“Goodness Gracious. What have you been doing? Why are you crying your eyeballs out?” Mia said as soon as Ruby opened her apartment door. A few hours earlier, Mia had received a phone call from Ruby, asking her to go to her house immediately. Mia could not figure out what emergency it could be. She had practically begged for permission from her superior at the company. And rushed over soon after she was allowed to take the day off.
Ruby did not speak anything and silently walked inside the apartment. She plopped down on the bed. Her tears rolled down without any break.
Mia noticed that and quickly moved closer to Ruby. She hugged her best friend and rubbed her back without speaking anything for now. Calming down Ruby was on her agenda for now. She could talk later.
After a while of crying out loudly, Ruby calmed down enough to speak. Mia handed some water to her. Ruby sighed and rubbed her eyes, wiping out the rest of the tears..
“So, are you ready to talk?” Mia asked softly. She did not want Ruby to howl again with tears streaming down like waterfalls. Ruby sniffed her nose and nodded her head.
“Remember yesterday night’s phone call with the hospital?” Ruby asked. Mia nodded her head remembering the late night phone call that had woken them up.
“I went to the hospital today. And they conducted a pregnancy report. And it read that I am pregnant,”
Mia stared at Ruby with confusion. Was it not the goal? Ruby did not say anything until Mia gave a reaction. So, Mia gathered her thoughts and spoke, “I am not understanding this Ruby. Getting pregnant was the aim right? Why are you crying now?”
Ruby closed her eyes, scolding herself in her mind for not giving proper explanation. “The doctor said that the semen tube that was supposed to be used for me was accidentally misplaced and somehow got swapped with some other semen tube which was given for the test.”
Mia blinked her eyes trying to digest what Ruby just said, “So, you mean, you are pregnant with someone else’s baby and not from the person you were supposed to?”
Ruby nodded her head. Mia leaned back on the chair. She simply could not understand how on earth can the hospital staff be so irresponsible.
“What did the agency say?” Mia asked, wondering if the agency can find a solution to this problem.
Ruby shook her head, “Lily had come to the hospital but after hearing the news, she excused herself saying about an emergency at the agency and left. She never returned. Maybe I should call her now.”
Mia knew by now that the agency was definitely not going to help Ruby in any way. The manager escaping from the hospital was a clear clue to how the agency will handle the situation. But Mia did not dare to voice out her thoughts. She stayed silent while Ruby dialed the agency’s number.
“Yes, tell me Ruby. What is it?” Lily’s voice came from the phone speaker. “Well, what do we do now?” Ruby asked. She was nervous for a reason.
“About what?” Lily asked as if she did not know what had happened.
“What do you mean by About what? Don’t you remember what has happened?” Ruby said in a louder tone. She did not understand why Lily was speaking this way.
“I am sorry this happened to you. We will find a different surrogate to the Hudson couple. But we are unable to sort this out for you.”
“What am I supposed to do now?” Ruby asked anxiously. She simply could not wrap the information in her head. Is the agency really trying to get themselves out of this mess?
“I can only suggest that you talk to the other party whose baby you are carrying and see what you can do further. We will be terminating the contract between you and the Hudson couple tomorrow.” With that, Lily disconnected the phone call.
Ruby began weeping again and louder and more intense than before.
“We can solve this, Ruby. Don’t worry,” Mia said.
“How are we going to find a solution to this? I’m doomed for life and I have no idea how I am going to survive?” Ruby said while fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. She could feel her eyes swollen and it was aching.
Mia sighed, getting off from the couch. “You need some sleep right now. Please get some rest and we will talk about it later. I am sure we will find a solution for it.” Mia attempted to put Ruby into sleep. She rubbed Ruby’s back and patted her head trying to soothe her.
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Gabriel looked around the bar trying to spot Luke. Earlier in the evening, Luke had called him to the bar to talk about something important. Gabriel did not understand why Luke was so anxious as if the sky were to fall on his head.
Gabriel quickly spotted Luke in one of the bar stools. The bar was a bit crowded so he had to squeeze in between the people to reach Luke.
