Chapter 7 The Interruption #2
"Your mother planned for my daughter to have your son's baby."
Richard's jaw worked. "Eleanor was thorough."
"Thorough. Your dead wife planned for my daughter to be a breeding vessel for your family's research, and you call it thorough."
"Elena, please."
"Do not 'Elena, please' me. Your family engineered this. Every piece of it. The wedding. The cruise. The will. The clause. You used my daughter."
"Nobody used me," Vesper said. Her voice was louder than she intended. "I signed a contract. I made a choice. I chose to be here. I chose to be with him. I chose to have this baby."
"A contract." Elena's voice broke. "You signed a contract to have his baby?"
"It is more complicated than that."
"How? How is it more complicated? You signed a contract. A breeding contract. With your stepbrother. Tell me how that is complicated."
Vesper opened her mouth, then closed it. The words would not come. Her mother was right. It was complicated, but it was also exactly what Elena said: a contract, a breeding contract, with her stepbrother.
Cillian moved, putting himself between Vesper and Elena. His body formed a shield.
"Elena, I know what this situation looks like. I know how it sounds. But Vesper is not a victim. She is not a vessel. She is the woman I love. The mother of my child. I will spend the rest of my life making sure she is treated with respect, including by you."
Elena's hand connected with his cheek. The slap was loud and sharp. His head turned. He did not flinch, move, or raise a hand.
"Cillian." Vesper grabbed his arm. "Do not."
He turned back, a red mark on his cheek. His eyes were steady. "I am fine."
Richard waddled between them. "Enough. Both of you. Elena, sit down. Cillian, sit down. We'll talk about this like adults."
"Adults." Elena's laugh was bitter. "We are past adults, Richard. Your son got my daughter pregnant."
"Our son," Richard said. "And our daughter. That is what they are now. Our children."
Elena stared at him. "You are not serious."
"I am serious. We married them into this family. We made them stepsiblings. If we had known this would happen..."
"You would what? Not married? Too late for that."
Richard looked at Cillian. His face was hard, like a businessman's. "I need to know. Is the child yours? Without question?"
"It is mine."
"I need proof. A paternity test. After the baby is born. Or a non-invasive test now if possible."
Cillian's jaw tightened. "You want a paternity test."
"I want certainty. Your grandmother's will requires a biological heir. If this child is yours, the estate transfers. If it is not..."
"If it is not, what?"
Richard's voice turned cold. "If it is not, I will void the clause." The estate goes to the foundation. The research continues without a biological heir. And you, Cillian, lose everything."
The room became still. Vesper felt the air thicken. Cillian's body was rigid beside her.
"You would disinherit me," Cillian said. "Over this."
"I would disinherit you over lying. If the child is yours, we proceed. If it is not, if you have manipulated this situation to claim an heir that is not yours, then you are not my son. Not in any way that matters."
"I am not lying."
"Then prove it. Take the test. When the baby is born. Or sooner if Dr. Marsh can arrange it."
Cillian looked at Vesper. His eyes were dark and hurt. She saw the boy who was hidden beneath the soldier's exterior. The one who spent his life trying to earn his father's approval. And the man has just been told he could lose it all.
"Take the test," Vesper said. "We have nothing to hide."
He looked at her. A question and an answer were exchanged between them. He nodded.
"I will take the test. Any test you want. But I want something in return."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "You are not in a position to make demands."
"I am always in a position to make demands. If the test confirms the child is mine, I want the estate transferred immediately. No twelve-month waiting period. The clause says biological grandchildren trigger immediate transfer. I want that honored."
"Fine. If the test is positive."
"And I want something else."
"Name it."
"Vesper stays at the cottage. The cottage is hers. Per the contract we signed. Regardless of what happens with the estate. With the family. With anything. She stays."
Richard looked at Vesper. Then back at Cillian. "You are protecting her."
"I am ensuring her security. Yes."
"Even if you lose your inheritance?"
Cillian's voice was steady. "Vesper and the baby are my inheritance. "Everything else consists of a house and a name."
