Married But Pregnant With My Ex's Baby

June 11, 2024...

"Adina, stop!" Vanessa's voice cracked through the silence as she rushed into the ward, the harsh white lights of the facility making everything feel too exposed, too sterile.

The faint bite of antiseptic clung to the air, barely masked by the artificial lavender mist puffing from a nearby diffuser.

Adina was standing next to her bed, barefoot on the cold floor. Her hospital gown hung off one shoulder, her arms streaked red.

She didn't stop. Her nails dragged across torn skin like she was trying to peel something off-or out-of herself.

"Baby, no-no, stop that." Vanessa reached her, grabbing her wrists gently but firmly.

Adina didn't look at her. Her eyes were wide and glossy, as she stared at the walls of her ward room.

"It won't stop," she whispered. "It's under my skin. I can feel it... I have to get it out..."

Vanessa's heart ached. This wasn't her granddaughter. Not the fearless, wild girl she raised after her son died. This was someone who had been broken.

"You're safe now," Vanessa said softly, brushing hair out of Adina's face with a trembling hand. "I'm here. You're not alone anymore."

Adina blinked slowly, like she was coming up for air from under the water. "Am I? Because everything feels... wrong. I wake up and it seems like the walls are breathing..."

"...People talk...I can hear them but I don't see their mouths move. And sometimes... I hear Adrian crying. Where's Adrian? Where's my baby?!"

She started to panic, jerking against Vanessa's grip. Her breath came in fast, shallow gasps. "I have to find him. I need to-please-I need to find him."

Vanessa pulled her closer, wrapping her up like she used to when Adina was little and scared of thunderstorms.

"He's okay," she whispered, pressing her cheek against Adina's clammy forehead. "He's with me now. He's safe. I promise you."

Adina's voice cracked. "I'm not crazy, Grandma. I swear, I just... I don't know what's happening to me."

Adina's gaze dropped to her arms. Blood was already drying in thin, angry lines.

"I'm scared," she whispered, almost too quiet to hear. "I don't know what's real anymore. I close my eyes and see... things. Awful things."

Vanessa tightened her hold. Her hand trembled against Adina's back, She fought the panic rising in her chest, forcing calm into her voice.

"I know, baby. I know. But you're not going through this alone."

Adina leaned into her, shaking like a leaf caught in the wind. "It feels like I'm slipping," she mumbled. "Like my head's not mine anymore."

Vanessa rocked her gently. "You're gonna get through this. I swear to you-we'll get answers. But for now, I need you to calm."

Adina pulled back a little, eyes swimming with tears. "Where's Adrian? Really? Is he okay?"

"He's with me," Vanessa said softly. "I took him home with me. Anita's watching him-she's amazing with babies, remember? He's safe, I promise."

Adina stared at her, trying to believe it. Trying to hang onto something solid. "Okay," she breathed.

Vanessa kissed the top of her head, holding her close again. "I'm getting you out of here. You don't belong in this place. And the people who did this to you..."

She paused, her voice low and cold now.

"They'll pay. Every last one of them."

---

Two days later...

Vanessa King sat poised like royalty in her sitting room, her expression unreadable, the quiet elegance of the space clashing with the tension thickening by the second.

Her fingers were folded neatly on her lap, but her eyes didn't waver as Eric Harrington walked in, flanked by his mother, Mabel, and Caleb West, the legal director of King Group.

Eric didn't sit and went straight to speaking.

"You had no right," he said, voice clipped, standing stiff near the armchair opposite hers. "...To discharged Adina from the mental hospital without telling me. And you took Adrian out of my house without my permission...That's basically kidnapping."

Vanessa arched one brow, unbothered. "Your house?" Her tone was calm, but the disdain in it was unmistakable. "You mean the house I gave my granddaughter as a wedding gift?"

Eric hesitated. His mouth opened like he had a comeback, but nothing came out. He glanced at his mother, Mabel for backup, and fortunately she was already stepping forward.

"This is over the line, Vanessa," Mabel said, smoothing her blazer sleeve. "You're not her doctor, or a judge. Eric's her husband-he should be involved in her care. And Adrian is their child. You don't just get to take them."

Caleb cleared his throat, trying to mediate. "Mrs. King, if I may... legally, Eric does have spousal rights during a medical crisis. And as the child's father-"

Vanessa raised a hand, cutting him off with a look.

"Let's stop right there."

The room fell silent.

"You all seem very sure Adrian is Eric's biological son," she said, each word deliberate. "But based on my recent findings... he's not."

Eric's head snapped toward her.

Mabel tensed.

"What are you talking about?" Eric demanded. "That's not true."

Vanessa stood, slowly, her expression unreadable.

"As far as I'm concerned, Adrian is Adina's son. Which makes him mine to protect. So I suggest you tread carefully, Eric."

