A Baby For The Billionaire

Ana was still crying on her bed when she noticed her father come into the room, she didn’t even know that he was back from work; she had not left her room ever since the conversation with Jake.

Anastasia looked up to her father in tears, hoping to see the look of disappointment on his face, the same look she had gotten from her mother and her boyfriend; or ex-boyfriend now as it was most likely that her relationship was over. But Mr. McCurry didn’t have that expression on his face, in fact he wore an empathetic look as he approached her slowly.

“Anna…” he called softly as he got to her.

“Dad… I am sorry,” she burst into tears and bowed her head in shame.

Mr. McCurry sighed and sat beside her on the bed, he looked at her with loving eyes and pulled her into his arms. “It is alright dear, please stop crying or you are going to fall sick.” He said kindly and patted her back.

Ana slowly looked up, surprised by her father’s reaction. “You… you are not mad at me? You are not disappointed like mom? But I have brought shame to the family, haven’t I, dad?” she asked in tears.

“Shhh,” he hushed silently and cleaned her tears with his palms. “No my dear, this is not the end of the road for you, and nothing is spoiled just yet. Don’t take your mom’s words to heart, you know she tends to be overdramatic at times… I know that is a step backward in your life, but it is not necessarily the beginning of your downfall, it is not the end of the path for you, so please stop crying.” He spoke lightly to her.

Anastasia relaxed her head on his body and cried, she felt a sense of peace after those consoling words from her father, she was starting to see a glimpse of hope for her future. Maybe her father is right and this is not necessarily the end of the road for her; she wasn’t the first woman to get pregnant out of wedlock but the complicated part was how she conceived of this baby; the story still remains that she was abused by a young Billionaire CEO who thinks the whole world rotates on his money.

“Now please go and clean up and join me in the dining room shortly, your mother will be serving dinner in thirty minutes. I want you to look lively and without these tear marks on your face, also pack your hair properly. You might find a good husband with another man’s baby, but you won't find one with messy hair.” Mr. McCurry teased.

Anastasia smiled and hugged him tightly. “I love you, Dad… thank you.” she spoke softly while holding back the tears, not like she wasn’t tired of crying already, and moreover her tears were not going to change anything. Her father was right, it would rather make her sick.

Mr. McCurry kissed his daughter on the forehead and then he let go of her. “Alright sweetie, please be at the dining room in thirty minutes.” He instructed.

“Okay Dad.” She replied and sniffed in. He patted her on the head before turning around and walking out of the room.

Anastasia once again hugged her knees but this time without tears, she was lucky to have that man as her father and she knew it. If her mother was the fire in the relationship, her father was the ice and that is why they have been able to stay together for years even with all the hardship they have been through.

Ana quickly got up and went to the bathroom to clean up as instructed, she knew that her father was saving the questioning for dinner and she was ready to give them the answers they needed. At least it would be safer now that her father was at home, he would be able to pacify his wife.

** ** ** **

It was a very long dinner as the family ate very quietly, there was not even the usual exchange of words and gossip from his mother to his father, the couple feasted silently on the mean and it was one of the most awkward if not the most awkward dinner experience the family have had.

Ana made sure to eat slowly and keep her eyes locked on the food to avoid eye contact with either of her parents, she knew her mom was still mad at her but only staying silent out of respect for her father.

The dinner eventually came to an end and the expected discussion began. Her father was the one to break the silence, he began by complimenting his wife’s cooking skills and Mrs. McCurry blushed for a few seconds and then rolled her eyes at him, he needed her to be calm for the conversation they were about to have because he knew she didn’t only have anger issues but she lacked patience as well.

“Alright Anna, I am sure you already know what I am going to ask you and it is important that you tell us the truth, you are my beautiful daughter and regardless of what mistakes you have made, you will always be my daughter, but in order to move ahead and plan our lives, we would need to know the truth of what happened. So tell me Ann, who is the father of your baby? Is it Jake?” he asked softly.

Ana shook her head slowly to signify a negative response.

“Okay, cool… so it isn’t the big head Jake,” her father teased to lighten the moment. “So who is it? Do we know him? I know I have met just a few of your friends but there is no other male that I can think of, so please tell us sweetheart, who was it then?” he asked nicely.

Ana hesitated for a few seconds and she could hear her mom sigh already, she then looked up slowly and muttered the same name she had given to her mother. “Stephen Gray,” she spoke almost in a whisper.

“Stephen Gray?” her father replied. “Okay, which of the Stephen Grays? The plumber? The mechanic? The CEO? The Doctor or the one who works in my department?” he further asked humorously.

Ana couldn’t help but smile widely and then killed it the moment she saw the frown on her mother’s face. “The CEO? He is the son of Jackson Gray, the founder of Gray enterprises as I am told,” she finally uttered a full sentence.

“And how did you meet such a man?” her mother asked immediately.

“Hey… Easy, woman! I am doing the investigation here,” her father replied and feigned an angry face.

“Oh, I thought we were playing good cop, bad cop,” she replied and mimicked his facial expression.

