Chapter 24: One Month Later

After I left the bathroom, I headed for the door. I was so ready to get out of there. It was another place ruined for me. I doubted that I would ever return there.

I slowed my walking when I saw Dax waiting outside the car for me. The sight of him made me feel repulsed. It was hard to see him after what I had learned.

Dax opened my door for me, but I couldn’t even look at him and climbed in without a word.

He said, “Did you enjoy your lunch? I hope you liked it.”

I flatly said, “Yeah. It was good food.”

He noticed my change in tone and asked, “What’s wrong Danica?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to head back.”

For a brief second, he looked like he wanted to say something but stopped.

Dax didn’t press further and continued to drive us back. I looked out the window and wanted to put the whole lunch behind me.

I couldn’t believe I was starting to get fooled by Dax. No way would I be someone’s fling.

I wanted an actual relationship and not someone to play around with my emotions. That’s when I made a huge decision that would start tomorrow. I would cut myself off from Dax before we got any closer. It was the best way to protect my heart.

Dax was someone I didn’t need in my life. He could keep having his flings and forget about me for all I cared. I was done dealing with him.

Later that evening, Dax approached me and asked, “Can we talk?”

I replied, “There’s nothing I have to say to you.”

Dax frowned and asked, “What did I do wrong? Why are you acting this way?”

“I just don’t feel like talking. I’m tired, Dax.”

He almost opened up his mouth to say something else but closed it. Then Dax walked away with loud footsteps. He seemed pretty ticked off.

I could imagine that he was pretty confused at why I was acting this way. But I couldn’t stop. I had to start disconnecting us from each other sooner than later. I couldn’t let our relationship develop into something I couldn’t escape from.

The days went by quickly and suddenly it was a month later. I was finally three months pregnant.

During that time, I had been staying far from Dax. One time, I even walked out of a room after he came in. It was probably a little petty, but I couldn’t stand being around him anymore.

Every time I saw him, it reminded me of that lunch. I wasn’t going to let him trap me again with his charms.

It was good that I had the checkup to get out of the mansion. As I walked out the mansion, Dax started to follow me to the car and caused me to stop.

Why couldn’t he just do his work or something? I could go without him. He wasn’t the one who was pregnant.

He looked at me with confusion in his eyes. “Don’t you want me to come with you for your checkup?”

“No, I’d prefer to go alone.”

Dax seemed hurt by my words and he asked softly, “Are you really sure?”

I nodded my head and continued to walk to the car. The door was already opened for me by my chauffeur.

I got in without looking back at Dax. He didn’t deserve to have any of my attention.

Over the last number of days, I had been avoiding him and limited myself to rare meaningless words with him. I had noticed that he seemed hurt and confused but continued to keep my distance.

I wasn’t going to get pulled back to him. We were more professional by not getting any closer to each other. It wasn’t as if I had planned to become his friend or anything else. It felt as if we should have done this from the start.

The checkup went really well. The doctor told me, “You and your baby are quite healthy. Just keep up what you’re doing.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

I met up with the chauffeur who led me back to the car. He opened my door and I got in.

If only I didn’t have to go back to where Dax was. Now that we weren’t interacting much, I was feeling awkward around him. Though, it was easy to keep away from him at least. We only really saw each other for dinner at times, but I didn’t talk to him intentionally.

Time went by quickly and evening had arrived. I was about to head to my room when I bumped into Dax.

He looked at me and asked, “How did your day go?”

I wasn’t going to have this conversation and tried to walk away. Dax grabbed my arm and stopped me from moving any further.

What did he think he was doing? I didn’t have time to deal with this ridiculous behavior.

Dax looked into my eyes and asked, “Why do you keep avoiding me?”

“It’s better this way.”

“How can you say that?”

“Just let me go. I can’t have this conversation with you,” I coldly told him.

“Fine. Talk to me when you’re done acting like a child,” Dax bitterly stated.

He let me go and stormed off towards his room. I went up the stairs shortly after him.

There was a distinct slam a moment later. It came from Dax’s room and startled me as I came walking down the hall.

I had never known he could get this angry. Part of me almost felt a little guilty at what I had been doing. It quickly passed when I remembered what kind of man he was.

I continued walking towards my room and closed the door. Hopefully Dax knew better and would stay away from me for the remainder of the day. I couldn’t face him after our argument we just had.

Right away, I noticed that a tea tray was placed on my desk. It was in an elegant teacup with an embroidered design.

Who would have brought me this? Realization hit me as one person came to mind.

There was guilt that hit me. Dax must’ve ordered it to be brought to my room so we could make up. He didn’t want me to be keep my distance from him. I bet he wanted to have our old relationship back.

Why did he have to be so kind after I had been rude to him? He made my avoidance much harder this way. Why couldn’t he just forget about me and move on? It was easier if he just ignored me back.

It was one of the most thoughtful acts he had done for me. I had to accept his peace offering.

I grabbed the tray and took it with me to my bed. Carefully, I placed it on the spacious nightstand.

I picked up the cup and took a sip of the tea. There was hint of honey and ginger taste to it, which was very satisfying.

After I had been drinking it for a couple of minutes, I started to get an unsettling feeling in my stomach. A sense of dread came over me at getting a new illness. This illness was even worse than the morning sickness I had been dealing with.

How was that possible?

A gut feeling hit me, and I knew this was more serious than regular nausea and headed off in search of help.