Blurred Lines Book 1: Chase

2|Ultimatum

'I'm pregnant.'

'Are you sure it's mine?'

'Are you calling me a liar? Babies happen when you have sex, Kyle. And we did more than just have sex. We fucked!'

'You sound so sure I am the father. I don't remember a fucking thing about that night!' I gathered through my blurry sight. It was Kyle's response to the image of a pregnancy test result.

It's ironic how parallel lines could light up the future I had built with Kyle in flames and turn it to ash.

I couldn't breathe. There seemed to be an oxygen shortage inside the room. My chest caved as questions filled my head. 'What the hell is happening? Kyle? My Kyle. My fiance got another woman pregnant?'

Reaching the end of the thread that started more than a month ago, I finally had the guts to look at the display profile on the chat.

A strangled sob escaped my lips. I covered my mouth, my hand touching my wet cheeks.

It was Katerina Simone.

My fiance was the father of her child. Behind closed doors, she told Georgia and me what kind of service she'd require from us.

'I am pregnant,' Katerina said. 'And I don't want the public to know about my pregnancy until after my wedding.'

At LBPR, we live for these kinds of stories. You'd be surprised at the cost people would pay to maintain their perfect image.

'Their names are worth more than their fortune,' that's what Chairman Lewis used to say.

In this case, Katerina has more than an image to protect. She chose me with intent. It's not because of my excellent work at keeping Gia Marquez's secret relationship with a governor. By coming to me, she made a statement to Kyle.

"Babe," Kyle's sleep-laced voice snapped me out of my trance.

I lifted my gaze to him, not even bothering to wipe my tears.

He opened the bedside lamp, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. It took him about five seconds to take in my appearance.

"Why are you crying?" His eyes landed on my hand, clutching his phone. "What's going on?"

"What's going on with you and Katerina?" I'd like to give myself a pat on the back for not stuttering.

A tag of war was happening inside my head. One part believed that he would never do this to me. And the other tells me to wake the fuck up; the evidence was ready to bite me in the face.

He sat on the edge of the bed and took his phone, brows creasing as he scanned what was on display.

I clenched my fist. The sadness in my chest was slowly morphing into anger. A black hole was quickly sucking the future I dreamt of building with him. The kids, the waking up together and coming home to each other every night... This was the man I was supposed to marry.

'How did this happen to us?'

He was my end game, or so I thought.

He placed his phone on the nightstand, stretched to his full height, and reached for me. "It's not what it seems."

I snorted, wiggling my hand from his grip, but it was to no avail. He hooked a finger beneath my chin, forcing me to look up at him. The reticent light in his room revealed his pleading blue eyes. "Baby, let me explain."

"Explain what? Everything I needed to know was in that conversation." My entire body was trembling. A tsunami of emotions spiraled down my spine. "You woke up next to her, naked... in your childhood bedroom. She's two months pregnant, and you kept all of this from me!"

"Baby, I don't remember that night. I was fucking wasted," he said, skimming his hand over his face. The realness of the situation made breathing a struggle. Kyle has always been assertive, and he is anything but a light weight. How could I believe a word he was saying?

"Are you sure you didn't fuck her because she sounds so fucking sure, Kyle?" Those words left a bitter taste on my tongue.

His silence was my answer. I took a sharp breath, stepping away from him as though his proximity was suffocating me.

Kyle exhaled. I hate that he still looked calm and collected while here I am, a crying mess. "Just give me time. I will fix this situation."

I faced him. "How can you fix this situation, Kyle, huh? I bet your mom would be ecstatic to know about Katerina's pregnancy."

He lowered his head, blowing a deep breath. "She already knows, doesn't she?"

Since he introduced me to his family, his mom's animosity towards me was as clear as a cloudless sky. Kyle's family came from old money. And being the only son of a lawyer and a doctor, his mom wanted him to marry one of her amiga's daughters. 'A girl from high society,' she once blatantly said in my face, not some publicist working nine to five.

I wiped my tears. "I bet she's already planning your wedding with Katerina."

Kyle reached for me, but I stepped back. "Sofia... you're the one I want to marry. Please, don't do this to us. I will figure something out."

"You're the one who did this to us! I love you, but this is too much. I need space. I need time to think."

Something dangerous crossed his face. "If you leave now, I won't be chasing you."

Of all the things he'd say, that line never crossed my mind.

"Mom threatened to disown me if I didn't marry Katerina. And you leaving me this way..." his long lash gaze pierced my soul when he met my eyes. "I have nothing left to lose."

My mouth ran dry. How could he reverse the situation as if I were the one ending this relationship? I am not the one who slept with Katerina!

"I was ready to give up everything for you... if you leave me now, you will lose me forever."

"Are you seriously giving me an ultimatum?"

He raked his hair roughly. "You don't know how long I've been fighting for this relationship, Sofia. All I am asking is time to fix this, and you can't even give me that."

Confrontations had always been Kyle's expertise. He could twist the law in his sleep. He always finds a loophole, and he's using that to his advantage.

My anger got the best of me. I jutted my chin up, meeting his gaze defiantly. "Well, you don't have to fight for anything anymore, Kyle."