Dark Secret Of A Billionaire's Surrogate

Avery's POV

'Two freaking days! That's all you have. Failure to comply, I will haunt you and burn you to the ground!'

I slip my phone back in my purse, still living in denial like I didn't just read a freaking death threat from Don Donald, the loan-shark I'm indebted to.

It's even scary that my brain suppresses something as gruesome as this, like it keeps doing lately, when my family and friends can be affected by the blaring doom.

I'm still in my wedding dress, after the tragic incident at my wedding, three days ago. I was this freaking close to being Mrs. Orion! Fucking close, until he collapsed without responding to the priest!

Sadly, he was diagnosed of heart failure and in immediate need of an open heart surgery.

I shoot upward at the weird sound of Orion, my fiancé's labored breathing, as though he's drowning.

"Doctor! Doctor!!"

Like a fired missile, I sprint for the door as I run to call for help, the hem of my wedding dress sweeping the hospital's floor.

The thought of losing him taunt my mind, driving me in all shades of crazy at once

"Ouch!" I groan, my foot hitting a trolley by the door.

"I'm sorry," the nurse in charge of the trolley with drugs, says almost immediately. "Miss Avery?" She calls my attention.

I stop abruptly with the sudden realization that she can help me.

"He's choking! ... He's dying!"

Thankfully, we're just a few steps away from the ward Orion is bedridden. On arrival, he's still gasping for air as he inhales deeply, as if he's struggling for his life, his chest region forming an arc along his skinny frame.

"Calm down." She assures me, adjusting the oxygen meter.

Like a miracle, he stops gasping a few minutes later, putting my heart at ease with this singular act. I close my eyes momentarily, calming my nerves.

How freckle can life be? I swear, the thoughts of losing him a minute ago almost made me crazy.

'Breathe, Avery,' I inhale deeply, and exhale slowly at my command.

"He's almost out on oxygen," the nurse breaks through my thought.

"How long can this go?" I look at the almost empty cylinder, blinking back tears threatening a downfall.

"Twenty-four hours... Maybe less." She shrugs. "Please, I'll advice you get it as soon as possible, it's important he has a new tank on standby."

Everything seems urgent these days.

"Of course" I murmur, finding a good spot to level my frustration on.

Alone once more, I sit back on the chair beside his bed, my shaky hands take his, rubbing around his clammy skin.

He's lying almost in a vegetative state for about two weeks now.

"One more wish..."

It feels like the whole world is on my frail shoulders and my knees are too wobbly to hold me up for long. Being the only family he has, asides from his friend, Andrew, that occasionally comes to check in on him, I'm saddled with the responsibility of tending to every of his needs.

"... Please, stay with me." I sob silently, unable to hold it in anymore.

This isn't the life he promised me, we both had our lives figured out, or we thought. We'd get married, make the cutest couple and have the smartest babies... Not abandon the other.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

With blurred vision, I watch the vital signs monitor connected to him by a lube, the numerous chest tubes, oxygen mask and drip stand. I don't have to be in his shoes to feel his pain.

"How is he fairing?" Andrew's voice sounds from behind.

He was the best man at our wedding, and Orion's best friend.

Too devastated to respond, I duck my head, hiding my wet cheeks from him.

"Come on, Avery," he rubs my shoulders. "you're crying again?"

"He's dying..."

"He isn't and he won't." He stops me from whimpering. "Come here," He pulls me in for a warm hug and I helplessly cry in his arms.

"The nurse said he needs a new oxygen tank."

"I came with some money, hopefully, it goes a long way."

"Thank you." My grip around his tightens, before I pull away.

"He's my friend too, yunno. Come on, you should get some rest." He suggests. "I'm on a short break, so I can look after him for a while."

I pack a few of my things and leave the ward, after waving Andrew goodbye. I flag down a taxi and barely mumble my address, as I gather my bulky gown into the taxi and begin to sulk at the back seat.

Pulling out my phone from my pocket, the creepy text from Mr. Donald, makes my skin crawl. I remember running to him for help about six months ago, when I was in total bankruptcy and my bakery was about folding up.

Six months down the lane, my bakery is gone, I'm a petty debtor, always fleeing from her creditor, and I'm about losing my fiance.

I can't fault Don Donald, it's already two weeks past the deadline. My only grievance is that things are just crumbling at once.

With my eyes returning to the text, I make a hasty decision.

"Please, stop the car." I tell the driver. "8B Cobbler street." I change my route on a second thought.

Without saying a word, he takes a U-turn and follows my new direction. I'm thankful that he didn't make a fuss out of it. On arrival, I settle the fee and walk into Piper, my best friend's yard.

I ring the door bell once and twice, waiting for her to respond.

"A minute." Her bubbly voice calls out. Seconds letter, the doorknob twists and she is in my face. "My baby,"

"I'll do it." I say on the spot like a zombie. "The surrogacy thing, I want to do it... I need to..."

"Shhh," she pulls me in her arms, comforting me in a big hug. "Let's talk about it." She helps me in.

It's being three days she playfully told me of being a surrogate, and yesterday, she brought up the idea. The concept of carrying another's child, and eventually letting go, didn't sit well with me.

Orion won't be happy if he finds out, it feels like I'm selling a child... So many reasons to not consider it, but right now, Orion's life is a good enough reason to carpet all the bad ideas about this deal.

"Whoa." She teases, on seeing me gulp down the entire content of the glass of chilled water she served me a while ago.

I set the glass down, feeling hydrated and charged.

"I have a problem though, my medical condition isn't compatible with stuff like this, and I can't get a better means to get such an amount of money."

"I thought about that too, when I brought up the offer to you." She comes closer, like she does when we gossip. "I have a plan."

She sound mischievous. I roll my eyes at her.

Not saying a word, she gets up, goes to the locker and pull out a small plastic. When she returns to my side, she dangles the bottle I now recognize as Amlodipine pills, in my face.

"No way!"

"Yes way."

"What if they find out?"

"Who's going to tell them?" She puts the bottle of pills in my hand and goes to get a glass of room temperature water. "Certainly not me, or will you?"

"I... I..."

"I thought so too." She hands me the glass of water next.

"It may affect the baby."

"May." She hints on it. "So we have to do all we can to keep the pregnancy. Besides, you need the money desperately and if this is a secret you'll take to your grave, so be it."

She's right, or maybe she isn't, but I'm stuck.

Popping the lid open, I pour out the necessary amount because overdosing on it can be critical. The glass to my lips, I swallow them with a heavy heart.

I'm about to commit a deadly sin and I hope that the devil doesn't visit... soon.