Divorced Heiress
I am Not A Contract Chapter 11

Abby was so busy in the following days at Doinel that she didn't even have time to remember that she had a guest in her belly for a few months.

The nausea, which started to become more constant, was a reminder that a life depended on her and the care she was recommended during her first prenatal appointment, so she took a quick break from time to time and continued with her activities as if there was no tomorrow. She did not regret staying in the company after being almost forced to retract in front of the entire board of directors, by Sarah Doinel.

She didn't want to admit it, but she preferred to keep working. If it wasn't for Vincent and his deceit, she would have never thought of quitting her job.

She loved her work in the fashion house, loved working alongside her best friend. Maybe she coincided a little with Vincent in that aspect, but the difference between the two was that Abby knew there were priorities, and her baby was above everything else at that moment.

For her baby's sake, she was willing to give up whatever was necessary, and she had started with Vincent.

Although she shouldn't, she felt better with extra work. That way, she didn't give her treacherous mind a chance to think about the drastic and unexpected turn her life had taken in the blink of an eye

Despite everything, her mood was starting to change. She felt good that way. Day by day, she repeated to herself that it was the best thing that could have happened to her.

She had escaped from the evil in time.

She knew she needed time to move on from the Vincent issue, so at that moment, he no longer existed for her.

Day after day, she removed the memories from her mind, because everything had ended, everything died, and he became an insignificant ghost in her life, not disturbing the tranquility she was regaining on her own. Vincent was her past, left behind.

Abby was conversing with Patrick, while supervising the garments for the collaboration with Innova and Lancaster Collection that would be distributed that same day.

They were catching up on the latest news. However, the brunette had no intention of mentioning her pregnancy, not even by mistake, let alone saying much about Vincent.

Nevertheless, Doinel's designer was already aware of Vincent's departure, but he had no details. He didn't know anything more than that, and he didn't want to be imprudent by asking Abby directly about it. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable.

Although he was not aware of what had happened, it didn't take much thinking to realize that the relationship had come to an end and in very bad terms.

But why?

If Vincent has left his job, which is the most important thing in his life, it means that things between them didn't end very well, to say the least. What happened? Patrick thought, discreetly looking at Abby. After a few seconds of silence, he pondered whether it was a good idea to ask about what was behind Vincent's unexpected departure or to change the subject and find out when the situation cooled down. It's not the right time to ask

Either way, Patrick was dying to know everything.

"It's a real miracle that Sarah took a few days off. She needed a break from so much tragedy triggered by your mother's obsession, with all due respect, my sunny one," Patrick secretly bit his tongue for letting the topic of Abby's mother slip out. He had decided to be careful with his words, but he failed.

Patrick looked at the brunette with embarrassment and concern, but she didn't flinch. Even though they were talking about the woman who gave her life and who she still hadn't fully overcome in terms of the Dubois family's reality, Abby didn't feel affected. Apparently, nothing was more important than her child.

"Don't worry, Patrick, you can say whatever you want about that woman. She deserves it," Abby responded absentmindedly, dismissing the matter with a wave of her hand, while still supervising the merchandise

Soon, she shifted her gaze from the garments and stopped at Patrick's face, her lips curving, forming a smile that could contagion anyone. She remembered an important detail.

"At this moment, Sarah must be proposing to Alexander on the private cruise." Abby let it out without hiding how thrilled she was for the couple, and Patrick froze in his place with his mouth and eyes wide open, as if he had just found out he had won the lottery. "I can't believe what my ears are hearing. Sarah, our Sarah Doinel, is going to propose to her ex-husband! I feel like I'm going to cry, our president always breaking paradigms. We should celebrate this, I have a bottle of champagne in my workshop, while they celebrate over there, we'll celebrate over here."

Patrick looked ecstatic upon hearing the good news, he hadn't even finished processing all the information and in his mind he was already imagining the wedding dress he would design for his esteemed boss.

Abby nodded her head, not dissipating the happiness bubbling in her system, she felt happy for her friend's happiness, but quickly, the movements of her head changed to one of denial, at the same time that the smile disappeared from her face. "I'm pregnant, I can't drink alcohol."

"It will be another time, Patrick, I can't drink champagne."

Patrick was stunned to hear Abby's response and for a moment thought it was a joke on her part, as she never rejected such an invitation.

"Abby, but what are you saying, you've never turned down an invitation, if it's because of work, it doesn't matter, we'll toast when we go out, but we must celebrate." The designer insisted, ignoring the real reason Abby was rejecting the invitation. On the other hand, Abby hoped the ground would swallow her, she didn't want anyone to find out about her pregnancy, at least not at that moment when everything was still fresh, because she knew they would look at her with pity when they put two and two together, and she was tired of everyone seeing her that way because of her family.

And now because of that filthy jerk? No way.

"I'm sorry, this time will be the exception." Abby responded directly, without mulling over the matter or giving explanations, she was being very careful with her words, knowing how impulsive and reckless she could be, which would lead her to give away too much information. Under Patrick's amazed gaze, she continued with her work as if she had finished the topic, but the designer wouldn't give up. If Abby didn't accept, he would have to give her a very good excuse not to celebrate for his best friend "Oh no, my sunshine, give me a good reason."

If Patrick already had a lot of curiosity about the Vincent issue, Abby's reluctance made it even worse, uncertainty was beginning to take hold of him. Everyone's going crazy, are we at the end of times?

Abby knew that if she didn't give him a valid excuse right then, she wouldn't be able to get rid of him so easily, he would keep insisting and that would lead her to disclose information, so she took a few seconds, pretending to be focused on writing down the merchandise records, but inside she was thinking about what to tell him.

