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She was happy to see him as usual, and just truly, deliriously happy for the first time in her life. Her lips spread wide as she rushed toward him. Deciding to give her openly watching colleagues more to gossip about, no doubt all over the cyberspace everyone here practically lived in, she hugged him exuberantly. She thought a few took photos.
She pulled away, still holding Hiro by the arms. “To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?”
“You won’t think it wonderful when you know why I’m here.”
It was then she noticed his pained expression, her delight turning to concern. “Is something wrong with you? With Megumi?”
Hiro gave a difficult nod. “There is something terribly wrong. Something she and I are guilty of.”
“For God’s sake, Hiro, just tell me what it is.”
Looking as if he’d choke on guilt, Hiro stood with shoulders slumped. “That night of the ball, one of my guards told me he saw you and Kuroshiro arriving at the garden house one after the other. Afterward, you were...different, and I just knew it was because of him. So I followed you. The moment I became certain that the two of you had something going on, I told Megumi.”
She gaped at him. That was out of left field. She’d never suspected he suspected a thing. Went to show how totally blinded by Raiden she was. She was unable to see anything but him.
She sighed, led him to her couch, pulled him down with her. “You wanted Megumi to break the engagement.”
“There is no engagement. He’s seen her exactly five times in the past nine weeks and never alone. He’s with you all the time. But when she told her father that, he told her it’s expected that men like Raiden would have a mistress.”
She winced at the word mistress, and the fact that now Megumi’s father, the man who’d become Raiden’s adoptive father, knew about her. But from his nonchalant reaction, it meant Raiden had known what he was doing when he’d started being open about their affair. He’d realized his uncle wouldn’t care, that it wouldn’t jeopardize his marriage adoption. As she hoped nothing would.
She hadn’t given it any thought in the tumult of last night, but now she did. She knew her pregnancy would change nothing, nor did she want it to.
But maybe Hiro had just delivered the best news. If Raiden’s uncle didn’t care, maybe she could remain in Raiden’s life as she’d suggested before her pregnancy had been discovered and the subject had been dropped. She could be with him at least until she started to show. Having a mistress was one thing; having a pregnant one was another. One of the main reasons he was getting married was to have heirs—the legitimate kind. An illegitimate child would be a problem to any man, as illegitimacy was a huge issue here. But for someone in Raiden’s sensitive position, being so newly added to such a noble family register, it would be untenable.
But no matter what happened, it was enough for her to be carrying his baby. His baby.
The fireworks of disbelief and jubilation went off in her blood again.
She’d been shocked, then incredulous, then so frantically elated, she’d shut down again, unable to handle the surge of hope and happiness. Becoming pregnant had been so impossible in her mind, she’d disregarded all the very definite signs of pregnancy she’d been having. But what had been the height of her hopes in the past, and what she’d long given up on, had really come to pass. Antonio might consider it was a physical fluke about her that made this pregnancy possible, and far better, viable, but she preferred to think her love for Raiden had healed all her scars. She also thought maybe fate had finally seen fit to make it up to her, with a miracle whose joy would erase everything she’d ever suffered.
“Scarlett?”
She blinked, and Hiro’s worried face filled her vision.
She’d melted back on the couch as she’d continued her giddy musings. And giddy also described her physical state. She must be looking as dizzy and nauseous as she felt. She hoped she didn’t vomit in Hiro’s presence. Again. She’d done so last week and had thought she was coming down with something, had even made the oblivious comment then.
She struggled to sit up. “Sorry for zonking out on you like that. Seems that bug I caught is tenacious.”
“I know you’re pregnant, Scarlett.”
Her smile froze and her mouth dropped open.
“I’ve seen all the signs during the past two weeks. You vomited, you couldn’t bear the scent of my aftershave though I didn’t change it, nothing tasted the same to you and your perception of warmth and cold had nothing to do with the actual weather.”
She shook her head, stunned. “Wow, you sure know your pregnancy signs and symptoms.”
“I have sisters and ten nephews and nieces. I know everything there is to know about pregnancy.”
“I guess there’s no point in denying it. But I can trust you to keep my secret, right?” She elbowed him playfully.
“Actually, you can’t.”
Her mouth hung wide again. “Huh?”
“That’s what I’m here to confess.” Hiro’s agitation ratcheted with every word. “I wanted to expose Raiden, to corner him into doing the right thing by Megumi and by you. I went to Megumi’s father with my discovery, and I was...loud. I think everyone in his office heard me. It was long after I left that I realized I’d exposed you, too, and betrayed your trust. I still hoped nothing would come of it. Then I woke up this morning and saw it, rushed here to at least explain before you did.”
Her heart seemed to hold its beat. “Saw what?”