Mabel regained her voice first. "You're bluffing," she said sharply. "This is just a smear job to push my son out of Adina's life. What proof do you even have?"

Vanessa stepped closer, her heels barely making a sound on the polished floor. Her voice dropped, cool and sharp as glass.

"Oh, don't worry, the proof will be presented in court. Including the doctor who drugged Adina with benzodiazepines and antipsychotics. And whoever paid him to do it."

Eric looked dazed, shoulders stiffening. "I didn't... I didn't know about that," he said quietly. "I just took her there because she wasn't okay. She needed help, I thought-"

"Stop," Mabel snapped, cutting him off. "She's baiting you. None of this will hold. We'll find out where she's keeping Adina and Adrian, don't worry."

A sudden buzz broke the moment. Caleb reached inside his jacket, checking his phone. As he read the message, color drained from his face.

He leaned over to Eric. "You need to see this."

Eric took the phone, frowning. His expression darkened.

Mabel snatched it from his hand, scanning the screen. Her voice rose. "You're calling for an emergency board meeting? Without telling Eric?"

Vanessa didn't even blink. Her reply came cool and effortless.

"Good. So the mole's still leaking info. I was counting on that." She turned to Eric. "If you want to stay chairman, you'll have to prove something before Wednesday."

She let that hang in the air before continuing a few seconds later, "Paternity test. You, Mabel, and Dominic. Submit yourselves..."

"...Or step down. Because the only reason you became chairman was thanks to my son's Will-naming Adina's husband as successor if she gave birth to his child."

Eric stared at her, frozen.

Vanessa stepped closer to him, her voice lowering to a final, warning hush. "Don't look so shocked, I'm just getting started. Everything you, your mother, and her little circle did to my granddaughter... I'm going to bring it to light."

June 15, 2024.

Laughter and the soft clinking of champagne glasses filled the grand ballroom of the Bandillon Expression Event Center.

It was an exclusive high-society event. Chandeliers sparkled above, casting golden hues on the elites of the business world.

Dressed in an elegant, midnight-blue gown, Vanessa King moved through the crowd with practiced grace, her every step exuding power.

Yet, beneath her poised exterior, her mind was set on something far more pressing.

In four days from now, she would be presiding over the King Group board meeting she had requested a few days ago-one that would change everything.

Eric had to be removed as Chairman. His betrayal ran too deep.

First, the revelation that Adina's son wasn't biologically his-from the flash drive left behind by Benjamin Anderson, the late lab technician from Pacific Grand Hospital whom she had met by chance after he was attacked. She had tried to save him, but he died on the way to the hospital.

Knowing that he got to be the chairman of King Group by virtue of having a child with Adina.

Then, the financial discrepancies-the embezzlement, the offshore accounts and other hidden accounts.

And worst of all, Mabel's complicity in Adina's mental suffering. The lies, the gaslighting, the cruel manipulations that had driven her into a mental rehabilitation center.

Vanessa had confronted Mabel directly during her visit with Eric and Caleb to her place two days ago. She couldn't hide her disgust. Not when it affected her granddaughter.

"I know what you did to Adina," she had said, voice low, steady. "I will expose them all for the world to see and do what's necessary for her sake."

Mabel had smirked, barely fazed afterwards.

"We'll see to that." She had said.

And now, even in the midst of people smiling and chatting as if everything was fine with her, Vanessa's mind remained stuck on how Mabel had reacted-cold, dismissive, as if she were powerless to change anything.

Then-Thwip!

A muffled pop echoed through the air-sharp, and sudden.

Conversations died mid-sentence. Glasses slipped from hands and shattered on the floor.

Screams tore through the hall.

Vanessa jerked as a searing pain ripped through her chest. The force knocked her off balance-she stumbled, then collapsed onto the marble floor with a sickening thud.

Warm blood spread beneath her, soaking through her blouse, unstoppable.

Panic exploded around her. Heels clicked in frantic rhythm, chairs screeched across the floor, voices overlapped in chaos.

Everything blurred-shouts, gasps, footsteps pounding toward her. The world spun, sound warping in and out, like she was sinking underwater.

Tears welled in her eyes as she lay unmoving on the ground, but they weren't from the pain of the bullet lodged in her chest. They were from regret.

Regret for trusting the wrong people. For believing that longtime friendship and loyalty were the same.

She had been happy, believing Adina was in good hands-marrying the son of her late father's childhood friend, someone she once considered family.

She had ignored Maxwell's warnings-her only son-before he left for that trip, the one he never returned from.

He died in a car crash, and even after his death, she never thought to reconsider his words.

Every concern he had raised, every suspicion he tried to voice...She dismissed it all because she was too broken by his death, too unwilling to face the possibility that she might have missed something important.

