So, Shall We Get Married?
Chapter 37

Mr. Palmer, I think you should go….

Olivia stops in mid-stride as she looks at what Caleb is holding in his hands, the brunette just staring at the picture of her baby’s echo in her… father’s hands.

-What does this mean? -He raises the echo high in the air as he turns to face her.

The brunette stands still; not moving, not saying a word, just trembling and with the truth caught in her throat. She swallows and looks up into Caleb’s eyes, who doesn’t take his eyes off her for a second.

-Olivia, are you pregnant? -The CEO takes a step toward her with an expression of seriousness that gave the woman the creeps.

-I…” He steps back, because he could see nothing else to do.

-Answer me, are you?

Caleb ended up pinning Olivia against the wall, his palm placed on the side of her face, the other still displaying the echo.

-Yes, I’m pregnant,” she finally answered, feeling relief in her soul, she hated to keep hiding the truth.

Stupefied, Caleb froze. He simply looked into her eyes and thought, “Who’s the father,” then looked at the sonogram and seconds later at the brunette.

-Are you living with someone? -He approaches her face and for a split second, he looks at her tentative lips.

-What? -she asks astonished. What does it say? -She blinks several times at his extreme closeness. That didn’t let her think clearly.

-Do you live with someone, yes or no? Caleb’s tone of voice became high-pitched and somewhat dark.

-No… no, I don’t live with…

-Then it’s my son, isn’t it?

She widened her eyes and though you couldn’t see it, I knew she had gone pale. She sensed it, and even more from the way she was starting to feel so bad, the last thing she expected was for that man to ask her that question.

-You’re expecting a baby, and it’s mine. Answer me, with a demon!

-Caleb, I…

Without her expecting it, the brunette’s lips were taken by Caleb’s mouth. She rolls her eyes in mere surprise, however; she responds to the k**s he was giving her. And how could she not, if she missed those lips so much.

It was a surprise to her that he jumped to conclusions about the baby and immediately said it was his, she had always imagined another kind of scene, but never that one.

After a few seconds, they broke apart and looked at each other.

-Why didn’t you look for me when you found out? -The CEO strokes her cheek gently.

-I thought you wouldn’t believe me, like that night you…” He looks down. “I didn’t imagine I’d get pregnant. I assumed I’d been cautious.

-I was, believe me I was, but the truth is I don’t know what happened… I’m sorry I wasn’t more careful.

-It’s okay,” she denies, to which he lifts her chin and makes her look at him.

-You must be almost two months, that’s why my daughter said you were sick. You’ve lost some weight.

Olivia catches on to what was going on, and immediately pushes Caleb away, who is taken aback by her attitude.

-What is she trying to do? I don’t want him to feel obligated to me because I’m going to have his child.

-What are you talking about? Of course it’s not like that.

-I can take care of this baby on my own….

-No!” He takes a step toward her. “I want that baby, and I’ll take care of it,” Olivia tilts her head down. And you, Olivia,” He looks up.

Maybe it was crazy what she was about to say, but there was no other way out of the situation. Even though she hadn’t had a good experience in her previous relationship, she wasn’t going to allow this child to grow up in an environment like the one her daughters grew up in. She had to solve that problem.

-But…

-Olivia, we’re getting married.

Mouth agape, she tries to process that proposal…

Proposal?

You couldn’t really call that a proposal, it was far from a marriage proposal. Rather, it was like an obligation that Caleb was under.

Does he think a child meant binding himself to her?

Olivia frowned, and that time it was she who had walked away from him. She wasn’t willing to join her life with a man who felt nothing for her, at least a taste, but even that wasn’t what they were getting at.

It wasn’t possible that she had a crush on him, while Caleb was doing his duty only as a father. She also wanted a man by her side to show her that he loved her.

-I don’t want to,” she answers coldly, “I’m not marrying you.

The CEO looks at her deadly serious….

-What? Why?

-Because you don’t have to. You don’t have to marry me just because I’m expecting your child. I’m not getting married under those conditions, I’m sorry.

-And on what terms do you want to do it? -He puts his hands in his pockets.

< My God, I can’t tell you that I’ve fallen in love with him. =It would be stupid of me if I were to confess my feelings to this man who is only doing his duty as the father of my child.

-None, because I don’t want to be his wife.

-You said conditions, now I demand you tell me what they are. I’m a businessman, so we can come to an agreement, if that’s what you want. I’d prefer it another way, though.

