What they never knew

"You can't tell me that Ashley. You've been doing this before and I didn't say anything. I'm not going to be taking it lightly with you this time." I said angrily.

"It's not yours. I've told you." She said in her annoying tiny voice.

This bitch was testing me. She's been taking my designs and claiming it as her own and this is not the first time it has happened. She uses them to gain favour from our boss. At first I didn't say anything, thinking I was mistaken. But she's done it twice and the third time was a kind of bait I laid down for her and she took it hook, line and sinker.

"That's what you think." I said to her. She's lucky we were alone this room. I went to the table and brought out my old design pad as the design an was old one. I flipped to the exact page of the design which was already old. Her eyes widened when she saw it.

"See. Is it still yours now?? Why don't you just cut it and save us both from the stress of looking stupid?"

"I....I...." She stammered. Ashley has been awful to me since she started working here. Well not me alone. She's been a total bitch to everyone. No one likes her. I still don't know why Astrid, our boss, is still keeping her around. Well, I heard rumor that she's the daughter of one of her rich friends.

She suddenly flared up at me.

"So what if I take out of your designs?? You have loads of them already and you nothing with except handpicking some. So what's bad in picking some of your designs?" She had to be kidding me right now. is she deranged??

"Weren't you thought by your rich parents that there is something called stealing?" I asked using my two in index fingers as a quote sign. "You stole my stuffs and you are telling me you just took it, like you have the right to."

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes sarcastically and walked out.

What the heck?

The girl had to be sick in her head. Thank goodness that she admitted it. It's not that it was a big deal to me but she didn't ask. I would have given her if she did. We were all under pressure as we were asked to submit ideas for the new fashion show that was coming up. I sat down checking the dresses for any issues. The show was tomorrow and every one is super busy. I'm tired as anything right now.

I went out to supervise what was going on in the other cubicles. I was literally the one in charge when our boss is not around.

I'm Gwen Shivers, twenty two years old. Not your regular beauty because I had a lot of freckles I don't consider myself as pretty. I've lived alone all my life since I could remember. I had no parents or family member, I was brought up by old Maggie who happens to be my neighbor. She told me my mum left one day and left me, not that I remembered anything. I don't know her face, I didn't find any pictures or anything that will even give me the clue to remember her. So, I just decided to forget her since I didn't mean much to her as she just decided to leave me. I work here as a fashion designer and illustrator. I worked my ass off to get to where I am now. I graduated university early and I landed this job opportunity luckily even if my boss was a bitch.

I entered another cubicle to see what was going on there, then I heard rushing sound at the entrance. I didn't have to look back to see who it was. I could already hear her barking out orders and complaining about things.

"Gwen!" She shouted out my name, but I decided to act like I didn't hear her. She repeatedly called my name, so I backed out of the cubicle turned my back to face her but not before rolling my eyes. I walked towards her in calculated strides.

"Hi Astrid." I greeted her in a neutral tone.

"Is everything set? Are the models ready? Are the dresses perfect? I don't want mistakes." She said nastily and I tried my best not to show the expression in my head on my face.

"Yes. Everything is set. You can check them out if you want to." I didn't want to be rude to her. She would have fired me a long time ago if I was not efficient at my job because I can be very rude at times. I don't take nonsense and I tend to call her on her bullshit. I wanted to keep this job as long as I can as the pay was good and I liked good stuffs and I wanted to repay Maggie for her kindness towards me.

"When is Charles going to be here?" She asked one of the people behind her.

"Any minute from now." I decided to leave quietly as she seemed to be done with me.

I backed away to continue what I was doing as I was not interested in listening to her complaining again and again. I turned around only to bump into someone. Arrrgh.... How did this happen? You were walking with you back turned duh I thought in my mind. I bent down to pack the stuffs that fell from my victim's hand. He also bent down at the same time to pick the stuffs up.

"I am so sorry. I should have looked at..." I looked up only to see the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life. He smiled at me, grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

"It's okay. I'm fine." He replied. I couldn't come up with anything to say and I couldn't stop staring at him. His hair was so dark and slick that I wanted to touch it. Don't even get me started with his eyes. It was the combination of blue,green and grey, making it a unique mixture of different colors. His lips were firm and gentle at the same time. Looking at him this close, he had a scar on the lower side of his lip. Is it possible for a scar to make someone look attractive? I could stare at him all day long and still not get enough. What the fuck Gwen? I thought. What I'm I even thinking. He might not find me attractive at all so why am I behaving like this? I cleared my throat, blinking several times to get myself back together.

