Chapter 43

Sophie

"I can't wait to meet you, little baby."

Sophie glanced at the couple sitting opposite her, trying hard not to stare. The woman must have been at least eight months pregnant, her stomach swollen with the growing life inside her. Cradling that bump lovingly, her husband gently cooed to his unborn child.

Well, aren't they just the perfect, most smug little nitwits?

Rolling her eyes, Sophie turned back to her magazine, forcing them from her mind. It's not like Alex wouldn't be there if he knew. In fact, he'd make sure the best of the best took care of her and that their child had everything it needed.

It just so happened she still hadn't told him about the pregnancy.

"Sophie Hayward?"

Standing, she waved to the smiling nurse calling her name. She gathered her belongings and left the smug couple behind her.

I hope your baby is ugly.

"No dad today?" The nurse asked, looking behind Sophie and interrupting her vicious thought.

"Not today," Sophie replied with a strained smile. Why was everyone so fixated on Alex not being here? "Actually, he doesn't know yet. I'm waiting for the okay before I tell him."

"You'd be surprised how many women do the same." She gestured towards the hospital bed, smiling warmly. "Make yourself comfortable."

Standing behind her computer, the nurse checked a few notes, making a soft noise. "So, you're around thirteen weeks according to your last period, correct? "

"Yeah, I think so," Sophie replied, laying back against the hospital bed. "I can be a bit irregular though so—"

"Well, let's just take a look, shall we?" She said, clicking a couple of buttons. "Pop your shirt up for me, and we'll get started." Sophie pulled her shirt up, taking the tissue offered and tucking it into her waistband. Relaxing back against the bed, she felt a frisson of excitement. This was it! After weeks of waiting, she was finally going to see her tiny little baby.

"This might be a tad cold," the nurse said, squirting some gel on her stomach. Sophie hissed at the chill, staring anxiously at the screen in front of her as the nurse pressed the probe against her stomach.

Nothing.

There was nothing there except some black and white splodges.

"They're quite good at hiding when they're this small," the nurse said, in a soft, kind voice. Sophie couldn't breathe. Her heart was racing as blood rushed to her ears. This couldn't be happening.

The probe moved across her lower abdomen, pressing deep into her skin. Still, there was nothing. Tears prickled at her eyes before she could stop them. The baby had to be there. It just had to be.

"How far along did you say you were?"

"Thirteen weeks," Sophie said, her cheeks flaming at the tremor in her tone. "But, you know, it could be a little less." The nurse clicked a couple of buttons, making a disagreeable sound.

"Could it be a little more?"

Before Sophie could question her, the room filled with the most incredible whooshing sound, as an image appeared on the screen, crystal clear. Like a little beacon of hope, Sophie could find her baby's fluttering heart before the nurse even pointed it out.

"Say hello to your baby, mummy!"

Tears spilt down her cheeks as she gazed at the image with wonder. That was her child. Her child that she shared with Alex. Oh, they were perfect. They were so per-

"Is the baby bigger than expected?" "Certainly bigger than we'd expect a thirteen-weeker," the nurse said with a nod. She clicked a button, the screen capturing the perfect image of her baby's heart.

"Well, how much more?" Sophie asked, doing a little mental maths. When had she and Alex gone on that weekend bender? Four months ago? God, had she fucked up as a mother already?

"Ms Hayward, I don't mean to alarm you, but from everything I'm seeing, I'd say you were around twenty-one weeks pregnant."

"That's impossible!" Sophie said, her eyes turning to the nurse. "That's more than halfway! And I've been bleeding."

"Not all that uncommon, actually," the nurse said kindly. "But I'm fairly confident. Here's baby's head and shoulders." She highlighted an area on the screen, and Sophie turned back to look at her child. Sure enough, she could make out a little white head. "And if I focus just here, you can see baby's lips."

"We have the chest with a healthy heart flickering away just there. Down here is their stomach." Sophie followed the image with complete fascination. There was no denying there was a very well-formed baby in there. But twenty-one weeks? How could she have not known?!

"If you look at these two black blobs, that's baby's kidneys. And… ah."

"Ah?" Immediate panic settled in Sophie's chest. "What do you mean, ah? Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes," the nurse said with a small chuckle. "Sorry, dear. Everything is fine. Your baby is just a bit of an exhibitionist."

"You can see the sex?" Sophie asked, her eyes widening. The nurse nodded, making a note of something on her computer.

Oh, shit. Sophie really wanted to know the sex of her baby. She hadn't been prepared to find out now . But how could she not?

Alex would be gutted he wasn't involved.

But Alex wasn't here. She wasn't to know how far along she was. It wasn't her fault that the baby had everything on show .

"Can you tell me?" She asked, releasing the question in one quick breath. "The sex, that is. I'd to know the baby's sex."

"Are you sure?"

Sophie was on the verge of nodding before an image shimmered in her mind.

She envisioned herself in a beautiful flowing dress that hugged her growing bump (she could wear a fake one if it hadn't grown enough), surrounded by admirers and supporters. By her side, proud and confident, Alex stood holding the string of a balloon.