He didn’t think Olivia would be interested, but if she agreed to his conditions, she would be close to her son and above all, the baby would grow up in an environment with his father and mother.

However, he didn’t like the idea of remarrying, since Olivia might do to him what his ex-wife had done. And given that she was demanding conditions, he implied that she was looking for comfort. He didn’t know whether to be disappointed or not.

-These are conditions you can’t give, that’s why I can’t marry you.

Now he was full of curiosity…

He approaches Olivia and decides to question her until he gets to the end of the mystery.

-I can offer you anything you ask for, I don’t understand why you say no.

Olivia’s feelings were trampled by that answer, he was thinking that she wanted money. He thought she was a taker. He was an idiot, how the hell could he think that, sadness was replaced by anger.

-Do you think I’m interested? Do you think I want your money? Do you think I want to marry for status? -You’re an idiot, how could you even think of such stupidity?

-Olivia, wait, I…

-No, no, you wait…” She points her finger at him. “I’ve put up with too much from you for you to give me this bullshit. Everything you’ve given me I’ve given you back, and yet you have the nerve to tell me that I’m self-serving.

-No, I didn’t mean to…

Caleb is silent, she was right, he was judging her without even knowing what she was asking for.

-I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have…

-I want you to get out of my house, and don’t come back.

-Olivia, please, we need to talk.

-No, there’s nothing left to say to each other. I want you to leave my house, I don’t want to see you again.

-That’s hard enough, because you’re carrying my child. And I’m going to take care of that baby, and as I told you, you too.

She turns away, lips flattened knowing she wouldn’t get rid of Caleb that easily.

-Why do you want me to marry you? He has no feelings for me, he’s doing it out of commitment for the baby, I won’t forbid you to see him if that’s what you want, but I won’t marry you.

-Why not? -She whispers against his ear. As far as I know, we don’t get along, and the truth is, what happened that night, I haven’t been able to forget, Olivia,” she widens her eyes and her heart leaps.

-But that’s not enough.

-But it’s a start, don’t you think?

-And what about your daughters? What happened with Talia, you know she doesn’t want me. How do you expect me to marry you and move in with you?

-I’ll talk to her, she’ll have to understand what’s going on.

-I remind her that I hit her daughter, do you want to marry the woman who hurt your daughter? I doubt it very much.

Caleb closes his eyes, not forgetting that important detail. It was on his mind; but he also knew that Talia had to have done something to make Olivia react the way she did. He couldn’t entirely blame the nanny.

-Tell me what really happened that morning. I need to know.

-That’s beside the point, what matters right now is that you need to get out of my house.

She turns around, but Caleb confronts her face to face. The CEO wasn’t about to leave her alone with the responsibility of a child, especially if that child was his. Olivia may have had an outburst of annoyance with her daughter, but she wasn’t a bad woman, and the simple fact that she didn’t tell on Talia spoke volumes about her.

She misjudged her badly, and she regretted not giving her the benefit of the doubt. He should have listened to both sides, it had been very stupid, but he shouldn’t forget that he was also a father, and to distrust his daughters was a horrible thing to do.

-I won’t leave you alone with this, I want you to marry me, Olivia.

-No. I won’t.” She answers flatly, trying to get away from him.

-What do you want me to do to make him accept me? The baby and you will want for nothing, I promise.

-What happened to the mother of his daughters? Where is she? Does he still have feelings for her? -Caleb takes a step back and gets sad.

-That’s beside the point, she won’t interfere with anything.

-His answer doesn’t answer my question. She must understand that I’m carrying her baby in my womb and now everything is complicated between us.

-She doesn’t matter. But what is happening now is important.

In this situation it does matter about your ex-wife, I’m expecting your child and she wants to marry me.

-She and I are divorced, don’t worry about that. There won’t be any problems.

-But with Talia, she won’t accept me as his wife. And when she replaces out I’m expecting a baby, she’ll go crazy.

-Olivia,” Caleb takes the brunette by the arms, “No one will interfere in my business, not the girls’ mother, not my own daughters. Are we clear, if I decide to marry you, I do.

She froze, looking as if she meant what she said. In fact, her eyes did not lie, with a devil! He was speaking very sincerely, the chestnut exclaimed inwardly.

And now what was she going to answer?

Should she agree to marry him?

But what if he still loved his ex-wife?

There was a chance that her theories were true, and if so, Caleb was getting married to keep up appearances for the baby, and of course, so that his bed wouldn’t be empty.

She’d just be the second table…