Sophia sighed as she looked at her wardrobe trying to find the right outfit for the meeting. She was to go with him to Paris tomorrow night for a few days, but she had been asked to carry an extra set of clothes just in case of an emergency.

Sophia took out a red dress which she had been given by Erica as her anniversary gift. She was still due to wear it but chose not to as it was really expensive and reminded her of her failed marriage.

She was all set to go, it was a four day trip. He had told her it was a very important project and they had to atleast attend 5 meetings. Some may be on the same day so she could not take Serenity with her. So she asked Erica to pick her up from her classes at sharp 2 and then take her to Xavier's mansion.

"Mommy?" A very upset Serenity called from behind her making her turn and look at her woth worry. "Yes bub?"
"Can I come too?" She asked but Sohpia shook her head. "We are not going on a holiday bub, it's an important meeting. If I were the boss I would have taken you but I can't, I'm sorry" And she really was. Seeing Serenity like this broke her heart but it had to be done.
Serenity just nodded and slowly walked out of her room to her own. Sophia felt awful, but she could not break yet.

__________________________________________________

Erica had called Sophia over 6 times. She was way to excited to have Serenity over for a few days. She was overwhelmed when Sophia  asked her to take care of Serenity.

Sohpia was leaving in a few minutes so she told Erica to come pick Serenity up in half and hour.
"Bub I'm leaving but I'll  be back soon, you need to behave, okay?" Sohpia sat beside Serenity who was looking at her tiny feet. "But mommy I want to come with you.." She sighed as pulled her teddy closer to herself.
"I'll  be back soon I  promise. Plus aunt Erica  will be here in an hour or even earlier. You will have a blast with her, trust me."
Serenity nodded as she quickly leaned in and hugged her mother. "I'll  miss you mommy"

"I'll miss you too bub"

__________________________________________________

"This way ma'am" A tall petite woman smiled at Sophia as she carried her luggage in a carry.  She had passed the security  and was being taken to his private jet.

Typical.

Once she entered the jet,  she felt a sudden mild fragrance hit her. It smelled like coffee and chocolate. She loved it.

"Ma'am please press the bell if you need anything" The lady told her and Sophia smiled back thanking her

The inside of the jet was even more beautiful. It had a brown carpet and black furniture. One table with two chairs were placed right near the window and the walls were also dark brown. The switches were of cream colour and the the fragrance made it seem like a wonderland.

She walked up to the table and sat in one of the chairs. It's  funny he's not here yet,  Mr. oh so punctual.

Sophia took out her laptop and plugged in the charger. She just needed to check the presentation once again to make sure everything was in order.

Suddenly the air hostess appeared from behind the black curtain.
"We are ready to leave ma'am. I hope the ride is comfortable for you. If you need anything please just ring the bell" She waa about to leave when suddenly Sophia stopped her.
"Excuse me," She read the name tag quickly "Tina, where is Mr. Manhattan exaclty? Isn't he supposed to join us too?" She inquired.  But she was sure he was supposed  to be here.

"Oh he's already inside" Tina smiled as she pointed to a closed door behind Sophia. 
Sohpia turned around and furrowed  her eyebrows.

"He's in there? What's in there?" She asked.

"It's a bedroom. He has been in there since came. It's always like this, he prefers his bedroom more than this table. He feels comfortable there or so he says." Tina answered and then left after reminding Sophia  again about the bell.

Sohpia nodded in understanding.

That jerk had the audacity  to sit comfortably in the room for this 9 hour ride where as she was expected  to sit here.

Sohpia sighed mentally as she tried to focus on her work. The presentation was indeed complete. Her team had arranged the exact stats and perfect raw material for her to get this presentation  ready. She was more than happy with their work.

They all deserved a bonus and she'll  try to get Conner  to pay them that if they get this project in their hands.

________________________________________________

After another hour or so,  Sophia was still on her laptop, her presentation was long completed.

So she opened some old document  which contained their family photographs. 

Sophia had always been a fan of photography,  she would follow Erica everywhere and click her photographs until her mom had to hide away the camera.

She was scrolling through some old photographs  when suddenly one of them caught her eye. It was a photograph of Serenity as a new born baby and Richard was holding her in his arms like she was the most precious thing in his life.

