Too Late For Regrets [Extra #1]

Part 25

I was reading the documents related to the deal with my husband. I had to make sure everything was perfect before I negotiated anything with him. The deal was worth three hundred million, it wasn't easy to give it up, especially since I had lots of expenses coming up.

That day, I was planning to meet with my husband, but of course, he had to ruin my mood before the meeting even happened. He called me early in the morning, soon after I returned from the safe house after seeing the children that were taken there. I was already in a bad mood when I heard the kids' story, but my husband thought it would be a good idea to berate me for going to the auction. The audacity! He thought he had any right to treat me like that? He really thought he could tell me what to do and what not to do? I was his wife, not his property.

I, of course, let him know in no uncertain terms what I thought about his attitude. However, he didn't seem to appreciate my independence and we soon got into an argument. I yelled at him, he yelled at me, I hung up, he tried to call me again. It was a mess.

After that altercation, I didn't want to talk to him again. But I had to. Well, not really. I was only going to tell my stand-in what to say to my husband while they negotiated the deal, and then decide whether to accept the new terms or not.

I didn't want to reveal myself to my husband. If he knew who I was, he would try to take advantage of my position. He was a businessman through and through. Profit is more important than anything. He was willing to get married just to get ahead of his cousin, who also had right to inherit the company, so I knew he was also capable of doing much more.

And I'd already experienced that. I was carrying the proof of that in my stomach.

My Duke, who would be my proxy during the meeting with my husband, arranged everything so that the two of them would meet at one of my restaurants, so that I could stay in private room and peacefully listen to their conversation. The Duke had a microphone on him and an earpiece, so he could listen to me and let me listen to them. The room he and my husband met in was also wired, but that was a secret from everyone except for me and the Duke. No one else knew about it. Not even the restaurant's employees.

I just wanted to be safe. Better safe than sorry.

From the moment my husband entered the room, I could tell he was still mad about our argument. He was curt and slightly rude as he talked with my Duke. If he only knew that the man before him was ready to slice his throat for raping me... He was on thin ice, and with every word he spoke, his predicament got worse and worse. My Duke was on the verge of losing his cool, so I had to step in. I told him to keep the meeting professional and that his chance to get back at my husband would come in the future. It was no use losing that big of a deal over something personal. I was very strict about separating work from private life.

"Why didn't your boss come to meet me?" my husband asked skeptically, clearly unhappy about being treated like that. He wasn't used to such treatment.

"Boss is a busy person. You should be glad I'm here, otherwise you'd have to talk to the boss through emails."

"Your boss is busy, but can still be present during the meeting like this, huh?" I saw my husband point at the earpiece the Duke was wearing. The annoying smirk that was visible on his face was no longer attractive. I was only mad that he thought he could mock me like that.

"Don't pry into things that are none of your business, Sir," my Duke warned coldly. "If boss doesn't want to talk to you, then there's nothing I can do about it. And neither can you, so give up. You talk to me, boss answers and I relay her message, that's it."

"Your boss seems to have quite an odd personality. They won't meet me but they want to be present during the meeting anyway... I bet there's a bug on you."

"There is. Boss is listening to everything we're saying," I smiled at my Duke's words. He sounded pissed off. He didn't like it when people questioned him on anything, so having my husband interrogate him like that quickly put his patience to a test. A test he almost failed.

I quietly asked him to put his personal feelings away while talking to my husband so we could finalize the deal as quickly as possible. He thankfully listened to me and cooled down a bit. For the rest of the meeting, he as calm as he could possibly be and easily got my husband under his control. He was so desperate to work with my company he didn't even argue when my Duke gave him some ridiculous requirements, to which I of course didn't agree. It was just his petty revenge for me getting hurt by my husband.

I wasn't as petty. I wouldn't let it pass with some odd requests or strange conditions. I would ruin him once and for all. Of course, I wasn't going to do it right away. He needed to know his sin first. And he soon would, cause I was almost in my third month and I would start showing really soon.

Funnily enough, I was sure my husband would first question my fidelity once he found out about the pregnancy. He most likely wouldn't even think the child was his.

My suspicions about my husband's reaction were confirmed exactly three months later. We were invited to my in-laws for their anniversary dinner, but since we were no longer living together, we arrived separately. When my husband saw my prominent baby bump, he reacted just like I expected. He accused me of cheating on him, which was laughable considering our nonexistent relationship, then proceeded to question me about he man I supposedly cheated on him with. I, of course, told him nothing about my Duke or the fact that I really did sleep with a man other than him, since I wasn't obliged to explain myself to him. And I especially wasn't obliged to tell him anything after he did what he did.

"I'm asking you for the last time, who's the father?" he questioned again as we stood in front of my in-laws' house, awaiting the arrival of the rest of the family. "Just tell me!"

By that point, I was fed up by his accusatory glare and relentless questioning, so I quietly sneered, "It's you."

He was shocked, to say the least. "Me? Are you kidding?" he scoffed in disbelief. "We didn't even sleep together, what are you talking about?"

"If you don't believe me, that's fine. Do you remember the day when I left your house?" I asked. He nodded. "Then try to remember the night before that."

"I don't understand... The night before?" he muttered to himself, but I didn't wait for him to catch on. He needed to find out the truth himself in order for him to suffer from it. It would've been pointless if I was the one to tell him what he did. Realizing it himself would cause much more damage.

When the other members of the 'family' arrived, which included my sister and my husband's cousin, we all sat at the dining table and had an awkward dinner. It was unpleasant to be honest. Pretending like everything was fine when it wasn't was not my forte. I didn't enjoy acting, but I tried my best to not let the truth come out. I thought it would be better if everyone believed I was pregnant with my husband's child.

I was wrong.