Chapter 16: I’m Keeping Them Both
[Sarah]
“That’s impossible. I monitored every relationship, every interaction-” The color had drained from Victoria’s face, leaving her makeup stark against her skin.
“Did you?” I kept my voice deliberately casual. “Or did you only see what Theodore allowed you to see?”
Her perfectly manicured nails dug into white tablecloth. “Ten years.” Each word trembled with barely contained emotion. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to love someone for ten years? To be there for every triumph, every setback, every moment that made him
who he is?”
“Is that what you call love?” I took a careful sip of water. “Following his every move, memorizing his schedule, building your entire life around a man who barely notices you’re
alive?”
Victoria’s emerald eyes flashed dangerously. “You don’t understand anything. When he sealed his first billion–dollar deal, I was there with champagne he didn’t drink. When he fought with the board over AI integration, I stayed up three nights preparing his defense…” Her voice cracked slightly.
“But he never did, did he?” The words came out softer than I intended.
“He married you instead.” Bitterness dripped from every syllable. “A convenient business arrangement with a desperate little girl playing at running daddy’s company into the
ground.”
“At least I’m honest about what this marriage is.”
“Honest?” Victoria’s laugh held an edge of hysteria. “Tell me, Sarah, have you been honest with Theodore about everything? About why you’ve switched to loose–fitting clothes? Why you’re suddenly turning down wine at board dinners?”
My hand instinctively moved to my stomach before I could stop it. Victoria’s red lips curved into a triumphant smile.
“Poor, naive Sarah,” she purred. “Did you really think pregnancy would secure your
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Chapter 16: I’m Keeping Them Both
position? Theodore despises anything that threatens his freedom. The moment he finds out, everything changes.”
“You don’t know him as well as you think.”
Victoria signaled for the check, her diamond bracelet catching the light. “Walk away now, Sarah. Before things get… messier. After all,” her smile turned razor–sharp.
I met her gaze steadily, “I’m not looking for someone to put me back together. I never
was.”
Two hours later, I sat in a private examination room at the Upper East Side medical
center, watching two tiny heartbeats flicker on the ultrasound screen. Each steady pulse
seemed to wash away Victoria’s venomous words.
“The twins are developing perfectly,” the doctor’s voice was warm, professional. “Though
I’m concerned about your stress levels. Your blood pressure is higher than I’d like.”
I nearly laughed at the understatement. “Just work pressure.”
She gave me a knowing look over her glasses. “Have you considered all your options?”
My hand moved instinctively to my still–flat stomach. Two precious lives, already changing everything. “I’m keeping them.”
“I’m keeping them both.” My voice came out stronger than I expected.
The rest of the appointment passed in a blur of vitamins, recommendations, and carefully
worded warnings. By the time I returned to the penthouse, exhaustion dragged at every
limb.
I barely made it to my bed before sleep claimed me. When I woke, Manhattan’s sunset painted my room in shades of gold and crimson. My phone showed three missed calls
from Sullivan MedTech’s legal team.
“The venture capital firms have all declined,” our general counsel reported when I called back. His voice carried the weight of imminent collapse. “They’re citing… concerns about
association.”
“You mean they won’t touch anything with the Sullivan name.” I pressed my forehead
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Chapter 16: I’m Keeping Them Both
against the cool window glass. “What about the European investors?”
“They’re waiting to see what Pierce Technologies does. He hesitated. “Sarah, without immediate funding-”
“I know.” I ended the call before he could finish the sentence.
The secured building grounds offered little comfort as I paced beneath meticulously groomed trees. Each step felt like another nail in Sullivan MedTech’s coffin. How had we fallen so far? From revolutionizing medical technology to begging for meetings with investors who wouldn’t even return our calls.
My phone buzzed again – another text from Victoria: “Theodore always protects his interests. Always. Think carefully about your next move.”
I deleted it without responding. The twins fluttered, too early for true movement but I felt them all the same. My babies. My decision. No matter what Victoria or Theodore had
planned.
A familiar Rolls–Royce pulled into the private driveway, its headlights cutting through the gathering dusk. Theodore sat in the back, his tablet casting blue light across his sharp features. Our eyes met through the tinted window, and for a moment, I saw what Victoria had spent ten years chasing – that magnetic pull of power and control, the allure of a man who commanded empires with a single word.
But unlike Victoria, I wasn’t looking for his approval. I wasn’t building my life around his whims. I had my own empire to save, my own battles to fight.
I’m carrying your children, I thought as he studied me through the glass. Two lives you’ve already threatened to end. But you don’t control this decision. Not anymore.
I squared my shoulders, one hand resting protectively over my stomach. The other clutched my phone, where Sullivan MedTech’s financial reports waited like a ticking time bomb. Two crises, both demanding impossible choices.
Because some decisions, once made, changed everything. And I’d made mine.
I was keeping them both – my babies and my company.
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Trapped By The Comatose Billionaire
