Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Seven
Kelley sat on the couch in his hotel room and looked out of the window. It was destiny hearing from Milana now. Lee had drawn up the divorce papers for him months earlier but he hadn’t actively been looking for her.
His mind had been on other things, Sylvie mostly. He’d taken her to Maisina with him for the ground breaking ceremony and they’d spent a week there, having a little vacation of their own. He’d spent time with her, getting to know her and he liked her, a lot.
He wasn't keeping Sylvie a secret from his family but the only people that actually knew he was dating her were Mason, Lee and Jesse aside from his employees at the house. Mason especially had been happy that he'd taken some time off to relax.
The settlement he’d agreed to with Lee was a generous one, one he thought Milana would take in a heartbeat. The monetary offer was a good one with the exception that she needed to sign a non-disclosure agreement and change her name back to her maiden name and relinquish her rights on those twenty percent shares of the hotel in exchange for ten million dollars.
Kelley had concluded his business in the city and would be checking out today. Her call had come at a good time. He could stop by her place, discuss the divorce proceedings and make an appointment to sign the papers in Lee’s presence and go about their lives.
Telling Sylvie he was divorced would be a much better conversation than telling her he was separated because he still hadn’t said a word to her. He didn’t want to discuss it and he hadn’t really been hiding it from her, he just hadn’t wanted to scare her off.
He finished his coffee and grabbed the overnight bag he’d packed earlier and checked out of the hotel. It was still early and he had two more hours before he had to check out but he could leave for Yorkdare Bay after his meeting with Milana.
Kelley drove to the address she sent and he felt his mood shift the further he drove into the rough neighborhood. The apartment building he stopped in front of was decrepit and looked like it should have been demolished years ago.
He couldn’t quite believe that she lived there but he also realized that she hadn’t had many options since he’d cut her off from her own money. He’d wanted to teach her a lesson but he’d pushed all thoughts of her away and had never restored her access to it.
Kelley looked at the glass door of the apartment building and pushed it open. She lived on the fifth floor and he refrained from touching the banister. Graffiti littered the walls and the heavy scent of marijuana hung in the air.
By the time he reached the fifth floor his disgust had reached new levels. He knocked on her door, the sixth one from the stairs and waited with his hands in his pockets. He turned around when the door opened and he froze as he took her face in.
She looked terrible, and that was putting it nicely. “Come in,” Milana said.
Kelley averted his gaze and walked into her apartment. It was sparsely furnished, a sagging couch stood in the middle of the room with a chipped, wooden coffee table and nothing else. He turned to face her and froze in his step.
“You’re pregnant,” he said as he stared at her bulging stomach hidden under a large t-shirt.
“I don’t have any coffee but I can offer you some water,” Milana said as she shifted on her feet.
“You’re pregnant.”
“It’s yours,” she said and averted his gaze.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m eight months pregnant, you do the math,” she said and walked past him to sit down on the couch.
All thoughts of divorce and settlement agreements went right out of his head as he watched her. He briefly closed his eyes and dragged a hand over his still short hair. It meant that she’d gotten pregnant right around the first time they’d had sex.
“Get your stuff,” he said after minutes of absolute silence.
“What?”
“You called me and you obviously need help. I can’t believe you didn’t call me sooner. You’re pregnant and you didn’t tell me!”
“Yeah well, I didn’t know you were an asshole of the highest standard and playing club games in your study!”
“Excuse me?” Kelley tried to simmer the anger down to an acceptable level but the rage he felt was barely manageable.
“I’ll need maintenance for the baby. I don’t want to fight and I’m prepared to sign the divorce papers, like you said on the phone.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had money to go to a doctor and the clinic just provides basic care,” Milana said softly, suddenly feeling ashamed of her situation.
“You don’t know? Is the baby even healthy? Are you? Look at where you are, Milana! I won’t allow you to stay here … in this place that smells like weed and putting my baby at risk. There will be no divorce talks.”
They argued for over an hour before Kelley stalked off to the one bedroom and started packing up her stuff. He felt a slight twinge of guilt as he noticed the two packs of diapers, the sets of baby clothes and a few other necessities.
She had her bag of clothes, some yoga pants that stretched over her stomach and one coat. He didn’t understand her reluctance to tell him, to not ask for help earlier. He was done in ten minutes and walked back into the living room where she still sat on the couch.
“Milana, you know I’m right,” Kelley said as he extended his hand to her.
She didn’t say anything but she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. The only thing she needed to take was her purse. She hadn’t accumulated anything other than the few baby things she’d bought and leaving this apartment behind was easier than she’d thought.