That made Sophia tear up. She could  see the love in his eyes for Serenity, then why did he cheat? Didn't he love his family enough to stay loyal?  Sophia just stared at the photograph for a good 20 minutes. It was like she was reliving  the memory..

Sophia was lying on the bed looking exhausted and worn out. Her hair were a mess and her breathing was only a bit stable.

"You're lucky you reached here on time. If you would have been any late than you were, their could've been serious complications." The female doctor told her as she was writing something on her file, "I must say your husband was just  as scared as we were. He was so scared that he actually fell on his knees and asked us to save you no mater what. He loves you,  you're  really lucky"

Sophia smiled as she thought about Richard. He was a father now, but the child was not his. She was scared as to how would her react.

Yes, he did accept her and the child and took care of her in the most cute ways, he handled  her mood swings and her morning sickness. He was indeed a great husband.

But Sophia  was scared. How would he react now, when the child is born. Will he show the same love to her? Or will he leave them because he couldn't handle the of another's child calling him dad.

Sophia  was so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not here her name being called out.

"Sophie?" A loud voice brought her back to her reality. She looked up to see Richard all teared up. He was carrying the baby in his hands like it was make of glass.

"Look baby..here's  our princess. Look at her, she's just like you. " He smiled at her as his eyes became red again,"Hey princess, I'm  your daddy. I love you already and I promise to be the first superhero you can look up to. I hope you like batman when you grow up, I  like batman , everyone likes batman" Sophia laughed at him and shook her head as he continued  to talk to her.

Her fear was now gone,  she knew he would be the best father in the world, for he had accepted her and her daughter as his own.

Sophia was rudely  awaken from her memories  as she felt a firm on her shoulder. She looked uo to find Conner standing beside her, with a cold expression  on his face.

"You're crying" He said. It was not a question or a statement, infact she didn't know what it was. He did not show any kind of emotion and it made it hard for Sophia to judge his actions.

To her surprise, Conner slowly brought his hands up to her face  and wiped away the tear. It made Sophia shiver at how warm his hand felt on her cold skin.

"What were you thinking?" Now this was a question.
"Nothing" Sophia replied and looked away towards the window.

Conner stood there for a while, and Sophia  thought he would go away. But instead he leaned in and picked up her laptop. 
"Hey! That's  mine!" Sophia  tried to snatch it away but failed because  he stood 6 feet tall and she couldn't  even stand because  of her seat belt. "Seriously give it back Conner" She groaned.

"That's my baby.." He said in a  soft voice which  made Sophia freeze.

He was referring to Serenity in the photograph. Sophia  looked at him and for the first time saw different emotions  on his face. Happiness,  excitement,  hurt, anger and regret. He brought his hand up and touched the screen with his fingers, as if trying to live the momen.

Sophia looked away as she tried hard not to cry. He  the reason every thing  happened. She remembered that day clearly. It started out like any other day when..

She told Erica that she'll be going to a party with her friends. Well, technically she never went to a party, she actually planned on going to the doctor for a check-up.  she had been vomiting frequently, and began liking pickles and other foods she would usually keep away from. She began having weird cravings which all pointed to the signs of pregnancy

Just to be sure she had booked an  appointment with the doctor this  afternoon. So she decided to ditch her friends and go to the hospital.

''Sophia Dixon.'' The receptionist called. She stood up slowly  and went to her, ''Go to cabin no. 17, Doctor Helena is waiting for you. Sophia nodded and went towards the hallway. After looking for the cabin for almost ten minutes and banging into two people, she finally reached the cabin and softly knocked on it . Once she heard a come in, she went inside.

The doctor conducted a routine check-up and it was normal, but she just had to wait for the report.

''So Sophia, here are your reports.'' Dr. Helena smiled at her warmly and handed her the files. She paid  then and also thanked them, bit without much ado she went out of the hospital straight to a nearby café.

Ttookaking a comfortable seat near the window she ordered coffee, trying to delay the opening of the report. After drinking coffee she finally gathered the courage to open the file abut as soon as she started reading it, read  my eyes automatically stopped on a certain line.

'Pregnancy test - positive'

And that was when her whole world came crashing down. She didn't understand how and when has she gotten herself pregnant when she always used protection.
How will she handle this? She's  just a teenager! How will she tell her mom and her sister Erica?
They'll hate her. No, for her, this could not be happening...but the main question was,  how will she carry a baby in her stomach without even knowing who the dad is ?

