Playing Fire with My Ice-King BOSS: V-Card for One Night, Ring Forever - Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Isabelle's POV
At lunchtime, while everyone headed to the cafeteria, I called Gordon to request a meeting with Jeremiah. He directed me to take the elevator straight up to the executive floor.
"What's up?" Jeremiah asked, eyes glued to his computer screen, his expression as unreadable as ever. But something was different today—
He was wearing a crisp white dress shirt with a vest over it, looking more distinguished than his usual all-black ensemble.
Was that the white shirt I'd ordered for him?
I walked straight over and placed the bag on his desk. "Returning your jacket. Thanks for lending it."
Jeremiah glanced at the bag, then at me. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah..." After yesterday's confrontation, I figured we had no business discussing personal matters. "If there's nothing else, Mr. Winslet, I'll head back down."
"Mmm."
The dizzy spells and nausea got so bad that I took the afternoon off and went to the hospital.
I was still waiting for my number to be called, nodding off in the uncomfortable plastic chair, when I finally heard my name announced.
After explaining my symptoms, the doctor started her routine questions.
"Name?"
"Isabelle Blythe."
"Age?"
"Twenty-two."
"Did you have unprotected sex last month?"
"...Yes, but I took Plan B."
"Plan B is only about 90% effective. There's still a small chance of pregnancy. Let's do an ultrasound to check."
The doctor spoke matter-of-factly, with a practiced smile that did nothing to calm my nerves.
I gripped my white dress so tightly my knuckles went white, sweat beading on my forehead.
So the morning-after pill wasn't foolproof after all?
I swallowed hard and took the test order with shaking hands.
My eyes welled up as I thought about my mother—how she'd been in this exact situation once. She'd had an affair with a businessman, gotten pregnant with me, and raised me completely alone. Only the two of us knew how hard those years had been.
I walked down an empty hallway, staring at the ultrasound order, terrified of what they might find. If there really was a baby in there, I was completely fucked.
I was only twenty-two and barely had my own life figured out.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but the more I tried to relax, the more anxious I became.
I considered texting Jeremiah, but then remembered he'd blocked me on everything. Even if I called, a big shot CEO like him probably wouldn't pick up anyway.
That made me feel even more hopeless.
I bit my lip, fighting back tears.
That's when I spotted a familiar figure walking toward me.
Skye Miller. She was barely three months pregnant—not showing yet, but already carrying herself like an expectant mother. An older woman walked beside her, loaded down with bags and treating her like precious cargo.
"Isabelle, you're here for testing too?" she asked with obvious mockery, staring at the early pregnancy screening order in my hand.
She looked terrible—no light in her eyes, dark circles, nothing like the gorgeous, polished woman she used to be.
"Skye." I quickly folded my test order and hid it behind my back.
"You're really something else!" she hissed through gritted teeth, looking like she wanted to tear me apart.
"Why are you so angry?" I almost laughed, knowing exactly what she meant. Part of me felt satisfied seeing her so miserable, but another part pitied her.
I'd lost a cheating bastard. She'd lost a husband and her baby's father.
Comparatively, I was the lucky one.
"Ha!" Tears started streaming down Skye's face.
"You must be thrilled that the Fisher-Miller alliance fell through! Conrad loves you, but I'm the one carrying his child. You wanted revenge, didn't you?!"
I didn't deny her accusations.
"Whether I knew about you and Conrad is irrelevant. I never said anything publicly—your uncle was the one who exposed everything. How is that my fault?
Bottom line, you brought this on yourself. Both families were planning this marriage anyway. You were so paranoid about me stealing him that you made stupid choices. It was completely unnecessary!"
"Isabelle! You're just a bastard child with no father! What gives you the right to lecture me?!"
Skye and I used to be close enough to stay up all night talking, but now she was attacking me with the most painful part of my past. I felt like I'd been slapped.
I didn't respond, just stood there in shocked silence.
I couldn't believe our friendship had come to this.
It wasn't until the intercom called my name again that I snapped back to reality.
I didn't want to fight, especially not in a hospital where people were already staring. I'd attracted enough attention.
"Skye, let's just... end this here." I tried to walk around her, but she blocked my path.
"Isabelle, you broke up with Conrad less than a month ago. Are you using us as cover while you're sleeping around with some random guy?"
"Show some fucking respect!" I'd had enough of her bullshit.
If I weren't potentially pregnant, I would've slapped this bitch into next week.
"Ha! Why are you getting so defensive?!" Skye stepped closer and snatched the test order from my hands.
"Give that back!"
I tried to grab it, but the woman with her blocked me.
"I knew it!" Skye examined the paperwork with obvious glee.
My nose and eyebrows were burning red with humiliation and rage.
For years, classmates had mocked me for being illegitimate, and Skye had always defended me. Now she was using my biggest insecurity as a weapon.
Skye laughed coldly. "You know why I protected you all these years?"
I hadn't known before, but now I was starting to understand.
"Because Conrad loved you, and I loved Conrad. I had to be perfect in front of him. Everyone said I was so caring and compassionate, and Conrad slowly started accepting me. But you have no idea how much I've always hated you!"
Her words hit me like lightning.
So even close friendships could be built on lies.
All those years of care and support had been fake.
My boyfriend was fake, my best friend was fake.
Fucking perfect.
I understood now, and tears I couldn't control started falling.
"Give me back my paperwork." I fought to keep my voice steady, speaking slowly and deliberately.
"Tell me who this mystery man is, and I'll give it back."
Skye pushed her companion aside and stepped right up to me.
I wasn't stupid enough to fall for that trap. Jeremiah was a famous fashion industry mogul—everyone knew and feared him. If I mentioned his name, Skye would never believe me and would just humiliate me further.
Plus, since Jeremiah had blocked me yesterday, even if I admitted everything, he probably wouldn't back me up anyway.
"Give me my fucking paperwork!" I reached for it again, but Skye slapped me across the face.
SMACK!
My cheek stung like hell. The bustling hospital suddenly went quiet except for the intercom still calling my name.
I didn't want to deal with this psycho anymore—I just wanted my test order back so I could get away from her.
I reached for the paper again, and Skye raised her hand for another slap.
I braced myself for the impact, but her hand stopped mid-air, caught by someone else's much larger one.