Chapter 7
For a moment, I heard nothing.
Not the city.
Not Russell.
Not my father.
Only Victor’s last sentence.
Kendra is pregnant.
She says it’s mine.
Victor watched my face like he had finally found a weapon sharp enough to cut through the Hartwell name.
I forced myself to breathe.
“Congratulations,” I said.
His smile faltered.
That was not the reaction he wanted.
He wanted collapse.
Jealousy.
Begging.
Proof that he still owned some corner of me.
My father turned to Russell.
“Verify.”
Russell stepped out immediately.
Victor laughed.
“You people verify pregnancy now?”
My father looked at him.
“We verify leverage.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“It’s my child.”
“Perhaps,” my father said.
“Don’t talk about my baby like a transaction.”
That almost made me laugh.
After all the company money he had turned into jewelry and hotel suites, Victor had discovered moral language at noon.
I stood.
“If Kendra is pregnant, the child deserves safety. That has nothing to do with your crimes.”
Victor stared at me.
“You really are cold.”
“No. I’m finally done burning myself to keep you warm.”
The guards escorted him out.
When the door closed, my knees weakened.
My father caught my arm.
Only then did I realize how badly I was shaking.
“You loved him,” he said.
It was not a question.
“I loved someone.”
He nodded.
“Sometimes that is the cruelest part.”
Russell returned thirty minutes later.
“Kendra visited a private clinic yesterday. Pregnancy confirmed by billing records. We don’t have medical details, only payment data.”
“Paid how?” my father asked.
Russell’s mouth tightened.
“Meridian corporate card.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Even his future child had been entered as fraud.
My father’s legal team advised distance.
No contact.
No statements.
No public emotion.
But that night, alone in my old room, I thought of Kendra.
Beautiful like a knife.
Cruel.
Greedy.
Laughing behind Victor as he threw me into rain.
Pregnant.
Possibly afraid now.
Possibly not.
At 11:48 p.m., my phone buzzed from an unknown number.
A text.
Olivia, please. Victor told me you can make the charges disappear. I need to talk.
May you like
Then another.
He hit me too.
