Chapter 8

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Prince Elijah Drummond is the next heir in line for the throne of the Daemore Empire.

***

She had stared at the headline on her phone for hours, unable to move out of bed.

Freaking Future King!

"That is your Dad." She whispered to her flat belly as she lay restless on her creaky bed, staring at the handsome face of the man she had spent the night with.

Damn! How did she end up sleeping with a Prince?

She still could not wrap her mind around it. After their meeting last night, she still felt like she was dreaming. All this still felt surreal.

It was like the world played a cosmic joke on her. Then, she would wake up only to find nothing could be funnier than her life. She was the big joke.

That was just how her world works. That was how her life had always been.

So, how could this be any different? She could already see that this would all end badly. Nevertheless, she still had a child to consider.

"You are one of the best things in my life." Despite the hardship, she knew that her child was a blessing. She might regret meeting the Prince but not having a child.

Nonetheless, she still had to see a doctor for a follow-up checkup. The stick told her she would have a baby. But she still needed confirmation. She had to ensure that the baby would be ok.

"Charlie, are you still in bed?" Her friend banged on her door before it burst open. "What happened last night?" Her friend immediately demanded answers as she jumped into the bed.

"Good morning to you too, Giana!" She greeted her friend, unperturbed by her friend's overzealous behavior.

She came home late last night. She had rushed into her friend's room, but Giana was already fast asleep. Her friend looked exhausted, so she did not wake her up.

"So, what happened?" Her friend persisted, looking wide-eyed with anticipation. "Did you tell him you are pregnant and he is about to become a father?"

She wished, but she did not.

She wanted to tell him everything. But it was not as simple as that. It was not as if they belonged in the same world that everything would fall into place.

No! Not in her world.

In her world, nothing came easy.

"Well, are you going to say anything?" Her friend shook the bed, reminding her she was still waiting for an answer.

"No!" Charlie reluctantly admitted. "I still haven't told him that I am pregnant." She did not know if that was the right decision, but at that moment, she thought it was the right thing to do.

But, of course, she wanted to. What mother would not want her child to have a father? However, their situation was complicated.

"Why?" Giana looked baffled by her admission. "Did something happen? Did he deny sleeping with you?" Her friend rattled more questions. "What, Charlie?"

"I just don't think it was the right time to tell him." She said, remembering every bit of their conversation.

"Wait! What are you saying? What did that man say to you?" Giana suddenly turned ballistic, probably thinking the Prince had done something wrong to change her mind.

"No! Don't be mad at him." She did not want her friend to judge him. But honestly, she did not know how to feel about what the Prince had told her.

"Can you just tell me everything that happened?" Her friend said as she impatiently waited for her story.

"Fine." She knew her friend would not stop until she heard all the gory details of her meeting with the Prince.

However, she only picked the relevant ones, omitting parts that did seem unnecessary to share.

"You're trying to tell me..." Her friend trailed off, leaving her mouth agape in apparent shock.

"Yeah, he wanted to keep seeing me. He said he wished to get to know me." She thought his request sounded reasonable.

After all, spending one night with him was not enough time to get to know him and vice versa. They could not just commit to something just because they had a baby.

"I didn't tell him about the baby because I don't want him to think that I'm pressuring him to marry me." She did not believe in that.

"But he offered to help me if I accept his proposal." She divulged to her friend.

It was what had kept her awake all night.

"Proposal?" Again, her friend looked at her funnily. It was as if she was about to explode. "What are you talking about? Don't tell me you agree to sell your soul to this Prince?"

"Of course not. The Prince wants me to read and study it before I sign the contract." She told her friend, wondering if she could call him by his first name.

"He said he would return by next week to get my answer." She added.

Quickly, her friend demanded to see the contract and read it. "Damn, girl! Have you even looked at this yet?"

"Nope." She meant to read it, but she was still mulling over their conversation from last night.

Besides, he had already discussed most of the contract's content with her. She thought she already knew it by heart.

"He wants to give you a house, a monthly allowance, a car, and everything else you might need." Her friend's eyes almost bulged out of her sockets when she read the benefits of agreeing to the contract.

"Yep! The Prince promised me all that and more." But she wondered if that was enough in exchange for his conditions.

"Bullshit!" Giana angrily threw the contract when she read the conditions. "What does he think of himself? He could not do this to you. Don't tell me you are even considering signing that contract."

She had. She did not see any problem weighing the pros and cons. It was not as if she had many other options. Moreover, she had a child to consider now, not just her.

However, contrary to what her friend might think, it sounded fair. She thought she understood the Prince's intentions.

After all, he was not just anybody. He was a public figure.

A ruler!