Jessica’s POV
We did it, we actually made a b*stard, a taboo, I actually had no idea what to call the thing growing inside of me. Or maybe calling it my insurance ticket was the best option. But if he or she ever grew up I would definitely be ashamed to look them in the eyes and tell them exactly what they were.
At the moment I had no shame, life was about sacrifices and that was what I did in order not to turn back into a life of prostitution. I swore never to return to such a life. And whatever the outcome was, I was secured.
Victor and I never talked about the sex, because Brandon Fraser had ears everywhere. We were only lucky Josh’s accident happened in Canada and both he and Thalia had no idea about it. So it was best we never spoke of it. Victor only said a few words, “Keep your mouth shut.” And I was going to follow that until my last breath.
I trusted Victor, and with the way Josh was behaving he was optimistic I was going to get my shares. Shares that were enough to take care of my baby and I should things turn south. Josh had become a perfect husband waiting for the arrival of his first child. I was not buying the act at first because he had previously done that before.
Turning into a perfect husband one minute, then turning into a monster the other second. I had my fingers crossed, waiting for him to change the clauses but it looked like it was taking forever.
A month had already elapsed and Josh only mentioned the clauses once. Victor did not want to discuss the issue, whether by the mouth of the phone, alerting Brandon was out of the equation but I was dying inside. Deep down I felt something bad was going to happen. But insisting on the change was going to attract suspicion.
To make it worse, Victor was swamped with a lot of court cases relating to whatever s*it he and the judge did in Iraq. We barely saw him in the house. I did my own research on changing clauses, yes it was risky but I used a public computer that would not be traced to me.
Most companies usually changed when a child was born or when someone in line died. Josh was probably waiting for the child to be born, I had some months to go and no one knew what s*it Thalia was going to throw at us. I needed to talk to them, especially at the office where the room was secure.
But first I had to buy myself a gown for tonight’s rebranding party. Josh was on top of things with trying to rebrand Gentex. We might have lost some shares but we still had the majority and all we needed were investors.
I bought my dress and drove back home, when I walked into the house, I found Victor and Josh having a glass of wine. I do not know why but I was always uncomfortable around Victor, I had somehow gotten used to his absence. I quickly spoke up. “What is going on? What are we celebrating?” I inquired?
Josh walked up to me and gave me an unpredictable kiss. I had my eyes open and could see Victor’s face turn pale as he looked away. I did not think of it that much and just ignored the useless man. “A Russian company is attending the party and they are interested in investing in our company,” he stated.
“Wow that’s great, this will put Gentex on the map,” I replied.
“Yes, since Brandon Fraser owns this country, Gentex will try going International and only supply to those companies outside the country,” Josh stated and called for his father to join us. Victor got up and walked towards us.
“Since you can not drink, water will do for you,” he added and walked to the kitchen to get me a glass of water. Victor and I were left standing awkwardly without saying a word. Josh walked back with a glass and handed it to me, “Did I miss anything?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Victor and I said in unison and looked away. The awkwardness was very visible but Josh was just too s*upid and excited to notice it. “To my two favorite people in the world, the only ones that never gave up on me,” he stated.
I glanced at Victor before looking away. “Cheers,” I said
“To new beginnings,” Victor added as he hit my glass.
I quickly decided to excuse myself with the pretense of going to get myself ready for the party when in the actual sense I was getting suffocated by Victor’s presence. There were stories of pregnant women hating the sight of their baby daddies and that was what I was probably going through.
As soon as I reached my bedroom, I ran to the bathroom and puked my guts out, it was the second time that I saw his face and puked. Maybe my inner self was ashamed of what we did and my physical being was trying to put up an act. I decided to take some rest before I began preparing myself. There were still my free hours left.
Josh walked in and found me sleeping, he walked to my side of the bed and inquired whether I was fine or not. “I’m just tired,” I replied.
“Maybe we should have postponed the event,” he suggested.
“No…no..no, I just took some rest after the shopping,” I assured and asked him to prepare for the night. I planned to take at least an hour’s rest. I set the alarm and dozed off. By the time I woke up, it was already past one hour. I looked at my watch surprised. “You overslept,” Josh stated while fixing his tie.
He was sharply dressed in a tuxedo and I could not help but note that he had lost some of the weight. His morning routine of exercising every day was working. He was slowly transforming into the man I once fell in love with. But was it too late for us, could I be able to live with the dreaded grave secret? I wondered as I got off the bed. “You should have woken me up an hour ago,” I stated.
“No you need the sleep, the baby needs the sleep,” he replied, knelt, and placed his head over my tummy. I tried to move but he held on tightly. “Hello little one, hope you got the much-needed rest,” he said with a smile. “This is your daddy, and I can’t wait to meet you. I have a lot of things planned for you, your mother, and I,” he added.
A wave of emotions hit me and tears dropped down my cheeks. I guess some people in life needed a one-changing moment to happen for them to quit their bad habits.
“Jess, are you okay, why are you crying?” He asked as he got up to wipe my tears.
“Nothing, it’s nothing, it’s probably the hormones, yes the pregnant hormones are getting the hold of me,” I replied.
He led me to the bed and I took a seat, “You know what? I have been thinking,” he stated while holding my hands. “I think after Gentex gets on its feet or even if it does not because Thalia will make sure of that. I think we should move to another country and start afresh,” he suggested. I froze for a minute and the tears stopped. “What about the shares? Oooh… I mean Gentex?”
“That’s my father’s obsession that nearly ruined my life and I think it has ruined a lot of people’s lives, he can have it but I will dissolve the shares, give some to the baby once it’s born, and of course you and the rest to Dad and he can decide what to do with them,” he added.
I stared at him confused, downstairs he was busy making a toast about Gentex but there he was talking about running.
“Am not saying we can go now, I am just asking you to think about it, I do not want our baby to come and join this fight. Let’s back off and leave it to dad who started it.”
“Have you spoken to your father about this?” I asked.
“No I have not and do not tell him, we will talk to him after the baby is born. What is now important is a safe environment for the child,” he added.
I just nodded, what he was saying was making sense and he was still going to give me the shares, that was what mattered the most, that was my security but I needed to play the situation. “Why not dissolve the shares now, I mean you are only giving Thalia time,” I suggested.
“Inheritance shares are the safest, that is the only reason why the company is not in Brandon’s hands. Give birth first and it will seal whatever plans they have on us. If I release the shares now, they will attack and find a loop,” he stated and got up before I could protest.
“Come on hurry up, the guests are waiting for us,” he added and disappeared through the door. I cursed out, I was running out of patience, I needed those shares fast, eight months was too far. I got up and prepared myself for the night.
The father and son were already done when I walked downstairs to join them. As we entered the car I quickly handed Victor a piece of paper urging him to convince his son to hand me the shares. I did not tell him the part where his son suggested we leave the country and turn into background shareholders.
We arrived at the party around 8 pm. It was nice to see Gentex holding such a party though it was not fully packed. Victor looked like he was the one in charge of the party, the old man never gave up a fight. I spent the entire night socializing and avoiding his presence. The night was going well until he decided to grab a mic and announce to the whole world that I was pregnant.
There was cheering in the crowd as I looked in Josh’s direction who looked as p*ssed as I was. We planned not to inform anyone about the pregnancy but the old fool decided to share the arrival of his son without our consent.
It was always games when it came to Victor, the idiot was so selfish and only cared about no one except for himself. Josh walked up to me apologizing but I was not in the mood, I was so p*ssedbut for peace’s sake, I pretended to be mature for Gentex and received all the congratulatory messages from the guests.