And now, she was paying the price.

With every weakening heartbeat, tears slid down her cheeks.

"If only I had another chance... Adina..."

"Oh, Adina... my poor Adina..."

Her vision blurred, the edges of the world darkening. The pull of darkness was inevitable.

And then... she saw nothing.

----

A sharp gasp tore from the lips of the lone figure draped in hospital linens as her eyes snapped open.

White ceiling. Bright hospital lights. The smell of antiseptic.

Vanessa's hands flew to her chest, searching for the wound, for the blood.

Nothing. No pain. No bullet hole.

Confusion gripped her like a vice. She wasn't dead?

Just about then the door swung open. Her PA, Jeremy and a doctor walked in, holding three files.

"Ma'am, here are your routine health evaluation results," the doctor said, setting them down.

Routine?

Vanessa's breathing grew shallow. Her fingers gripped the hospital sheets.

"How did I get here?"

"Ma'am... We came in yesterday. Oliver brought us. He's in the car waiting to take us back to the hotel we lodged in." Jeremy said with furrowed brows, confused by her question.

"Erm... what... day is it today?" Her voice was rough, barely a whisper.

Jeremy and the doctor shared a quick, puzzled glance before Jeremy spoke up.

"January 5th, 2016, Ma'am. Are you feeling okay?" He paused, eyeing her with a mix of curiosity and concern. "You always did your full health evaluation during the first week of the new year."

Vanessa froze.

January 5th, 2016?

The world seemed to tilt, her gaze blurred for a moment.

This was the month before everything had gone wrong-before Adina's IVF. Before she uncovered the truth about what they'd done to Adina through Benjamin's flash drive.

Before the gunshot. Before she died on that floor.

But... how?

Her mind scrambled, grasping at the impossible.

This couldn't be real. It couldn't be happening.

Yet, as she looked at the concerned faces of Jeremy, her PA, and the doctor-still watching her, unsure-reality hit her like a crushing wave.

She had been given a second chance.

But how? Who had made this possible?

Her mind raced, a blur of unanswerable questions.

And judging by the looks on Jeremy and the doctor's faces, they were starting to wonder if something was seriously wrong with her.

But if this was a second chance-if this was truly her chance to live again-it had to be an answer to her final prayer.

A chance to save her granddaughter from the vipers lurking in plain sight, the smiling faces hiding sharpened knives.

•~•~•

Present Day... March 10, 2016.

The car hit a slight bump, jarring Vanessa back to the present.

Her fingers curled into fists in her lap, the tension building in her muscles.

Through the rearview mirror, her driver, Oliver's eyes flicked toward her. She had made a sound-something between a sigh and a whisper.

His gaze lingered, trying to read her, searching for any hint of what weighed on her mind.

Vanessa stayed silent, her face a mask of unreadable calm.

Everything that had happened still felt like a dream. Yet here she was, in 2016, making decisions with the knowledge of a future that hadn't happened yet-but that she had already lived.

She had promised herself she would never trust blindly again. She would take control. She had to.

Because this time-this time, she would not fail her late son and granddaughter.

She had to protect her no matter the cost.

"Oliver, take me to Randolph Avenue, I need to see someone there immediately."

April 26, 2016

Pacific Grand Hospital.

10:15 AM

For six years, Adina King-Harrington had dreamed of this moment. Prayed. Begged. Cried. Clawed at hope even when it felt impossible.

And now-finally-it was here.

She was pregnant.

Her hands trembled as she clutched the test results, her breath unsteady.

A lump formed in her throat, thick and overwhelming, as tears burned the back of her eyes.

A shaky laugh bubbled from her lips as she turned to her husband, Eric Harrington, "I told you," she whispered, her voice breathless, her eyes gleaming.

For the first time since the IVF procedure, Eric smiled-a real smile, wide and unguarded.

It had taken his mother's relentless insistence to push him into this process, but now, seeing the proof before him, a wave of relief crashed over him.

"You did," he murmured. His usually stiff posture eased as his hand lifted hesitantly, hovering just above her stomach. Then, slowly, he let himself touch it.

It was tentative at first, as if he didn't quite believe it. But when he felt the warmth of her skin beneath his palm, his fingers pressed more firmly, smoothing over the place where their child was growing.

"We're finally going to have our baby." He added.

Adina nodded quickly, laughing through the tears she hadn't even realized had started falling. "Finally."

A throat cleared.

The sound barely registered at first, drowned out by the joy in the room. But when it came again-hesitant, uneasy-Adina's smile faltered.

She turned her head.

Dr. Perry Osborne, an older man with a long-standing reputation as one of the best in his field, sat across from them, hands clasped over the folder in front of him.

He wasn't smiling.

