Zoe's POV

Rafael decided to meet me here so we could talk about the situation, right now I was waiting for him in a café thirty minutes from my new house.

I readjusted my sunglasses and played around with the glass of juice in front of me.

I was mainly here because of the call I had with Sebastian and because I deserved an explanation.

I recalled the conversation I had yesterday with Sebastian.

"Hello," I answered my phone, curious as to the unknown caller ID.

"Zoe," A man spoke. I could recognize it was Sebastian. This time his voice didn't hold a sense of arrogance or entitlement like it usually does but rather a sense of urgency.

"Are you calling to insult me again?" I asked.

"I'm calling in good faith, I don't want to fight with you." He spoke.

He sighed. "I need your help; I think you are the only one who might be able to reach out to Rafael. He has been avoiding me and I really need to talk to him. I need your help to convince him to meet with him, just once and I won't bother him again." He pleaded.

I sighed.

"If he is avoiding you, maybe you should give him some space. He probably just wants to think about things and readjust to the new situation." I spoke.

I'm not too sure I blame Rafael, thinking that your parents didn't want you and then suddenly your dad wants to be in your life. It couldn't be easy.

"I just found out that my son is alive after more than thirty years, can you try and imagine how I feel? It's only natural that I want to get to know him." He spoke. His voice grew more desperate.

"Even if I wanted to help, Rafael isn't answering my calls either. I haven't been able to reach him." I explained.

"Please, just try again. After this, I won't bother you or him again." He continued.

I could have used this opportunity to take revenge on him for all the awful things he has done and said to me but what he was going through was much worse. I couldn't imagine losing my baby.

"Okay, I will keep trying his phone," I answered.

"Thank you, Zoe." He whispered. "You have a good heart."

He paused.

"I also just want to apologize to you. Only until now have I realised that I've been doing the same thing to you that they did to me. Claire's father never thought I was good enough for her that's why I was never able to be with her and it cost me my son. I thought I was looking out for Alexander's best interest, but I realized how wrong I was. You are good for Alex, and I think the two of you deserve to be happy. I won't stand in your way anymore."

I didn't expect this, Sebastian waving a white flag. I hadn't expected a genuine apology from him anytime soon.

"I know what I did to you was awful, but I hope you will be able to forgive me." He spoke continued.

I know Sebastian and I could never be friends, but I didn't want to be at war with him. We would always have Alexander in common which meant we would somehow always be involved in each other's lives.

"Thanks to this baby we are family, right? I don't hold any grudges against you." I spoke. It took a lot out of me to say those words, it was better to forgive than to keep holding on to hatred.

"That's if Alex still wants me to be a part of the family," he spoke downheartedly. "I have to go now, please take care of yourself and the baby and call Rafael for me." He ended the call.

It's crazy to think that someone so confident and arrogant could suddenly become desperate and humbled. He was one less enemy I was taking off my list.

I dialled Rafael's number with my fingers crossed.

"Please answer the phone," I whispered listening to the ringing.

"Hello?" Rafael finally answered.

So here I was, waiting on Rafael to arrive. It didn't take much to convince him to meet me today, he figured I needed an explanation. I didn't tell him that I was meeting him because of Sebastian, he would have decided not to show up.

I looked at my watch again, uncertain as to whether he had changed his mind and decided not to come. He was already ten minutes late.

I didn't want to stay here for too long, I didn't want anyone here to recognize me.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," Rafael spoke moving in breathlessly.

He pulled out a chair and sat before settling himself in.

He lifted his hand as the waitress came to our table. He ordered a cup of coffee for himself.

"How have you been?" I finally managed to say.

After everything that happened, I wasn't sure what to talk about with him anymore.

"I've been good," He answered with a nod. "How have you been?" He asked.

"I'm good," I answered. "You weren't answering any of my calls."

"I'm sorry, I just needed some space to think." He answered. "I know you are probably confused about the way that things happened, I should have warned you at least."

"You can imagine how confused I am. Where you just using me to get to Alex?" I asked.

"No, it's nothing like that. You are a really good person, I never meant for any of these to hurt you. I didn't plan to be your friend, it just happened. I only realized later on that it was the same, Alex." He answered.

I didn't know whether to believe him or not. Our first meeting was purely coincidental. But then again, if Alex could bump into me to get my attention, I'm sure it's possible that he could get behind my chair to 'accidentally' spill that coffee. I didn't know how to trust people anymore.

The waitress came and served Rafael his coffee. "Can I have some chocolate cake to go with this?" He ordered.

"Sebastian wants to speak to you," I spoke.

"I want nothing to do with him or any of them for that matter," He answered. He took a sip of his coffee, running down his bitterness.

"Shouldn't you at least listen to what he has to say?" I spoke.

