Chapter 4

With that, I turned and walked out to the living room, grabbed Domi, and went downstairs.

The ambulance showed up at the curb soon after. Julius must have called it.

Good to himself, at least. Quick enough with the phone.

I'd only walked Domi a few laps when my best friend called.

"Paige."

Her voice came through tired. "Patsy, is Julius hurt?"

I paused. "How do you know?"

"He just called me. Said he cut his hand peeling fruit and he's at the hospital getting stitches."

She sighed. "Honestly. A grown man, and still so careless with everything."

He really knew how to spin a story around his own injury.

"He's a grown man. What could possibly happen to him? Don't worry about it."

"But I heard it's pretty bad, and I'm still away on this trip, I can't get back. Patsy, if you have time, could you go check on him at the hospital?"

Just looking at him one more time was more than I could stand, but she wouldn't stop.

"Please? Please, Patsy, you're the best! Pretty please!"

I glanced down at Domi by my feet and stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Fine. I got it."

After I hung up, I let out a long breath.

Even now, Paige was still worried about him.

Thinking about what I'd just seen upstairs, I felt it was such a waste for her.

But this wasn't the time to tell her the truth.

This trip was crucial for her. Everything could wait until she got back.

I took Domi and went straight to the hospital, planning to snap a couple of photos just to have something to report back.

I never expected the trip would land me a front-row seat to a real spectacle.

Julius had a private VIP room. When I got there, the door was leaning half open.

A woman's tearful voice drifted out. "Baby, are you really done with me?"

"Didn't you say I was your favorite? Did you forget we just, we just, only a moment ago... You're so cruel!"

I leaned against the doorframe and nudged the gap a little wider.

Julius was sitting on the couch, one hand wrapped in gauze, the other fiddling with his beat-up lighter.

On his phone screen, a video of women dancing.

The young mistress was crouched by his leg, crying her eyes out.

"Julius, stop playing! I'm really angry now!"

She snatched the phone away and plopped herself onto his lap.

Julius shoved her off, irritated. "Look, can you knock it off? Didn't you see that crazy woman actually wants to kill me? I've got the itch but not the nerve right now! How am I supposed to keep this up? Just wait out this stretch, I'm begging you."

The young mistress froze. "Julius, are you even a man? Have you got any backbone at all?"

Julius picked up the phone and went back to scrolling the videos. "We both wanted it, so what's this about backbone? Now it's turned into this mess. What do you want me to do?"

She was shaking with anger. She wiped her tears and suddenly stood up.

"Fine. Julius, you're forcing my hand."

She pulled a stack of papers out of her bag and dropped them on the coffee table. "I'm not wasting words on you. See for yourself."

Julius frowned and picked them up reluctantly. "What is this?"

"Can't you read?"

The next second, Julius's face went white and he shot up off the couch.

"Preg... pregnant?"

He stared at the paper and didn't say anything for a long time.

The young mistress watched him and kept the pressure on. "I'm pregnant, and you're the only man I've been with. Give me a straight answer. Do you want this baby or not?"

Clearly this wasn't part of Julius's plan.

He didn't have the acting skills to fake that dazed look.

He just sat there, stunned.

"I'm giving you the chance now. Do you want it or not? I won't force you. If you want it, I'll have the baby. But if you don't want me or the child..." Her voice trailed off, her eyes fixed on his face. "Then this report goes straight to your wife."