"Hope you enjoyed the dance, my lady." I kissed Carmel's hand and she giggled.

"I did. Thank you for the dance, Mr Wilbrose." I lead her off the dance floor to where Everette and Aeryn were standing but frowned on not seeing Harper there.

"Aeryn, where's Harper?" I inquired her and she looked around.

"Umm...I left her there...but I don't know where she went..." She pointed to the table where food was being served.

"Oh...okay...I'll look for her." I said before walking towards the direction where Aeryn pointed to.

I started to feel nervous on not finding her there, my eyes longed to see her.

I searched for her frantically, questioning a few waiters on the way.

"Excuse me." I stopped a waiter passing by. "Have you seen my fiance?"

"Oh...she went to the washroom upstairs. She was asking me where it was."

"Thank you." I said before dashing upstairs.

I was just afraid of her running into Isaiah.

I ran down the corridor to the washroom but stopped when I heard voices coming from the balcony.

"You don't deserve it, Harper." I heard Isaiah speak. "He'll leave you too. No one wants to be burdened with the responsibility of a child so soon."

Who the fuck he is to say that?!

I opened the door to the balcony, he had her backed up against the railing of the balcony.

"Can't you fucking stay away from her?" I bellowed.

Harper looked over his shoulder and sighed heavily and Isaiah turned to me. "Gareth..."

I glared at him. "Please leave, Isaiah before I lose it."

Glaring at me he walked past me when I caught him by his bicep. "This is your last warning. Stay the fuck away from her." I threatened in a low voice.

I removed my hand and grumbling to himself, he went away.

I stepped closer to Harper who was breathing heavily. "Harper...are you okay?"

Her head was lowered and she slowly nodded her head. When she looked up, her eyes were wet with tears.

It took everything in me to not pull her closer and hug her tightly. To kiss her.

"Can we go back home?" She asked, her voice cracking.

"Sure." I said and took her hand in mine and walked back downstairs.

Aeryn, Everette and Carmel met us at the down of the stairs.

"Brother." I said to Eve. "We're leaving. Can you please handle it?"

"Of course." He assured me and I gave him a smile before taking Harper out to the limousine and opened the door for her and slid inside beside her.

I chose not to speak or ask anything to her so the ride back home was silent with her staring out of the window.

It hurts to see her like this.

I'm scared of the weird feelings growing inside me. Feelings I never experienced before. But after having read so many Romance Novels I was not stupid to not know what they were.

But I was scared.

My palm folded into a fist and I clenched it, in hopes to stop these feelings. Of course it didn't help.

I leaned back my head on the seat, secretly watching her from the corner of my eyes.

We reached home soon and she opened the door from her side before I could open it for her and stepped out and walking hurriedly inside the house.

Sighing, I walked behind her, thinking of giving her privacy, I slept in the guest room downstairs.

.

.

.

I was sleeping peacefully but it had to be ruined by the ringing of my phone.

Groaning, I picked it up and answered it.

"Yes?" I said in a hoarse voice.

"Sir, are you coming for the meeting or not?" My assistant's said.

I groaned again. "Who the fuck keeps a meeting on a Sunday?"

"Sir, you only fixed it on Friday saying Sunday would do." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Whatever...I am coming." I hung up the call.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like going. I wanted to stay at home today with...Harper.

I groaned at that thought.

Harper. Harper. Harper. Everything starts and finishes with her.

I groaned for the hundreth time before getting up finally and getting dressed.

For breakfast, I sat down opposite to her and she asked. "Where were you last night?"

"I...slept in the guest room."

Her brows knitted together. "Why?"

"Because...I...um..." I said sheepishly. "Because I was missing that room."

"Missing a room? What kind of an excuse is that?"

"A stupid excuse?"

She smiled and then chuckled softly making me chuckle too.

Diana placed the breakfast in front of us and we started eating.

"When I came here first...that day when I went into your study, I saw a paper, you designing the nursery..." She said while eating.

I blushed lightly. "Yeah..."

"So...you are an architect?"

I thought she would ask me about the nursery, not about this.

"Not an architect. A Civil Engineer." I answered. "I studied engineering before studying business."

"Oh...well...then did you design this house too?" She joked.

"Yup." I answered honestly making her deadpan.

"Really?"

I smiled. "Yes. I designed this house. A Civil Engineer asking another Civil Engineer to design his house didn't sound nice."

"Impressive. It's really beautiful, this house."

"Not many people compliment it but designing my own house means a lot to me. I'm quite proud of it. So, thank you."

My eyes fell on the clock and cursed. "Shit! I am getting late for the meeting!"

I got up in a hurry and leaving my breakfast ran out when she shouted. "Who the hell fixes a meeting on a Sunday?"

"Me!" I shouted before running out of the house.

.

.

.

The meeting lasted longer than expected and I had to stay back for a few more hours to complete some important work.

It was about to be evening when I reached home.

Entering inside, I saw Harper sitting on the couch with her back towards me. She had drawn her legs closer, placing her chin on her knees.