"Look, Zoe. You should stay away from those people, with their power and influence I'm pretty you know the harm they are capable of causing. They are bad people." He spoke bitterly.

The memory of Alexander in my apartment came back to me and how I had called the police, but they did absolutely nothing about it. It's true, they had a lot of power and influence, more than one person should have. But I've also seen Alex change, just because you have money, it doesn't make you a bad person.

"They are not all bad, maybe you should try to get to know them for a little bit. It sucks that you were separated from your family so maybe this is your chance." I spoke.

"You and I both know that Alex wouldn't be with you if not for that baby. He wouldn't even look your way for another second. You should leave before they drag you into their messy lives." He answered.

I don't know which part was supposed to be more hurtful, that he said that Alex was only with me because of the baby or that he wouldn't look my way.

I love Alex, the baby might have been the bond that kept us together and the only thing that stopped us from killing each other but there was something deeper and stronger between us, despite us having this baby.

"I used to hate my life, I felt alone and abandoned but now I realize how lucky I was to have had a family that loved me instead." he continued.

Rafael stopped speaking as the waitress approached our table.

"It's such a shame, he was so young and handsome. I wonder what that poor woman and that baby are going to do?" The waitress spoke serving Rafael his cake. She had her head turned, staring at the flat screen TV in the corner of the room.

My attention was diverted, I looked at the TV intently. It was on a news channel. What shocked me was the headline.

I had to look at it twice before the words sunk in.

No, it had to be someone else. Both his name and his last name were pretty common names. It couldn't be him.

But the clear picture of Alexander on the screen confirmed my worst nightmare.

"It can't be," Rafael whispered staring at the headlines.

He was right, this can't be true. They simply had to have been a mistake, maybe the people at the news channel had been misinformed.

I fumbled for my phone to see it buzzing with messages. The news was all over social media, with stories containing different details regarding what had happened, but they all had the same conclusion; that Alex was dead.

This can't be happening, there was no way any of this was true.

I frantically dialled his number and placed my phone against my ear waiting for a response.

First ring, second ring, fourth ring... still no response. It sent me to voicemail.

I tried calling again, but this time it didn't even ring.

Could this be true, why wasn't he answering his phone?

I was now in a state of panic, replaying every worst scenario possible.

"Alex can't be dead," I spoke in a panic.

"Please try and calm down," Rafael spoke.

Rafael's words did not work. Instead, I was now picturing a plane catching on fire before crashing to the ground.

I needed to get all these negative thoughts out of my head. If he wasn't going to answer his phone, then I was simply just going to have to go to him. None of this was true.

"I'm going to go to Chicago to find him," I spoke.

He had texted that he had arrived in Chicago so that is where I'd go to try and track him down. Maybe the people there knew the truth about what had happened.

I don't even know where I would start looking but I know that I needed to find him. Maybe he was in a hospital somewhere and had survived or he was perfectly fine and was just in a meeting, either way, I wanted to see him.

Rafael formed a blank expression.

"You can't just drop everything and go to find him. Besides, no one is going to allow you on a flight, you are about to give birth any day now." Rafael tried to reason.

"Then you will just simply have to take me, I have to find out if there is any truth to this," I demanded.

"We can't just drive there; Chicago is more than eleven hours away," Rafael spoke.

"Please understand me. I have to find out the truth." I begged. He couldn't be dead, I just know it. I was just going to have to find him wherever he was in person.

"Okay, but isn't there someone we could call to find out." Rafael sighed.

"I don't know anyone," I spoke. I just wanted to speak to him in person, to confirm that he was alive.

Rafael sighed. "Fine, I'll take you there but where are we even going to go to look for him?"

"We'll figure those details out later, we are wasting time. We have to go now."

I rushed him out of his chair, I was the first to leave the café.

"We can take my car," He offered following behind me.

Rafael opened the car door for me.

By the look on his face, I could tell he thought this was utter madness.

Throughout the car ride, I kept trying his phone but still no response. The situation hadn't sunk in completely. What was I going to do if he was really dead?

The different news outlets all had the same keywords: faulty engine, piolet lost control, plane caught fire....

I didn't want to keep reading this, the only reason I managed to compose myself was because of the little hope I had that he was still alive.

"I love you," The words Alexander said to me repeated themselves in my head.

Was that some kind of farewell? Fate had a cruel way of playing tricks on me. I don't know what I would do if I lost him.

****

We were already more than three hours inside the car, by then I'm sure that Rafael must have broken all kinds of speed limits. It's a miracle the police haven't stopped us.

I noticed there were no longer any buildings or houses in our surroundings, it was all just open fields.

Although Rafael didn't want to show it, I could tell that the thought of Alexander being dead deeply disturbed him. Whether he liked it or not, he was his brother.

