Chapter 9

Dari looked from her father to her mother and the rest of the adults sitting, she found it hard to believe they were serious.

If she was not ready to abort her child, why do they feel that she would be willing to give up her child for adoption after birth?

If they were not willing to accept her and her child then they were not much of a family, and she does not need them.

She wanted them to be a part of the child's life, she wanted her child to be a part of the loving family she use to know, but this was not that family.

Seeing that her father was serious about the condition he had given her. She looked at her father with tears in her eyes.

"Daddy, if this is the only option you have given me so I can be a part of this family, then I'm sorry I no longer want to be with a family that still refuses to accept my child my child will be my." Dari was heartbroken, this was the only family she knew after all, she grabbed her purse and left with tears streaming down her eyes this time she left without looking back.

The Day for the result finally arrived, the night before that, Maxwell had been really troubled and unable to fall asleep, Doctor Thomas called him earlier that day to inform him the paternity test result was out.

when he enquired about the outcome of the test, he had been unwilling to disclose the test result and had insisted that he should come to the office the next day, he was filled with Unanswered questions, he was never one for suspense.

That morning, he took his bath and left for the office without breakfast. He managed to take a cup of coffee.

When he got to the office, he instructed his secretary to clear his morning schedule, all meetings for that morning were to be postponed.

the instruction came as a huge surprise to his secretary, Mrs Anderson, in the five years she had worked for him, he had never told her to clear his schedule. One could say that he lived to work.

Maxwell waited impatiently in his office until it was ten o'clock, afterward, he instructed his driver he will be driving himself for the day, this came as a complete shock to the driver who felt he might have done something to provoke his boss.

He apologized to His boss, thinking he must have done something to his employer to displease him, which case will mean that his services were no longer needed.

Maxwell reassured him that he has done absolutely nothing wrong, but would like him to take that day off.

*****

Dari woke up that day exhausted from crying her eyes out half of the night, she had dark circles around her eyes from not sleeping.

That morning she received a flower bouquet with a note from Michael, still asking for forgiveness for whatever he might have done to make her cut him off.

She sent back the flowers just as she had done to the one before that. She had taken the cowardly way out in dealing with her situation with Michael.

Rather than informing him of her pregnancy, she had simply stopped taking his calls and not answering the door whenever he comes to her apartment. But sooner than later she will have to be honest with him about her situation.

As Dari drove herself to the hospital that morning she found herself wishing that Caroline was there with her, to at least offer emotional support since she was the only one aware of the current situation.

As Dari drove to the hospital in her dainty old Nissan Versa car, she started to wonder how she ended up right where she was.

Just as a result of one forgettable night of sexual encounter that had resulted in her getting pregnant because she forgot to take her morning-after pills and ended up taking them a week after her unprotected sex.

It seems something that was meant to be a fling has ended up, with her getting pregnant for someone whom she barely knew and from all accounts he was reluctant to accept the baby, not that it matters to her anyways.

If only she could turn back time, and redo everything she did on that unfortunate day, since it all started with her choice of Taxi she would first start by not taking that Taxi driven by the drunk driver.

Then she would not have ended up two hours late to her interview, which had made her go to the bar where she had met Maxwell.

If only she could change just one decision she had made that day, perhaps everything would have been different.

Too bad she can not travel back in time, nor can she erase the past, she could only make the best out of a bad situation.

Dari Parked her car in the parking lot and walked into the hospital straight to Dr Thomas's office.

*****

Maxwell saw Dari Park her car, there goes his hope of having a private discussion with Doctor Thomas before her arrival.

Something stopped him from getting down from his car, he found himself looking at her unable to take off his eyes, to say she intrigued him would be an understatement.

He waited ten minutes after she walked into the hospital before he followed behind her, he was intentionally avoiding having to deal with her before the big reveal.

Maxwell walking into the office met Dari already sitting and from the look of things they were awaiting his arrival.

He took a sit at the corner of the room, that way he was sitting behind Dari but still visible to Thomas in a way that he could look at him while talking. though his preferred sitting position made Dari uncomfortable she choose to ignore him.

Thomas waited for Maxwell to be situated before he proceed with the test results

" Mr Maxwell and Miss Dari there is a 99.9 per cent probability of Mr Maxwell being the father of the unborn child" he was looking at Maxwell calmly.

Maxwell's heart skipped a bit as he heard Doctor Thomas read out the result of the paternity test, he knew what that implied, he was the father. he had talked himself out of any possibility of him being the father to Dari's child.

Even as he heard Thomas whom he trusted so much read out the test result he still could not bring himself to believe or to be convinced he was the father of the baby.

"Thomas are you sure the result is accurate," he asked still not convinced.

"Mr Maxwell I can assure you I ran the tests several times so there will be no room for doubt I can assure you the result is accurate."

Thomas has known Maxwell for over ten years now, and in all the years he had known him he rarely ever spoke about his family or his childhood.

But from what he could tell, his childhood was not a very happy one, and he was not very close to his family either, he knew about the situation with Amanda and Jason.

His family situation might have had an emotional and psychological effect on him.

He tends to appear unapproachable and sometimes stone-hearted which was not true, all these were masks he had learnt to put on at an early age to survive in the unloving environment he had grown up in.

But he was not the man he had made people or the media believe he was.

Maxwell stood up and walked over to stand beside Thomas who was sitting opposite Dari, he was towering over Dari.

"Miss Dari from the look of things it seems I owe you an apology" he gave Dari a disarming smile.

Dari was caught off guard by his smile which seems to transform his face, from an emotionless Greek god to an irresistible work of perfection.

Dari's breath caught in her throat as she saw him smile, though she was caught off guard by his smile she knew not to allow him to have too much effect on her.

One thing she has come to learn the few times in the two months she had known him was that Maxwell Greenfield was a wealthy man who always got what he wanted.

He was a man not accustomed to losing, he always got what he wanted, by whatever means or tactics necessary, regardless of who might get hurt or what enemy he made in his pursuit.

She was sure that this was another tactic of his, a smile to disarm her and make her lower her guard around him then he will strike when she least expected him to.

A man like him, with his looks and charisma was a very dangerous one, and if she was wise enough she will run very far away from him and whatever game he was playing.

Dari had no intention of getting into an entanglement with him any more than she already did.

"Mr Maxwell I understand you are a very wealthy man, but I can assure you that I already made up my mind to have my baby before I found out who you were." she paused for impact.

"let it be clear that I do not have any expectation of you, whether you choose to be a part of your child's life is of no consequence to me, it will in no way or form influence my decision."

Maxwell was visibly angered by her statement, but he admired her show of independence.

" Miss Dari I can assure you I have every intention of being a part of my child's life, I do not intend to miss out on any part starting from this moment, he or she will feel the impact of my presence"

" I believe you will come to know my intentions with time," he said with a devious smile on his face as if declaring war.