"I'm sorry for coming here without notice. Is this the wrong time?" Sam softly spoke, clutching her new limited-edition handbag, looking intently at Luke.
Her eyes fell on the woman he was carrying, thoughts spiraling, anxiety bubbling up to the surface. 'Who is that? Could it be—no way! What is she here for? Didn't Roseann gave her money during that incident?'
"Sam, sweetheart! You came just in the right time!" Roseann exclaimed and walked towards her.
"How have you been, darling?" She added, holding her hands.
Sam fell ill due to stress since she was harassed by journalists all the time because of the incident involving Ara.
"I'm recovering well, auntie. Good evening Master, Madame." Sam was exuding elegance and grace. With her hair curled into mermaid waves, her soft features were emphasized, paired with dainty jewelleries that were still not available in the market. Her white flowy dress also hung just below the knee, exposing her slender legs. It matched well with her demeanour, making her look like an angel.
"Luke and I were supposed to have dinner tonight." She said and smiled shyly, although it did not reach her eyes. "I had the time to pass by his office but he wasn't there. He wasn't returning my calls either, so I got worried and rushed over here."
Luke felt uneasy and wanted to explain. He was planning to reconcile with her tonight, but this girl messed with his plans. On this thought, he suppressed the urge to squeeze Ara in his arms.
"Don't worry about that darling, he'll be right with you shortly." Roseann assured. She greatly adored this elegant young woman. She's really the perfect wife material for his son, the Mistress thought.
"I apologize Miss Knight but the Siedels have an urgent family matter to attend to. I'm afraid Luke won't be able to properly entertain you tonight." Mr. Rowan chimed in and looked at Luke, but the latter's gaze was fixed on the beautiful lady in front of them.
"Surely you understand." He added, eyeing back the young lady. Roseann wanted to butt in, however, she was met with a warning stare from Madame Shantal.
"Oh, no worries Sir! I'm just glad Luke is alright. I'll take my leave now." Sam smiled sweetly to the old master and glanced at Ara briefly.
"Sam, wait! I'll see you off." Luke interposed, handing the woman in his arms to a guard on standby.
"I appreciate it but I'm fine, Luke." She retorted and smiled amicably.
Luke took a step back indignantly, clenching his jaw. "Albert will drive you home."
Luke nodded to his personal assistant who also drove the young miss to the mansion. Hearing this, Albert immediately sprang into action.
"Alright then, I'll be on my way." She greeted each elders and turned away. She did not bat an eye to Luke after and gracefully exited.
Luke was quite unhappy about this and gritted his teeth. He spent these past months apologizing and wooing Sam into seeing him again. He felt like his efforts went down the drain and that he's back to square one.
'Ifeverythinggoestowaste, thenthere'sonlyhellforthiswoman,' he thought.
"Have her rest in the lounge." Rowan ordered the guard, snapping Luke out of his thoughts.
"The maids already phoned Kyle, why don't we discuss where to go from here?" Shantal suggested as they made their way to the guest lounge.
Roseann snorted, "What?! Just give her some more money or make her disappear entirely! Only gullible idiots would fall for these old tricks!"
"So, do you think Earl was gullible enough?" Rowan asked and looked at her with disdain, his words choking Roseann.
"D-dad, what are you talking about?" Roseann stammered, and lightly chuckled to ease her embarrassment.
"Don't disrespect my husband like that. Let your son rest in peace!" She added and went silent on the way.
'Howdareheembarrassme?' She secretly gritted her teeth at the remarks and glared at the maids they passed by but their heads were already hung low, which further angered her. Although he never said it directly, she knew the old man didn't like her to this day. With that, she resented him in return for a long time—even now.
"Master, Dr. Young is almost here." The butler informed breaking the silence as they entered the lounge. The space for receiving guests was filled with extravagant embellishments and several guest rooms were connected from here. It loudly screamed the wealth of the Siedels, and they left no corner bare.
"Alright. Prepare the usual." Rowan ordered. The butler simply nodded and went his way.
"Mom, listen! I already gave her a considerable amount before! I'm sure she's just here for more. Why should we go through all this? We're not even sure if she's telling the truth!" Roseann complained as she sat down the armchair.
Luke went inside one of the guest rooms and had the still unconscious Ara laid on the bed. He heard his mother's loud complaints echoing on the whole lounge. His mood had significantly dropped since Sam left, his gaze as deadly as his thoughts.
"I'll just have her abort it, problem solved." He muttered as he returned to the lounge, looking down on his phone.
"Might as well cut off your balls huh!" Exclaimed Rowan, who was about to hit Luke again.
Roseann just rolled her eyes on this old man, thinking his volition's gone with his age.
"Honey, relax. Your blood pressure has gone through the roof earlier. I'll have Kyle examine you later as well." Consoled Shantal, who was now rubbing his back.
Dr. Young arrived with his assistant just as Luke was about to go out, and make a phone call.
"What's up!" He was about to pull a joke on him but seeing Luke paid no interest, he just straight to Rowan.
"How are you feeling, Sir?" He shook hands with the old Master, who stood up seeing him.
"Dr. Young, thank you for coming without delay. As you're already aware, I'd like you to examine our guest." Rowan ushered him to where Ara was resting and Kyle did so.