Then it hit her. Who was the father? She quickly re-read the report and read that she was '3 months pregnant'.

So she figured that she slept with a guy three months back? She felt devastated and wanted to cry because she couldn't remember who she had slept with. She must have been too drunk because she could not remember.

She was  doomed. Not knowing what to do, she  picked up her  phone and called Rivera. She's was her best friend back then and also her personal advisor.

''Hello? Rivera? '' she whisper yelled.

''Yo Soph, wassup? Why in such panic?'' She giggled. Sophia took a deep breath and told her everything. Instead of yelling at she she actually told me to come to her house to figure out who the dad was. Sophia ended the call and left the café with her things and her dreadful report.

''So right now we have got to find the person you committed that little sin with." Rivera chuckled. She found it funny, but Sophia  was here crapping herself.

They were both sitting on her bed and Rivera had her laptop on her lap was checking out the guys she added on her 'fuck-guy' list.

''Yup and I don't remember anything.'' Sophia sighed in defeat.

''Well, you may not remember, but my laptop does.'' Her confident best friend smirked.

''What do you mean?'' Sophia raised her eyebrows. Where did this confidence come from?

''Well look here missy, I have our whereabouts of three months ago.'' She showed Sophia her laptop with pictures of her that she had uploaded on Facebook 3 months ago! Sophia felt like a wave fresh air come over her , the walls that were closing over stopped. She never knew Facebook could actually be so useful! She looked at the pictures and the surroundings, the place looks familiar, but Sophia didn't  really remember it exaclty.

She must have been really drunk.

''Rivi, I don't remember this place.''

''God girl! Were you really that drunk?" She rolled her eyes, "This is. ''La Belleville'' that high class 5 star hotel. Remember we went there for my friend's party.''

''Shit! Was it a party? It must have had hundreds of guys! There's no way I'll be able to know who the dad was!'' Sophia sighed giving up.

''Don't worry chicken! I got a plan.'' She winked at her and got off the bed and ran to the side table. Grabbing her phone she dialled a number and pointed her index finger towards Sophia  telling  her to be quiet and she nodded.

''Hey Zayn baby...........Rivera here.............aww! Of course, I remember you baby............yes I loved your little thing that night.........yeah you did go deep.........yes it was big...........of course we'll do it again.............sure but first I need your help.........yeah....fine I'll text you my address.....be quick.'' Then she hung up. Sophia gave her a 'your-impossible' look.

''That was gross,'' She commented.

''No! His little thing was gross.'' Rivera chuckled but yhen stopped "Okay it was no where near little"They both laughed.

''Why did you call him over?''

''Because you slept with a guy who belongs to his group of friends.'' She spoke blatantly.

''Wait what? You sure about it?'' How was she so sure of it? It was out of Sophia's understanding.

''Yup chicken I'm 101% sure about it. I remember him introducing us to his friends before you went to take drugs with one of them leaving me alone.'' She pouted but Sophia just nodded. She was glad that they were fimally getting somewhere. Drugs were the reason she did not remember  a single thing. She felt like ahit for doing that to herself .

''So how can this guy help us?'' She further asked Rivera and she gave her a your-so-dumb look.

"Because he was with me the whole night and he only had one friend with him who went with you for that drug thing.''

Sophia nodded. Rivera seemed like she knew more about it than Sophia herself so it was best to leave her as she was, as long as Sophia got her answers she was happy. She just wanted her child to have a father. There was no way she was going to have an abortion.

Both the girls were watching Castle on Star World when the bell rang. Rivera got up to her feet, ran downstairs to open the door. Whoever this guy is surely made Rivera happy. Sophia waited in anticipation. 15 minutes passed but Rivera and that guy were nowhere to be seen. They hadn't come upstairs so out of curiosity Sophia  went downstairs to find them.

''Rivera?'' She called out but  got no response.

Now Sophia  felt scared, thinking that guy had done something to her. ''Rivi? Where are you?''

By now Sophia was running around the house trying to look for her. She opened every door and checked every bathroom but she was nowhere. Panic took over her and she quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed her purse She needed to find her and if she could not she needed to  call the police as soon as possible .

What if the guy was A psychopath?  Most of the druggies are.