"Humm... I'm s.... sorry. Your cell.. cellphone is broken." I said noticing the broken phone in his hand. It looked expensive, I'm not sure I can afford a new one for him.

"I'll fix it." I said in a low voice and pulled out my phone from behind my back pocket.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's not a big deal you know. I wasn't exactly looking at where I was going too." He replied me in a soft voice. Can I melt? Then he did something that I wasn't expecting at all. He smiled. He fucking smiled and dimples showed on both sides of his face. Wow. Can he get anymore attractive?

It was at that point that I remembered that Astrid was a few steps behind me and she probably saw everything that just happened. Shit!

I heard the clinking of her shoes from behind me so I pulled my hands out of his grip.

"I didn't know you to be a clumsy person Gwen." She said with a disdainful look on her face. Ashely was right beside her. I rolled my eyes in my head. She was smiling evilly at me.

"Mum. It was a mistake and we already spoke about it." He sounded like he was scolding her.

"I.... It was ...." She silenced me with a wave of her hand.

"Charles darling, I've been expecting you." She said, wrapping her hand around his arm.

"I'm here now mum. I was held up in the traffic." He said.

Wait...What? He is Charles?? Charles Emmett??? Wow.... How things turn, I thought sarcastically. This area was getting suddenly crowded by mostly ladies. What are they doing? I frowned. Ashley was batting her her lashes at him like there was something in her eyes. she was so fake, from her body to her attitude. Astrid didn't say anything, I think she's enjoying the attention her son was getting.

"Charles darling, this is Ashely, Ashely Amon. She's Pete's daughter." She said.

"Hi Charles. I've heard a lot about you from Astrid here." She said in a totally different voice, bringing out her hand for a handshake.

"Hi. Charles." He said curtly, shaking her hands.

Bitch.

"Drop the formalities. We're friends now. Aren't we?" She said moving closer to him, which he stepped back a little bit.

"I hope both of you get along." Astrid said, smiling.

I decided to leave but not before looking at Charles again and he was looking at me. His eyes were kind of saying I should not go. You like to imagine things Gwen, I thought. I spun around and left the scene with a very racing heart.

"Bye Tom. See you tomorrow." I waved at the security man in charge of the building.

"Bye belle." I smiled. He always called me that and I still can't understand why. I exited the door and waited a little bit letting the breeze blow on my face. I'm so tired right now, I could sleep here. I was the last person to leave here as usual. This happens anytime there is going to be a fashion show. Ken wanted to stay, but I told him to go. I work better in silence.

I dragged my feet off the pavement and walked towards the bus station. I sat down and brought out my phone to check some designs. A car suddenly pulled up and honked in front of me. I looked up only to see Charles.

"Gwen." He called out. He knows my name??

I walked up to him.

"Hi Charles. What are you doing here by this time?" How I was talking was beyond me but I decided to go with the flow.

"Humm... just passing by and I saw you. Get in the car." He said.

I should be in the same car with him?? Nahhh...

"Err... don't bother. My bus will soon arrive."

"Get. in. the. car." He emphasized on the words, narrowing his eyes.

My eyes widened at the sound of his underlying commanding tone. I didn't say anything further, I opened the door and entered.

"How was your day today?" He asked sweetly like he was not the one that commanded me now

"Err... it was fine." I answered still surprised at his question.

"I want to apologize on behalf of my mother about what happened this morning." He said and glanced at me a little bit before concentrating on the road.

"No problem. It's not a big deal." I replied.

We spoke about random stuffs and later found out that he just started working in stead of his father as the CEO of Emmett Inc. He sounded like an intelligent person and I could not stop staring at him anytime he was talking.

Thirty minutes later, we pulled up in front of my house.

"Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate." I said sincerely.

"I thought we already passed the level of you talking to me so seriously." He laughed.

I just smiled at him and was about to open the door to alight from the car when he suddenly held my hand. I gasped at the sudden feeling of sparks that went up my hand.

"I need to tell you something." He sounded serious and gentle at the same time. "I dont want you to think I'm rushing things, but I need to tell you." He was looking at me in the eyes and he already grabbed my second hand

"I like you."

Is it possible to be on earth and feel like you are in heaven? Feeling like the butterflies in your stomach will never stop? That is the exact feeling I've been having this past months.

