The air in the private wing of the Vance Medical Center was thick with the scent of antiseptic and expensive floor wax. Felix paced the length of the waiting room, his silk tie loosened and hanging haphazardly around his neck. Every time the door to Gloria's room creaked, he flinched, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
The Board meeting had ended in a chaotic blur. He had carried her out of that building like she was the only thing left in the world that mattered, ignoring the flashing cameras of the paparazzi and the stunned silence of the directors.
The door finally opened, and Dr. Arinze stepped out, pulling off his glasses. He looked at Felix with a professional, yet unreadable, expression.
"How is she?" Felix demanded, closing the distance in two strides. "Is it the stress? I'll move her to a private villa, I'll hire a dozen guards—just tell me she's okay."
"She's conscious, Felix. And physically, she's stable," the doctor said, pausing. "But we ran some blood tests. Given the fainting spells and the sensitivity to smells she mentioned..."
Felix froze. "And?"
"Gloria is six weeks pregnant," Dr. Arinze said softly. "The stress of the last few days has put a strain on her system. She needs absolute bed rest, or she risks a miscarriage."
The world seemed to stop. Felix felt the blood drain from his face. Six weeks. The math was a jagged lightning bolt in his mind. Six weeks ago was the night of the "accident"—the second time they had been together, when he was still under the illusion that she was Flora. The night he had been so overwhelmed by the "connection" that he had forgotten all his usual caution.
"I'm going to be a father," Felix whispered, the words tasting like both a miracle and a death sentence.
The Weight of the Secret
Felix pushed open the door to her room. Gloria was propped up against the pillows, her skin looking translucent under the fluorescent lights. She looked small, far too small for the massive storm that was brewing outside the hospital walls.
She looked up as he entered, her eyes red-rimmed. "Felix... the doctor told me."
He sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in both of his. Her fingers were ice-cold. "I know. I know everything."
"Flora is going to kill me," Gloria sobbed, her voice breaking. "If she finds out... if the press finds out... they'll say I trapped you. They'll say this was my plan all along to get your money."
"Let them say it," Felix growled, his grip on her hand tightening protectively. "I'll buy the news stations. I'll shut down every blog in the country. No one is touching you, Gloria. And no one—especially not Flora—is touching this child."
"But the Board," she whispered. "They wanted me gone before this. Now? A pregnant secretary and a CEO who can't control his private life? You'll lose Vance Holdings."
Felix leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers. "Then let it burn. I'll build a new empire for the three of us. But you have to promise me, Gloria. No more running. No more feeling like you owe the world an apology for being the victim."
Flora's Final Betrayal
While Felix was planning a fortress around Gloria, Flora was in a cheap motel on the outskirts of Ikeja, staring at a positive pregnancy test of her own. But hers was a lie—a fake she had bought from a girl in the slums.
She scrolled through the news, seeing the headlines about Gloria's collapse at the office. Her eyes narrowed. She knew her sister. She knew Gloria's "illness" wasn't just stress.
"So, you're pregnant, Gloria?" Flora hissed to the empty room, her face twisting with a psychotic envy. "You think that's your golden ticket? You think that baby is going to keep you safe?"
She picked up her phone and dialed a number she had saved under 'D.'
"It's time," Flora said into the phone. "Felix is at the hospital. He's distracted. His security is thin at the back entrance. I don't care about the money anymore. I want her gone. I want them both gone."
The Awakening
Back in the hospital, Gloria had finally fallen into a fitful sleep. Felix stood by the window, watching the sun set over the Lagos skyline. His phone buzzed. It was Marcus, his PR head.
"Felix, we have a problem. Someone just leaked Gloria's medical records. The pregnancy is trending on Twitter. And Flora... she's just posted a video."
Felix's blood turned to ice. He pulled up the video. Flora was sitting in front of a camera, dabbing fake tears from her eyes.
"My sister Gloria is a master manipulator," Flora said in the video, her voice trembling with practiced grief. "She knew I was seeing Felix. She knew I loved him. She drugged me that night, took my dress, and went to his room to conceive a 'billionaire baby' so she could extort him. I'm the victim here. I'm the one who lost everything."
The comments were a bloodbath. The public, always hungry for a scandal, was turning on Gloria with a ferocity that was terrifying.
Felix looked at Gloria's sleeping face. She looked so innocent, so unaware that her sister had just declared a war that could end in blood.
He didn't wait for Marcus to finish. He called his head of security. "Seal the floor. No one comes in or out. If you see Flora Ade-Kole within a mile of this hospital, shoot to disable. We're moving to the safe house at midnight."
As he hung up, Gloria stirred, her hand moving instinctively to her stomach in her sleep. She was dreaming of a life that didn't involve masks or secrets, but as the sirens of a distant police car wailed outside, she woke up to a reality where her "Unforgettable Love" had become the most dangerous thing in the world.
"Felix?" she whispered, sensing the tension in the room.
"I'm here," he said, stepping into the light. "And I'm never leaving again."
Next Chapter Teasers:
The Safe House: Felix takes Gloria to a hidden estate, but is there a traitor in his inner circle?
The DNA Test: To clear Gloria's name, Felix demands a DNA test, but Flora switches the samples.
The Final Confrontation: Flora breaks into the estate, leading to a showdown where only one sister walks away.