Chapter 59

I was mortified beyond words. I found myself shifting and swaying from side to side as a massive haze fogged my mind. I, unknowingly, rolled back and forth on my heels till I was forced to reach out and grasp the table in front of me to keep myself from falling.

On top of the mental haziness I was suffering, my stomach was rolling and flipping, causing an awful wave of nausea to come over me.

‘This can’t be real...Surely, this was nothing more than a horrible joke...’ I tried telling myself.

My shaking hands scrolled through the articles on James' tablet, waiting for the words ‘just kidding!’ to pop up at the end. But no.

Everything I was gaping at was true. Even the pictures that were attached to some of these articles were, in fact, real. I could recall posing for some of them when Peter and I were still together.

Images of us sitting close in a booth at one of the local places in town, holding hands, smiling at one another with intimacy and hopes of a bright future were streamed all across the internet.

An awful feeling curled in my chest. The time I had spent with Peter felt like an entire lifetime ago. And it all came crashing down in burning pieces when I discovered the truth.

Peter was a monster in the way he handled things with us. After I was the one who caught him in the series of lies he’d created, here he was, still trying to play the victim in the situation.

“That son of a bitch,” I hissed between my teeth.

I had no doubt that, much like everyone else, he was following along with the news of James and I’s relationship. Having seen that James was doing everything he could to help Crescent Moon’s reputation, Peter must have been waiting for an opportunity like this to strike back.

Part of me should have known that he would try to do something like this.

That fateful night when my life had utterly changed entirely, James had ended whatever future Peter had with his company. I remembered the harsh way James fired Peter right on the spot and publicly humiliated the man.

‘Now it appears the man was seeking his revenge,’ I concluded.

But this was so much more than a stroke against the Derek family...This felt like a personal attack against me and my baby.

As I read through each of the articles, it was obvious that Peter was trying to paint himself as the victim in the situation. It was a tactless means to gain the public's sympathy as well as cast me off as some sort of gold-digger and James as some kind of bully and tyrant.

There was not a doubt in my mind that these articles were bound to cause a massive, widespread outrage.

Rumors like this were going to cause potentially irreversible backlash for the company. My heart ached in my chest, knowing all of the extra hours and work James had put in to fix the last problem was going to be all for nothing.

Not to mention that the asshole had just gone ahead and made my pregnancy public news. It wasn’t as though I was ashamed of my pregnancy. Not one bit. But James and I always thought it was best to keep it to ourselves, considering that biologically the baby wasn’t technically his and would cause less drama...

‘Well, that doesn’t matter anymore now, does it?’

“What the hell are we going to do now?” I asked out loud.

“I don’t know,” James answered lightly.

As if right on cue, James’ phone went off. “It’s Daniel,” he said.

He placed the call on speaker mode and we braced ourselves for the storm. Daniel sounded as though he’d been running a mile per minute. His voice was strained and rough.

“S-Sir...It’s...I don’t know how to word it without sounding horribly crude,” he heaved.

James pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just say it, Daniel.”

“It’s a complete shit show, sir.” He went on to explain. “I’m sure you’ve seen the newest issues of today’s news...Well, so have the board of directors...Needless to say, they are not pleased.”

“Yes, I can imagine so,” James commented dryly.

“They’re eager for some kind of logical explanation for this sudden news or...”

James and I shared a startled look when Daniel paused.

“Or what?” I questioned sharply.

“...Or they’re requesting that you step down as current CEO of the company.”

I clamped a hand over my mouth to muffle the gasp that slipped out. Oh my God.

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” James states sternly. “Look, Daniel, why don’t you come to the house? Mia and I are going to begin working on ways to resolve this.”

The call ended and I still felt like I’d become permanently rooted to that same spot. I suddenly felt the soft, warm touch of James’ hand resting on my shoulder.

“Mia...About what happened earlier...”

I grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. “James, we’ll discuss what happened earlier later, okay? Right now, we need to find a way to fix this.”

He furrowed his brows with doubt. I could tell James was still not happy with how we left things off, but what we needed more was to strategize.

...

In the midst of our planning, Lily came to inform us that most of James’ family had arrived and were demanding answers.

His Uncle Gavin, Diana, and both of his sisters want to know the truth of the matter. Ellison was not impressed by either me or James, while Diana appeared rather smug.

“I told you she wasn’t the right girl for you,” she said mockingly. “Now, look at the mess she’s led you into. What did she do, trap you into marriage with this ridiculous pregnancy scheme.”

“Perhaps, Mia would be willing to submit to a paternity test,” Ellison suggested.

James’ expression twisted with rage. “For fuck sake! Will you all shut up!!”

The room fell into awkward silence until his mother stepped up once more. “This has done nothing but cause harm and slander on the Derek family name.”

I let out a steady breath. “Mrs. Derek, please. If you will all just take a seat, I will tell you the truth of the situation,” I said.

Her tone was filled with lethal bitterness. “I don’t care what the truth is...There’s only one course of action that needs to happen now. You and James are to get divorced.”