Chapter 18 – Artur
These past few weeks had been blissful. Everything was great. We enjoyed each other’s company more often, indulged in silly banter, and spent most nights tangled under the sheets.
It was as though that rough sex in my room had opened a window to a different reality. One neither of us knew was possible. Over time, I started growing fond of her.
Whenever I was away, I would always look forward to coming home to her. It was something I tried to put an end to, but failed woefully. I’d never had any reason to think of home while working until now. And it was a strange feeling.
Home.
My mansion used to be just a magnificent building inside and out. It was a house, a place where I lay my head and hosted my visitors. The space was my safe haven and my fortress. But it was never a home. At least not recently.
Everything just seemed a lot easier these days. My burdens were lighter. Even the problems I used to think were gigantic turned out to be pieces of cake after being intimate with her.
Making love to her seemed to always help me organize my thoughts afterward. It somehow refreshed my body and rebooted my mind. I often saw things more clearly the morning after. And every deal I was to handle within that period would always end up a success. Always.
It didn’t take long for me to understand that she was my good luck charm. Whatever positive energy she had was rubbing off on me in the best ways possible. Now, I could only hope and pray that my negativity wouldn’t get a hold of her.
She was too innocent for that.
It gladdened my heart to know that she smiled more often and mingled more with the staff. She moved about freely like she owned the place, like she belonged. And little by little, she was already gaining the trust of some of my men.
Most of them hadn’t liked her at first. But lately, I noticed the change in their attitude toward her. They looked at her in a different light, as though she was someone deserving of their respect, loyalty, and protection.
This had nothing to do with me or the fact that I’d made it clear that she wasn’t to be joked about. Her actions had convinced them that she wasn’t the loser they thought she was.
I wasn’t entirely sure what she did to get more than half of them on her side. But I was proud. Each time she passed by, they would nod in reverence, and she’d beam at them.
I once overheard a couple of them talking about how they misjudged her. According to them, they wished she were more than whatever she was to me.
At this point, all the domestic staff already liked her, including Hilda, who was a difficult woman to please. Whatever she did to make everyone in the house respect and love her was a mystery to me. But I liked it. I was impressed by it.
This woman had transformed my building into a home by introducing peace and happiness. Because of her, the staff learned to loosen up without crossing their boundaries. Every day, the sound of laughter echoed across the hall, and even though it annoyed me at first, I learned to embrace the change.
Despite their newfound freedom, they knew better than to act freely around me. Their fear of my reaction wouldn’t let them. Good. There had to be some order and control, lest everything fall into chaos.
Celine was the light in my dark, the one who made me feel complete. I’d gotten so used to having her around that it was impossible to picture my life without her in it. She was gradually beginning to fill the void inside me, the emptiness I thought I’d carry forever.
It felt like she was the extra piece of me that had been missing all my life. My better half?
Celine gave me a glimpse of what my life could be like. Blissful. Peaceful. Better. She showed me a version of my reality I never thought was possible.
How?
How did she manage to pull this off in a few weeks? How did she slither her way into my stone-cold heart and make me so addicted to her?
I’d gotten attached to her in ways I never thought possible. We shared some sort of connection, and with each passing day, it deepened.
About a week ago, I began noticing some subtle yet glaring changes in her. Her breasts seemed fuller, her skin was always glowing, and her beauty was as though it’d been enhanced. At the same time, she looked a little weaker and more fragile.
I didn’t understand what was happening with her, but I loved her physical appearance. It was pleasing to my eyes. I thought it was just the effect of some good sex, so I didn’t pay much attention to it.
That was until three days ago, when I noticed she was quieter, distant, and distracted. At dinner, she barely touched her food and would often avoid my eyes.
Last night, I asked if she was alright, and she said she was just tired. According to her, she had a lot on her mind. It didn’t seem like she was ready to share. But I figured it had to do with her being here.
So, I didn’t pry, even though I wanted to hear her thoughts. She excused herself halfway through the meal, saying she needed to get some rest. I let her go, hoping to find it in me to speak with her later during the week.
That morning, I was in my study, going through some pending files, when the door opened, and Konstantin walked in. His shoes scuffed against the floor as he approached my desk.
“Boss. Got a minute?” He halted in front of me.
“What is it?” I asked without taking my eyes off the flickering laptop screen.
“I wanted to talk to you about something important,” he said. “And it has to do with the girl.”
I paused, brows furrowing to form faint creases between them. “She has a name, Konstantin.” I looked up at him, glaring.
“Apologies,” he corrected himself. “It has to do with Celine.”
My silence was his cue.
“I’d like to know if she told you anything about her conversation with Hilda three days ago.”
I shifted my gaze back to my screen. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“She may or may not be pregnant.”
The words struck me like a dagger to the chest, and my eyes shot back up again.
“What did you just say?”
