Ashley's POV

"What?" Mom repeated.

Tristan finally registered as he formed a blank expression.

Katy had already vanished as I heard the sound of soft footsteps in the background.

Mom stared at us, her face confused and demanding answers.

"We are having a baby," Tristan repeated, this time more softly, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Maybe this was the time that I jumped in. I could say that it was a plant baby that we were getting together with or even a puppy. She would be less opposed to that idea. But Tristan beat me to it.

"This was not the way that I intended for you to find out. I probably should have done things a lot better. The pregnancy came as a surprise to us as well." He continued.

There it was, he had done it.

There was no saving me from this situation now.

I stood my ground ready to face whatever it was that mom was about to say next.

I expected her to start shouting or do something that was completely crazy. But instead, she remained frozen as the words slowly sank in.

She had only just met Tristan, she wasn't expecting a grandchild.

She looked terrible, light-headed and dizzy as if she was about to faint as she reached her hand for the wall for support.

I had done it, I was about to kill my mother.

"Mom," I called out moving to her side.

I tried to help her to her feet, but she quickly recuperated.

"I'm fine," she said dismissing my help. She stood up straight to demonstrate that she was fine.

Tristan and I were now more frightened than ever. She looked well enough to murder the two of us.

"I'm going to go upstairs and pretend none of this just happened." She pointed behind her and then slowly walked upstairs, staying close to the wall in case she needed it for support.

She was in her denial phase, which means tomorrow was probably going to be a lot ugly.

It meant that I had the chance to tell her that the whole thing was a prank.

"I messed up, didn't I?" Tristan whispered.

He was doing so well. How did it get this bad?

"You should leave right now," I said pointing to the door.

If I was still alive tomorrow, I was going to strangle him.

***

Before my alarm had a chance to wake me up, it was the loud noises coming from the kitchen that woke me up.

I examined myself for any possible wounds. I was still alive. I wasn't strangled in my sleep and I definitely had no scars on me. It was a good sign, maybe too good. The fact that I was still alive disobeyed every rule of nature.

Of all the things he could have said. He just had to elaborate that we were in fact having a human baby despite seeing the clear signs on my mom's face that she wasn't happy.

If his face wasn't so perfectly symmetrical and handsome, I would have punched him. I thought I had made it clear enough to him that I didn't want my mom to find out.

She was probably too angry to even get upset.

As always, I had set my alarm for the latest time possible. This meant I was in a rush trying to gather my things and leave the house without crossing paths with my mother. Perhaps this morning she'd finally snap out of it and snap my neck.

She needed a day at least to cool down. If this was her reaction now, what would she do when she found out I was lying about the whole thing?

I took a quick shower and then got dressed. I then rushed to the kitchen so I could grab an apple on my way out. I didn't have time to eat. After last night, I'm not sure I was even hungry.

As I opened the refrigerator, I spotted mom at the kitchen counter. Chopping carrots.

"Good morning sweetheart," she said with a smile.

She startled me as I nearly bumped my head against the refrigerator door.

"Morning," I whispered back.

On the counter, she chopped the carrots aggressively. I could already imagine my head being in its place.

She continued to chop the carrots, smiling as she hummed to herself.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. I hope she hasn't just returned from murdering Tristan.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to her. I remained at a safe distance from her.

"Of course, I am," she answered.

She seemed okay, maybe I didn't have to be on edge around her.

"So, you are not upset?" I asked.

"Why would I be mad?" She asked placing the knife down. "You know what I always say, a baby is always a blessing." She smiled.

"Really?" I whispered relieved.

"What were you thinking Ashley?" Mom yelled. She held her hand in front of her mouth as if she was trying to hold back her temper. "After everything I've said to you, you went and did this. Do you have any idea what it takes to raise a child?" She yelled.

I tried to make my way out of the kitchen, hoping I'd still make it on time for my bus.

"I made breakfast," she breathed more calmly.

"I can't, I'm-m getting late for work." I stuttered. I pointed at the door, ready to make my way out.

"Sit down," mom demanded. "If your boss had the time to get you pregnant, he can also give you time to eat." She snapped.

Without another word, I sat down.

She placed a plate of toast and scrambled eggs in front of me.

"Maybe if I had fed you, those brain cells of yours would have been working and you wouldn't be walking around doing stupid things." She said next.

Ouch!