'Shelookedfamiliar. Where have I seen her?' He pondered as he set his things down, and skillfully started examining her.
'Ah, theinfamousgirlwhosenttheWestBordersintochaos.' He realized, and briefly glanced at the old master who was in the room with them. 'Whatisshedoinghere?'
Kyle recalled that when the news first broke, the Siedels had a hard time suppressing it. The millions they spent on that were futile as netizens were raging about such issue. After all, who could forget the incident that dominated the online space for days and stayed as the top trending topic because it was the first time that the West Borders' top bachelor was caught in a scandal.
He could only shake his head inwardly when they were only able to control it after forcing two News & Entertainment companies into bankruptcy, and acquiring them a few weeks later.
'She's dehydrated.' Kyle immediately thought seeing her condition while pushing her sleeve up, checking her pulse after; it was irregular and slow. He examined her further and his gaze reached her stomach.
'So that explains everything.' He was stunned by the bump but recovered pretty quickly. He pursed his lips and instructed the assistant to stabilize her condition.
"I can tell that you already know she's pregnant." He commented as the straightened his posture and relayed further instructions to the now busy nurse.
"As she's currently unconscious, I'll have my assistant monitor her closely and provide the necessary supportive care. Do you know if she's receiving prenatal treatment?" Dr. Young said when they left the room.
Rowan sighed. "I called the hospital earlier where she had her ultrasound done. She never went back for a prenatal treatment plan."
"Roseann also mentioned she tripped in the courtyard earlier." He added after gripping his nape. The old Rowan already knew something more than what Roseann let on.
"Given the circumstances, I would strongly recommend that we proceed with a prenatal evaluation and initiate the appropriate prenatal care immediately." Kyle suggested as they approached the lounge, and peeked at the door where Luke exited.
The room was a quiet chaos, hushed whispers could only be heard. Roseann was busy typing away on her phone while Shantal was relaying instructions to the maids and the butler.
Rowan was in deep thought and said, "Dr. Young, I actually have something to discuss with you in my study."
Rowan handed him a piece of paper and led the way. As the two gentlemen walked away, Roseann thought the show was over and decided to leave.
"Where's grandpa?" Luke asked when he ran into his mother on her way out. "On his way to his study. He's talking privately to Kyle. I bet he's considering the abortion."
Roseann smiled and left.
Luke thought of getting rid of that girl by any means as soon as possible. Hearing his mother's words, he rushed over to Rowan's study.
"—very possible since it runs in the family. Judging from her estimated due date, there's a strong chance they're his. As for the test, we can surely opt for non-invasive prenatal paternity test—NIPP as well call it since she's still on the first trimester."
Luke heard this and was dumbfounded. In his frustration, he abruptly opened the door and confronted them. "What are you talking about? I heard we're pretty much heading towards abortion, right?"
"Abortion?" Kyle asked back in confusion, his eyebrows scrunched up.
"Says who? You stupid fool! You're having twins and you're spatting out nonsense! Now, get over here so I can knock some sense into you!" The old master shouted but was consoled by Kyle.
Kyle looked at him, meaningfully saying 'Youfuckedup.'
___
KNIGHT MANSION
"Fuck that stupid whore!" Sam flounced and threw things across her room.
"Sam! Why are throwing things for?!" Leslie asked her panic-stricken daughter, who almost hit her with a custom Weitzman heels.
She noticed that Sam was back early, seething with rage but didn't think too much of it since she was brought home in Luke's car. 'Did Luke cancel on her this time? Maybe she overly played hard to get?
"That bitch is in the Siedel Mansion! She even fainted on Luke's arm!" Sam yelled and continued throwing more things.
'Thatslut!' Leslie immediately thought of the girl who stole Sam's night with Luke.
"Hey! For goodness' sake! Keep it down, will you?!" Cindy heard the commotion upstairs, and went to check on her sister's fiasco.
"Fucking idiot." She muttered, seeing how her sister's thrashing the room to waste.
"You! It's your fault! You dare to call me an idiot when it's that 'brilliantplan' of yours failed!" Sam was about to throw her the night lamp but was stopped by their mother.
Cindy just stood there, leaning on the doorframe in amusement.
"Sam, get a hold of yourself! The workers are still here!" Leslie ordered and gently shook her shoulders.
"And you, stop stressing out your sister. It's your fault for coming up with such a stupid plan without consulting me first. Now look at what you did to Sam!" She added glaring at Cindy.
Cindy gritted her teeth in contempt. It was Sam who pleaded Cindy to get Luke to sleep with her. The former even got ahold of some aphrodisiac from who knows where. All Cindy did was to pour it on Luke's drink quietly. Now that the plan had gone South, she was solely blamed for it.
"Sam this! Sam that! I'm tired! I'm tired of pretend—"
"I said enough!" Leslie slapped Sam hard, marking her right cheek bloody red.
"Yeah, that's enough. Drink you pills before you come down…" Cindy smirked, satisfied with that crisp blow.
"... Our dear Amanda." She added before going down stairs, leaving Leslie to indulge in her sister's another meltdown, making her triumphantly smiling as she hopped down the steps.