Jane POV
“My God, Miss Jane… how did this happen?”
Lila’s voice cracked as she stared down at the pregnancy test still sitting on the bathroom counter like it had just delivered a death sentence. Her hands were clutching her apron, eyes wide with disbelief.
I leaned against the sink, my heart pounding so loudly it drowned out everything else.
“How do you think it happened, Lila?” I snapped, twisting my eyebrows at her. “How are babies made?”
She blinked.
I gave her the truth, raw and unfiltered.
“I fucked Carter King.”
Lila gasped like I’d just said the devil’s name in church. “Miss Jane!” she whispered sharply, clutching her chest.
“I don’t have time to sugarcoat it,” I muttered, pushing off the sink and pacing the tiny bathroom. “I slept with him. It was one night. One stupid, reckless, drunk night that was never supposed to mean anything—”
“But it did,” Lila interrupted softly. “You’re pregnant now. You have to tell him.”
I stopped pacing and stared at her.
“Are you insane?” I asked. “You think I can just walk up to Carter King and say, ‘Hey, remember me? The girl who ghosted you? Well, surprise! You knocked me up!’”
Lila didn’t laugh. She didn’t even blink.
“You have to tell him,” she said again. “He deserves to know.”
I shook my head, rubbing my temples. “No. You don’t understand. He wouldn’t want this. He wouldn’t want me—not when he finds out who I really am.”
She frowned. “And who exactly are you?”
I looked at her, my chest tight. “I’m the daughter of Richard Ellis.”
That name hung heavy in the air.
She knew. Everyone knew. My father’s war with the King family was legendary in this city. Lawsuits, public feuds, even a nearly physical fight once at a gala event. They hated each other. My father hated Carter’s father more than he hated traffic and failure combined.
And Carter?
If he knew I was his daughter, he’d hate me too.
“I’m just some girl to him,” I whispered. “Some random hookup. A story to forget. He doesn’t even know my last name.”
“And maybe,” Lila said gently, “that’s exactly why you should tell him.”
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
None of this was.
The plan had been so simple: go to Empire, flirt with Carter King, piss off my father, get caught on camera, go home satisfied. That was it.
I wasn’t supposed to sleep with him. I wasn’t supposed to feel something. And I definitely wasn’t supposed to end up pregnant. I thought he used a condom. I swore he had.
But here I was, staring down the barrel of two pink lines and a future I didn’t ask for.
“How could I be so stupid?” I whispered. “How could I be so unprepared?”
Lila touched my shoulder gently. “You’re not stupid. You’re human.”
I shrugged her off and turned away. “This is bad. So bad. If my father finds out…”
I didn’t even want to finish that sentence. The memory of his last explosion was still fresh. The glass shattering. The words cutting deep. “You should’ve left with your whore of a mother.”
What would he say now?
What would he do?
“I can’t raise a baby,” I said, my voice barely audible. “I don’t even know what I’m doing with my life. I don’t even know if Carter would want—” I stopped myself.
Would he?
Would he care?
He’d probably laugh. Maybe offer money to make it go away. Maybe deny it. Or maybe…
Maybe he’d do something worse.
Maybe he’d just look at me the way everyone else did—like I was a mistake.
But still… there was a part of me that knew Lila was right.
He deserved to know. He had a right to choose what he wanted to do. Even if it meant walking away.
Even if it meant hating me.
I looked up at myself in the mirror—messy hair, puffy eyes, anxiety bleeding through every inch of my face.
I looked nothing like the girl who had walked into Empire that night looking to stir trouble.
But I had to fix this. Or at least try. “I need to tell him,” I said quietly.
Lila nodded. “You’re doing the right thing.”