“I overheard Hilda telling her that she was with child,” he answered. “And Hilda’s never wrong about these sorts of things.”
He was right. If Hilda assumed Celine was pregnant, then there had to be some truth to it. And I was going to find out.
Without hesitation, I sprang to my feet, walked around my desk, and headed out. While storming through the hallways, I considered dropping by Hilda’s room. But on second thought, I decided it was best to confront Celine instead.
The idea that I might be a father soon made my pulse race. My brain was blank at the moment because nothing was certain yet. I just wanted to know if this was true. If it were, then this baby would change the game forever.
As usual, I barged into her room without knocking, wearing a serious look on my face.
“Honestly, Artur, you need to learn how to knock,” she said, seated on the chair at her vanity.
Celine didn’t turn back; instead, she caught my gaze in the mirror in front of her. She was combing her hair when I walked in, a white towel wrapped around her body.
“Is it true?” I halted behind her.
She squinted her eyes by a fraction. “Is what true?”
“Are you pregnant?” I blurted out.
She paused, breath catching in her throat. The shock on her face was obvious, her eyes wide with something I hadn't yet identified. Celine lowered the comb on the desk and turned around to look at me.
“What—how—” she stuttered, blinking rapidly.
“Just answer the question,” I insisted, taking gentle steps forward. “Are you pregnant?”
Her gaze dropped to the floor, her chest rising and falling in anxiety. From where I stood, I could almost hear the sound of her drumming heart and racing pulse.
She coldly crossed over her chest, her head still lowered. These gestures alone gave her away; they hinted at the truth she was yet to admit.
Celine was shaking in fear, and it broke my heart to see her so afraid of my reaction to the truth. Perhaps she was scared because she wasn’t sure what to expect from me.
I closed the small distance between us. “Are you carrying my child?”
After a moment of hesitation, she answered, “Yes,” her voice barely above a whisper.
Silence.
Time stood still, and every other noise faded into the background. A thousand thoughts began tugging at my mind, threatening to rip it apart. The realization hit me harder than I had anticipated, and for a long while, I said nothing.
Then, she broke the silence, her tone laced with desperation. “I swear, I was going to tell you.”
“How far along are you?” I asked, staring her right in the face.
“With no proper medical checkup, I’m not sure yet.” She glanced down, avoiding my eyes. “But I’m guessing two weeks or so.”
I waited a few seconds. “I’ll call the family doctor first thing tomorrow morning to come and examine you.”
She nodded quietly. “If a confirmation is what you’re looking for, you can ask Hilda.” She raised her head and met my gaze. “I am carrying your child.”
I never doubted it for a second.
It all made sense to me now. The glow, the swollen breasts, the mood swings I ignored, and the other subtle signs.
She was carrying my baby.
Without a word, I reached out and touched her belly. A surge of emotions flooded me all at once: fear, anxiety, joy, and more. I was determined to do everything I could to protect that unborn child—and her too.
“A piece of me is growing inside you,” I whispered, a small grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. “This changes everything.”
She tilted her head a bit. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, even if I ever had any plans of letting you in the future, I won’t anymore.”
“What?” She pulled away from me, eyes glassy. “That’s not fair! You wanna make your prisoner forever, is that it?”
“You carry my child,” I said calmly. “That makes you my property.”
“I am not your property!” she snapped, eyes blazing with fury. “I am a human being who has the right to make her own decisions!”
Wrong choice of words. I didn’t mean it like that. But it was pointless trying to explain myself. Especially now that she was crashing out with her heightened emotions all over the place.
My brows knitted together. “I don’t know what ideas you have in your head, but I’m the one who decides what happens in this house. Me.”
She locked her jaw, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Do you ever hear yourself?” Her lips curled in disbelief. “You sound patriarchal and fuckin’ misogynistic!”
I watched her go on and on.
“I am not your property! You don’t own me! And as such, you don’t get to decide to keep me locked up—because you’re not God over me!” Her voice rose with each sentence, her face a mask of fury.
Her words were sharp as a knife laced with venom, and they cut through me mercilessly. Without another word, I turned around and left, leaving her to calm the fuck down.
“Yeah, that’s right, walk away!” she yelled behind me. “Walk away knowing you’ll never own me—you hear me, Artur?! You’ll never own me!”
Once outside, I closed the door, fingers rubbing my eyes. I’d never seen her so upset before, and it affected me more than I cared to admit.
When I raised my head, Hilda was standing in front of me. “Jesus, Artur, what did you tell her?”
I drew a deep breath. “She’s all yours.” With that, I picked up my pace down the hall, allowing Hilda to handle this problem.
I’d never backed away from a fight before, never. Yet today, I did. Faced with a situation out of my control, I bailed like a coward.
For a man who’d waged countless wars in his lifetime and fought powerful men, I couldn’t handle a quarrel with a woman.