Page 29

SAVANNAH

I left the restroom and turned down the hall toward the stairwell, adjusting the sleeve of my blazer and trying to ignore the throb building behind my eyes.

A late night and a skipped lunch were catching up to me after two days of no contact with Dominic.

I reached for my phone to check the time when I caught sight of Marla rounding the corner ahead of me.

She stopped short at the sight of me, her body going rigid before she pasted on a weak smile.

Then, catching herself, she kept moving again quickly, like momentum alone could save face.

There was something defensive in her posture, like she was expecting confrontation and wasn’t ready for it.

She angled her head down slightly; maybe she hoped I wouldn’t make eye contact.

I didn’t stop walking, but my gaze tracked her closely.

She looked tense—more than usual. Her shoulders were set too tightly, and she clutched her phone in one hand like she was afraid someone might rip it away, and it made me wonder what she was doing down the hall alone and who she was speaking with on the phone.

She hadn’t been in the bathroom, which was the only thing down this far other than the empty stairwell no one used.

We passed each other without a word. I didn’t bother with a fake greeting.

Something about the way she carried herself made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

When I reached the stairwell, I stepped through the door and out of view before pulling my phone out.

After learning from Graham that my father was communicating with Marla, I had all but decided to cut ties with him, and now I wondered where their little investigation was, so I shot Isla from HR a message.

Savannah: 1:04 PM: Isla, has the internal review on Marla wrapped? Has anyone else been flagged for access violations?

I paused for a second before hitting send.

Isla had always been discreet and trustworthy, but I still kept the wording neutral.

If there was something going on, I didn’t want to be the one to stir up more accusations without cause.

But after the leak, the email, and now Marla skulking through the hall like a cornered animal, I needed to know if there were more threads we hadn’t pulled yet, and exactly how my father was connected to all of this.

After such a long day and knowing it would be a while before I finished my tasks, I made my way down to the parking garage to meet Thea.

I hated leaning on her so much, but I was in a tight spot at work after Graham’s revelation to Dominic and the board.

No one said as much, but I knew I was walking on a tight rope and I couldn’t be seen slacking off, so she promised to make me dinner since I was working late.

My stomach growled as the smell of sesame oil and spiced noodles hit me before I even reached her car. She leaned against the driver’s side with a paper bag in one hand and a wary look on her face. The low rumble of traffic echoed against the concrete walls, and somewhere nearby a car door slammed.

“I come bearing carbs,” she said, holding the bag up like a peace offering. She offered a faint smile, though her eyes didn’t quite match the lightness in her voice. Her grip on the bag was tight, and the tension in her posture told me this wasn’t just a friendly drop-off.

I smiled in thanks and slid into the passenger seat.

The moment I shut the door, I turned around to peek between the seats into the back.

Leo had a juice box in one hand; Cal was flipping through a picture book.

I reached over the seat to stroke Leo’s curls and whispered a quick hello, my eyes darting across the garage in case Dominic happened to walk past.

Thea joined me and shut the door, cocooning us inside our little bubble where I hoped we’d sit in privacy. The inside of the car was warm, the faint scent of coconut air freshener mixing with the food. I opened the bag and pulled out a container, and the steam fogged up the windshield briefly.

“Thanks, Thea, I’m so sorry I have to stay late again.

” The heat from the food curled up around my face.

I poked at the noodles without taking a bite, still watching her carefully.

The sound of the twins giggling in the back added a layer of pressure I couldn’t ignore.

It tamed the loud rumble of hunger from my stomach for a second, but I shoved a bite of food down anyway.

“Mommy, I got a new book…”

“Shut up!” Leo snapped. “Mommy, I have to pee.”

Looking back at them I winced and knew I had to rush this so Thea could get them home. “There’s no potty here, Leo. And that book looks really fun, Cal. Maybe I can read it to you for bedtime.” I unscrewed the cap on a bottle of water Thea handed me and took a sip before setting it down.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she was reluctant to let it out. I shoved a bite of food into my mouth as she spat it out. “Savannah, your dad called me earlier tonight.”

I froze mid-bite. My fork paused in the carton. The food no longer smelled appetizing. My hunger vanished as my chest pulled tight. “What? Why?”

She glanced at me, gauging my reaction as her fingers tapped against her knee. Her voice was soft, but the tension in her shoulders and the half grimace on her face told me she wasn’t done. I watched her face carefully, waiting for the rest.

“I don’t know. He was calm, weirdly calm.

He asked a few things. About your schedule, how you were doing.

And then about Dominic.” Her gaze flicked toward the dashboard, avoiding my eyes as she spoke.

She shifted uncomfortably, as if replaying the conversation in her head.

Something about her tone unsettled me. “He asked me what you told me about him? He asked me if this dating thing was real or fake.”

I set the container on the center console and wiped my palms on my skirt.

A chill had crept into my chest, tightening around my ribs.

My throat felt dry. “What did you say?” I wouldn’t take my father’s calls so he just decided to call Thea instead?

And it wasn’t the first time he had pressed me about Dominic either.

There were times over the past five years he asked me who the boys’ father was, but I never told him because I knew what his reaction would be.

