After Divorce Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant

"Is...was that why?" He questioned with a softer tone. "For whatever reason, you shouldn't have done that, Leonica. I still deserved to know the truth." "Oh don't play holy saint with me," Slapping his hand off her neck, she sneered at him. " Before you go about drillingabout my choice of concealing Ashely's identity, first remember that it was you who didn't wantbaring any of your children. Oral contraceptive, remember?" Gabriel did and the mention of it brought a sting to his heart.

Start Over Wan Me? "That was... At that time, didn't know you were pregnant, Leonica." "Oh yeah? And what if you did? Would you have cancelled the divorce and thrown Angelina out of your life?" She asked pointedly, but deep down, spart of her hoped to hear a specific answer from him.

However, seconds passed and Gabriel hadn't responded. His silence told her all she needed to hear.

Nodding her head, she felt a familiar sting behind her eyes, but forced the tears back.

"Yeah, thought so." Taking a step back, she swallowed thickly, making sure her voice was steady enough before she spoke. "You don't have to worry, I won't stop Ashely from meeting you anymore, after all, the treatment requires your assistance. But get this straight, I will ot stand by and watch you try to take him from me. If worse comes to worse, I will fight back." Watching her turn to leave, Gabriel felt sour about how the conversation was ending. He had demanded to talk with her so that they could settle things...for Ashely's sake. Yet, here they were, fighting like tom and freaking Jerry.

Under normal circumstances, Gabriel would have gotten satisfaction from seeing Leonica angry, heck, her furious face even stimes turned him on. But that wasn't the case for today's argument And no matter how much he tried to ignore that nagging feeling in the back of his mind, it kept telling him that if Leonica were to walk away and things were to end like this...it would be the end.

The end of her and him.

And that, he couldn't allow.

Stepping forward at a swift speed, he startled Leonica by wrapping his arms around her from. behind.

"Let... letgo, Gabriel." She demanded and began struggling. However, her struggles and whatever next word she wanted to say, died down the moment Gabriel spoke.

"If I gave up on my engagement with Angelina...would you consider starting over with me, Leonica?" His Dysperate Plov His Desperate Ploy.

Those words felt like a sweet, yet poisonous drink being served to her, because no matter how dreamy they sounded, in the end, she was going to end up getting hurt.

Hurt by getting her hopes up.

Hurt by believing his words.

Hurt by allowing feelings she had buried resurface.

But what if those words weren't fake? That one fleeting question caused a bug in her system to spike, freezing her in her thoughts.

Gabriel who had been holding her in his arms, felt her back go stuff against his chest. Maneuvering so he was now standing in front of her, the Noirette gazed down at her stiff expression, certainly thrown off guard by his question. But he wasn't joking.

He meant every last one of the word he spoke.

"What's your answer, Leonica," He pressed in a whisper like tone, hot breath fanning her face when he leaned in close. "Would you?" Hearing his voice so close had done a good job enough to snap her out of whatever bug malfunction was going on in her mind, but the scouldn't be said for her brain, which seemed to completely shut down at his closeness.

The scent of his cologne a mix of cedar and tiny bit of fresh fruit-, was a smell she was too familiar with and it had her heart palpitate in the worst ways.

And then, there was the intensity of his gaze.

Gabriel had always had a pair of intimidating grey eyes and when combined with the intensity of his gaze, it was more than enough to send anyone's heart into overdrive.

Leonica was no exception.

Even at that, the Noirette was staring at her in anticipation of her answer, his face still too close for her comfort. When he noticed she hadn't refused his presence no matter how close he got, Gabriel couldn't stop himself and at the last moment, he lowered his head, albeit slow, and captured her lips in a searing kiss. Her reaction was immediate.

Leonica's eyes had grown to the size of saucers, and she didn't move, didn't blink. Her whole body was frozen, except for her rapidly beating heart which seemed to increase as Gabriel poured more emotions into the kiss.

"Say yes, Leonica." He muttered into the kiss. "You,and Ashley, we can still make this work. A family, we can make one." Family.

The word rang a bell of remembrance in her head and had her finally moving, however, not to reciprocate the kiss, rather, she moved away, breaking the contact.

Her face was flushed red, and her breaths had becrapid and uneven, but she forced her brain to think, wiping her lips with the back of her palm. An action that caused Gabriel to frown.

