Page 69 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 2

“I didn’t ask you,” Mama said, her eyes never leaving Kaisen’s face. “I asked him. So, who your people, baby? You got family in New Orleans?”

Kaisen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Y-yes, ma’am. My family’s from here. Been here a long time.”

“That so?” Mama tilted her head, studying him with the intensity of someone who’d spent fifty-three years reading people. “What’s your last name?”

Her eyes narrowed further, and I watched as something clicked behind them. She looked at Kaisen—really looked at him. Then she looked back at me.

“Mama, we really are late.”

“I heard you the first time.” She stepped closer to Kaisen, and I could see him fighting the urge to back up. “You know, you look familiar. Real familiar. You remind me of somebody.”

My heart was hammering in my chest.

“Mama.”

“Nah, wait.” She snapped her fingers. “That other boy. The one that’s been coming around here. Fine as hell, expensive suit, beat up Phillip in the street like it was nothing.” She paused, her eyes going sharp as a knife. “Y’all related or something?”

Kaisen’s face had gone pale.

“We should really get going,” I said, grabbing his arm. “The appointment.”

“Truth.” Mama’s voice was quiet now, but it carried the weight of a woman who’d raised four children and could smell a lie from a mile away. “What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing,” I said, pulling Kaisen toward the car. “Nothing’s going on. We’re just late. Mama, you always confusing people. I keep telling you all light-skinned people don’t look the same.”

I could feel mama’s eyes on us as we moved down the porch steps. Could feel the moment she started putting pieces together—pieces I wasn’t ready for her to see yet.

“That boy better not be playing with you!” she called after us. “And if he’s related to the other one, you better tell me what the fuck is happening!”

I didn’t answer. Just got Kaisen into the car and told him to drive. Mama was getting older. Between the alcohol and age, she’d been forgetful as of late.

As we pulled away from the curb, I glanced in the side mirror and saw Mama standing on the porch, her arms crossed, her face thoughtful in a way that terrified me. I worried about her just as much as she worried about me.

The drive to Dr. Beaumont’s office was quiet. Kaisen kept one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on the console between us. After a few minutes, he reached over and took my hand.

I hesitated.

Just for a second—long enough for him to notice. His thumb brushed across my knuckles, a question without words.

I thought about Amai. About the way he’d accused me of sleeping with someone else. About the coldness in his voice when he’d said it. Like he had the right to demand answers about my body, my choices, my life.

And then I thought about Kaisen. About how he’d been consistent, present, asking questions that mattered. About howhe’d kissed me like he actually wanted to know me, not just possess me.

I squeezed his hand.

He glanced over at me, and I saw the relief flash across his face before he turned his attention back to the road.

But I couldn’t shake the guilt that came with it.

I’d spent the last few weeks telling myself I was loyal to a fault. That I didn’t do this—didn’t entertain two men, didn’t play games, didn’t blur lines. I was the girl who believed in one person, one love, one future. The girl who’d married Phillip thinking it was forever, even when he was showing me exactly who he was.

And look where that got me.

Broke. Humiliated. Doubting whether good men even existed.

Phillip had done that to me. He’d taken my ability to trust and shattered it into pieces so small I couldn’t even see them anymore. He’d made me believe that all men were the same—selfish, cruel, willing to destroy you for their own benefit.

But Kaisen was different.