A chill trickled down her spine, her joy slipping through her fingers like sand.

Eric's hand on her stomach stilled, his brows furrowed. "Is there a problem, Doctor?"

Dr. Perry hesitated. His fingers curled around the folder's edges, knuckles turning white.

"Mr and Mrs. Harrington," he began carefully, "I'm afraid there was... a small complication during your insemination."

The warmth in the room completely vanished now.

Adina's breath hitched. A dull, creeping panic twisted in her gut.

"A complication?" Her voice trembled. "What complication? I'm pregnant, aren't I? You called us in to give us good news, so what-what are you talking about?"

Dr. Perry exhaled slowly, lowering his gaze. "You're going to be a mother, Mrs. Harrington... But..." He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. "...not of Mr. Harrington."

Silence.

The kind that suffocates.

Adina's heart slammed against her ribs. She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

Beside her, Eric sat frozen, stone-still.

Then he spoke.

His voice was low and calm. "...What?"

Dr. Perry swallowed, looking as if he wished he could disappear. "I mean...Mr. Harrington...the baby your wife is carrying is not...yours. We're really sorry it happened."

The words hit Eric like a wrecking ball.

His fingers curled into fists. His jaw tightened. But his voice-low, eerily controlled-didn't waver.

"Are you telling me," he said, each word measured, "that after everything-the months, the tests, the procedures-this baby isn't mine?"

The calmness in his tone was unsettling. The kind that came before a storm.

Dr. Perry swallowed, adjusting his tie. "There was a mix-up at the lab. The wrong sperm sample was used-"

Eric shot to his feet, the suddenness sending his chair scraping against the tile floor-a sharp, jarring sound, like a whip crack.

"A mix-up?!" His voice cut through the air, sharp enough to shatter glass. "Are you seriously telling me my wife is carrying another man's child?"

"Eric-" Adina reached for him, but he jerked his hand away. His entire body was rigid with fury, his eyes blazing.

"I want a damn explanation," he seethed. "Now."

Dr. Perry remained composed, his voice steady and professional. "I understand how upsetting this is-"

"Upsetting?" Eric's laugh was bitter, humorless. He leaned forward, palms slamming onto the desk. "This isn't a minor inconvenience, Doctor. This is my wife carrying another man's child."

Adina barely heard him.

Her ears were ringing, her pulse pounding so loudly that it drowned out everything else.

Not Eric's.

Her baby wasn't Eric's.

The thought hit her like a freight train.

Her stomach twisted violently as a wave of nausea crashed over her.

"Who?" Her voice came out hoarse. Small.

Eric stopped mid-rant, his head snapping toward her.

Adina swallowed hard, her grip tightening around the test results as she forced herself to meet the doctor's gaze. Her breathing was uneven, her voice shaking.

"Who is the father?" she asked again, louder this time.

Silence.

A long, unbearable silence.

Then-Eric slammed his fist against the mahogany desk, making both Adina and the doctor flinch. "Answer the freaking question!"

Dr. Perry inhaled deeply. "We've already cont-ac-ted the indivi-dual," he stuttered. "He's agreed to meet with you both today. We hope you can find common ground."

Eric's jaw tightened. "A common ground?" He exhaled a short, humorless chuckle.

"So that's it? You expect me to sit across from some stranger, shake hands, and calmly discuss my wife carrying his child like this is some goddamn business-"

A knock at the door cut him off.

Adina's stomach twisted with dread.

The nurse peeked in, her voice soft. "Doctor... he's here."

Tension thickened in the room, and Adina felt Eric's entire body go stiff beside her.

Dr. Perry nodded. "Bring him in."

The next few seconds stretched too long.

Then-the door swung open.

And he walked in.

Ryan Knight.

Adina's breath caught, her world tilting on its axis.

The air shifted instantly, as if the room itself braced for impact.

He walked in with effortless confidence, the kind that sucked the oxygen right out of the space.

His hazel eyes swept over the room, taking everything in-Dr. Perry's stiff posture. Eric's murderous glare. The undeniable tension hanging in the air like a storm ready to break.

Then, finally, his gaze found hers.

Locked. Unwavering.

Recognition flickered. And then-something else. Something sharper.

Adina's pulse roared in her ears.

It's been six years since their shared past. Six years since their breakup.

And yet, Ryan Knight hadn't changed. If anything, time and success had only made him more handsome. The sharp cut of his jaw. The way his tailored suit fit perfectly over his broad shoulders. The aura of control that clung to him like a second skin.

His lips curved into a smirk.

"There she is..." he murmured, his voice as smooth as silk.

His gaze flickered down to her stomach, then back to her face, something unreadable glinting in his eyes.

"...The mother of my child... I guess this is what's called the irony of life," Ryan said, his voice steady but tinged with amusement.