As soon as she opened the door she found Rivera  sucking off a man's  face

''Woah! Get a room you two!'' She yelled and was about to close the door when suddenly they let go of each other.

''Oh- um I 'm sorry I was just- um...'' Rivera scratched her neck. Frustrated, Sophia slammed the door on her face and went inside. She felt humiliated,  here she was literally in tears and almost got a panic attack!

Sophia went upstairs to the room and closed the door behind her. It was not long before she heard footsteps stomping up the stairs.

"Sophia! Open up!'' Rivera banged the door but got no answer.

''Soph! I'm sorry! I had no idea that you'll get  so worried about me! Please, Sophia!" Rivera begged but still got no answer.

''Fine! Rot inside for all I care. I'm going to send Zayn back if you don't want to know who your fuck buddy was!'' Sophia could feel her smirking behind the door. This bitch!

She  stomped her foot and went towards the door and opened it and as expected she found her best friend smirking,

Sophia wanted to punch her in the face but stopped herself. ''Lets go." Ignoring her Sophia went downstairs with Rivera following behind

As soon as she saw  Zayn sitting on the couch he quickly got up 'Hi, I'm  Zayn. Zayn Manhattan." He smiled at me.

Wait. Manhattan? From that rich Manhattan family? Or maybe just similar surnames.

''Okay.....'' was all sophia said not knowing what to say anymore. What possibly is an heir of the Manhattan family doing here?

''So Rivera told me you wanted to ask something?'' She was about to answer when was abruptly cut off by a voice.

''Of course, she does Zayn. Right Sophia?'' she smirked. Sophia turned around to face her and shot her a glare, then turned back to Zayn.

''Yeah nothing much, just who was the guy with you that night?'' She put on put on a fake smile but was clearly terrified  of the answer. She did not want her secret out yet.

''He was my brother, but what's the matter?'' He said blatantly, and Sophia felt her heart sink.

''W-What's his name? '' she almost stammered.

''His name is-''

''Wait! Why don't you just call him here? We would like to meet him personally.'' Rivera cut in and Sophia wanted nothing more to just  thrash her.

''No we wouldn't! Just tell me the name already.'' She scoffed and glared at Rivera, she was getting on her last nerves.

''Babe I don't think he'll come. He's a busy person.'' Zayn gave us an apologetic look.

"It's okay I just want to know the name of that per- ''

''He fucked my best friend and made her pregnant! I fucking want your bastard brother to come here and sort things out.'' Rivera yelled.

'Ladies and gentlemen, this girl is now officially my so-called-bestie' Sophia thought.
She was red by now and beyond embarrassed. 

''What!'' Zayn yelled, ''He got you pregnant? I don't  believe this but well, what the  hell I'm calling him right now."

Zayn took out his and dialled a number. He didn't pick up on the first try, which irritated Zayn. He rang again and the person did pick up.

''Hello..... I'm texting you an address be here......I'll tell you later.......yes its serious.....bye.'' And he hung up.

Sophia glared at Rivera who gave her an apologetic look in return  but she had that feirce look in her eyes. She was ready to kill the person who had gotten hee friend pregnant.

''Look Zayn, thanks for all of this but I don't want you to fight because of me" Sophia held guilt in her eyes.

''Hey, don't worry okay? He's on his way, he'll be here any minute.'' He gave her a genuine smile and which made Sophia smile too.

The three of them sat on different couches not saying anything to each other. Zayn was busy on his phone, Rivera was busy checking out Zayn and Sophia was finding the walls pretty interesting. Suddenly the bell rang. Rivera got up to open the door when Zayn held her hand stopping her.

''Let her go, it's her baby's father,'' he said gesturing to Sophia to open the door. She sighed and got up, her heart beating like a drum, as she went towards the door she took a deep breath and opened it , only to get the shock of her lofe.

There in front of me was the father of the baby.

It was Conner Manhattan.

Did she sleep with the most notorious player?

''Um-hey?'' He looked at Sophia with a blank expression not sure why was he called here bh his brother. Sophia was about to answer but  suddenly she felt an arm grab her wrist and pull her  away from the door, looking up she found Zayn staring at Conner.

''Come in. We need to talk.'' Zayn growled and pulled her softly inside with him  and Conner following.

''What's up Zayn? Everything okay?'' Conner looked confused.