In her mind, she could see clearly as Alex popped the balloon and revealed the sex of their unborn child, their guests erupting in cheers and applause. How could she rob Alex of such a perfect moment to show off his perfect family and show to the world (and more importantly, his clients) just how wonderful and doting he'd be as a father?

"Actually…" Sophie cleared her throat. "Actually, I should probably wait for my boyfriend. If I found out before him, he'd be so upset. But if you don't mind, could I ask a favour of you?"

A short while later, Sophie walked out of the hospital, clutching the envelope with her sonogram pictures, as well as a note from the nurse regarding the baby's sex.

There was a spring in her step as she flagged down a cab, giving her address to the grouchy driver.

As they drove through the city, Sophie peered out onto the streets, watching people as they moved about their day. She wondered how many of them were as happy as she was right now. She ran her hand over her still-flat stomach and felt a burst of pride. Nothing could sour her mood. Absolutely nothing.

Except for Erica and her ghastly brother walking toward her cab as she sat in traffic.

"Pull over here," she said to the driver.

"No," the driver said. "I don't have a death wish. "

"I'm pregnant and I'm going to throw up. Pull the fuck over!"

Grumbling and swearing under his breath, the driver made a sharp turn, cutting off oncoming traffic as he pulled into the one remaining parking space. Sophie had the door open before he'd even stopped, barking an order at him to stay put.

"Erica!" She called, taking a few steps towards her. As Erica turned and recognition danced in her eyes, Sophie felt herself tense. What the fuck was she doing? What was she even going to say?

She hadn't thought this through at all. She'd seen Erica and acted without thinking, and now they were getting closer to one another and she had no idea what to say or how to-

"Sophie," Erica said cooly. "What is it?"

They hadn't been face to face since Erica had collected her belongings all those months ago. The time away from Alex had done her some good, and Sophie had to admit, albeit begrudgingly, how incredible the other woman looked.

"I've been hoping to run into you," Sophie said without thinking. "I wanted to talk to you, woman to woman." She glanced at Josh and curled her lip. "So if you could give us a minute."

"It's okay, Josh," Erica said, squeezing his arm. "You go on, I'll catch up." Josh leaned over and kissed her cheek before walking away. "We've got a meeting with some executives," she said smugly. "So this will have to be quick."

"Executives?" Sophie asked despite herself. "What executives?"

"Oh, well after that awful break-in, and then our news appearance, it seems Marcus and I are in demand." Sophie pulled a face, not liking where this was going. "We're in talks to get our own TV show, actually."

"You're fucking joking," Sophie scoffed. "Because of his shitty walking tour thing?"

"Because of our highly successful walking tour, yes."

God, she wanted to punch that stupid, smug look off her face. So what if they had a TV show? Alex owned one of the biggest companies in the entire country. They could have their five minutes of fame, but Sophie had still won the bigger catch, in her opinion.

"Well, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen," she said dismissively. "But good for you, I suppose."

"Are you do—"

"If you could find some time in that busy, busy schedule of yours," Sophie interrupted. "Perhaps you could put the same level of effort into ending your marriage."

"What do you mean?" Erica asked, raising an eyebrow. Sophie stared at her pointedly, jumping when Erica barked out a laugh.

"Let me guess," she said. "Alex has told you I refuse to sign the papers." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Sophie, I'm the one who served the damn papers. Why wouldn't I sign?"

It wasn't as though Sophie hadn't thought of that herself, but hearing someone else say it really fucking sucked.

"So you can play your weird power games," Sophie said. "So you can keep manipulating Alex."

"Manipulate-?" Erica sighed, pushing her hair from her face. "Sophie, what could I possibly gain from that?"

"Alex's money, of course."

Erica laughed, a loud booming sound that made several people turn to look at them. "I don't want his money, Sophie. You're more than welcome to it." She paused and took a step towards her. "And I've heard a rumour he won't be keeping that money for much longer, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Sophie demanded, her heart sinking. No money? How could that be possible? Alex had more money than he knew what to do with .

"Oh, it's just a rumour," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "Top drawer of his desk. Underneath the black diary. It's where he used to keep presents for me, thinking I didn't know about the secret compartment. I'm almost positive that's where you'll find our divorce papers, signed and dated by me months ago."

"You're lying," Sophie said, her tone lacking any conviction.

"Then it won't hurt you to check, will it?" Erica said, straightening up. "I must dash. These execs will be getting impatient. But you'd know that, wouldn't you? You're well acquainted with the London Group by now, right?"

With a smug smile and a dark look in her eyes, Erica turned away from her, following her brother down the street. "Remember, the top drawer of his desk. Bye, bye now."

Sophie stood frozen on the side of the road, watching Erica until she disappeared around the corner and then staring at the empty space where she once stood.

Did she say… the London group?

Shit, if that was true, they were in trouble.

Rushing back to the cab, she grabbed her phone and dialled Alex's number. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She said to the driver. "Take me home!"

As the driver pulled onto the street, and the dial tone rang in her ear, Sophie was already planning some damage control. There was no chance they could lose the London group. Especially not to Erica and fucking Marcus.

No, she could handle this. She had to handle this. For the future of their unborn child, she was going to make sure the London group stayed exactly where they belonged.

The top drawer of his desk was just going to have to wait.