Hope

I had lost sense of time as I stood there, hands shaking, heart pounding, eyes wide open.

My throat felt like it was closing and my chest constricted. It was as though my world shifted off balance and everything began to tilt. I struggled to inhale but the breath lodged in my throat refused to emerge as I stared at the photo of Killian and then the accompanying headline that followed.

Scandalous marriage.

Those two words rang in my head, making my heart stop and pump again.

A scandalous marriage.

A gold digger?

False pregnancy.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, wishing it would all go away, wishing this was just one big scary nightmare, but when I opened it, it remained the same. The headlines remained the same. They'd dubbed me the gold digger, they'd dragged me out for using my suspicious pregnancy as a means of trapping Killian.

Did I?

I didn't. I didn't trap him nor did I force him to marry me. I didn't even want any of this. I didn't want to be with Killian or get pregnant for him.

When the bathroom door pushed open, I turned. Killian stepped in. "I forgot my..." His words slowly trailed off as his eyes landed on me. "Hope?" His gaze darted down and he frowned. "Why do you have my phone?"

"Killian..." My voice broke. I tried to swallow past the tightness in my throat but it only hurt. "They know, It's-it's everywhere."

His forehead crumpled. "What do you mean? What's everywhere?"

My weakened knees gave out and I found myself staggering for stamina.

Killian rushed to my side and held me behind my back. "You need to sit." He guided me to the edge of the bed and urged me down on it. He was no longer naked which was so much of a relief because seeing his boner right now would have been awkward. But that was little compared to my worries; compared to the pain I felt in my chest.

"What's wrong?" He asked me hoarsely, skimming my body.

"Killian," I took cautious breaths, trying to calm myself. "It's on the news. They know, everyone knows about us, about the baby, our fake wedding. Your attorney called and -and-"

"Rogers?" He cut me short, a look of worry clouding his features.

I nodded quickly. "Yes Attorney Rogers. And he sent you an email that had a Tabloid article attached to it. Killian, everyone knows about us now, they know what we have isn't...isn't real."

"Why the hell would Rogers send me a tabloid?" He yanked the phone from my hand and scrolled down. I watched his eyes move as he read with a sense of impending dread, and at some point, they widened, instantly tainted with anger.

"What the fuck is this?!" He snapped, vibrating with rage.

Feeling that I might be sick, I clutched my stomach and tried to inhale deeply.

"Who the hell is dumb enough to publish an article like this?!" He was up on his feet, pacing, dialing numbers on his phone, and then all of a sudden he started storming towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked nervously.

"I have some calls to make," he gruffed and started to leave the room again. "Shower and get dressed."

When he walked out and left me alone, my nerves spurred into notion. I felt my heart sink even more. It felt like there was a tsunami coming and I was about to get sucked under.

I got up and decided to shower even though the pain I felt in my stomach was enough to keep me bedridden.

Instead of attempting a long bath like I usually had after sex with Killian, I settled for a short steamy one and tried to clear my thoughts.

When I got out, I wrapped myself with one of the plush towels and returned to the room but my footsteps dragged to a halt at the foot of the door once I heard Killian barking into his phone.

"Fuck! Call the publisher!" he yelled in an outraged voice. "Tell him if he doesn't squash this fucking news, so help me god, I will rain hell down on his corporation and make sure he's ruined to the point he contemplates suicide!"

Sensing my presence, he turned, his phone still in his ear as he sent me a sharp look.

I simply walked into the room and tried to dress as he continued to converse brutally with the poor soul on the other end of the phone. At some point, he left me alone again and a part of me just wished he'd quit the calls and put an end to my anguish but it didn't, and the call ended up lasting for almost an hour before he finally returned back to the room with water streaming from his chest.

He had a pained look on his face as he wiped his hair aggressively.

"What did the publishers say?" I asked, clinging to the glass of water one of the helpers had brought me.

"Those fuckers are being very testy with me and I swear to God-" he paused, shook his head, and heaved out a breath. "That's the least of my problems right now. My father wants to see me."

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn't thought about them. I hadn't thought about how they'd feel. Oh my God, they'd hate me. His mother. Mary, she'd confided in me because she believed I and her stepson was I love. God, I felt so ashamed right now.

"Killian." I was unnerved. "What are we going to do. Your family is going to hate me."

"Relax." He assured. "It's going to be fine. I am going to explain things to my father. It's going to be fine." The way he said it. It sounded like he was trying to assure himself, more than trying to reassure me and it made my stomach twist with perturbation.

"What do you think he is going to do to you?" I asked feeling a little sick at the mere thought of it again.

He couldn't disown him could he? I mean, I was already aware of their not-so-pleasant father-son relationship and this happening was only going to add coal to the burning flame but that wasn't enough to disown him it strip him off, was it?

"I don't know." He said, groaning as he forked a hand through his hair. "All I know is it's not going to be good because my father does not take being lied to very well."

Oh my God, oh my God. I shook my head and felt the tears well up in her eyes. "We shouldn't have lied Killian, we should've just-" I choked on my breath. I didn't know why I was crying. "They'll hate us." I pulled my palm to my face and shook my head as I continued to cry, thinking of how miserable my life was going to become.

"Hope." Killian's heavy voice commanded my attention and when I looked up, he was standing right next to me. "Listen to me, everything's going to be fine. So stop fucking crying because it's only going to make it worse."

I sniffed. "I can't, I just... "

"Fuck. Look at me, Hope." He knelt in front of me, his hand coming to brush my tears away. "You'll be fine, just trust me on this. I'll handle it."

I nodded, wiping my tears as he got up and proceeded to his dresser.

Even with the distraction of watching him dress which was simply spectacular, I still felt sick to my stomach about what might happen when we got there.

I was hanging on a provisional thread and I wasn't sure how long I could keep myself from having a panic attack.

By the time I was able to recollect myself, Killian was done dressing and we were heading towards the car, a couple of men in black following behind us closely.

I held my purse tight. "Killian, There are men following behind us."

He wiggled his wrist and glanced at his watch. "I know,"

I stole another glance at the men. "You know?"

"They are our bodyguards Hope, try to keep up."

My brows shot up. "You have bodyguards?"

"I'm a wealthy asshole whose been kidnapped twice. Of course, I have bodyguards guarding me the whole time."

"The whole time." My cheeks flushed pink, suddenly reminded of last night and the rather outrageous screams.

"I wasn't joking when I said I wanted everyone to hear you scream for me."

Christ.

He opened the car door, a teasing smile on his lips as he gestured for me to go in.

"After you kitten."

The moment we got into the car, more calls came in, more yelling, and more anxiety eating me inside out. I stared out the window the whole time, prickled with shame and fear and everything unsettling. And I didn't move from that position until the car came to a stop in front of Killian's house.

All of a sudden returning here made me feel nauseous and sick and very much embarrassed.

The bodyguards remained behind us as we walked in and I could feel the tension exuding from Killian as he walked by my side. We had our hands interlaced. When we walked into the living room where Mr. and Mrs. Fobster were, he squeezed me tightly.

"Father, Mother." He greeted and before I had the chance to give my regards, he sprung up from his seat in a whoosh.

"What the hell is this?!" He barked, forgetting his social niceties as he picked up the newspaper on the table and threw it at Killian with a surprising lack of restraint and I could tell by the way he clenched his fists that it was taking everything within him not to throw something much stronger, much more lethal than the paper.

This was going to be a long day and I wasn't sure how much of this I could take.