Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 236

Chapter 236: Chapter 236
Damien’s POV

The words echoed in my ears like a death sentence.

*I’m pregnant.*

My brain shut down. Completely. Just… stopped processing.

“What?” The word came out strangled. Wrong. “What did you just say?”

Emma’s face crumpled. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m pregnant, Damien. With your baby.”

“No.” I stepped back. Hit the wall. “That’s not possible.”

“It is.” Her voice shook. “From that night. At the hotel.”

The room tilted. My vision blurred at the edges.

“Emma, I don’t remember that night. I told you that. I don’t remember anything after sitting in that conference room.”

“I know.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “But it happened. Whether you remember or not, it happened.”

My hands clenched into fists. “Tell me exactly what happened. Every detail. Leave nothing out.”

She flinched at my tone. “Damien—”

“Now, Emma. Tell me now.”

She took a shaky breath. “Gabriel called that meeting. Said Valerie wanted to talk to you. You went to the conference room and I followed because… because I was worried. Something felt wrong.”

“And?”

“You sat down. Started talking to Gabriel. Then…” She paused. Wiped her eyes. “Then you got angry. Started saying things about Sera. About how she’d left you. How you couldn’t trust her anymore.”

That didn’t sound like me. But I stayed quiet. Let her continue.

“You grabbed a drink Gabriel offered you. Some whiskey. Said you needed it.” Emma’s voice got smaller. “That’s when things got strange. Your eyes went unfocused. Your speech slurred. You kept saying you needed to forget. That you couldn’t handle the pain anymore.”

“I didn’t remember that, the drink.” The certainty hit me like a freight train. “I didn’t remember anyone pass me the drink.”

“I don’t know!” Emma’s voice rose. Desperate. “Maybe. But Damien, you… you grabbed me. Pulled me close. Said you needed someone. That you couldn’t be alone.”

My stomach turned. “That’s not what happened.”

“It is!” She stepped closer. “You took me to your car. Drove to the hotel. You were different. Not yourself. But you kept saying you wanted me. That you needed me. That you couldn’t stop thinking about me.”

“I never said those things.” My voice was ice. “I’ve never thought those things.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Emma yanked down the collar of her shirt.

Bite marks. Dark purple. On her collarbone. Her shoulder. Her neck.

Exactly where I’d marked Sera a thousand times before.

“You did this.” Emma’s finger traced one of the marks. “You marked me. Over and over. You said you wanted everyone to know I was yours.”

“No.” The word tore out of me. “That’s not— I would never—”

“And you have marks too.” Her eyes met mine. Challenging. “Check your back. Your shoulders. I fought back, Damien. I scratched you. Deep.”

My hands flew to my shoulders. Felt the raised lines there. Scabs. Healing scratches I’d noticed in the shower but hadn’t questioned.

Evidence.

“This doesn’t prove anything,” I said. But my voice lacked conviction.

“It proves everything!” Emma was crying harder now. “You took me to that hotel. You marked me. You… you were with me. All night. And now I’m carrying your child.”

“How do I know it’s mine?” The words came out cruel. Desperate.

Emma’s face went white. “How dare you.”

“How do I know this isn’t some scheme? Some plan you and Gabriel cooked up to destroy my marriage?”

“I loved you!” The words exploded out of her. “I’ve loved you for years! But I never… I would never do something like this! Never!”

“Then why now?” I stepped toward her. She backed up. “Why wait weeks to tell me? Why disappear? Why avoid all my calls?”

“Because I was terrified!” Her back hit the wall. “Because I knew what this meant! Because I knew you’d react exactly like this!”

“Like what?”

“Like it’s my fault!” Tears streamed down her face. “Like I planned this! Like I wanted this! But I didn’t, Damien! I didn’t want any of this!”

She slid down the wall. Collapsed into a heap on the floor. Sobbing.

I stood over her. Every muscle in my body coiled tight. Ready to explode.

“I don’t remember,” I said. Each word precise. Final. “I don’t remember being with you. I don’t remember marking you. I don’t remember any of it. So forgive me if I don’t believe this baby is mine.”

“It is yours!” She looked up at me. Mascara running. Face destroyed. “I haven’t been with anyone else! There is no one else!”

“That’s convenient.”

“It’s the truth!”

Silence fell. Heavy. Suffocating.

My mind raced through possibilities. Scenarios. Ways this could all make sense.

None of them did.

“Fine.” I pulled out my phone. “I’ll transfer money to your account. Enough for… for the procedure. And more. Enough to never work again if you want.”

Emma’s crying stopped. She stared at me. “What?”

“You heard me.” I started typing. “I’ll give you whatever you need. A million. Two million. Name your price.”

“You want me to…” She couldn’t finish. Just stared in horror.

“Get rid of it.” The words came out flat. “Schedule the appointment. I’ll pay for everything. The best doctors. Private clinic. Whatever you need.”

“You’re asking me to kill our baby?”

“It’s not a baby yet. It’s a clump of cells. And it’s not mine.”

“It is yours!” She scrambled to her feet. “How can you say that? How can you—”

“Because I don’t remember!” My voice rose. Echoed through the empty house. “Because this whole situation is insane! Because my wife left me because of this and now you’re telling me you’re pregnant?”

“Your wife left because you cheated on her!” Emma shot back. “That’s not my fault!”

“I didn’t cheat!” I grabbed her shoulders. She flinched but I didn’t let go. “I was drugged. Set up. This whole thing was planned.”

“By who? Me?” Her laugh was bitter. “You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to be the other woman? To be pregnant with a baby my boss doesn’t even want?”

I released her. Stepped back. Ran my hands through my hair.

“I don’t know what I think anymore.” The admission came out broken. “But I know I can’t… I can’t let this baby exist. Not like this. Not when it’ll destroy what’s left of my marriage.”

“Your marriage is already destroyed.”

“Not yet.” I looked at her. “Not if we handle this quietly. If we take care of it and never speak of it again.”

Emma wrapped her arms around herself. “I always knew you didn’t see me. Didn’t care about me. But I never thought… I never thought you’d ask me to do this.”

“My family matters more. My kids matter more. Sera matters more.” I met her eyes. “I’m sorry. But yes.”

She stared at me for a long moment. Something shifting in her expression. Something hardening.

“And if I say no? If I keep it?”

“Don’t.” The word came out as a warning. “Don’t do that, Emma.”

“Why not? It’s my body. My choice.”

“Because I’ll make your life hell.” The threat was quiet. Calm. Absolutely serious. “I’ll deny paternity. I’ll fight you on every support payment. I’ll make sure everyone knows you tried to trap me.”

Her face went pale. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“I could tell Sera. Tell her you’re having a baby with me. End your marriage for good.”

My entire body went rigid.

Then I moved.

Fast. Faster than she could react.

My hand wrapped around her throat. Gentle. Not squeezing. Just… there. A promise of violence.

“Listen very carefully.” My voice was dead calm. “If you tell Sera about this. If you breathe one word of this pregnancy to anyone. I will kill you.”