The Shattered Glass
The digital chime of Gloria's phone sounded like a death knell in the quiet of her mother's porch. She stared at the screen, her vision blurring as she read Flora's message again. The Board of Directors. The press. Flora wasn't just trying to take her money anymore; she was trying to incinerate Gloria's reputation until there was nothing left but ash.
"Gloria? What is it?" Felix's voice was sharp, his protective instincts instantly on high alert.
She didn't speak. She simply handed him the phone. As Felix read the text, a vein in his temple began to throb. The calm, calculated billionaire vanished, replaced by a man whose fury was cold enough to freeze the humid Nigerian air.
"She's desperate," Felix hissed, his thumb whitening as he gripped the phone. "She knows she's lost the 50 million, so she's burning the bridge while she's still standing on it."
"Felix, the Board..." Gloria finally found her voice, though it was thin and fragile. "They already look at me like I'm an outsider. If they see those photos—even if we tell them I was drugged—they'll say I'm a liability. They'll say you're compromised."
Felix reached out, grabbing her shoulders. "Let them. I built that company with my bare hands. If they want a war, I'll give them one. But I won't let them touch you."
Suddenly, Gloria felt a wave of intense dizziness. The world tilted on its axis. The smell of the damp earth from the recent rain, which usually grounded her, suddenly turned her stomach into a knot of pure nausea. She lurched sideways, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Gloria!" Felix caught her before her knees hit the concrete. "Are you okay? It's the shock, the stress—"
"I'm fine," she managed to gasp, though her face had gone the color of parchment. "I just... I haven't eaten. Everything smells so strong, Felix. Please, just... give me a second."
She leaned against the porch railing, drawing in deep, shaky breaths. She attributed it to the trauma of the night, the terror of the debt collectors, and the looming shadow of Flora's betrayal. She didn't realize that her body was already whispering a secret that her mind wasn't ready to hear.
The War Room
An hour later, they were back in the city. Felix refused to leave her at the house in Ipaja, fearing Flora might have more than just digital weapons. He brought her to his private residence—a fortress of glass and steel overlooking the lagoon.
His PR head, Marcus, was already there, pacing the length of the marble floor with a tablet in hand.
"It's bad, Felix," Marcus said without preamble. "The photos were leaked to a tabloid blog ten minutes ago. They're grainy, but the flower birthmark on the girl's ear is clear in one of the high-res shots Flora sent to the Board. It's a direct link to Gloria."
Gloria sat on the edge of a velvet sofa, clutching a glass of ginger ale that Felix had insisted she drink for her stomach. Every time she looked at the tablet, the nausea returned.
"The headline is calling it 'The CEO's Secret Toy,'" Marcus continued tentatively. "They're claiming you hired her sister to cover up the affair."
Felix slammed his fist onto the dining table, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "Trace the upload. I want the site taken down. I want every server hosting those images wiped. And find Flora. I don't care if she's crawled into a hole in the ground—drag her out."
"Felix," Gloria interrupted, her voice stronger now. "You can't just delete the internet. The Board members have already seen it. They've called an emergency meeting for 8:00 AM tomorrow, haven't they?"
Marcus nodded solemnly. "They want a resignation, Felix. Either yours... or hers."
Felix turned to Gloria, his eyes softening for the first time that night. "I'll resign. I don't need the title."
"No!" Gloria stood up, but the sudden movement made her head spin again. She swayed, clutching the back of the sofa. "If you resign, she wins. She wants to see you fall because she couldn't have you. We fight this. We tell the truth. We tell them I was drugged, that she's a fraud—"
"And then we put your trauma on a silver platter for the public to dissect?" Felix stepped toward her, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I won't put you through that. I'd rather lose the company than see you dragged through the mud for my mistakes."
The Silent Symptom
As the night bled into the early hours of the morning, Felix and Marcus moved into the study to coordinate with legal teams. Gloria stayed in the living room, trying to settle her nerves. She felt heavy—her body felt like it was made of lead.
She walked to the kitchen to get more water, but as she passed the fruit bowl on the counter, the scent of the ripening bananas hit her like a physical blow. Her stomach heaved violently. She barely made it to the guest bathroom before she was sick.
Leaning over the porcelain sink, splashing cold water on her face, Gloria caught her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was glowing in a way that didn't match how tired she felt. Her breasts felt tender, brushing painfully against the fabric of her dress.
She did the mental math. Her period. She was late.
No, she thought, her heart racing. It's just the stress. The move, the new job, the drama with Felix... stress can skip a cycle.
But deep down, a terrifying thought began to take root. The night at the Sapphire Suite. It had been weeks ago. And then there was that other night—the night Felix mentioned, where he thought it was Flora but the "connection" had been so real. The night he hadn't used protection because Flora had lied and said she was on the pill.
Gloria gripped the edge of the sink, her knuckles white.
"Not now," she whispered to her reflection. "Please, not now."
The Boardroom Storm
The next morning, the sun rose over Lagos with a blinding, unforgiving heat. Felix stood in front of the full Board of Directors. The atmosphere was lethal.
"The optics are unacceptable, Mr. Vance," the Chairman said, tossing a newspaper onto the table. The front page showed the silhouette of the Sapphire Suite incident. "A scandal of this magnitude affects our stock price. It suggests a lack of judgment."
"The judgment was in trusting a fraudster," Felix replied, his voice steady. "The woman in these photos is my partner. She was a victim of a crime orchestrated by her sister. If this Board cannot stand behind the truth, then this Board doesn't deserve my leadership."
In the hallway, Gloria waited, her hand resting protectively over her stomach. She felt a strange, fluttering sensation—a mix of fear and something she couldn't name. She was waiting for the moment to step in and testify, to show them her birthmark, to tell the truth.
But as she took a step toward the door, the world suddenly went black at the edges. The sound of Felix's voice became muffled, as if he were underwater.
The last thing she heard was the door to the boardroom swinging open, and the last thing she felt was Felix's strong arms catching her as she collapsed to the floor in front of the entire Board of Directors.
"Get a doctor!" Felix screamed, his voice raw with a terror the Board had never seen. "Now!"
As he lifted her, he noticed the small, subtle curve of her abdomen that hadn't been there a few weeks ago. The truth was about to come out, and it wasn't the one Flora had leaked.