Paula announced, her sharp voice slicing through the tension that was lingering in the air. I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach in a split second and the world had stopped spinning as time stood still.
We stopped in our steps and stood rooted to the ground.
She knew. But how did she… There's only one explanation. It must have been Evelyn. She couldn't get through Xavier so she's doing this to get his parents to break us up instead!
We snapped our heads around to come face to face with her. Her features were contorted into an angry expression and smugness was radiating from every inch of her skin. I didn't know exactly what to say right then, my hand naturally flew up to caress my tummy as my eyes flickered down to glance at it momentarily as my heart wavered slightly.
There was a brief pause as the air crackled with unspoken tension and silence stretched between us.
"I was told that Aurelia is pregnant with another man's child!" She spat the words out as her nose scrunched up with disgust. "Do you know that, Xavier? Did she tell you that or did she hide that fact from you because she is scared that you would leave her?!" She snarled as she turned to face her son this time.
"What? Aurelia is pregnant with someone else's child?" Charles's voice boomed loudly, echoing in the place. "What has this become?! This is not acceptable!"
Before I could open my mouth to say a word, Xavier beat me to it.
"Yeah, she is pregnant and I know the child she is carrying isn't mine," he answered nonchalantly. "And no, I'm not planning to leave her. It is my choice, so don't go insinuating that she forced me into raising someone else's child," he quickly added with a distant look plastered across his face as his voice remained cold.
"Are you serious?!" Paula snapped in agitation as anger spread through her body like a wildfire. "Do you even know what you are doing, Xavier Wilder? Are you going to raise another man's child? How could you –"
"Yes, I am. I am a hundred percent serious about this," he declared as he held onto my hand and gave it a light squeeze as my heart hammered in my chest. "You can't stop me. It is not your decision or choice to make. It's mine."
She collapsed into her husband's arms dramatically as she clutched onto her chest, drawing in deep breaths. "Oh my god. I think I'm going to faint." A soft yelp escaped her lips as her knees buckled once again but Charles caught her in his arms.
He looked down at his wife with a concerned look resting on his face. "Honey…" He mumbled under his breath before he looked back up to meet his son's gaze and his features hardened in an instant.
"Xavier, you are going to give your mother a heart attack at this rate. Have you thought this through? What do you think you are doing, son?" His father chimed in this time, a frown etched between his brows. "Are you sure you are going to do this?"
"Yes I'm sure, so quit asking me," he snapped in frustration. "I want to be there for Aurelia," he said as he turned to look at me briefly. I watched as the corners of his lips twitched upwards to form a slight smile and I returned the smile with my own.
Paula let out a loud scoff as she stood up straight this time. In the next second, she was marching towards me, closing the gap between us in an instant. "You!" She snarled, stabbing her finger at my shoulder repeatedly to provoke me. "Your baby daddy doesn't want you so you came crawling back to my son, isn't it?!" She shrieked, her shrill voice ringing in my ears.
I grabbed onto her finger and I pushed her away from me before Xavier could intervene.
"No, you are wrong, Paula," I spoke up this time as my eyes were fixated on her and my voice remained unwavering. "I was the one who didn't want him and this has nothing to do with him at all."
"I don't care!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "You are trying to trick my son into slaving away for you and the kid that wasn't even his to begin with! Have you not got any shame?" She hissed with a disdainful scorn as she glared at me with a fiery blaze swirling in the depths of her eyes.
I let out a breath of disbelief as an incredulous look was plastered across my face.
"I don't think there's anything shameful about wanting to raise my child," I said with certainty.
"It is shameful when you are making my son raise someone else's child!"
"Mum!" Xavier shouted and Paula's eyes immediately snapped to look at her son, shock and surprise swimming in her eyes. "That's enough. I think you have said enough today."
A soft gasp escaped her lips as she stared at him with wide eyes and disbelief written all over her face. "You…" She stuttered. "I can't believe that you are actually shouting at me for a woman who couldn't keep her legs close!"
His face darkened as soon as the words left the tip of her tongue. "Don't you dare say that about my wife," he warned, his deep voice laced with a threat.
"She's not your wife!" She protested loudly. "Your dad and I never gave your marriage our blessings, and in my eyes she will never be your wife!" She snarled curtly, throwing me the stink eye as her face flushed red with anger and rage boiled beneath the surface of her skin.
"Exactly, we don't approve of this marriage," Charles added as the frown that was already on his face deepened.
"It doesn't matter. In my eyes, she will always be my wife and I don't care what you say, we don't need your blessing or your approval."
"You… You…" She stammered as her voice shook with anger.
Before I knew it, Xavier only grabbed me by my arm and pulled me out of the house while I could hear Charles shouting for his son in the back, yet he wouldn't spare his parents another glance .
Soon, I found myself standing outside of the car as he stood in front of me. He looked down at me, reaching up to place his hands on my shoulders as the features on his face softened as soon as we locked eyes.
"Don't listen to them. I made you a promise, and I will keep it. I'm not leaving you."
***
I was back in the office the next day.
Just as I was scanning some files and documents that accumulated over the past few days, I saw my phone lit up from the corner of my eyes but I chose to ignore it the first time. Then, it rang again and again. I clicked my tongue in annoyance as my hand reached for the phone. My eyes glanced down to see that it was an unknown number but I answered it anyway.
"Hello?"
"Aurelia," the familiar voice came through the phone on the other end of the line.
"Who is this? How did you know my name?"
The woman cackled. "It's me, Paula," she declared, sounding smug and I could already imagine the look on her face. "Did you forget about me already? It's not easy to get through your phone, huh." She taunted as another laughter escaped her parted lips.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my jaws tightly as I stared ahead into nothing in particular.
"What do you want?" I questioned curtly, my tone carrying a sharp edge to it.
"What do I want?" She repeated, tossing my words right back at me. "It's simple. I just want to talk."
"There's nothing for us to talk about," I answered coldly, anger started to course through my body as my heart raced inside my chest. "I heard everything I needed yesterday."
She laughed again this time. "Oh, darling…" she drawled, deliberately drawing each word out as if she was savouring every single syllable with great satisfaction and power over me. "There's plenty for us to talk about. I'm not done talking to you just yet," she sneered.
"But I'm done talking to you," I said, my voice cold and I remained unwavering. "Look…If there's nothing more then I will –"
"Don't you dare hang up on me, Aurelia," she warned, cutting me off mid-sentence as she raised her voice. "Meet me downstairs at your office," she demanded calmly within the next second.
"No, why should I?" I retorted. "I'm not meeting you."
"You don't want to find out what I can do if you don't come down within the next 5 minutes," she threatened again this time, her voice was serious and I knew she meant every single word that left her lips. "I will see you soon."