"Harper?" I called out softly as I neared her.

She tilted her head towards me, her nose was red, her eyes puffy yet she somehow managed to give me a small smile that broke my heart.

I sat down beside her. "What happened? Did you see Isaiah again?"

She shook her head. "N-no..."

"Then? What's wrong, honey?"

She cocked her head, looked at me, and thought about something. Very deeply.

I was baffled, not knowing what to say or do. "Harper...say something. You are scaring me..."

Tears formed in her eyes and threatened to flow and she all of a sudden threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.

"Harper..." I said in surprise, my hands suspended in the air, contemplating what to do. And my body tensed.

She buried her head in the crook of my neck as she cried.

Throwing out all of the foolish thoughts, I wrapped my arms around her body, hugging her tightly.

Her cries further broke my heart.

I wanted to take away all her pain and I swear if that Isaiah did anything, I would kill him with my bare hands.

My arms tightened around her and I placed a kiss on the top of her hair and gently stroked her hair.

We stayed in that position for a few minutes as she cried her heart out.

Her cries subsided slowly and she sniffled and slowly removed her head from the crook of my neck. I gently wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes and cupping her cheek, kissed her forehead lingeringly.

"I... I...I...am sorry...I..." She tried speaking but couldn't.

I lifted her chin with my finger. "What's wrong, honey?"

"I'm tired." She finally whispered. "I'm tired, Gareth. I'm scared. All this is too much for me." More tears fell from her eyes.

I placed her head on my chest, wrapping my arms around her again.

"I will always be here for you, Harper. Always." I assured her. "Let me take away your pain. Just tell me, Harper."

She lifted her head. "Isaiah...he said...t-that...you will leave me, Gareth."

"And you believe him?"

"He--"

I placed my finger on her lips silencing her. "Don't give a fuck about what he says. He's trying to break you, don't let him."

"He..."

"What else did he say?"

She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. "When we were in the orphanage...he..."

"Harper...if you don't want to tell me then it's okay."

She shook her head. "No. I want to."

I nodded my head for her to continue.

"We grew up in the same orphanage...when I was seventeen...he...proposed me. Asked me to be his girlfriend. And I agreed.

He used to be sweet and caring and then he...took away my virginity..."

My jaw clenched. "Did he do that forcefully?"

She shook her head immediately. "No. I gave him permission...but...I...um..."

She took a deep breath. "I got pregnant...and he...even though I was just seventeen...I wanted that child. I always wanted a child. But when I told him about it..."

I gently caressed her cheek with my thumb. "What did he say?"

"I was a month pregnant when I got to know. We were standing on the top of the stairs when I told him about the baby and of course he didn't want it...I tried convincing him...he got angry. And he pushed me harshly not realising that we were near the stairs and I fell down the stairs..."

I don't like where this story is going.

She continued. "I fell unconscious. When I woke up, I was in a hospital and the doctor told me, I had a miscarriage. I lost my child. It was a mistake, I know when he pushed me but...he didn't regret it. He wasn't sorry at all. Instead...he said it was for the better. Everything was just too much for me...so...I ran away... I ran away from that place, those people."

"I...I..." She broke down again and buried her head in my chest.

The anger I felt for Isaiah at the moment was immeasurable. My body almost shaking with anger.

She fisted my shirt in her hands. "Please, Gareth... don't leave me. Please...I need you..."

"I'm not leaving you, honey. Not now, not in a million years..." I promised.

"Pinky promise?" She lifted her hand, holding out her pinky finger.

I chuckled softly and intertwined our pinky fingers. "Pinky promise."

She smiled through the tears. "Thank you."

I kissed her forehead. "Anything for you, honey."

She looked down at her belly and placed her hand over it. "You think I can do this?"

"You are a strong woman, Harper. I believe in you. You will be able to do this."

"Thanks." She grinned.

Hesitantly, I lifted my hand to place on her belly. She saw my hesitation, so she grabbed my hand and placed it on her belly.

A smile broke out on my face on realising that our child was growing inside there.

"Can I...k-kiss it?" I pointed to her belly.

She thought for a moment but then nodded happily and slowly lifted her t shirt giving me permission.

I lowered my head and gently pressed my lips against her belly and she sucked in a sharp breath. I wanted to do this for such a long time.

Pulling back, I just wanted to kiss her deeply but restrained myself. So, I kissed her forehead again instead.

Shattering of a glass was heard and we both snapped our heads to the entrance of the kitchen where Diana stood looking at us in shock, a plate had fell from her hand and shattered on the floor.

Shaking my head at her, I got up to help her.

"You need to stop getting so shocked easily." I said to her as I bent down to pick up the pieces of glasses.

"And you need to stop shocking me." She said playfully.

I chuckled and she continued to ask me in a low voice. "So, what happened to the no touching rule?"

"What rule?" I questioned back pretending to not know any such rule.

Smiling, she shook her head, mumbling to herself. "So in love."