Mr Billionaire's Plaything

ne's

ality that makes my skin prickle. The silence i

ing room, my mother turns to me

e? Who the hell di

hospital and wisely left as soon as we reached the building, had said nothin

fury, I feel every ounce o

onths ago in a stranger's arms because I was trying to erase the pain Cameron left behind?

n!" she shouts. "Don't just st

nch m

quietly. My voice shakes

he hell you're pregnant

e down on my bottom li

ng sun bleeding through the blinds in long strips across our worn-out sofa. The same sofa where

he whispers to herself, then louder: "

lan for thi

ise to her face, fingers pr

t everyone says before a baby sho

om

you dare 'Mom'

o piece together who I've become. Then she blinks-on

like she's solving a puzzle. "You were alread

"It's n

r sat well with her. He was all charm and polished edges an

rs. Her rage is hollow now

floor. The si

wa

len

n't k

at do you mean..

ing the weight of the confe

in Midtown. I was drunk, numb. I just... I didn't care anymore. He was there. Tall. Dark jacket.

drains

m, "that you let some stranger inside you, th

. It's all

the sla

d.

to the side and

n't

nd walk strai

-

fully clothed. My palms are cold. My cheeks still s

e hell

I be thi

w as I curl into myself. Every shameful thought I've

My professors? Cameron,

be able to f

whisper be

ything to raise me after Dad died. Who juggled two wa

oke

room blurs, and sleep pulls me under like a

-

oc

oft

through the door, quieter now. "

moti

"I was scared. Angry. But more than an

le

len

to be held. To be told I'll be

o," I w

her footsteps reced

s burning, throat ra

ony

h

org

rity gala his fa

e to a

"I'm sorry. I can

You said yes. I already told

ething happened. I can'

. A little heads-up? You could've

pressur

e fucking ho

lls s

nt. And you're calling to

t-wh

lower this time. "And no, it's not

e, I d

n't have time for your pity, your

len

bye,

ang

ne for a long time

et now, like it's hold

, I feel it-d

tw

lut

esn't belong to m

this nightmare began, I rea

ave to

ver

sk for any of this-and they

it des