Chapter 4: A New Life
Elena’s P.O.V:
“An art exhibition?” Robert asked, brows drawn.
This time I actually blushed. “Remember when you told me never to relieve the stress of being in the industry with alcohol or drugs?” I continued when he nodded. “Well…I took your advice and started painting instead.”
“That’s great news Elain! Why did you never tell me about this?” He asked with a wide smile.
“I just wanted it to be a secret identity…you know.” I fumbled with the jacket sleeves. “I’ve actually been selling those online and they sell pretty well too.”
“Well, how about I send Helena over to see the pictures? It’d be suspicious if I went to your apartment so it’ll be better if Helena goes in my place. She can give me her review about your work and then I’ll give you my final word?”
I sighed in relief. “Thank you Robert.”
“Thank me later little one,” he said standing up and buttoning up his velvet red coat. “Let’s get to the banquet before all the food’s gone.”
****
I reached home around 11 pm that night, having stayed back later than usual because Robert had insisted on giving me a ride. Thankfully, I hadn’t had to rush over to the bathroom right after dinner today.
Morning sickness had caught up to me only recently, but then it had hit me full force. I couldn’t walk two feet without having to rush back to the bathroom. Sometimes I was worried about if the baby was alright, but in reality, I couldn’t even believe I was three months pregnant. I was almost at the end of my first trimester.
This wasn’t what I’d planned for myself when I’d left my home and ventured into LA. I’d wanted to do what I loved doing, modeling and painting my way to fame. I’d wanted to be famous so I could make a name for myself, rather than live in the shadow of my parents, but at the same time, I hated being in the spotlight. I didn’t want people parked outside my house 24/7, asking me personal questions and making sure I never had a moment to myself, but those were some things that I couldn’t avoid if I came into the limelight. Robert had helped me all through my journey, treating me like the daughter he’d lost too early in a car accident. And I know he’ll keep on doing so as long as I needed him, but right now, I wanted to do something by myself.
Entering my bedroom in my tiny Hollywood apartment, I went over to the wardrobe and dug out my favorite nightwear, an extra large t-shirt made of the softest material available and a pair of undies. Taking a quick shower to remove any leftover make up, hair spray and perfume, I dressed and jumped right into bed, tired to the bone and with the determination of sleeping in till noon tomorrow.
But as I was about to close the lights, I found a stack of news papers on the bedside table and decided to go through the headlines before going to bed. I’d been in a hurry this morning so I couldn’t read them, but now I took the time to speed past the pages, until I opened the celebrity gossip section...and froze.
A picture took about half the space in that page, of a man standing on the Red Carpet of the prestigious Galantine Fashion show and his arms were wrapped around a stunning woman with golden locks and big blue eyes. His face was turned towards the camera with a mega watt smile plastered on, while the woman looked at him dreamily. And the couple was none other than Knight Tyson and Ava Cox.
The caption below the photo read, ‘Newly divorced Ava Cox and Business tycoon Knight Tyson spotted on Galantine Fashion Show. Are wedding bells ringing for the scandalous couple?’
Gritting my teeth, I crumbled up the paper and threw it across the small room and watched at it hit the same vase on the stand table where Knight had hidden the spy cam and it fell to the floor to shatter into a million pieces.
No I wasn’t mad because I just saw Knight with Ava, the same woman he was obviously in love with if he decided to make a sex tape and hold it against me just so I don’t ruin his fun with Ava; I was mad because in his brilliant revenge plan, he’d left me with a baby, effectively destroying my life and career as a model.
I know there are several women in the world who cannot have a baby and probably several more who get pregnant in their teens. But this hadn’t been my plan. I was nowhere near ready for being a mother!
Something shifted inside me.
Gasping, I clutched my stomach with both hands. I could’ve easily passed it off as hunger or another urge to throw up, but this; I just knew it was the baby. Was it even supposed to be moving right now? Was it okay?
But even as the disturbing thoughts passed through my head, I knew, I just knew that it was the baby’s way of telling me that everything was going to be okay. The movement had been tiny, so small that it shouldn’t even have registered, but I’d known about it.
Looks like it was true about what they said about mothers and their babies having a link to each other. My mom used to tell me that when I was still in her womb, she would sometimes sing to me when I got restless and I’d immediately stop moving, as if I was listening to my mother’s voice.
My baby was hardly three months old inside me, probably a bundle so tiny it didn’t even have ears. I hadn’t visited a doctor yet, afraid that it would feel too real, too overwhelming. But maybe that was a bad idea? Should I go to a doctor for checkups? What if the doctor can’t keep it a secret and lets the media know? I haven’t had the courage to tell my parents yet, I didn’t want them finding out from some random paper that their daughter, who’d set out to LA to get a new life, was pregnant at twenty three with a man who hated her guts and probably would never acknowledge his child.
That thought filled me with anger. “Why should I wait for your acknowledgement? Did you wait for mine when you decided to ruin my life?” I asked to the crumbled paper that was lying on the ground surrounded by glass shards. “This child is mine, Knight Blaze Tyson. I’ll never let you be a part of its life.”
I made that oath to myself and to my unborn child. I’ll be there to protect it, I’ll do anything I can to raise it and make sure he or she will be so strong that this world won’t be able to scar it no matter how hard it tried. I won’t let what has happened to me ever happen to my child. Yes, I’d come to LA in search of a new life for myself, but now, I’ll find a new life for both me and my child, and in that life, there won’t be space for anyone else.
