down for this.

“Heart atta—” The look of recognition on her face told me that she still remembered the safe word we had as children, which meant we were about to exchange something so serious that it should only remain between us two. We hadn’t used the word since we were teenagers. “Shit, Ben.”

“It’s not as bad as you think.” It wasn’t bad at all, actually. Despite the circumstances, I was beyond the moon that I had Sofi, and it was even better that I had Chloe.

“Does Chloe know?”

“Chloe’s the mother.”

“Oh fuck.” I couldn’t describe the look of surprise on Maggie’s face. It was like she was witnessing one of her favorite soap operas live. I was just thankful that she wasn’t pissed at the fact that I had hidden it from her. Instead, she wasamusedwith my revelations.

I proceeded to tell her everything. From the time we met in my bar in New York until I discovered that she was living across from my penthouse. Maggie remained silent as I spilled everything, and she nodded, frowned, and looked at me in all the critical ways possible when she knew that I had ghosted my baby.

I told her about Franklin Hollis and how the asshole made a pass at Chloe, about Gwen and how she came into my apartment and pissed her off. I told her about our little no-strings agreement and how good Chloe was with the kid that even Billy Anne wanted to be with her.

“I knew I needed to punch the living shit out of that Gwen woman,” she complained, crossing her arms against her chest and leaning back against the suede material of the chair.

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