If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 03
I went rigid, my hand instinctively flying to my stomach.
Ellis was visibly thrilled.
“The minute the doctor told me you were pregnant, I went and got your mom.”
“Now that there’s a baby, our families need to talk about the wedding.”
Looking at the relief flooding my mother’s face, I couldn’t say a word.
My mother had raised me by herself; she’d been through a lot.
She always said her greatest wish was to see me in a wedding dress, settled in a stable home of my own.
Tessa stood by the bed and forced a smile.
“Congratulations.”
I was the only one who couldn’t smile.
This child had come at the worst possible time.
Ellis looked at me. “This was all pretty sudden, so let’s keep it simple. We’ll skip the wedding.”
The smile vanished from my mother’s face.
“No wedding?”
“I only have one daughter. It can be small, but we have to do *something*.”
Ellis frowned.
“A wedding is too much trouble. I don’t have the energy for that right now.”
Trouble. There was that word again.
Rewriting Tessa’s résumé wasn’t trouble.
Bringing Tessa breakfast wasn’t trouble.
Finding Tessa a job wasn’t trouble.
My mother was clearly upset. Tessa, who had been scrolling on her phone, suddenly spoke up.
“Mrs. Ricci.”
“Is this your daughter?”
She turned her phone screen toward us.
It was a video. I was half-undressed, straddling a man in the dim light.
Tessa zoomed in on my face, then looked at Ellis with a vicious little smile.
“Looks like someone had a good time.”
My mother, who had always been so conservative, swayed on her feet.
“Coralie, what is this?”
I stared at Ellis in disbelief.
He had been the one to coax me into filming that video.
It was our one-year anniversary. He’d brought flowers, gifts. I’d only agreed in the heat of the moment.
Ellis snatched the phone away, his face like thunder.
“You posted this?”
Tessa’s eyes went wide in a display of perfect innocence.
“No! I just saw it online. It’s going viral. Tons of people are reposting it.”
My mother’s face went white.
Ellis spoke through clenched teeth.
“Tessa, tell me the truth right now, and I’ll let it go.”
Tessa just shook her head frantically.
“Fine.”
Ellis pulled out his own phone.
“I’ll have my tech team trace the source IP right now. They can have an answer in ten minutes.”
The blood drained from Tessa’s face.
Ellis had already started dialing.
“As soon as we know who did it, I’m calling the police.”
“Don’t!”
Tessa lunged forward, grabbing his hand as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Ellis, I must have logged into the wrong account!”
“I was trying to send a work file, and I must have attached the video by mistake.”
“I swear I didn’t know this would happen, Ellis. You have to believe me.”
Ellis stared at her for a few seconds, then spoke into the phone.
“Never mind. Don’t call the police, either.”
After he hung up, he was silent for a moment.
“Tessa, apologize to Coralie.”
Tessa was sobbing now.
“Coralie, I’m so sorry. It was an accident. If you’re still angry…”
She suddenly tugged at the collar of her shirt.
“Then I’ll post a nude picture of myself online tonight. Would that make us even?”