DARK HEARTS - BILLIONAIRE MARRIAGE CONTRACT ROMANCE

SINCERITY

Waking up a hangover after a drinking binge is the worst. And it's the last time I'll allow Karen to talk me into getting wasted. There has to be a better way to get over a guy than this.

If getting over Alexander is even possible.

I'm at his mercy for the next few years.

Bolting to the toilet, I violently release the contents of my stomach. Only, the nausea never subsides. Worried I may be suffering the effects of alcohol poisoning, I call Professor Rollins who suggests I drink plenty of water. But after two days of drinking water that resurges with a vengeance, Karen convinces me to make a doctors appointment. Agreeing to pick me up and drive me there herself.

There's no way I can drive in the condition I'm in.

Several hours later, and after several tests, Dr. Shultz walks in with a smile, a bottle of vitamins, and a life-altering piece of paper that shows I'm eight weeks pregnant.

No.

I'm stunned, to say the least. Wondering how this could be.

Like I've never been pregnant, and don't know how a baby is made.

Except, we've always been extremely careful.

Only, this wouldn't be just anyone's baby. This baby would be a King. And Alexander's not talking to me. In fact, he's completely ignoring me even though we're technically still married.

"What are you going to do?" Karen asks. Noticing the stunned look on my face.

"I don't know." I sulk. "I'm not his favorite person right now."

"Okay, but you're carrying his child, Ev. That's got to count for something."

"Really?" I quirk my brow at her. "Because it didn't for Jackson. And unlike him, Alexander has both the means and the resources to take this child from me."

A thought that terrifies me.

I want to tell him about the baby, but I'm also afraid to. Because now that I'm pregnant, save giving birth, there would be no reason for Alexander to stay in my life once this baby is born. And once a lion like Alexander King comes into your life–and your bed–it will never be the same again.

The average men society is teaming with just won't cut it anymore.

It's like having someone open the gates of heaven to show you the pure bliss that's behind it, only to close those gates in my face. Denying me access to it.

Add in my newly out of whack hormones, and you get a very emotional hot mess. Otherwise known as a very pregnant and stressed Evelyn Graham.

I miss him.

I wish I didn't, but I do. And I hate this.

While I'm wallowing in self-pity, my phone dings and I'm surprised to see a text from Benji. A glimmer of hope blossoming when Alexander himself calls me to invite me to his office so we can talk soon after.

But what I expected to walk into, and what I actually walk into, are two completely different things.

And the way Alexander stares at me once he finally sets his eyes on me... a look I can't decipher... makes me wish I had answers for him that I don't have. But Karen convinced me this would be the perfect opportunity to tell him about the baby.

"Have a seat." Alexander motions to the seat across from him.

Nodding, I take a seat as requested, and he slides a folder across the table to me. Confused, I open it up while he summons one of his secretaries into the office to bring us some food and beverages. Thumbing through the pages while my heart deflates once more.