''Nothing is okay you jerk! You got my best friend pregnant! How could you be so irresponsible! How could you not use protection! You're such an idiot!'' Rivera yelled at him and tears started filling Sophia  eyes. She was about to have a serious break down.

''I want to talk to this girl. Alone.'' His voice was firm yet threatening.

''No you are not,'' Zayn growled at him. Sophia was so happy to have a stranger stand up for her when she was in no position  to do so. She also felt thankful for having Rivera  by her side ,  without them  Rivera she wouldn't have been able to face him.

''Yes I am. If it's my mistake then I should be the one handling  it. Stay out of it Zayn.'' Conner spoke through clenched teeth.

''If you're thinking I'm going to let you manipulate her an-''

''Let me just fucking talk to her!'' Conner yelled at him.

''No!'' Zayn roared back. They were both fighting for dominance and things were getting out of hand. Sophia was about to regret what she was going to say, ''L-let me talk to him  guys, alone.'' She whispered.

She didn't want to talk to him or be anywhere near him, but also she didn't want to cause cracks in their relationship if they had any. It was thier problem and they had to solve it themselves.

Zayn looked at her with pity in his eyes, ''Look you don't have to do this beca-''

''No I want to talk to him,'' she smiled at him. Zayn looked at me, then at Conner and walked out of the drawing room cussing under his breath. Rivera gave her a thumbs up before glaring at Conner and leaving behind Zayn.

It was just the two of them left and she felt even more nervous.

Conner looked at her intensely , she wanted to cower away but stood her ground. '' So, I'm the father of that thing huh?'' He smirked, pointing at her stomach. How dare he say that!

''It's not a thing!'' She growled back at him.

''Oh! Then what is it? A pinhole camera?'' He chuckled, satisfied which his joke yet sophia  was here thinking 'a pin hole- what?'
''It's a living thing! It's a baby!"

''Yes, but the question is whose baby?'' He raised his eyebrow.

''It's your baby!'' She yelled at him,  she felt so infuriated.  How could he  say such a thing!

''Look I know girls like you, you can go to any extent for money and fame. This is nkt the first time this is happening. You think you can fool me by telling me I'm the father? Are you kidding me? You think I'm a fool? Stupid? I will never believe you, I'm not as stupid as Zayn.'' He practically yelled the last part and now Sophia had her answer.

He took her for a gold-digger. She couldn't believe he would think so ill of her but she knew his point was clear and correct somehow, but it still hurt. He was a billionaire, many girls would've  done this to him,  but sje wasn't  lying.

''But it's your baby,'' she whispered and was on the verge of crying.

''No it's not! You lying whore!'' He yelled moving  aggressively towards her.

''I'm not lying!'' She spoke a little louder. He will not get away with calling her derogative names.

''Look, I'm warning you, I'll make your life a living hell , this little game of yours will ruin my whole career.''

''Career? Your fucking career? It will ruin my whole life! Just wait and watch Conner Manhattan, I'm going to expose you to the media! I won't let you get away with this sin!'' She was heaving with anger, but Conner looked at her with disgust in his eyes.

'Look here you whore, I love my family and my career. I'm not going to let you jeopardize both of them. Now, if you open this little mouth of yours in front of anyone, I'll make your life a living hell. I'll make sure your family pays for your sin. I'll make them suffer and I promise you it won't be good. I'll let you watch them beg, cry and even die. I'll slit their throat in front of you bitch. Don't you love your family? Because I surely do. The one I respect the most is Xavier, my brother. If he comes to know about it, it'll be the end of me and my career. Then I'll end you too bitch do you get it? DO YOU?'' He yelled at her,  she was completely dumbfounded,  he would go to those limits rather than accepting that this child was his.

Sophia had to accept that she couldn't tell anyone the truth because if she did, her  family would pay and just like him, she cares for her family very much.

After his little speech, he walked out of the house and slammed the door. He left Sophia to look after his child. He just left her making her feel  so broken.

She herself was a teenager. How was she supposed to do this by herself?

With such thoughts running through her mind  she ran out of the house.

She couldn't face Zayn or Rivera. She heard them yelling her name but she kept on running until she was far, far away.

  _ _ _ _ _

Sophia looked up at Conner with tears streaming through her eyes. His eyes held so many emotions.

He knew exactly what she was thinking,  and the worst part was that it hurt him just like it hurt her, but she just didn't  know.

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