"I thought you were on medication and did not drink anymore," Gabriel said, taking a seat next to his friend. And then he signaled the bartender for his drinks. It was the regular that the best buddies visited, so the bartender was aware of their orders.
"Fuck medicines. I am going crazy," Luke muttered and chugged down his drinks in one go and ordered another one.
Gabriel chuckled, "Easy there, Champ. What happened? Anything serious?"
Luke nodded his head, "Very serious. As serious as it can be."
Gabriel hummed while he took his drinks. "Tell me what it is?"
"Remember the time when the hospital staff had misplaced my sample?"
Gabriel remembered it very well, "Oh you mean the semen sample?"
Luke hissed, "Don't say it so loudly." Gabriel could not help but laugh at his best friend's embarrassment. It seemed like this whole medical test scenario was making Luke as embarrassed as he has ever been.
"Okok. I won't say it loudly. Now continue your story," Gabriel said, ordering more drinks for himself and Luke as well.
"So, the mystery of his disappearance has been debugged. The staff happened to have swapped it with a sample that was supposed to be used for insemination."
"Like IVF or something?" Gabriel questioned.
"Something like that. But in this case, a surrogate is involved. And she is pregnant right now-"
"With your baby," Gabriel completed the sentence for Luke.
Luke nodded his head, "And the worst part is that the surrogate is the girl that we bumped into a few weeks ago at the coffee shop."
Gabriel's eyes widened at the new information. How coincident can this be? He wondered.
It took a good amount of time for Gabriel to digest every piece of information. By the time he was ready to speak again, he had done some calculations inside his head and had chugged down a few more glasses of alcohol.
"This girl, what does she do?" Gabriel asked.
"Apparently, she is an orphan. And she is struggling to make ends meet. She is also earning and saving for her final year of graduation in the university. And she had a few part time jobs which she dropped in plans of being a surrogate mother."
"That's the entire history of her," Gabriel commented. "I had my personal investigator look her up. He did not have to do much work. Everything was transparent about her," Luke replied.
Gabriel hummed acknowledging Luke's words, "Why don't you try to take advantage of this situation to your benefit?"
Luke looked at his friend with confusion. "How can I get benefits from this situation? She is carrying my child."
"Exactly. She is carrying your child. You can make a proposal to her asking her to pretend like your girlfriend and not to terminate the baby, that is if you want to keep the baby. And also tell her that you will support her financially as long as she is your baby's mother. I'm sure you can support one human being. And she sounds like she is nice since she is working so hard to make a living and not get into any dirty business. And more importantly, you can shoot the idea of your stepmother of getting you hitched with her Barbie doll niece."
Luke took in everything Gabriel said. The idea sounded fairly good. They both can have a life and also keep the baby. Luke was sure that his father would be very happy since his lineage would be secured.
A wicked smile made its way onto Luke's lips. Gabriel joined him in the plan. The buddies clunked one last glass of alcohol before they called it a night.