Patrick cleared his throat, as if reminding her that he was right beside her, and Abby took a deep breath before looking at him, she suddenly thought about telling him the truth and putting an end to that topic with the truth out in the open, however, when the brunette opened her mouth to tell Patrick that she was pregnant, a familiar voice spoke for her.

"Patrick, you're meddling. Abby is taking antibiotics, she can't drink alcohol."

Bastian Lefebvre appeared as her savior, yes, he was saving her from revealing information she preferred to keep to herself.

Abby and Patrick's eyes automatically stopped on Bastians face at the same time, surprised by the unexpected presence of the dark-haired man, both thought he was taking care of the financial balances.

Abby felt relieved to be saved by the bell in time, that excuse hadn't crossed her mind, it was perfect for continuing to keep her pregnancy low-profile for a couple more months, until things calm down.

On the other hand, Patrick opened his mouth, pretending to be offended by how Bastian had called him.

"Bastian being Bastian." Patrick said, shaking his head, and Bastian smiled before greeting him and shaking his hand.

"One leaves and the other is left. What are you doing here?

You should be counting numbers or flirting with one of my models."

When Patrick said that in a joking tone mixed with complicity, Bastian gave a fleeting glance to Abby, not wanting to give the woman a bad impression because of the designer's slanders.

"You're defaming me, Patrick. Abby, don't forget that we have a pending lunch."

Abby's brow immediately furrowed upon hearing that. She didn't remember having any lunch plans, in fact, since they had taken over Doinel, they hadn't even crossed paths due to the amount of work they both had.

Abby stared at Bastian for longer than she should have, hoping he would say something more or remind her what the lunch was about, but she soon understood from his gaze that it was a lie to get her out of the conversation with Patrick.

The truth was that Bastian had come to this place with the intention of inviting Abby to lunch to break the ice between them little by little, he didn't expect to find a situation that would work in his favor.

"Oh, yes, I had forgotten, time got away from me, how silly."

Abby went along with it, while checking the time on her wristwatch.

"Sorry, Patrick, I have a commitment with Bastian, Ill see you later." Abby said goodbye to Patrick with two kisses and he looked at them both with a raised eyebrow, realizing that Abby was practically running away from him, but he didn't want to drag the issue any further. After all, it was just a glass of champagne. Bastian said goodbye to Patrick and was about to follow in Abby's footsteps, who, without hesitation, walked quickly to the elevator to go back to her office

"Before you go, I want you to know that I pretend not to know, but I'm sure Vincent left for some weighty reason in which Abby has a lot to do with it, I can see it in his eyes, and I respect that she doesn't want to tell me, but Bastian, Abby is like a sister to me, I wouldn't want to find out that you're on Vincent's side."

Patrick took advantage of Abby being far enough away not to hear him and sentenced Bastian, thinking he was there at the request of his older brother, and although in a way he was, the reality was that he did it to be closer to Abby.

"Patrick, Vincent may be my brother, but that doesn't mean I'll be on the side of what's wrong and inhumane. You can trust that Abby is in good hands, even if it's hard for you to believe." Bastian spoke with such sincerity that he broke down the wall of mistrust that Patrick had created.

With that, he felt more relieved for Abby, but it didn't mean he would let his guard down. In fact, now it was clear to him that Vincent had left her devastated, but he still didn't know the details.

Bastian didn't wait for a response, he patted Patrick on the shoulder as a farewell before turning around to catch up with Abby, who was already entering the elevator, mentally grateful for being saved by Bastian.

When the metal doors of the elevator were about to close, Bastian's hand stopped them, appearing within Abby's field of vision, and she huffed upon seeing him, but she had to swallow her discomfort about sharing the same space with him because she could be many things, but ungrateful was not one of them.

"Thank you for arriving on time." Abby broke the silence as the metal doors closed and the elevator started moving.

Bastian looked at her upon hearing her gratitude, but he could only see her profile as the brunette didn't turn to face him, her eyes fixed on the floor indicator.

"You're welcome." Bastian's response was simple and bland compared to what he really wanted to say, and silence reigned once again as the elevator ascended to the top floor of the building.

Bastian could only discreetly observe her, finding it difficult to tear his eyes away from the woman he adored. He only realized they had arrived at their destination when Abby walked out, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Immediately, he stepped out of the elevator, realizing that he had wasted time silently admiring her and had not clarified that the lunch invitation was genuine. "Actually, we do have a pending lunch."

When Abby heard Bastian say that, she turned around to look at him with a furrowed brow, confusion evident on her face. She didn't remember having any lunch plans, it was impossible since they hadn't even met once in Doinel. "Excuse me?"

Abby had no idea what the dark-haired man was talking about. For a moment, she thought he wasn't speaking to her, but there was no one else in the hallway, and his hazel gaze was fixed on her face. Bastian looked at the time on his wristwatch and looked back at Abby-

"I will send you the location of the restaurant," he replied, leaving the brunette confused and more confused than before.

She was one hundred percent certain that they did not have any lunch plans, but he kept insisting.

When Abby opened her mouth to refute and let him know that he was mistaken and that she would not have lunch with a Lefebvre, Bastian interrupted her before returning to the waiting elevator. "What..?" Abby began to say.

"You owe me, I'll be waiting for you," he said, not giving Abby a chance to respond as the metal doors closed and Bastian disappeared from her line of sight.

But she soon understood that he was referring to her debt for saving her from Patrick's interrogation.

Bastian let out a deep sigh, with only the company of the metal walls, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"I really hope for you."