Chapter 62

Clara's POV

I continued looking through the folder. Some things were slowly beginning to make sense. Maybe Mom wasn't lying about some things. But why wouldn't she tell me the whole truth?

I finally closed the folder.

I paused as I took a deep breath. "I need you to help me find my real father," I said.

His eyes widened. "I don't think it's my position for me to get in the middle of that." He answered.

"You are the only one who can help me with this. I don't even know where to begin." I insisted.

"I don't know much. It has been many years. Besides, your mother would kill me," he stated.

"You don't have to tell her," I answered.

He sighed, followed by a deep breath. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. I'm not promising anything." He answered.

"Thank you," I answered with a smile.

I stood up, preparing myself to leave.

The whiskey bottle on the side caught my attention.

Without thinking, I poured half the glass.

I drank it in a few gulps without taking any breaths in between.

This was probably a terrible idea, but I would need all the courage I could get.

Leonardo looked at me with his brow raised.

I ignored his questioning look as I placed the glass down.

I waved him goodbye as I made my way out.

Finally, the moment I'd avoided for at least the past three weeks had arrived.

Perhaps this was the most difficult decision I would ever make, but it needed to be done.

I took the elevator to Derek's suite.

Before I'd raised my hand to knock, the door swung open as a deranged-looking Luke stared back at me.

He kept his gaze on me, staring at me worried before looking away as if pushing away a thought. He walked past me without saying a word, leaving the door open.

We weren't friends, but I'd have expected at least some sort of acknowledgment.

Was something else happening that I wasn't aware of?

I ignored the warning sign and walked into the suite.

I heard Derek curse from his office.

He was clearly in a foul mood. Maybe I should come back another day. But no, I couldn't keep avoiding this. I had already made the decision. There was always going to be something that would stop me. I couldn't keep making excuses.

I don't know how I managed to continue walking despite everything in me telling me not to and to get away from there instead. Derek's office came into view. His door had been left wide open. I would hear some unknown loud noises and papers being shredded.

I found myself standing in front of his door. He was standing beside his chair as he typed on his phone furiously.

I knocked on his door to get his attention. It certainly got me more of his attention than I could have ever wanted.

He looked up, staring at me murderously as I noticed his jaw tighten. Had he already found out I was lying? Was that why he looked so mad? Maybe he had a bad business deal and was now very stressed out.

I stepped into his office.

He didn't say anything, and he just kept his gaze on me like a predator fixed on his prey.

Today didn't seem like the day to exchange any greetings.

I would confess and then leave before he finally exploded. On the bright side, I didn't seem like the first person today to put him grumpy.

I cleared my throat as I assembled my words.

He walked across his table to stand a few steps before me as he crossed his arms.

"I have something that I need to tell you." I finally spoke. My mouth became dry, and my eyes narrowed to the floor as I could not look him in the eye.

"Let me guess, now that you've developed a conscience, you suddenly need to tell me everything." He guessed.

My heart was beating out of my chest. Did he know already? How much did he know?

"I really can explain. I didn't mean to," I answered. For the first time, I mustered the courage to look him in the eye.

"Which part exactly didn't you mean, going to get drunk yesterday despite knowing that you are pregnant?" He asked.

My eyes widened in realization.

That was what he was mad about. He saw me. Despite my best attempts, I still got caught.

I sighed as I finally released some tension in my shoulders. This wasn't as bad as I thought. I couldn't handle this.

"Don't even try to deny it. I saw you on camera drowning yourself in alcohol." He said vehemently. His voice was filled with so much disgust.

"I had a few drinks," I admitted.

"And you say it so casually?" He spat. He shook his head at me in disbelief. He probably couldn't believe how emotionless my voice sounded. "Do you have any idea what alcohol can do to a baby?" He yelled.

His voice alone nearly shook me. I've never seen him this mad before.

"I was just struggling through a very difficult moment," I answered, my voice nearly on the brink of tears.

"You could have come to me." He yelled back. "I thought we were finally getting somewhere where we could talk about serious stuff." He answered.

Why was I even bothering to explain this to him? Whether I drank or not was completely irrelevant. There wasn't even a baby to start with. If he was already this mad, how mad would he be when he discovered the truth?

"I know, but I can explain. There is something more important I need to tell you." I said.

"What could be more important than this?" he asked. "You are drowning the baby with alcohol." He said.

He didn't give me a chance to explain. I wanted to let him know that there was no baby.

"I'm not having your baby!" I finally yelled.

He paused, the anger on his face replaced by a confused look.

"Is that your excuse, the fact that you don't want to have one?" He questioned. He still looked confused; he was probably still trying to make sense of my words. Having spent all that time convincing him that there was a baby and receiving confirmation from the doctor, hearing the truth now seemed like a lie.

"There won't be any babies if you continue going like this. I realize that you may be scared right now. I am, too. That doesn't give you the right to act so recklessly." He continued.

I shook my head at him, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Don't even try and look at me like that," he dismissed me.

I wasn't looking at him in any way.

He wasn't listening. This was even more terrible than I had thought. I expected him to be angry, but having to break his heart like this felt a lot worse than any punishment he would have given me.

"You are not listening to me," I began. I took a step closer to him.

I wasn't willing to continue with this lie. I needed to be out with it because it would be much worse when he found out later.

"No," he cut me off. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. If anything happens to that baby, you will be sorry. There won't be a corner in this world to protect you from me.

"Is that a threat?" I whispered.

"I'm just warning you, sweetheart." He said. The calm in his voice made me all the more scared, almost like a silent warning that I shouldn't even dare.

"You should leave now, and I don't want to say anything else I shouldn't." He said with a sigh.

"Okay," I whispered. "I'll be off to work if you need me," I said.

"You didn't understand me, and you won't work here or anywhere else until that baby is born." He said.

My eyes widened. "What?" I whispered.

"I can't even trust you to do something as simple as not getting drunk. Now, I'm going to handle you as I see fit to make sure you don't do any further damage to yourself or the baby. You'll be on paid leave until the baby is born." He answered.

Handle me? Who was this person?

"You can't do that," I answered.

"Do you want to challenge me on that? You won't be able to find another job even if you try to." He answered. "You should leave now." He motioned with his hand as he dismissed me.