Charles and I have been going out for the past three months and I can say with all affirmation that they have been the best days of my life. He was so sweet and how he has been getting to see me everyday since then gets past me, because of the amount of work he has to do. He sends flowers to me at random times at work. My colleagues have been teasing me a lot about the secret admirer I have. I didn't tell anyone anything about the fact that I was dating our boss's son. That particular part still bugs me. I told him not to tell anyone about us because I was scared of his mother and I didn't want us to break up. I have this feeling that if she knows, she wouldn't want us to be together, even though he was totally ready to go public with it.

There is another problem I have right now. I think I'm pregnant. I've not take the test but looking at the related circumstances, I think I'm pregnant. I took the test box I bought this morning before coming to work, put it in my bag and went to the restroom. I opened a stall, went in and locked the door.

After I was done with it, I sat on the toilet seat, jerking my legs nervously, a part of me silently hoping that I was not pregnant and a part of me was happy about it.

Few minutes later, two vibrant red lines stared back at me. I was not exactly shocked, but the fact that reality just dawned on me made me start crying. I cried for almost twenty minutes before I stopped.

I went out of the stall and stared at myself in the mirror. Luckily, no one was here at the moment. What if he does not accept the baby? What if he denies it or say things like I cheated on him? I've never been with any man except him. What if.... My heart started beating rapidly. I washed my face nervously before I left the restroom. I went straight into my office. I won't exactly call it an office because it was a changing room. But I tend to spend most of my time here and my colleagues started calling it my office so it just stuck. It was at this particular moment I thanked God that I had I personal space.

Later at night, I was the only one left in the office. I was literally just staring into space, doing nothing. That was when I heard a knock on my door. I pulled myself together.

"Come in." I said. I pulled my hands through my hair and put my glasses in a very good position.

"Babe." I immediately raised my head up when I heard Charles's voice.

"Charles?" I said in surprise. Oh God.... What was he doing here?? "What are you doing here?" I asked in a surprised tone, standing up.

"I wanted to surprise you. I knew you were still going to be here. So instead of calling, I decided to just show up." He said. And I did something I have not done since morning, I smiled. He had that effect on me. Just seeing him makes me happy.

"Are you okay? Your face is swollen. Did you cry? Who hurt you?" He asked in one breath coming close to me and touching my face.

My heart started beating fast again.

"I'm okay. I....."

"Don't lie to me. What's going on?" He said sternly holding my eyes. I need to tell him now. If he's going to reject me, he should do it now.

"I... I ...I...." I stuttered.

"Calm down babe. Calm down. You know you can tell me anything right?" He said touching my hair. He backed me towards the chair behind my table and made me sit down. I didn't take my eyes off him but I knew I was already crying. He sat on my table and faced me.

"Talk to me." He said in a worried tone.

"I'm..... I ..." he suddenly bent down and picked something up from the floor. My eyes widened when I saw what it was. The test. It was the test. I didn't want him to know this way.

"I stepped on this..." he stopped mid sentence. I was looking at the floor not even daring to look at him.

He was silent for what seemed like a long time. How could I have been so careless with it?

"You are pregnant?" He asked carefully.

This is it. Then end of everything. I might as well pull on my big girl pants and deal with this once and for all.

"Are you pregnant?" He asked again with a little bit more force, raising my head up to look at him. I was expecting to see hate and resentment in his eyes but he was smiling.

I nodded.

That was all it took for him to sweep me into a very big hug. I was amused at his reaction as I was not expecting it.

"You are not angry?" I asked. He released me and looked at me weirdly.

"Why will I be angry? You are carrying my baby. I never expected it happen but now that it has, it is the best thing that has ever happened to me, Gwen. You have no idea how happy I am about this."

"I love you." I suddenly blurted out. I have not said those words to him even if he had said it to me a thousand times since we started our relationship.

He was smiling from ear to ear like he won a jackpot.

"You have no idea how much I love you. Let's get married." He said and my eyes widened. "I know this is not a romantic proposal and it is not what you dreamed about, but I want to have the assurance that you belong to me forever. I'll set up a....." I placed my hands on his lips to stop him from talking further.

"Yes. I'll marry you." I replied, placing my lips on his. He kissed me back passionately and I wrapped my hand around is neck. We broke off the kiss but not our embrace. He was just whispering thank you into my neck.

Suddenly, the door of my office swung open only to reveal Astrid. I was the one facing the door so I saw her first. I pulled out of Charles embrace and kept a distance between us, he frowned and pulled me back to him. What was she doing here?

"What in the seven heavens did I just hear?" She asked calmly.