Elena choked back a sob. She pressed a hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes.
"You love her," Elena said to Cillian, not Vesper. "You actually love her."
"I do."
"And the baby."
"The baby is ours. I'm not leaving either of them."
Elena looked at Vesper's wrecked, confused face. She tried to understand something that defied all logic.
"Vesper, look at me."
Vesper met her gaze.
"Are you safe? Are you happy? Is this what you want?"
Vesper's eyes burned. "I'm safe. I'm happy. This is what I want."
"You're not trapped. You're not being used. You're not..."
"Mom, I signed a contract. I made a choice. I fell in love with him. I'm having his baby. I've never been more terrified or more certain of anything."
Elena closed her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She pressed a hand to her mouth, then opened her arms.
Vesper walked into her mother's embrace. Elena held her tight, just as she'd when the doctors gave the diagnosis and when the world fell apart. She held her as if she could protect her from everything, even the truth.
"I'm going to be a grandmother," Elena whispered.
"You're going to be a grandmother."
"Through my daughter and my stepson. Together."
"Yes."
Elena pulled back, wiped her eyes, and looked at Cillian. "If you hurt her, if you leave her, if you make her cry, I will destroy you. I don't care about your family, your money, or your estate. I will end you."
"I know," Cillian said.
"Good." Elena turned to Richard. "And you. You knew about this clause. This breeding clause. And you didn't tell me."
"I didn't think..."
"You didn't think. That's the problem." Elena's voice was cold. "Your mother planned for my daughter to have your son's baby, and you didn't think to mention it."
"Elena."
"Don't. We'll talk about this later. In private. Right now, I need to sit down."
She sat. Vesper sat beside her. Cillian stood behind them, his hand on Vesper's shoulder. Richard stood by the fireplace. The room felt heavy and broken, yet it was rebuilding itself.
The rest of the night was quiet.
Elena and Vesper sat in the living room, mother and daughter. Elena's hand rested on Vesper's stomach, feeling nothing. The baby was too small, but she kept her hand there.
"When did you find out?" Elena asked.
"Three weeks ago. The test. Then the doctor confirmed it."
"Three weeks. You've been alone with this for three weeks."
"Not alone. Cillian was there."
Elena's jaw tightened. "Cillian. Your stepbrother. The father of your baby."
"Yes."
"I'm going to need time."
"I know."
"This situation is so overwhelming that I can't find the words to express how I feel." My daughter is pregnant by my stepson. My dead stepmother-in-law planned it. There's a breeding clause in a will, a contract. I feel like I'm in a nightmare."
"It's not a nightmare, Mom. It's strange. It's complicated. But it's not a nightmare."
Elena looked at her. "You love him."
"I love him."
"And he loves you."
"He does."
"Since when?"
"Since a party in Cambridge, five years ago. Before we knew."
Elena shook her head. "Five years. You've been carrying this for five years."
"Not carrying it. I didn't know who he was. I just remembered the kiss. I thought about him sometimes and wondered who he was. Then I walked into this house, and there he was."
"Like fate."
"Like Eleanor."
Elena's expression darkened. "Don't call that woman's interference fate. She manipulated both of you."
"Maybe. But I still chose him. I chose this. Nobody forced me."
Elena was quiet, her hand still on Vesper's stomach. "How far along?"
"Nine weeks. The heartbeat is strong. Dr. Marsh says everything looks good."
"Dr. Marsh. The one Karen recommended?"
"Yes."
"Good. Karen is smart. I want a second opinion. Someone independent. Not connected to the Thorne family."
"Mom."
"I'm serious. This family keeps secrets. I want my doctor looking after my daughter."
Vesper did not argue. She was too worn out, too drained. The nausea had faded, but the exhaustion remained. Her body worked overtime, growing a life and fighting a war.
In the study, Cillian and Richard faced each other. The door was closed. Vesper heard voices through the walls, low and tense. Father and son.
She could not hear the words, but she heard the tone. Richard's voice was hard, clipped. Cillian's was steady and controlled. The soldier and the businessman.