"You are already starving the poor thing. How are you supposed to be a parent?" She said as she poured a glass of orange juice for me.

She slammed the glass in front of me, giving me a stern look.

Mom returned to chopping her carrots. That was probably the only thing keeping her calm.

"I'm still trying to understand how this could have happened. I had the talk with you. There are so many stores around that you could have easily gotten some protection. How could you be this irresponsible?" She continued. "Just when I thought that he could actually be a decent person." She muttered.

Katy appeared. She looked at mom, realizing the state she was in. She had turned to leave when mom stopped her.

"You too, you better sit down." Mom pointed at Katy with the knife.

Katy unwillingly obliqued, pulling out a seat next to me while trying to keep a safe distance from mom.

"You knew about it this whole time yet neither of you said anything." Mom pointed at Katy.

She began serving Katy her own plate. Slamming the dishes against one another.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't strangle that boy?" Mom asked.

"Giving birth costs thousands these days, you know we can't afford it," Katy stated.

Mom shot Katy a stern look as she placed a plate in front of her.

Mom then breathed out, making her way out of the kitchen.

Katy looked around, checking to see if mom was really gone.

"Couldn't you be fake pregnant without getting caught? This is your fault, mom is never going to let me go anywhere again." Katy muttered.

"You mean right after you left me?" I whispered.

"I love you but I love myself more. I'm not suicidal." She stated. "It's a miracle you are both still breathing. Besides, I wasn't there when you were busy getting fake pregnant."

"Really?" I whispered. "Well, I'm about to have such a long chat with mom. Come to think of it, I just might say that the reason I got pregnant was because I had so much free time without anyone paying attention to me. You'd be stuck at home for the rest of your life," I replied.

"You wouldn't dare." She whispered and gave me a stern look.

Katy and I both kept quiet as we heard mom's footsteps.

I rushed to finish the rest of my food as I thought of an excuse as to why I would be late for work.

****

"She beat him up?" Layla laughed. "I wish I had been there to see it." She continued to laugh.

I was on my lunch break. I was in a quiet corner outside the hotel, right at the back. Some security guards were doing their rounds a few feet from me.

"It's kind of my fault. I was the one who insisted that he drop me off at the corner," I answered.

Layla continued to laugh. "I'm just mad that I wasn't the one to beat him up instead. I wish someone had captured it on camera." She continued. "How is your mother handling everything?" she asked.

"I think it's best if Tristan joins the witness protection program," I answered. "She might not have said something last night but this morning she was ready to murder him," I explained.

"I would be mad too if I found out that some guy was dropping off my daughter off on some corner in the middle of the night, then I find out that she is pregnant. If she wanted to kill him, I could provide a shovel and a shallow grave. " She joked.

Hearing it from Layla, I could understand how bad this seemed.

"Good thing I don't have any daughters. Now I'm just looking for anyone that isn't a psychopath to take him." She laughed.

"He is going to hate me when he finds out about everything. I can't believe this is all going to come to an end soon." I sighed.

I have been using Madison as an excuse this whole time. Now that she was gone, I had to face the truth. It was better for everyone. I was already in so much trouble.

"About that," she paused. Why did I get a bad feeling about this?

"Tristan can never find out the truth." She said. "He has many wonderful qualities, but forgiveness is not one of them. I clearly didn't consider this well enough. I'm worried about what he'll do when he finds out." She spoke.

"So, you are suggesting that we just keep lying to him?" I whispered.

"No, we are just finding a different way out. At the end of the day, the result will be the same. There will be no baby. Win, win." She answered. "Do you think Madison left because she wanted to? Something happened, I'm sure of it." She said.

She had a point. But that didn't make this any less wrong.

"Don't worry, it will all be very simple. You'll just say you woke up not feeling very well, you started bleeding terribly and decided to go to the doctor. From there, he said you had a miscarriage. Simple as that. From there, everything can get back to normal." She stated.

Something told me she already had this plan in place weeks ago.

"It would be better for all of us. He'd never be able to trust anyone again or speak to either of us if he found out. This way we ensure that everyone moves on with their lives after this." She said.

Tristan didn't have to know everything. It's not like I was using this chance to get money from him.

If I didn't have a chance with him, I'd at least hope that he could still trust someone else to be with them.

"Can I at least get time to think about it?" I asked.

"Sure," she answered. "But don't take too long, time is not on our side."

"Bye," I whispered into the phone.

