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I shrug.
“I have no idea but you know how these attention whores are. They make shit up all the time, and weddings and babies are sure-fire wins in their world. Followers go up, likes go up, thumbs go up, and it’s really easy to fake this shit too. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few months, Candace has a “miscarriage” and begins a new journey with her audience. It’s all about getting eyeballs, honey. None of this is true.”
Josie looks at me, her gaze still suspicious.
“But why would she say that you’re the father? Are you the father, Cyrus?”
I throw my hands up in the air.
“No, I’m not and honestly, I have no idea why she’d say that. Again, Candace might not even be pregnant. Maybe she’s making the whole thing up, but no matter what, I swear to you that I’m not the dad. Another man knocked her up if she is indeed expecting.”
Josie still looks unsure.
“Yes, but are there other explanations? I mean, did you use IVF maybe? Do you have a fertilized embryo and maybe she implanted it during this time you’ve been apart?”
My response is immediate.
“No, never. We weren’t even married long enough to go through an entire IVF cycle. That shit is time-consuming, especially if you’re doing it for the first time because there are a million consultations before the cycle even starts. Besides, I already have a daughter, and Alyssa’s more than enough for me. I don’t need a second child because I already have one, and I certainly don’t want a baby with a woman I don’t love.”
That makes Josie shut down for a bit, and I don’t understand it. I certainly never talked about children with her, but it doesn’t mean that I never want to have kids again. It’s just that with Candace, it never felt right. My ex didn’t have a motherly bone in her body, but with Josie, things are different. The curvy girl is giving, generous and so womanly, and come to think of it, I’d love to get her pregnant. I’d love to see her curves swell, and for her to be waddling around with my baby in her belly.
That realization makes the blood drain from my limbs, and I suddenly drop limply onto the couch because what if I’m too late? What if this farce has already gone too far, and Josie doesn’t want to be with me anymore? Then my dreams of being a family man with this beautiful woman by my side will never come true.
“Oh baby. God, I’m so sorry,” I rasp, dropping my face into my hands. “This is such a fucking shit show and I’m sorry it’s come to this.”
She’s still at my side.
“What can we do about it?” she asks.
I look up at her, my eyes haunted.
“I’ve been working with my legal team to pressure Candace to retract her lie. There’s no need for her to keep going like this, and you can’t just go online and fuck with someone’s life the way she has.”
Suddenly, there’s a text on my phone, and glumly I pull it out. I read the message and hope begins to swirl in my brain.
“Honey, I have news,” I say in a grim voice. “This is a text from my lawyer. It says that they’ve been successful with negotiations, and that Candace will post another Instagram story announcing the true paternity of her child.”
Josie’s eyes go wide. “Who is it?”
I shake my head, still reading the text.
“You’ll never believe this, but it seems that the father is her hairdresser, Bobby Raven. It seems she was embarrassed to be knocked up by a hairdresser because it’s not a high-paying job, so she said I was the father instead.”
Josie blinks at me.
“Are you serious?”
I shake my head, still staring at the text.
“That’s what my lawyer says, but it sounds like Candace, to be honest. Everything with that woman is about the material things in life, from designer purses to fancy sports cars. I think she’s just embarrassed to be in a relationship with a hairdresser. She’s more interested in being identified as a socialite or as an aristocrat, so she’d rather have a billionaire as her baby daddy.”
Josie stares once more, her brown eyes confused.
“An aristocrat? Seriously? It sounds so out of touch. Besides, it’s fine to be a hairdresser! My grandmother did hair back in the day, and she loved it. She put my mom and her siblings through college by being working hard as an entrepreneur.”
I shoot a sideways glance at Josie.
“That’s because your values are in the right place, honey. Honest work is never something to be ashamed of. By contrast, Candace is so twisted, and the world that she lives in is so perverted, that she basically lied about the paternity of her child. If the child does in fact exist,” I add in a dark tone.