"You..." She panted and looked up at him. "Don't you dare...try to fool me, because that's not going to work." She spat, beginning to feel hot from anger.

He really almost had her there, for a second. However, she was smarter than his ploy.

"Is that really the best you can do? Play with my feeling Because you're so desperate to get custody of Ashely?" She shook her head. "Sorry to tell you, I would never take a bite out of your bait. Any smart person would know that you can't end you engagement with Angelina because she's carrying your child. Don't takefor a fool, Gabriel." To think he had played on her feelings, once more, all just to get what he wanted.

The thought made her scoff.

Meanwhile, Gabriel stared at her in utter confusion.

Angelina? Carrying his child? What the hell did she mean? "Wait, what are you...?" "Leonica! There you are, thank goodness." Anastasia rushed into the restaurant, interrupting Gabriel before he could question Leonica's bizarre words.

Walking up to the Noirette, she cast a knowing and nasty look at Gabriel briefly. "I've been looking all over for you." She extended her hands.

"Why?" Leonica took her hands, blinking in confusion.

"Ashley woke up." At those words, her eyes widened and the next moment, she was dashing towards the elevator with Anastasia following right behind. Gabriel was no slower, and soon, they were all pushing their way into Ashely's room. The said boy who had been having a brief and little chat with his uncle Christian, turned His Dyfperate Flor towards the door at the sound of many footsteps and people practically barging in.

The first person he saw was his mother, followed by aunt Ana, but it wasn't long before a familiar figure joined them, Gabriel.

Seeing the last face was more than enough to bring a lazy smile to his face.

"Mommy. Gabriel." He beamed weakly up at them both, making grabby hand motions towards them.

Gabriel wasted no tin appearing at his son's side, soothing his ruffled hair back.

"Hey buddy. How are you feeling?" He gently asked, frowning at the sight of the white bandage on Ashely's head.

"Woozy." The child muttered but offered him a smile. "But I'll feel better once I get...my ice cream." Gabriel chuckled, a sad one any adult could tell. "Of course. I'll get you your Ice cream." "Promise?" The younger male held up his pinky finger.

11 Gabriel noticed the trembles in his body before quickly hooking his own pinky with the child's. "I promise. So take your tgetting better, okay?" Ashley weakly nodded, with yet another smile that made Gabriel chuckled.

The scene nonetheless, was a heart warming one. Father and son reunited, everyone watching, was filled with a warm feeling in their chest.

Everyone but one person...

Leonica. She wasn't far behind, but she kept her distance just before reaching the bed, staying back and watching as Gabriel interacted with her their son.

The sight brought a bitter taste to her tongue and a sting to her heart.

It was like a sudden whip delivered by the hands of guilt, making an ounce of remorse surface in her chest. Remorse and guilt for keeping such a- as hard as it was for her to admit-beautiful pair of father and son away from each other.

The guilt however, was fickle and began to fade when he reminded herself that her actions were for the better, after all Gabriel was about to start a new family and it would hurt Ashley less to not know Gabriel was his fall Call her bad, a witch of whatever anyone may, but all she did, she did it to protect her son and today, would be the last day she'd ever doubt that porate Floy

"...with the evil witch locked in the treasure chest, Hansel and Gretel had enough tto gather all the beautiful jewelries and gold coins, enough to make sure that they could eat all the pork meat they wanted, and skipped off to their house." Leonica finished the story, raising her gaze from the storybook in her hand to find Ashley staring at her with narrowed gaze. What?"

"I...I don't think that's the story." Ashley yawned, feeling sleep after having talked to Anastasia, Christian, Gabriel andhis mother, from the moment he had woken up. "Hansel and Gretel, they...they burned the witch, did they not?" "What?" Leonical was genuinely confused. That was freaking different from the story she had been told while growing up.

Quickly, she flipped the book close and gaze at the cover, closing her eyes and cursing inwardly upon seeing that it was a Disney fairytale version of the story.

Put in a better way; a remake.

Gabriel who had been seating in one of the chair, quietly watching, found her expression funny.

Watching her try her best to explain to Ashley that she had picked out the wrong one, while Ashley, despite his tired state, playfully drilled her out for reading him the wrong story, brought a smile to