Ruby’s phone ringtone rang louder than any siren. Mia groaned and whined a little when the sound disturbed her sleep. Mia had stayed back at Ruby’s apartment as she did not want to leave Ruby alone. Mia knew that her friend would definitely drown herself in the pool of her miseries if she was left alone. And Mia did not want to risk it. Now, especially because she is carrying a baby.“Ruby, your phone is ringing. It might explode soon,” Mia said in her hoarse voice. Ruby sat on the bed and looked for her phone. She found it under the blanket which was laying half on the bed and the other on the floor.Ruby received the phone call which was from an unknown number, “Hello?”“Hello. Am I speaking to Miss Ruby Bakers?” a familiar voice came. Ruby blinked her eyes and even
"Good morning everyone. I am Gabriel Moretti. You can consider me as your solicitor for today. I also happened to be Luke's best friend. We have been friends since the day we were born," Gabriel began his talk. He was standing with a swimming pool in the background and he was holding the contract that is supposed to be signed by Luke and Ruby. While Ruby and Mia were sitting on the bar stools and Luke was filling in his glass of whisky with ice cubes. He had taken off from work today, so he could drink all he wanted.They all had gathered at Gabriel's house the next day after Luke and Ruby agreed on the proposition. Luke had promised to contact her as soon as the contract was ready. But she did not know that Luke would be this quick. He had called her late at night to inform her about today's plan. He had picked Ruby and Mia first thing in the morning and drove to Gabriel's house. Gabriel was generous enou
Luke took one last glance at his appearance in the mirror before heading out of his closet. Gabriel had been having a conversation with one of the maids while also waiting for Luke to get ready. The buddies were supposed to attend a party which was being hosted by the Simon’s. The Simon’s were one of the families that belong to the elite families of the country. They were old money and have been continuing to make tons of money for generations. The current owner of the Simon’s corporation, William Simon and his wife are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. And Luke and Gabriel were expected to attend the party because for one, they were business partners and two, their parents also happen to be close friends. So, it was kind of inevitable.“Come on, Gabe, let us go. We are already late,” Luke said while climbing down the stairs. His voice was loud enough to reach
After hearing David mention Luke's girlfriend, Anna could not keep still. She immediately excused herself saying she had to use the ladies' restroom. Luke smirked at her action. He did not miss how nervous she felt when she heard that he has a girlfriend.Anna walked outside the party hall and searched her purse for her phone. She quickly dialed the number.The phone rang for a few seconds before it was picked, "Hello?" A man's voice said."What took you so long to receive the phone call?" Anna asked restlessly.The man sighed and said, "Sister, I am a busy man and I have tons of work to do. I am not the chairman like your husband."Anna was irritated by it, "Whatever, Robert. Just listen to me now. You have to immediately ge
Ruby sighed, sitting on her bed. She had been packing her luggages since morning and it seemed like it was never ending. She never knew she had so much stuff. Yesterday after signing the contract with Luke, Gabriel had entertained them a little before they had bid bye. Ruby had been to her part time work places and resigned right away. It was kind of difficult to resign from her job at the departmental store that she used to work at. It was not a problem with the owner but the memories of breaking up with her then boyfriend, Adam in that place made it difficult for her. She had left the place with tears in her eyes. Within a span of a month, her life was turned upside down. One moment, she had a boyfriend whom she thought it was a serious relationship and the next moment she had broken up with him and signed up to become a surrogate and then she was carrying someone's child and now she was even moving in with him and had signed to become his pretend g
12Luke and Ruby had settled down quite well. Ruby felt like she was living in a whole different world. Luke had been a sweetheart and made her feel at home. He had a separate room arranged for her. It was like a princess room. And the attached bathroom in her room was not lacking any amenities. Ruby had to not worry about anything else.In fact, Ruby found herself having a lot of free time and she had no idea how to spend it. She spent her time at Luke’s penthouse, mostly exploring the place. And she found it hard to exquisite. She compared Gabriel’s independent house to Luke’s huge penthouse. The view from the penthouse was picturesque. And Ruby loved to see the sunrise and sunset from the huge window in the living room.Luke was getting ready for work. H
“What? Dinner? At your parents’ place?” Ruby almost screamed as she plopped down on the couch. Luke came home after a long day of work and told her about his father's dinner invitation. Ruby felt like she was not yet ready to meet the other members of Luke's family. She surely had met David. He seemed like a nice man but that was a very brief meeting.“Yes, dinner. At my father's house,” Luke said and took a seat next to her.Ruby pouted at him and Luke could not help but notice how cute she looked at this moment. But he did not dare voice out his thoughts.“You will have to meet them at some point. The sooner the better,” Luke said, trying to convince her.Ruby continued to pout. That wa
“Hey, make that baby shut its mouth,” screamed the young girl from her first class seat on the plane. The flight attendants came running towards her seat. “We are sorry for the inconvenience ma’am. But the baby is getting fussy.”“What can I do if the baby is feeling fussy? I can't sleep with such noise,” said the young girl.The flight attendant tried her best to calm down the young girl, “I will talk to the parent once again. Once again sorry for the inconvenience.” the young girl huffed and leaned back in her seat.“Get me some red wine,” the young girl said to the other flight attendant while the previous one went on to talk to the guardian of the baby. They tried their best to soothe the crying baby. Afte