No no no ...... anytime she sounds like that, there is going to be a very big problem.

Charles didn't seem fazed about the situation.

"We are getting married mum." He answered her, squeezing my hand in his.

"What???!!!! And you have the guts to tell me again?!!! She's pregnant and you are getting married!!!!??? Are you kidding me?" She flared up. "You can do better than this..." she pointed at me disdainfully. I normally don't let her words get to me but the fact that she was saying it in front of Charles made me feel embarrassed.

"Don't speak to her in that manner mum. I won't let you do that. She means everything to me. I......"

"What???!! Gwen, did you seduce my son? What have you done to him?!!!" She screamed almost pulling her hair out.

Charles pulled me behind him. I am not one to hide from my problems. I won't just stay here and allow her to talk me down. To talk down our relationship like it means nothing. I came out from behind him.

"I love Charles, Astrid and I want to be with him." I said loudly so that they will be able to hear me over their argument. I continued when they both went silent.

"I'm pregnant with his child and I don't regret anything about our relationship. I love everything about him and nothing will stop me from being with him. Not even you." I said strongly.

"I... I .... " Astrid was looking at both of us like we were deranged.

"You are fired. I don't ever want to see your face here any longer. And you Charles, I'm so disappointed in you right now. News flash for the both of you, especially you Gwen, you two will never get to be together. I'll do whatever it takes to break you apart." She said with a final tone and walked out of the room angrily.

I almost collapsed to the ground, but I felt Charles hold me.

"It's okay, sweetheart. We will work things out."

"Charlie...Charlie...." I said over and over again.

"Everything will be fine baby." He smoothed my hair and kissed my forehead.

I am not even surprised at the fact that I was fired. I was totally expecting that. But Astrid, I was concerned about her. She never makes an empty threat. She does whatever she says she'll do. And I know that she'll do whatever it takes to keep both of us apart.

6 months later

I missed him like crazy. I stared out the window of my house. The weather has been recently nice but I've been in a sour mood for the past two days because I was mad at Charles. I told him I didn't want to see him at all, so we've not seen each other in two days. He's been calling but I was not picking up.

The baby had to kick at that particular moment. It had random moments of kicking. Especially times when I'm thinking about it's father. I didn't want to know the gender of the baby yet and Charles agreed too.

"You miss daddy?? I miss him too." I rubbed my tummy, loving the feeling. I'm not angry anymore so I decided to go over to his place. It is a Saturday, so he should be home. I didn't want to call him to tell him that I was coming.

I dressed up, grabbed the keys to my car and walked out of the house. Charles bought me a car few months back, saying he wanted me to be comfortable and all that stuff. He literally buys me something anytime he comes to see me. He spoils me too much. Our engagement ring was so expensive that I could not just wear it anyhow. His mother later came to terms about our relationship and the baby. Or maybe that was what I thought. But she does not really make nasty comments about me again anytime I go to his place during the weekends. I still don't understand why his father insisted that he stays at their mansion during weekends.

There gateman opened the gates for me cheerfully waving at me. Everyone in this mansion was nice to me including his father.

I entered the house greeting the ever smiling house keeper. She gives me a jar of cookies anytime I come over to the house.

I made my way up the stairs and went to Charles's wing of the house. He had his own sitting room, bedroom and a study. I knocked on the door to his room but got no reply. I entered the room gently.

"Charlie." I called out but got no response. "Charlie."

"He never even allows me to call him 'that'." I turned around at the sound of Astrid's voice.

"Hi Astrid." I said.

"What can I do to make you leave my son alone?" She asked suddenly. I was surprised at her question because I thought we were over this. She never really gave me green light though.

"What are you talking about?" I decided to play dumb.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I can't have my son marry a nobody. You don't even have parents." She said.

"Did you do a background check on me?" I asked carefully, trying not to get angry.

"Why? Do you think I will just sit around and do nothing? You are just a gold digging whore. You are a useless bitch. That was why your mother left you, because she saw no good in you." What?! Okay, that's enough. This woman is really asking for it.

"That's enough!. I won't have you speak that way to me. I have not come here to quarrel with you. I will leave, so keep your opinion about me to yourself." I said, pushed past her and I walked out hurriedly. She was right behind me though. Saying all soughts of hurtful things to me. I stopped before descending the stairs and turned to her.

"Astrid, you know what? It'll be good for you to actually stop bugging me if you don't want a problem that you cannot deal with." I said coldly.

