A Scandal With Mr. Nightwood

I always imagined my New Year's Eve ending with a proposal... not with my boyfriend buried between my model's legs.

“E-Edric? What are you doing?”

Edric stopped. His hair was a mess, his skin flushed with a heat that wasn't meant for me.

Amie simply leaned back, a slow, triumphant smirk spreading across her face.

That bitch.

“Kristine,” Edric panted, wiping sweat from his brow, “You are early.”

“What the.. What… How…”

“Don't look so shocked, Kristine.” Amie smirked, tracing a hand over his chest as Edric didn't bother to push her either.

Instead, he closed his eyes and let out a frustrated “Fuck.”

A single tear, hot and stinging, trailed through my makeup.

“How?” I choked out, “I thought... I thought we were building a life together, Edric.”

“A life? Together?”

Edirc slowly curled his lips up wickedly, opening those piercing green eyes to look me dead in the eyes.

“When did I agree to such an absurd idea?”

The cruelty of his statement made me flinch.

My fingers loosened around the pregnancy test.

I'd spent three days hiding it in my purse.

I had desperately waited for the New Year.

To tell him he was going to be a father.

His hands on my stomach while asking me to marry him.

We were supposed to become a family.

How could I tell him now that it was….

POSITIVE.

“How…” I managed to speak without falling apart.

“How could you betray me?”

My gray eyes burned with pain. My black hair clung to my tear-streaked face as I stared at the two people who had destroyed my baby’s future.

“Don't act like you didn't see this coming, Kristine. Amie is the woman I love. And you?”

He looked back to me with a bitter face. “You were never enough."

Was that how he'd looked at me all this time?

Something that was never enough?

“Happy now?” Amie smirked. “Now, go home, Kristine. You are interrupting us.”

He laughed when Amie purposely pressed herself harder into him.

Those bastards…

My vision narrowed.

His laugh.

Amie's smirk.

My baby's future.

Everything blurred together. My fingers found the crystal vase before my mind made the decision.

By the time I realized what I'd done...

Blood stained the white sheets with Edric’s blood.

Amie screamed, scrambling back, “What have you done, Kristine!?”

I didn't remember leaving the hotel afterwards.

I only remembered crying.

Two hours later, my world had become a mess.

I was expressing my grief to my best friend Rose at our usual elite bar.

“How could he do this to me, Rose?” My hands were shaking badly.

“What is going to happen to my baby now?”

“Amie was dying for revenge since you brought her campaign down.”

“Still… how could he…?”

“Edric had always been a piece of shit. I suspected, but with Amie? That’s bottom-tier behavior,” Rose shrugged, taking a shot of tequila.

“I hope both of them suffer in the worst way possible.”

“You don’t have to cry over those losers.” She sighed, pushing a drink towards me.

“How can I not?”

“Come on, Kristine, it’s New Year. Maybe this is a sign for you to have a new start.”

“Or a sign that my life has reached its lowest point and I have to raise this baby alone,” I scoffed, wiping my tears roughly, I almost brought the glass to my lips and it made me feel more terrible.

“Am I already a terrible mother?” I looked at Rose, my lips quivering. “Drinking while pregnant."

“You need something to forget the pain.”

“I.. I…”

“Come on, Kristine.” She encouraged me, putting the glass over my lips.

“One drink isn't going to make you a monster.” She tried to be optimistic.

I was hesitant. Questioning myself, guilty for endangering my child for my comfort.

“Look at me.”

I couldn't.

“Kristine.”

“...What?”

“He has already forgotten you.” I flinched.

“He is taking her to tomorrow’s gala. You are no longer a part of his life, Kristine.”

I stared at the tempting liquid.

The guilt slowly evaporated, replaced with an intense need to forget my heartache.

“Maybe… Maybe you are right.”

Soon the alcohol started to blur my perception.

I mindlessly agreed in order to subdue the overwhelming pain.

Maybe denial was easier.

“Yeah… you are right… Why should I sob? We don’t need a pathetic baby daddy.”

I pushed my messy hair, getting pumped for the night and, surprisingly, it worked as I was immersed in the moment.

“I am done being the victim, Rose,” I hissed , slamming my empty glass onto the table.

The tequila had finally numbed the fragments of my heartbreak and brought a new fire in me.

“Look.” Rose called, her eyes darting toward the shadows.

“Look who has been watching you weep for the past twenty minutes.”

I followed her gaze… and landed on the most dangerous man in the lounge.

Sitting in a booth sat the irresistible billionaire who dominated his field like a King and discarded enemies like tissues.

Zayne Nightwood.

CEO of Nightwood Corporation.

He owned the country's one of the largest airline and shipping empires.

Surprisingly, tonight, he didn't look like a businessman, he looked like a predator and his target was me.

“Zayne… Nightwood?”

His breathtaking sapphire eyes didn’t break contact as he slowly raised his glass.

“Edric’s enemy. How does that sound for ultimate revenge?”

I was shocked at her suggestion, “How could you say that, Rose?”

"Why not? Forget him tonight, Kristine."

“But, Rose–”

“Don't just move on.” She stopped right near my ears.

“Burn Edric’s world to the ground.”

I glanced at the alcohol, back to the pregnancy test untouched on the table. Slowly, my eyes locked back on the man.

Fine.

If Edric wanted to destroy my future...

I'd destroy his…

“Maybe,” My grip tightened around my glass, forcing a smirk as I raised my glass as well.

“You are right.”

I stood up, smoothed my black dress, and walked straight toward the man who made the city tremble.

With each step I took towards him, the dream life I had imagined began to die.

Before I knew it, my fingers were already grazing the edge of his table.

“Mr. Nightwood,” I acknowledged, extending my hand out to him which he grabbed without hesitation, pulling me into his lap.

“Where is that good-for-nothing boyfriend of yours, Miss Iglesias?” He whispered on my neck, eyeing me thoroughly.

“Ex,” I corrected him sourly, taking a sip of my drink.

“Finally decided to raise your standard?” He smirked, sliding his hand to my thigh.

For a moment, I froze.

‘Was it the right thing?’

He saw the slight hesitation and gave my thighs a tighter squeeze.

“You do not have to shed tears for that loser. I know you're not here because you want me."

My smile faltered. My pulse jumped. I hadn't expected him to take control so effortlessly.

"You're here because you want him to suffer."

Holding my hand, he kissed my wrist while wrapping his other hand around my waist.

“Do you want me to help you forget your ex, Miss Iglesias?”

My eyes narrowed with desperation.

“Please do. Mr. Nightwood.”