Sophia’s POV
I flinched, shoving Jerry Baxter away from me.
“Don’t freaking touch me!” I cursed stumbling as I struggled to gain my footing without his support.
Jerry Baxter looked at me, his mouth opening and shutting in disbelief.
“You would have fallen if I didn’t catch you.” He said finally.
“Well, you shouldn’t have bothered. I would rather fall and break my neck than accept your help.” I retorted, shoving him away one more time before heading out of the office.
This time thankfully, my vision didn’t blur and my steps were solid.
Jerry didn’t try to come after me and I was glad he didn’t. The last thing I needed to unpack was why he suddenly felt the need to prevent me from falling.
Months ago, he had no problem publicly humiliating me and making sure my life in that house was a living hell but now he wanted to prevent me from falling? What a joke.
As I stepped out of Baxter Corporation, my phone in hand to call the driver, a car pulled up right in front of me, the window of the backseat lowered so that I could see Mr Prescott in the backseat.
I got into the car settling next to Mr Prescott.
“You are back early.” I said, glancing at him curiously.
He was in a dark blue suit that complemented his gray eyes, his jacket unbuttoned and his ankles crossed as he perused a business magazine.
If his business trip was going to be so short, why had he bothered asking me to stand in for him?
Mr Prescott’s gaze remained focused on the magazine he held.
“I would prefer your neck unbroken by the way, Miss Evergreen.” He commented dryly.
My jaw very nearly dropped. How did he… had he been eavesdropping on my conversation with Jerry?
“Do you snoop on everything?” I demanded.
Mr Prescott flipped a page of the magazine, his expression unchanging as he responded to me.
“It’s not snooping, it’s… safeguarding my interests.”
My jaw dropped this time as I gaped at Mr Prescott.
“And I’m your interest?”
Mr Prescott looked away from the magazine, his gray eyes meeting mine as he spoke.
“You are my wife, Miss Evergreen, what do you think?”
Mr Prescott was a walking contradiction. How could he call me his wife and interest in one breath and create a boundary by calling me Miss Evergreen in the other?
“You are unbelievable.” I sighed deeply, the stress of the day finally catching up with me.
Something flickered in Mr Prescott’s eyes as he stared at me.
“Are you alright?”
I didn’t know if the fatigue I felt was because of the meeting or the pregnancy but I couldn’t tell Mr Prescott that.
“I’m fine. Just a bit tired.” I said instead.
To my surprise, Mr Prescott got out a bottle of water from the mini fridge and handed it over to me.
“Thanks.” I said taking the bottle from Mr Prescott.
Today was certainly the day for the unexpected. First, it was Jerry and now even Mr Prescott was acting unexpectedly.
Sooner than I expected, our car was pulling up in our driveway.
I noticed Mr Prescott watching me as we dismounted and I had to stop myself from overthinking it. He had seen me slip earlier with Jerry, he was probably just making sure I wasn’t still dizzy.
Not that there was any need for him to be worried. I felt much better and stronger now as we walked into our home with my nausea gone as well.
Nana was waiting for us in the living room when we entered. She didn’t look excited the way she had been earlier today at breakfast when I told her I would be representing Mr Prescott at the board meeting.
Instead with paper clenched in her hands and the indecipherable expression on her face, Nana almost seemed angry.
Mr Prescott seemed to notice this too as he cautiously called out to her.
“Nana?”
Nana rounded on Mr Prescott, her gray eyes flashing with indignation.
“When did you plan to tell me I have a grandchild on the way, Reid?”
My entire world froze.
The paper in Nana’s hands had the letterhead of the hospital of my ob-gyn. I had given them express instructions to contact me over the phone for any developments but there must have been a mistake somewhere for my results to have been sent to my home.
I felt Mr Prescott stiffen next to me at his grandmother’s words.
Damn it. I thought I would have more time. To tell Mr Prescott the truth, to think of something. Anything.
Nana waved my test results combatively at Mr Prescott.
“Do you have nothing to say?” She asked incredulously.
My lips parted and I took a step forward, ready to explain to Nana that this was all my fault, not Mr Prescott’s only for Mr Prescott to take my hand in his and tug me to his side and slightly behind him.
Then he spoke.
“Nana, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to make a big deal out of this like you are right now.”
I glanced at Mr Prescott barely able to hold back my shock. He was covering for me?
“You didn’t want me to make a big deal out of this?” Nana threw her hands in the air theatrically. “Your child will be the heir of the Prescott empire, Reid, this is already a big deal.”
Mr Prescott nodded, ducking his head slightly as though accepting his grandmother’s chastisation.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you about it earlier, Nana,” He apologized, his hand still on mine. “Sophia and I fully intended to tell you in due time.”
And that was all it took for Nana’s anger to slide away. She looked between Mr Prescott and me settling for smacking his forearm before pulling me into the warmest hug.
“Thank you, Sophia,” She whispered into my ears, her voice heavy with unshed tears. “Thank you for giving me a grandchild.”
I have never felt so terrible in my entire life. Especially when I met Mr Prescott’s unreadable gaze over her shoulders.
This baby wasn’t her grandchild. Replaying her words about my child being Mr Prescott’s heir, for the first time this entire arrangement felt like a ticking time bomb.