I studied her face, heart climbing into my throat as I waited.

Her expression was drawn, jaw set tight.

My stomach knotted in anticipation of her answer.

“Not much. I kept it vague, but the call felt off. I think you should just tell him, Savannah. There are rumors now, pictures being shared out there.” I winced at her statement because it was true.

Everyone was starting to talk about the resemblance.

And while Dominic hadn’t come right out and made a statement about it, it was only a matter of time before my father and Dominic went to war over this.

It wouldn’t be pretty either. And whatever was bothering Dad so badly to make him anxious about me fake dating Dominic would only get worse when he found out his best friend fathered my children.

She looked at me firmly, her lips pressed together, and she finally met my eyes. “Do it soon…”

“Thanks for telling me.” I reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze, grounding myself in the one person I still trusted, and I didn’t want to let go.

I scarfed down the rest of my noodles in a rush, barely tasting anything as my mind spun through worst-case scenarios.

Thea watched me from the corner of her eye, but didn’t comment, probably sensing I needed to finish quickly.

I wiped my mouth, shoved the container back into the bag, and reached for the door, already rehearsing excuses for why I was late getting back upstairs.

Before walking away, I leaned into the backseat one last time to kiss the boys’ foreheads.

Leo giggled, still distracted by his juice box, and Cal held up his book proudly.

I whispered goodbye before scanning the garage again like Dominic might appear out of thin air.

I didn’t want to risk him seeing them until we’d had a chance to talk.

It would be bad enough to do it planned; I didn’t need a jump scare to make my fight-or-flight response kick in.

Thea frowned at me as she said, “Work hard, Momma. We’ll be waiting.” She adjusted her seatbelt with a jerky motion and put the car in gear. As she backed out of the space, she offered a small wave. I didn’t wave back. My stomach had already twisted into a knot.

That conversation was just another brick in the wall I was building between myself and my father that would be horribly painful to tear down. All I’d ever wanted was his approval, but the instant I found out I was pregnant, I felt like I would never get it.

Back upstairs, I had barely sat down at my desk when my door burst open. Vanessa stood in the doorway, her phone held out in front of her like a smoking gun. Her expression was set, no trace of her usual sarcasm or sunshine. “You’ve seen this?” she blurted out as she stalked toward me.

Her heels clicked across the floor with purpose as she closed the distance between us. The tension she carried with her sucked the air from the room faster than Thea’s announcement about my father’s call.

She thrust the screen in my direction. I didn’t have to ask what it was because I recognized the photo immediately.

It was the one from weeks ago, when I had been holding Cal outside Thea’s building, waiting for a cab.

Only now, it was juxtaposed with a photo of Dominic.

The headline above them screamed in all caps:

DOMINIC KNIGHT’S SECRET CHILDREN? PR DIRECTOR TIED TO SHOCKING PATERNITY RUMOR

My breath caught. My chest tightened with panic, and I felt the blood rush from my face.

I felt like I was going to be sick as I stared at it, then a third image below, much smaller but definitely no less shocking.

It was me at the park with Cal and Leo, posed for a picture Thea had taken and shared on her social media, which I felt was safe enough.

“Is it true?” Vanessa snipped harshly. I’d never seen her like this, but the possibility that she could be a harpy vulture never escaped me. She had the personality of a shark, which was probably why Dominic hired her to begin with.

She leaned in slightly, eyes narrowed in expectation. Her jaw tightened, waiting.

I swallowed hard. “No.” The lie marched right off my tongue, and I let it. I’d been lying for the past six years. What else was I going to say?

My hands stayed folded in my lap, muscles clenched tightly as I held her stare.

Every instinct told me not to flinch, though I had no real reason to keep hiding this.

But it really was none of her business at all.

My private life was being screamed from the mountain tops, and all because of her stupid PR stunt I wanted nothing to do with from the beginning.

She narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t argue.

“You need to get ahead of this before the board sees it. If this blows up and it looks like Dominic is the father, you’re not going to survive it.

They’ll call for your resignation.” She adjusted her blazer as she turned on her heel, already moving for the door.

“No wonder he wants to end the fake dating.” She paused at the door with her hand on the handle.

My mouth opened but then shut without speaking because what was I going to say to her in my own defense when what she said was true. “If you knew this would happen, why did you let us go forward?”

I sat frozen, my pulse hammering in my ears. Vanessa turned and walked out, and the door clicked shut behind her, sealing me into my tomb of guilt and shame. I stared at my computer screen glowing on my desk, my reflection barely visible in the glare.

If this story reached the board before I could spin it, I was finished.

My career, my reputation, maybe even my ability to get a decent job in Seattle.

Tanking the merger would be blamed on me, not Marla or my dad’s shenanigans.

And Dominic…he hadn’t even said a word since I told him.

Any chance I ever had with him was nothing but a prayer whispered in a hurricane.

I reached for my phone with trembling fingers and opened the browser. The article had already been picked up by three other outlets. The photo of Cal looked smaller each time, but the implication loomed larger.

There wasn’t time to hope this blew over.

I had to do something. Fast.