Chapter 5: Coming DangerElena’s P.O.V:The next morning, I woke up to the sound of the bell going off over and over again.Groaning, I reluctantly got up from my bed and padded over to the door in my slippers so that I don’t accidentally step on a glass shard. But as soon as I opened the door to Helena Hugh, Robert’s wife, I hunched over as nausea hit me full force and ran to the bathroom, leaving Helena worried and startled on the other side of the door.“Elain!” I heard Helena standing by the bathroom door an instant later, and then she was pulling my hair back from my face as I pucked out guts.“I’m sorry.” I told her when my gut stopped wrenching, my back to the toilet and my head in my hands. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.”“What nonsense are you talking about?” She chided me good naturedly as she wet a washcloth and da
Chapter 6: Something UnexpectedKnight’s P.O.V:“What is the meaning of this?” I felt something flying towards my head so I lifted one hand and caught it just before it hit me and placed, what I assumed to be a newspaper, beside me on the bed.Then I opened my eyes a fraction to look up at Keena’s fuming face and then closed them again. “Morning sissy.” I murmured under my breath.Suddenly, my covers were ripped away from my body and a glass of ice cold water was thrown on to my face.“What the Hell Keena!” I sat up so fast I felt my head spin, but my glare was directed at my younger sister standing at the foot of my bed, her expression equally bone melting.“Oh no, don’t you dare ‘what the Hell’ me! Do you have any idea what you’re doing? How your mistakes are ruining the image of the entire family?” Keena, Kareena Tyson Mil
Chapter 7: ComplicationsElena’s P.O.V:Lara, as Dr. Johnson insisted I call her, applied a bit of gel on my stomach, which still looked normal even though I was about three months pregnant. But when I’d told Lara about my concern, she simply smiled and told me that my tummy wouldn’t be that noticeable until I was about five months pregnant.“Just relax honey; you’ll be able to see your baby in a little while.” Lara said as she used the probe on my lower abdomen to find the right spot. It didn’t take long before an image appeared on the screen and Lara turned the computer slightly in my direction and there it was! My baby!I felt tears well up in my eyes at the sight of the tiny bundle that looked more alien than human. “It’s so tiny!” I whispered to Helena, who was standing right beside me, holding on to my hand tightly.“Of course it is,&rdqu
Chapter 8: This is ItElena’s P.O.V:The second his lips touched mine, all thoughts vanished and electricity poured into my veins.One of Knight’s hands were fisted in my hair while the other was around my waist, molding me to his body. For an instant, I forgot everything around me. The only thing running through my mind as he parted my lips to put his tongue inside my mouth, was that this felt right. A sense of belonging washed over me, a sudden peacefulness that had been absent in my life for…for the past three months…I wrenched myself back from the kiss and at the same time pushed him back with all the strength I had. It was only when I tasted the iron in my mouth that I noticed that I’d bitten his tongue hard enough to draw blood. Good. It was a very small price to pay for everything he did to me.Knight stumbled back, his eyes wide as he looked at me as if he was still in a daz
Chapter 9: RevelationKnight’s P.O.V:I watched over Elena for the rest of the evening. She was dazzling onstage. Everyone seemed to be enchanted by her; the staff, the judges and even the students. She walked the stage like she owned it, yet, her face radiant, her skin glowing. I even saw a few of the male teachers looking at her with interest.I curled my hands into fists. No one was getting near her on my watch! Elaine might think that the conversation we had was enough to drive me away, but it wasn’t. Now I knew she wasn’t responsible for that photograph and it just made me want her even more. And I wanted her back in my life, in my bed, by any means possible.Elaine walked another round on the stage and then she turned back, disappearing behind the stage. I knew this was supposed to be a break for her so the students could ask her tips and get ready for their walk. I took the opportunity to get up f
Chapter 10: Unconventional DemandsElena’s P.O.V:“Marry me, Elena.”I stared at the man in bewilderment. Did he really just say what I think he just said? Did he just ask me to marry him? Right out of the blue?“Are you out of your mind!” I yelled at him, rising from the chair and backing away from him as far as I could. “We don’t even know each other!”“We don’t need to,” he had the audacity of saying as he too rose from the ground and stood facing me. “That’s my child you’re carrying, Elena. My heir. If you want to take my child away from me, don’t expect me to just stand there and watch it happen. I will fight for my child’s custody if it comes down to that. But marriage gives us equal claim over our child.”Fight for custody? He had no idea that if it did come down to that, I’ll fin fair and squar
Chapter 11: Bonds of FamilyKnight’s P.O.V:“You mind explaining what’s going on?” I asked Robert, feeling helpless in a way I couldn’t even explain to myself.Elena was having a baby. My baby! I was about to become a father! And I only just found out about it. Dear God! Has Elena been sick this whole time? Did she have to deal with this every day? Keena doesn’t get this sick, then why Elena?Robert sighed audibly. “Look, Knight,” he gave me a stern look. “When I gave you a hint about Elain’s pregnancy, I did it because no matter how awful you’ve been as a man, right now, Elain needs someone to look after her and the baby. I’ve already lost my child, so I didn’t want a child losing its father even before it’s born. But that was all before I heard the word complications.”My heart sank. “What complications?”
Chapter 12: Some Brotherly Conversations:Knight’s P.O.V:I took a closer look at the bouquet of bright pink carnations in my hand and debated on the color choice I’d made. Red would’ve been too bold, too demanding, and I didn’t want Elena to feel trapped. Pink was the better choice and since the industrially bread carnations no longer have any scent in them, it was safe for Elena to keep it in her room…if it didn’t get flung at my face or the trash can, right after I handed them over.So I held the bouquet in my right hand and a large box of dark chocolates on my left; rang the door bell and stood quietly with my heart in the pit of my stomach. What I wasn’t expecting however, was a tall man with silver blonde hair and violet eyes, opening the door to Elena’s apartment.“I’m sorry; I must have gotten the wrong address.” I told the older man and backed awa