Tieran and I discuss the rest of the business deal in the garden's privacy, and even as I speak with him, I hope he can’t hear how fast my heart is racing.It’s pounding like a stampede of horses.I had formerly decided to take this loan from my father, and more than that, I intended to borrow a much smaller amount. A few hundred thousand that shouldn’t be too hard to pay back.Tieran stares at the patch of flowers in front of him thoughtfully as I finish explaining the offer. I know I'm asking for much, basically half a million dollars, but my company could use that, and I'm confident in myself and my talent. The world will love my designs. Tieran’s voice drags me out of my thoughts as he asks, “What happens if you cannot pay back this half-million-dollar loan?”I get the strange feeling of my body being dunked in a tub of water, and all the excitement coursing through me cools down immediately as I turn his words over in my head. I’ve already considered the possibility of that happen

I send the maid off and am left with Malachi’s friend. Someone who won’t stop wearing a hard look on his face and the tight-lipped glower he’s directing at me. I don’t particularly care about the frown, but I'm more concerned about the fact that he’s a friend of Malachi’s.I can’t claim to know all of Malachi’s friends, especially because I don't. I know I don't. Malachi rarely lets me into the circles of people he keeps as friends, and yet I know a number of them because at one point or the other, we meet.I haven’t met this guy in my life, yet he has a mean look and a menacing aura coming off him.One that makes me feel he’s looking down on me somehow, and like he’s mildly disgusted.A bit of fear creeps up my back but I push it down instead, deciding to approach this calmly. I stretch my hand out and offer it in greeting as I speak, “I’m Antonia.”Introductions should be in order, right?My handshake is left hanging in the air. Malachi’s friend tucks his hands into his pockets ins

When Skye comes to my room to tell me dinner will be ready in a few more minutes, the only thing i have in mind to tell her is to go die in a ditch somewhere.Now that my anger has cooled into something much cooler and lethal, i remember the male doofus who stopped by my door did mention his name. He said he was Caelum. One of Malachi’s associates.“Has your tongue gotten lost somewhere or are you just going to ignore me, Antonia?” I cast my gaze back to Skye and see how her hand strategically rests on her belly. A gleaming ring sparkles on one of her fingers and that sparkle matches the one in her eyes. As always, i can’t help but notice how resplendent she looks, and maybe this time i notice it more because of what i’ve just been told.~You’re no match for, Skye.~I hide the anger that flares in me at that statement from my face and give Skye a curt response, “I’ll be there.”She opens her mouth to say something but i do not want to hear anymore of what she wants to say. I shut the

“What is she doing here?.”Malachi’s voice lacks all the ice and spite he seemed to infuse in his words while we were at the table just now. I feel he’s trying to be diplomatic but I don't want to. I answer curtly, “She’s here for dinner. Is there any problem with that?”Malachi turns and the look on his face betrays nothing. It’s His classically handsome face, perfectly styled hair, and that careless air of dominance look. His eyes also try to be neutral, but I've been reading them for too long now to miss even a single word.Right now, it’s like reading a book with foggy glasses. The message I get from Malachi is foggy but clear, and it fills me with disgust. He really thinks the passionate glimmers of desire must be doing something to me. He doesn’t even care that this is the first time we’ve stood in each other’s presence since he kissed me in Tieran’s presence without my permission. His random acts of behaving like all he wants to do is run his hands all over me whenever we mee

Bridget is trailing me like a duck to it’s mother end. I can tell she’s delirously excited and i wish she would actually squeal like i know she wants to. I knew dinner tonight would be chaotic, but it’s also the first dinner i’ll be having where i don’t take all the talking down on and even actively speak back.If i’m going to stay here, then they need to know there’s been a change.And Malachi needs to know that i’m not the kind of person whose comfort he can dictate now. I won’t be sleeping on the cold hard floor for the next two months. I need to think of my health, and that of my child.The resolve in my heart firms so much that i feel like it’s become something tangible now. Something growing inside me alongside the bit of life also in me.The moment we walk out of the mansion doors, Bridget releases an ear splitting squeal. We’re women now so squealing like teens really isn’t our thing but she seems to manage it. She gives a dramatic clap of her hands, “Bravo Antonia. Bravo!I’v