Mr. McCurry chuckled and then turned back to Ana. “Forget about your mom, sweetheart. Now tell me, how did you get to know this handsome Mr. Gray? You work for him?” he queried.

“Hey, I literally asked her that question a minute ago,” Mrs. McCurry argued.

“I know, but I am the one asking the questions here darling, you have had your turn while I was away,” Mr. McCurry replied.

“It was at the hotel,” Ana answered immediately, cutting their argument short in order to not lose the courage she had gathered for this questioning session.

“The hotel? So you work for him then?” Mr. McCurry asked.

“Wait… are you really believing her? I did my research after she mentioned the name, the man she speaks of is not just a billionaire, he is the City’s most eligible bachelor and he is getting married in a few days, so why are you even listening to her lies?” Mrs. McCurry fired.

“That is enough, woman… let me handle this.” Mr. McCurry instructed.

“I am not lying, mom.” Ana said immediately.

“Oh, so you are trying to tell us that you have been seeing a billionaire and we never knew about it? What would someone of that status even want to do with you? an undergraduate that works room service in a hotel, or were you also lying about that job?” Mrs. McCurry queried.

“Mother!!”

“Belinda!!” Mr. McCurry yelled out his wife’s name. “That is enough, let the girl talk before trying to prove that she is lying.” He warned.

“Okay, fine… go ahead and tell us how you made a billionaire fall in love with you and even got you pregnant. Tell us why he chose you to carry his baby over all the women he has been with in the past years,” she requested sarcastically in a sputter of words.

“It is not what happened, he forced himself on me!!” Ana blurted out in frustration.

The room went quiet the moment she said those words, there was shock on her father’s face and disbelief on her mother’s.

“What did you say?” her mother asked coldly.

“Yes, that night I returned very late from work, the day Jake had brought me home in the middle of the night, it was the day I got assaulted by Mr. Stephen Gray. He had lodged in our hotel and I was sent to deliver towels to him, he took advantage of me and that was why I had to quit my job.” She answered as the tears began to roll down her eyes again.

“Oh my God, Ana… is this true?” Mr. McCurry asked for confirmation.

“Ye… Yes Dad,” Anna replied as she broke down in tears. “He was the one to deflower me, you know I would never do anything to tarnish the reputation of this family or ruin my own life. he was the one who showed up at the door the next day and when mom asked, I lied to her that it was a stranger because I didn’t want her to know the truth.”

“Why would you do that? I am calling the police right away!!” Mrs. McCurry yelled.

“No, no, no!!! Mom, this is exactly why I didn’t tell you that I was sexually assaulted, because I knew you would call the police and that is the last thing I want at the moment.”

“What are you talking about? You were raped by that psycho and we cant let him get away with it,” her mother yelled.

“No mom, reporting to the police would be shooting myself in the chest. He is rich and influential, he would turn the story around and paint me as a gold-digger trying to make riches off him. You know how this people think, what evidence do I have that I was raped, it is been over a month already, and even if I did, it doesn’t matter. He would easily turn the tables against me and we would end up at the wrong side of the coin. I am not willing to destroy our family’s image and reputation over this.” Ana responded.

“What more evidence do you need? You are carrying his baby!” she yelled.

“and that puts me in more danger. First he could label me as a cheap girl who threw herself at him and the society would believe him, my dignity or whatever is left of it would be tarnished. And then what if he tries to eliminate me in order to get rid of the baby? His family wouldn’t take it lightly that his seed and first heir was out there in the stomach of some random girl from a middle class family, I have thought it through mom and I know it was the best decision keeping it a secret.” Ana argued

“John, say something!!” Mrs. Belinda McCurry screamed at her husband.

Mr. McCurry who had been silent the whole time sighed and shook his head. “Our daughter is right, it is a lost case. Anna would decide what to do with the baby, whether to keep it or not, and we will support whatever decision she takes. Also, you should apologize to your daughter for the way you have treated her, she has been through a lot in these past few weeks and kept it all to herself as a strong young woman with her family’s interest in heart. I will retire to bed right now, I need to digest this information.” He said in conclusion and then he stood up.

Mr. McCurry walked up to his daughter and kissed her on the forehead as usual. “Goodnight sweetheart, please don’t let this bother you, everything is going to be fine, we will talk more about this tomorrow.” He said softly and Ana nodded, then he left them in the dining room and headed to his bedroom.

“What? You can’t be serious, this is silly!! Fine, if you do not want to sue him, then at least let him know that you are carrying his child, he deserves to know that his actions have produced results and he is to take responsibility for it. You are not going to kill an innocent child under my watch and you won't raise a bastard alone either.” Mrs. McCurry fumed and stormed out of the dining room.

Once again, Ana was left all alone in this mess. She was the one whose life was being impacted the most by this misfortune, so she knew what she must do. Her father was right, she wouldn’t let this misfortune cost her future, she would do what was necessary for her happiness and her future. This was a bridge that she needed to cross, a decision that would shape her entire life and she couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.