I needed to stop thinking about this, Alexander couldn't be dead. It was impossible. He was the most stubborn person I know, I'm sure he would even defy death itself.

I've never believed in star signs but today they weren't in my favour.

The car gradually stopped before breaking down on the side of the road.

Rafael slammed the steering wheel in frustration before stepping out of the car.

He opened the bennet as he tried to figure out what was wrong, not too long ago we had just refilled a full tank so it couldn't be because of the gas.

I stepped out of the car. We were in the middle of nowhere with no building in sight with just a few trees that looked like they were about to dry out.

Rafael took his phone out of his pocket.

"No signal." He sighed, waving his phone in the air.

"This can't get any worse," I whispered running my hands through my hair.

Just then, I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen.

My water broke following soon after.

The baby was coming, and I was in the middle of nowhere.

I leaned onto the car for support while trying to endure the pain.

Rafael noticed and held my hand, giving me the support, I needed before I reached the ground.

"Are you okay," he asked in a panic.

"The baby is coming," I answered with my teeth clenched.

"I'm going to try and look for help," He spoke looking around.

We were in the middle of nowhere, I doubt he was going to find any houses for at least a couple of miles.

"You can't leave me alone here," I begged. The pain subsided for a moment before returning even stronger.

Neither one of us knew what to do in the situation.

I needed to get to the hospital, this baby didn't seem very patient.

"It's my fault, we shouldn't have taken my car," he spoke.

"Neither of us could have known that this would happen," I answered.

There was a car coming toward us, maybe he could help us out.

Rafael stood closer to the road and held out his hand for the car to stop, but it didn't. Instead, it drove right past us.

How can someone be this insensitive? I know I would have probably done the same thing; you can't just trust everyone you meet on the side of the road.

I was going to give birth in the middle of nowhere.

It took a while before another vehicle came our way; it was a truck driver that stopped.

A man stepped out of his blue truck, decorated with red flames. It reminded me of Optimus prime.

He was dressed in full denim with a white cowboy hat.

"Do you guys need any help?" The man asked with a Southern accent.

"Please, the car broke down and the baby is just about to come any minute," Rafael explained.

"I can take you in my truck to a nearby hospital," He offered.

"Yes, please. Thank you so much." I spoke as I felt another contraction coming.

Rafael and the driver helped me to the truck. Getting into a truck while pregnant is a lot harder than it sounds. I was lucky that he stopped to help us.

The trucker stepped on the gears once we were all in the truck.

I asked Rafael to open up all the windows, I felt hot and cold all at once as I practised my breathing techniques.

"How far is the nearest hospital?" Rafael asked.

"There is a hospital six miles away, but a lot of people have complained about their service delivery. The place tends to get a bit crowded with more patients than they can handle. I wouldn't recommend it." The driver spoke.

"This baby is going to come any moment, I can't wait for too long," I yelled.

"Try to breathe," Rafael spoke motioning his hand up and down.

"Just shut up," I yelled as I felt another contraction.

"Saying that never works." The driver warned. He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I don't know what to do," Rafael spoke.

"Maybe you should have thought about it before getting her pregnant," The driver joked.

"I wasn't the one that did, it was my half-brother. Or maybe I should say it was the..."

"It's complicated," I stopped Rafael from continuing with the rest of the story. I didn't need a stranger to know about how I got inseminated. "I'm sorry for being mean to you, this is just too painful," I spoke patting Rafael on the arm.

"It sounds like you two have a complicated story there." The driver spoke.

Rafael nodded. Today was a crazy day for everyone.

Less than fifteen minutes later we arrived at the hospital.

Rafael was the first to jump out of the truck, followed by the driver.

The two of them helped me out and walked with me to the entrance.

A nurse noticed us and came running towards us, wheeling a wheelchair.

"Here you go ma'am," The nurse offered.

I sat down, holding Rafael's hand for support.

"Thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done without you." I thanked the driver.

"You are welcome, ma'am. Good luck to you and the baby." He smiled.

He waved Rafael and me goodbye as the nurse wheeled me into the hospital.

Everything else went like a blare. I was in pain for a couple more hours before the baby decided it was time to leave.

"You have a baby boy," The doctor announced.

I smiled in relief, after everything that had happened today, my baby was here. This moment was nearly perfect.

Everything wasn't quite the way I thought it would go, I was expecting to hold my baby for the first time but that is not what happened. Everyone in the room was now rushing around as I tried to process what was happening.

"Why isn't he crying," I asked in a panic.

"Your baby is having some difficulties breathing, we have to send him to the NICU." The doctor answered.

________________________

: Thank you so much for reading. Three more chapters until the end. Check out my book The perfect gentleman and stay tuned for my new book: Trapping the billionaire which is coming this Friday.

Please check out my friend's book, Antonio's desire by

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