Chapter 8
Without a word, Daniel unscrewed a bottle of water and doused Jeffrey, who woke with a start, looking dazed.
Seeing me, Jeffrey scrambled to his feet.
“Ella, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Why’d you change the locks? I’ve talked to Sophie, and I promise it’s just us now. No
one else. Ella, can we start over?”
Jeffrey’s face lit up with hope, but it faded as soon as he saw my blank expression.
“Ella, did you forget? You’re carrying my child. Do you really want my child to call someone else ‘Dad‘? I won’t allow it, and
Daniel won’t be happy raising a child who isn’t his. Ella, be realistic. No one else will ever care for you like I do.”
Daniel, fuming with anger, knocked him to the ground,
“Why can’t you talk nicely? When did I say I didn’t want the child? Talk nonsense one more time and I’ll knock your lights out.”
I held back the furious Daniel and gave Jeffrey an icy stare.
“Care for me? You mean like when you hurt me for Sophie and caused Bobby’s death?”
Jeffrey looked at me, shocked. “How did you find out? Who told you? Was it Daniel? You believe him?”
“Yes, I believe him. And about the baby, I took care of that at the hospital the day you took Sophie to the beach for New Year’s.
Now that you’ve lost your last card to play, aren’t you done yet?”
Jeffrey gazed at my belly, his hand shaking as he reached out, but I stepped away.
Then, he exploded. “Ella, you’ve lost your mind! That was my child! How could you?”
I watched him lose it, but I was emotionless. If I had not known how ruthless he could be, I might have thought he cared about the
baby. However, he was just upset he had lost his hold over me.
Jeffrey’s anger faded to a sad smile. “Ella, do you still think I’m out to get you? No, it’s not true. I really realize my mistake now. When Sophie showed her true colors after I lost Graham Group because of her, I saw it clearly. She never loved me for me, just for
who I was and where I stood. She’s just a mean woman.”
After we fixed the date for the wedding, Daniel started running Graham Group. He kicked Jeffrey out and even took over his and
Wendy’s shares.
