Chapter 2
Three years ago
Fiona’s POV
“Can I take your order?” I started to say before my eyes flicked up and froze.
There he was.
5 vouchers
I should’ve known from the whispers of the kitchen, the sudden nervous energy from the waitstaff, the way the hostess kept glancing at the corner booth. I should’ve known someone like him would never go unnoticed.
Rick Sterling.
He stood there in a fitted navy coat that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.
Underneath, his white dress shirt was crisp, buttons undone at the throat, sleeves pushed back just enough to show the sleek gold of his watch. Everything about him screamed old money, power and ccontrol.
“Rick?” I blinked, barely whispering, “what are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer, he just kept his eyes on me.
I turned to my supervisor and forced a smile, “could you please excuse me for a second?”
Without waiting for a reply, I slipped past the tables and pushed the side door open. The alley behind the restaurant was quiet, a small pocket of air between old bricks and dumpsters.
The door clicked shut behind me and then I felt it, a hand on my waist, my back hitting the wall. His body closing the space between us like he’d been holding himself back and finally gave in.
His hands gripped my waist, his chest pressed to mine, our faces just inches apart.
My breath caught, “what are you doing here? I told you not to come during work hours.”
He sighed, but his eyes were already moving slowly trailing down my stained apron. The ties were knotted messily at my back, a smear of sauce streaked the edge. I flushed under his gaze. Standing at six–feet–two, he easily towered over me, but rather than feeling small, I found it oddly hot and attractive.
“This,” he said quietly, “you’re still doing this?”
“I like working here.”
He exhaled again, this time with frustration, his voice low and pained.
“I’ve told you to stop, come work for me instead, I’ll pay you ten times more, I’ll make it easy, you don’t belong here, Fiona.”
There was something in his eyes when he said it. Not arrogance, he had plenty of that, but something
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Chapter 2
more vulnerable.
I smiled softly and shook my head.
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It had been years since my mom died, years since my father remarried and moved on like she never existed. My stepmother made it clear I wasn’t wanted, not really. She had her perfect daughter now, Marissa, and I was just the shadow of someone who’d made her life harder.
I learned quickly that love came with conditions in that house so I stopped asking for it.
I worked, I built a life on my own terms and it was here, in this restaurant, that I first met Rick.
He was here for a meeting with some investor. He didn’t belong among the cracked tiles and chipped mugs, but when I refilled his coffee, he asked for my name.
He kept coming back after that, alone, always at the same table, always pretending he was just there for the food.
It took me a month to believe he wasn’t just playing a game.
And when he kissed me behind the building for the first time, right here, I started to believe I could be more than what I was told I’d be but after living with my supposed family, I learned how fast things could change and so as much as I loved Rick, I wanted to build my life myself, on my own terms.
“You weren’t picking your calls,” his voice pulled me back to the present.
“You shouldn’t show up at my workplace,” I pouted, wrapping my arms around myself, “you know I get jealous if my co–workers see you and want to be with you.”
That made him smirk.
He moved closer again, hands sliding around my waist, gently this time, “does that make you jealous?” His voice was barely above a whisper as his blue eyes bore into my own.
I stared right at him without an answer, biting into my lower lip.
His lips brushed my cheek, I turned my face just enough to dodge the rest.
“Rick,” I whispered, my neck craned upwards as he tilted his face to plant a kiss on the nape of my skin.
He leaned in, his voice low, teasing but warm, “you know what today is, don’t you?”
My heart stuttered.
“Our anniversary,” he said.
I looked up quickly, “you remembered?”
“I’m not an idiot,” he murmured, kissing the tip of my nose, “I have a gift for you tonight.”
My mind spun, the way he looked at me, the softness in his voice. Was he going to… propose?
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Before I could ask, he slipped a small folded note into my palm.
“Be here at nine,” he said, “don’t be late.”
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“Fiona!” I heard my boss’s cranky voice and we both tilted our head in the direction. He closed his lips over mine before whispering, “I’ll see you soon okay?”
When I finally pulled into the hotel’s private lot, I checked my reflection in the mirror and just then, my phone lit up.
Rick.
I smiled but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared, it was a text from him, *I should’ve ended this sooner, you were a distraction I can’t afford anymore, don’t come looking for me, whatever this was, it’s
over*
I couldn’t move. I slid back into the cab, whispering, “Sterling Manor.”
The drive felt endless. His house wasn’t a house, it was a fortress. I’d never been there.
I walked up to the gate and told the guard I needed to see Rick.
He glanced at his screen and shook his head. “You’re not allowed in. Mr. Sterling gave strict orders.”
“What?” I asked, breath catching. “Just tell him it’s Fiona. He’ll let me in.”
“He won’t.”
Another guard stepped in. “Leave now, this is private property.”
‘No,” I said, eyes filling with tears, “please, just say my name, he loves me, he-”
‘I said leave!”
He grabbed my arm and pushed me back. I stumbled, hit the pavement. My knees scraped, my bag slid from my shoulder. I didn’t move.
I sat on the cold ground and cried, harder than I ever had, until my body couldn’t take it anymore.
When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at white ceiling tiles.
“You fainted,” a nurse said gently, “Someone found you outside an estate. You’ve been here for a few hours but you’re okay now!
A doctor entered moments later, flipping through a chart before meeting my eyes.
“Miss Hart,” he said carefully, “you’re pregnant.”
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Chapter 2
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I had moved out from the shock of it all, so to watch Rick be the man in front of me after that cruel night, I stayed glued to the floor. It wasn’t until I saw him moving toward me that I flinched out of my thoughts.
“Rick?” I called out to confirm I wasn’t imagining things.
He stopped, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at me in confusion, “have we met before?”
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SGD
Chapter 3