"Who do you think you are speaking to in that manner?" She screamed. I sometimes wonder if the woman had mental issues. I moved close to her and said in her ears.

"I know about your dirty secret. Your boy toys. The models that you have sex with in your office just to give them a slot to model your work." I said silently. I pushed back to look at her and she visibly went still. "Who's the whore now?" Her face was white like she had just seen a ghost.

"So, you had better leave my name out of your mouth if you don't want to have issues with me." I said.

"You don't have any evidence. No one will believe a word that comes out of your filthy mouth." She said shakily, trying to convince herself more than me.

"Really??" I laughed. "Are we really playing this game Astrid?" I said as I waved my cell phone in front of her face. "I thought you were a smart woman." I said.

She tried to take the phone from my hand but I raised it above my head. The height advantage i had over her didn't allow her struggle too much.

"Nothing will happen as long as you leave us alone." I said silently and started walking down the stairs.

I never planned on talking about her infidelity to anyone. Not even to her herself. But she pushed me today. I wasn't going to do anything about it as it was not my business. She made me call her out on her bullshit. I smiled at myself, rubbing my stomach.

I suddenly felt a hand push me hard from behind and I missed my footing. I stumbled and tumbled down the stairs. Everything just shutdown. My baby! My baby! My mind was screaming. No no no.... Why was the stairs so long? My head was banging. Everything stopped. I was hearing different voices but I couldn't decipher who was who. I couldn't raise my head, hands or legs.

"She's bleeding a lot!" Someone shouted.

"Call an ambulance nowwwww!!!"

Charlie where are you? I thought. I was slipping in and out of consciousness.

"M.... My ... bab....ba...baby." I mumbled.

I opened my eyes, I think we were in a hospital already. I'm till feeling very weak same as before. I grabbed the coat of the closet doctor to me.

"S...sa..save...m...my...b...ba..by." I rambled out.

"Her blood count is low!" Someone shouted.

I felt like I was floating away in my own emptiness.

"How many months is the baby??" Someone asked.

"Seven. She needs blood transfusion nowww!! Get an OR ready, she's going in for CS."

ASTRID, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?? I thought before completely slipping out of consciousness.

I squinted my eyes because of the brightness of light that hit me immediately I opened them. Where was I???

What happened to me? I closed my eyes trying to remember what happened. I placed my hand on my tummy wanting to soothe my baby when I was met by a flat stomach. I widened my eyes immediately and suddenly shot off the bed, but I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen.

My baby! Where is it?

That was when realization dawned on me that I was in the hospital. I remembered what happened. Astrid pushed me. She pushed me down the stairs. I never thought she'd do something this extreme.

"Where is my baby?" I shouted. I removed the drip that was been passed into me and tried to stand up. I felt like I was going crazy.

A nurse came in.

"Miss Zoe, calm down. Your baby is fine. Everything is fine. She's been placed in an incubator as she is a premature. We had to do a surgery on you to bring her out since you lost a lot of blood from your fall." The nurse said, helping me back on the bed.

I calmed down a little bit.

"Can I see her?" I asked nervously.

"Not yet. Even though you were out for almost a day, you still need to rest." She said sweetly.

I nodded gently. The nurse was about to leave when I asked

"Why did you call me Zoe?"

"That was the name that was registered in your chart."

What?

"Okay. Thank you."

I sighed and rested my head on the bed when I realized that my ring was not on my finger. I checked the bedside drawer maybe it was taken off before the surgery. It was not there. I checked for my cell phone too, I couldn't find it. I hope it's not what I'm thinking.

I saw a letter and an envelope on the drawer. I picked it up and opened it up. It was Charles's handwriting.

Gwen,

I never thought I would have easily fooled you like I did. Did you really think that I liked you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you?

You fascinated me at first and I wanted you for a little while, but you just had to get pregnant didn't you?

Long story short, I don't love you. I never did and I never will.

I'm engaged. If you have any ounce of self respect, you won't contact me anymore. And I took my ring.

C_

I didn't believe what I was reading. He won't do this right???. I opened the envelope only to see the picture of Charles and Ashely together. Ashely???? Why did it have to be her?? They seemed so happy. No no no no ..... I've seen this happening in movies, someone should tell me that it's not happening to me too.

Right about that moment, the same picture came up on the TV screen in the room. They tagged it as the engagement of the season as it was between two big companies. I suddenly screamed. I screamed in agony over and over again.

I still couldn't believe he did this to me. To our child. Charles couldn't have played me, right?