I then hung up and checked the time on my phone. I still had a couple of minutes left of my lunch break before I needed to get back to work.

I don't remember the last time I saw Ivy. We are both on different schedules now but I think she was in the building today.

"Hi," a voice said over my shoulder.

I nearly jumped off the concrete steps I was sitting on as Luke stood beside me, his hands crossed as he shot me a suspicious glare. I hadn't seen him coming.

I nearly had a heart attack.

It took my heart a while to return to its normal pace.

What was he doing here? Had he heard any of my conversation with Layla? I had quite the habit of getting caught.

"Hi," I whispered back anxiously. "You nearly gave me a heart attack," I stated.

He stepped forward, taking a seat right next to me. "That was quite a length phone call you had there." He pointed out.

Was he watching me now?

"It was just someone," I answered anxiously. "I should probably get back to work, I might be needed," I said picking up my half-eaten bag of chips.

He stopped me, placing his hand on top of mine.

I froze staring back at him.

"So, what do you know about Ms Madison?" He asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

What was he getting at? What was he trying to find out?

"What were you doing in her room yesterday?" He asked more directly.

Now I was convinced he was watching me.

"Just my job," I answered confidently.

"I'm pretty sure spying is not part of the job description." He retorted.

Everything makes sense now. I should have known. Now I know why he mentioned the security cameras to Tristan and why he suddenly kept quiet.

"You know Tristan could have easily seen that footage. Who knows what he would have thought about the whole thing. He'd hate to find out that you've also been up to something." He continued.

Now I was a bit unsettled by his words. Was this a threat to uncover everything I was hiding?

"Don't take it as a threat love, I'm just warning you to be more careful." He added.

His gaze remained fixed on me as he studied me. I didn't dare flinch, I didn't want to look more suspicious.

"I won't keep you here any longer. As you said, you might be needed." He smiled.

I forced a smile, gathering my things so I could leave.

With a smile, he waved me goodbye.

Was that supposed to be sincere or was that a threat? I couldn't quite figure out which side he was on.

Everything was spiralling out of control. This had to end soon.

I walked down the corridor to take the elevator to Marcus' office.

Thanks to Luke, I was returning to work a bit early. There were only ten minutes left anyway.

I wasn't sure whether to love or hate Luke right now.

I stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. Tristan stepped in just in time, stopping the doors before they could close.

Why was everyone bent on giving me a heart attack today?

"You," I pointed angrily at Tristan.

He took a step back.

"You were prepared to throw me right into the wolf's mouth," I said.

"But you are still alive aren't you? That means I had faith in you." He answered.

What an excuse.

"How is your mother doing?" He asked.

"I think she is busy catching up on old episodes of how to get away with murder," I answered.

"Oh," he mouthed.

"Didn't I warn you that she wasn't ready for this?" I asked.

"She had to find out sooner or later. I'm sorry that I let it slip. On the bright side, we are both still alive. I thought I'd never survive after the way she punched me."

"How about I punch you instead?" I threatened. He was about to have a bigger problem.

"You could never hurt me." He answered.

He didn't know how wrong he was. But in the literal sense, I'd probably break my hand if I tried to punch him. It wasn't worth the try.

"You know, I was thinking. Since I've met your family, how about you meet mine? We can make things official and tell my parents about the baby." He said.

I nearly choked on my spit.

He seemed too excited to notice how anxious I was right now.

"Sure, my mother is a little crazy as you already know, but she is not that crazy when she is on her meds. Besides, the rest of my family is pretty normal. "I'm sure they will love you," he said.

"Do you always talk about your mother like that?" I asked curiously.

"That's just our way of saying that we love each other." He answered. "So, are you in?" he asked again.

I was fine with telling my mother that I had lost the baby or even considering telling her the truth, but his poor grandmother. She was too kind for me to even consider breaking her heart.

"We don't even know if you are still going to be alive within the next twenty-four hours and you want me to meet your parents?" I asked. "Besides, you saw what happened when we just sprang the news on everyone. We need to give everyone a little time to adjust first.

"Fine, but we are going tomorrow. I'm having dinner tonight with my parents, so I'll see how they react to it." He said.

Before I could respond, he kissed me on the cheek and made his way out.

How was I supposed to explain that his grandmother and I had already met?

___________________________________
A/N: New update coming soon.

Quick question, had you been in Ashley's situation, would you tell Tristan the truth?