HIS CLAIM

30

Elsa

Things had calmed down a bit at work. I was taking a lot of stress off my mother’s shoulder now that I was back because other than her, I was the only one skilled enough to sketch customers’ wishes.
We did have one more worker in the boutique, but she was a seamstress and would take on the job of measuring our customers and helping them find their dresses. She only worked a few hours a week since she was an older lady but still wanted to move around a bit. We did sell many stunning, high-end dresses, both our own and other designers’ work. However, many of our customers preferred to get a custom-designed dress.
Time was going by so fast with the amount of work there had to be done, and before I knew it, three weeks already went by. It felt like time was going by even faster because as soon as I got home from work, I would pass out as soon as my head hit the pillow. I haven’t been talking much to Nicholas , only squeezing a text message here and there. He called me last night and I was so tired that I fell asleep while talking to him, but he knew how busy things have been. I did feel guilty that I barely had any time for him when he always made sure to have time for me. And he was the one with multiple businesses and running a Mafia…

Lately, I was feeling like I didn’t get much sleep and would run late for work a few times. My mother was always the one who left for work first to make sure the boutique is in a presentable state and sort out any form of paperwork that had to be done. It was not like I couldn’t wake up by myself. It was just that I would hit snooze way too many times. And because of my many late mornings,

Logan  had to give drive me to work. He even had coffee and breakfast ready for me in the car since it became a routine, and he would drop me off a block away from the boutique so my mother wouldn’t notice. She thought I was taking an Uber for work.

“Are you sure you can keep the boutique open while I’m gone?” My mother asked for the hundredth time.
“Yes, I’m sure I can. You just focus on relaxing because you’re seriously all tensed up.” I chuckled.
“Besides, things have calmed down a lot so I can manage.”
“Okay, good. If not, you call me and I will come right away.”
“No. I can’t believe I have to force you to take a break!” I shook my head and made a tsking sound.
It was evening and my mother would leave for her trip with Mrs. Park tomorrow morning, and I was helping her pack her things. It took way too long as I went through her clothes and assembled outfits for spa days, ccktail hour, dinner, and whatnot. You might as well look your best when you were going away for a week with your bestie.
Mrs. Park and my mother have been friends ever since we moved here, and I was also close friends with her daughter, Jenny, who was currently on a very hot vacation. And by hot, I was referring to her being with one hot guy after another. She sent me pictures of them and even rated them from one to ten on how good they were in bed. And other detailed information I didn’t need to know about. She was definitely going to be the hot, single, rich Asian auntie in the future.
“Mom, what’s this?” I frowned down at the paper in my hands that I took out from her purse. She turned to look at me, stopping in her tracks when she noticed what it was.
“You were not supposed to see that. Not yet at least.” She sighed.
“You bought a property?” I asked confused as I read the paper in my hands. My eyes suddenly went wide when I read where.
“You bought a property in Greece?”
“I did.” She smiled and took the paper from me.
“But why?”
“Because we are moving.” She stated calmly. I looked at her in complete shock.
Moving to Greece?
“Why? We can’t just do that!” I exclaimed.
“Why not? We have always talked about how it could be nice to live there whenever we are there on vacation. And trust me, it’s for the best. Everything has already been taken care of. Once Cara gets married, we are out of here.” My mother left no room for discussion as if it wasn’t a big deal.
I frowned, not fully understanding what she was saying. Tessa was getting married in five weeks. Was she expecting us to move so suddenly? And even across the freaking world just like that?
“Why do we need to move?”
“I’m tired of staying here. I want a new start. The sooner we can get out of here, the better.” She didn’t look at me as she continued to pack her bag.
“No.” I said, coming to my senses a bit.
“We can’t move to Greece, mom. I can’t do that!”
“Oh, yes you can! I’m not leaving without you.” She now stood in front of me and furrowed her brows at me.
“No, mom. I can’t just leave everything behind and move across the world like that. What about Tessa? Am I supposed to leave her just like that?” There was no way I would leave Tessa like that again. She is my sister, my best friend. Moving here was already hard enough without her.
“I have just started to get in touch with my family again. I can’t abandon Tessa. What about my father?” She scoffed at the mention of my father which had me narrow my eyes at her.
“Like he cares. And trust me, it’s for the best once Tessa  gets married. Listen, we will talk more about it when I come back.” She said dismissively.
“There isn’t more to talk about, I’m not moving.”
“And why not?!” She looked at me furiously, not liking my answer. For a while, I just stood there and looked at my mother’s furious expression, not knowing how to tell her that there was so much more to it.
It wasn’t just about my father or Tessa now.
“…Because I’m pregnant.” I held my breath as my mother stood in front of me. She looked at me in shock.
My mother didn’t say anything and just looked at me. I had to bite down on my lip so it wouldn’t tremble.
“…What?” She breathed out and shook her head a little as if she heard it wrong. I took a deep breath, calming my nerves as I spoke.
“I’m pregnant. I can’t leave.” It came out as a whisper. once again.
“With Asher’s…?
“No.” I shook my head quickly. I had completely forgotten about the lie I had told that I was dating Asher. She looked at me with wide eyes, almost scared to know the answer.
“Then who?”
“I…Mom, I don’t know how to say it…but I never dated Asher.” I trailed off, watching her reaction closely before I continued. I took another deep breath, trying to prepare myself for what is about to  come.
“I am seeing someone, it’s just not Asher.”
She looked at me confused and gestured for me to go on. I swallowed down the knot in my throat that was building up. My heart was beating so much and my chest was moving up and down fast.
“It’s Nicholas Donavan.” I held my breath as I watched my mother’s face turn into one of horror. She took a step back, not believing her own two ears.
“No… It can’t be true… How? When?!” She almost shouted.
“Mom, please calm down.” I tried to tell her with my shaky voice.
“Calm down?! You’re telling me you’re pregnant with that monster’ s child?!” She screamed at me.
“He’s not a monster!” I snapped back. She looked taken aback at my reaction. I have never raised my voice at my mother. She was my everything and for a long time, it has just been the two of us together. It still was. But I was upset with the way she was reacting.
“He’s not a monster, so stop saying that.” I said more calmly.
“Did he force himself on you?” Her voice went ice cold, making me drop my jaw in shock she was even thinking that!
“No!”
“My god… What have you done, Elisabeth!” She ran a hand through her hair, looking distressed as she paced back and forth. I didn’t say anything as I just watched her. My heart was clenching at the whole situation. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I had hoped I could change her mind about Nicholas. But to her, he was nothing more than just a cold-blooded killer.
“Does he know?” My mother finally broke the silence while facing away from me.
“No… I just found out a two days ago…” I had missed my period and I didn’t even notice it with how busy I had been with everything but two days back I checked just in case when I get to know that i forgot about taking birth control,I tested 6 times and now dont even know how to react about it.
“Okay…Okay… He doesn’t need to know. We can get this fixed. Get rid of it and pretend it never happened.”
“Yo-You can’t decide that.” I breathed out, looking at her with wide eyes as my heart started to violently pump inside my chest. I took a few shaky steps away from her, suddenly feeling protective.
“You’re not keeping it.” She looked at me with a cold look.
“That is something we will decide, and not you.” I said angrily and she scoffed at me.
“There is no you and him. Do you really think someone like him is capable of being a father? Someone like him could never!” She spat out.
“You don’t know him!”
“And you do? You have known him for like two seconds!”
“I know him way better than you think.” My whole body was shaking. Shaking in anger as she kept going on and insulting him. I could feel tears wanting to build up in my eyes, but I took a deep breath and clenched my fists.