Dee and I talked for the rest of the night about his mother and what to do. Dee's solution was to beat the woman's ass, but I don't think that would solve anything. She did suggest I at least confront the woman about her suspicions and concerns. Which, for Dee, is a more rational approach to the situation. I told her I would think about it. The last thing I wanted was to cause more issues between Markus and his mother.

"Good Morning, Janice." Markus greeted me as I walked into his office with mail for him.

I smiled, placing the stack of mail on his desk. "Good Morning."

We had driven separately, which was working, for the most part, to keep the tabloids and paparazzi away from me. There would always be stragglers, but they wouldn't notice it being me until I'd driven off.

"How did you sleep?"

"I slept ok..." I said.

"What's wrong?" He asked, catching onto my words lingering.

"I was wondering I you would mind if I left early? I wanted to invite your mother over to talk things out with her." I blurted out.

He looked at me for what felt like forever before he smiled and nodded, "Of course you can."

I was relieved, "Awesome! I want things to be cleared up before the baby is born. I want us all to get along for her sake."

He was very understanding and agreed with my reasoning. I know it won't be easy to convince her that I did not get pregnant purposefully to trap Markus. Still, I also want her to know I don't want her mistreating this child because of her disdain for me or our relationship or whatever this was between Markus and me.

So, I worked until the afternoon. I called Markus' mother and asked her to stop by the house for a late afternoon lunch. Surprisingly, she agreed without hesitation. I guess she's hoping to speak to me without Markus speaking on my behalf.

Before leaving for the day, I sent out the last pick of novels that Markus picked to be published. I looked through them to ensure I got them all before sending them to the editing floor and seeing my unfinished book. Did he know this was there? Did he want to publish it because of our relationship or because he actually liked the concept?

I didn't have time to overthink it, so I send them up to the editors and pack up my desk. I waved to Markus, who was on the phone with Julien. Julien and his investor agreed to finally invest in Markus. I was so happy for him; his father would be so proud.

______________________

I had Markus' chef whip up something simple for lunch and changed into something more casual. I hadn't realized Mrs. Turner had shown up until we'd ran into each other in the hall.

"I have been waiting for 20 minutes for you downstairs. It's insulting for a host not to meet her guests at the door when they arrive."

Shocked she would even come to find me, I stumbled on my words, "I...I'm sorry. I hadn't realized you'd arrived."

She crossed her arms across her chest, "Unfortunately, I don't have the time for lunch now that I had to search for you. I will say what I came here to say."

She paused, taking a deep breath, "I want you out of Markus' life. I will pay you any amount to quit that job and move out of his life permanently. But, you will have to sign an NDA and set the record straight that this child is, in fact, not my son's."

I was shocked, more so that she has the guts to say this to my face, let alone in Markus' own house. It was understandable that she wanted to protect him and had doubts about this child being his, but to try and bribe me to leave and lie about it being his.

"Mrs. Turner, I'm not lying about this baby being his. Markus and I did sleep together."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. My son is a well-known whore, but I'm not going to let you ruin the reputation he is trying to build by taking on the responsibility of his father's company."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not ruining anything. If anything, people will see how responsible he's being and taking care of his child!" I started walking away, towards the stairs. I wanted her to leave.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" She called after me as she followed me to the stairs. She caught up to me and grabbed my wrist, spinning me to look at her, "I'm not done with this conversation!"

"Well, I am," I said, yanking my wrist out of her hand. I guess the force of me doing so caused me to lose my balance. The next thing I knew, I was falling down the stairs and heard a mixture of her screaming and my ears ringing.

_______________

I woke up in the hospital; everything hurt. What happened? I looked around the room, and I saw Dee and Markus talking outside the room.

"I don't know. My mother said she just lost her balance going down the stairs, and she was too late to help."

"Oh my god! I didn't even know she was meeting her. I should have been there for support. Who knows what that woman said to her!" Dee said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Dee, that woman is my mother. Please at least try to be a little respectful for Janice's sake."

I groaned, trying to sit up. I didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but it hurt too much to move. They both rushed towards me, Dee calling to the doctor or nurse. Markus immediately pushed me slowly back onto the bed while Dee tried to comfort me with her words.

"Just lay down, Jan. Try not to move so much. How are you feeling?"

Before I could answer, the doctor came in, making them both give him more room to examine me. "Do you remember what happened?" He asked; I didn't.

"No, I remember talking to Mrs. Turner. Next thing I know, I'm here."

He nodded as he shined a light in my eyes and checked vitals. "Your vitals are fine. I wanted to wait for you to wake up before telling you both..." He turned to Dee, "Do you mind stepping out for a bit?"

"She can stay." I quickly said, not giving her a chance to respond. Markus agreed with a nod.

The doctor sighed but nodded, "I wanted to let you wake up before giving you the news. Because of the fall and the injuries you sustained from it, we had to perform an emergency C-section. I am so sorry, but the baby didn't make it. She lived for no more than an hour, but her heart was not strong enough to survive her own injuries due to the fall."

Dee gasped, her hand covered her mouth and her eyes watered.

My heart sank. My baby girl was gone. She was here; I'd even felt her kicking now and then whenever I moved too quickly or when Markus did something to make my stomach flutter. Now she was gone. It wasn't fair! I was getting used to the idea of this family we were creating, and now it was gone.

I didn't even realize I had been screaming and sobbing until Dee wrapped her arms around me and tightened me in a hug. I could faintly hear Markus yelling at the doctor to let us see the baby. Our baby. He sounded so heartbroken.

The doctor didn't let us see her. He stated that it was possibly not a good idea based on my reaction and the tender mental state I was in. This only made Markus even angrier.

Dee let go of me to try and keep Markus under control, "Markus! This is not the time. Go to Janice. Look at her; she needs you right now." She forced him to look at me as I lay in the fetal position crying hysterically.

This seemed to calm him down enough to forget about the doctor. He walked over to the bed and climbed in with me. Holding me in his tight hug until I fell asleep.