Chapter 43

ANNA

We roll into the heart of the city, finally stopping at James’s corporate headquarters. I park and circle around to help Olivia out.

I didn’t exactly dress up for this. I’m in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt that flatters my chest and highlights my growing baby bump. But I did slip on my high-heel boots.

I feel stable in them, and I adore them. I drape my leather jacket over my shoulders—it doesn’t do much against the chill, but it’s better than nothing.

Olivia, however, is bundled up in warm clothes, despite her pleas to wear a dress.

We compromised—she picked a dress, but I added thick yellow tights under her denim dress. She’s also sporting her winter coat and sturdy purple combat boots.

I lift her out of the car and we head into the JB Corporate office building. I’ve never been here before, so I’m clueless about where to go.

We approach the reception desk, where a snide blonde gives me a once-over.

“Target is on the other side of town—I can give you directions,” she snipes.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m here to see my husband,” I retort, flashing my ring.

“Oh, he works here?” she asks.

“He does. Why else would I be here?” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Okay, name?” she asks.

“James Brown,” I answer with a sigh.

She bursts into laughter. She looks like she might topple over from her fit of giggles. “Oh, that’s a good one,” she says. “I haven’t laughed this hard in ages.”

“Can you just tell me what floor I need to be on?” I ask, my patience wearing thin.

She rolls her eyes. “You can’t just waltz up to Mr. Brown’s office. And he isn’t married,” she states nonchalantly.

“Actually, he is. To me. Do you need proof or something?” I snap back.

“Mommy, can we go see Daddy now?” my little Lovebug asks.

I glance down into her green eyes. “As soon as this lady tells me where I can find him,” I reply. She reaches up to be held, and to prevent her from tripping, I pick her up.

The receptionist swallows hard as she looks at Olivia.

“Hi, I’m Olivia Johnson-Brown,” Olivia greets her cheerfully, extending her hand.

“I’m Sarah.” Sarah takes Olivia’s hand and shakes it.

“Can we see Daddy now, Mommy?” she asks me, her big green eyes looking up at me.

“As soon as Sarah tells me where I can find him,” I repeat.

“Sarah, where is my daddy?” she asks her.

“God, those eyes,” Sarah murmurs under her breath. She shakes her head. “Your daddy is on the thirtieth floor. Conference room three.”

“Thank you!” Olivia exclaims and wriggles out of my arms.

“I’m so sorry for not believing you, Mrs. Brown,” Sarah apologizes.

I shake my head. “It’s okay, Sarah. You’re just doing your job,” I say with a shrug.

“Is she okay?” she asks me as Olivia pushes the elevator button.

“She’s had a tough day. Her hair is starting to fall out from chemo. So she wanted to come and see her daddy,” I explain.

“Oh, that’s terrible,” she says with a small gasp.

“Yes, it is.”

“Can I take your coats?” she offers kindly.

“That would be great. Livvy!?” Olivia comes back to me, skipping happily. “Take off your coat, baby girl.”

I help us both out of our coats and hand them to Sarah.

“Oh, God. Congratulations,” she says, noticing my little bump.

“Ha, thanks.”

“I’m going to be a big sister!” Olivia squeals.

“I can see that,” she replies sweetly.

With that, we walk to the elevator and step inside. The building is insanely large, with windows on all sides. Even the elevator is made of glass.

“Mommy, this is so high!” Olivia exclaims, lying on her belly on the floor.

“It is,” I agree.

The elevator dings to announce we’ve reached our floor—what kind of elevator does that?

~I’m married to a show-off.~

“Mommy, look. This is room three,” Olivia points out. The room is completely enclosed, with no windows. I hope he’s not in an important meeting.

“Momma!” Olivia cries out.

I snap out of my daze and see another blonde with brown eyes laying her hands on my daughter. Liv looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

“Get your hands off my daughter,” I demand.

“This rat is yours?” she sneers.

~Did she just call my daughter a rat?~

“What the hell did you just call my daughter? Get your filthy hands off of her!” I shout at her.

“Mommy, she’s hurting me,” Olivia sobs.

“This child shouldn’t be here. She should be in a hospital. Look at her,” the woman says, about to yank the scarf off Olivia’s head.

I step closer and slap her across the face. She releases Olivia’s arm, raising her hand to her cheek. Olivia runs to me, tears streaming down her face.

I roll up her sleeve and find a large bruise on her arm. “You disgusting creature! You laid your hands on my daughter! You’re going to regret that,” I growl at the woman.

She just smirks in response.

“Let me through,” I demand, glaring at her.

“No, you have no business here,” she retorts coldly.

“I’m here to see my husband,” I tell her, returning her glare.

“Your husband? A tramp with a kid?” she scoffs, sizing us up. “I don’t think so.”

“Wanna bet?” I throw back at her.

“Try me,” she retorts.

“Let me through.”

She steps aside, making a grand gesture for me to pass. She’s just itching for us to be thrown out. Just waiting to be proven right. Well, she’s got another thing coming. I’m his wife.

I stride into the room, Olivia’s hand in mine, her tears flowing freely. James meets my gaze, then shifts his attention to Olivia. The other men in the room look at me, their eyes filled with questions.

“Mr. Brown, sir. I attempted to remove them,” the woman says, her voice all business. “This woman and her brat have no place here.”

It’s not like I didn’t try to tell her. I did, but she cut me off.

James swallows hard before shooting the woman a glare. “Astrid, what’s that on the little girl’s arm?” he asks, pointing to the large blue bruise on our daughter’s arm.

The woman—Astrid—smirks. I thought she’d be mortified. “I was just trying to remove the riffraff from your building, sir.”

“By grabbing Olivia’s arm, James,” I explain, sighing.

His face darkens with anger. He knows how frail Olivia has been lately. This bruise could get much worse, her immune system is shot.

“You will address him as Mr. Brown. You whore,” Astrid hisses at me.

“Astrid,” James warns.

“I’ll remove them, sir,” she offers.

“No, remove yourself. And don’t bother coming back,” he says. Astrid blanches, and as she opens her mouth to respond, I beat her to it.

“James, that’s not necessary.” I try to reason with him.

“It’s Mr. Brown!” she snaps.

“Hey, I’m trying to save your job, lady,” I snap back. But she doesn’t believe me. Her gray eyes flash with anger. She’s about to explode.

“It doesn’t matter, Anna,” James says. “I made up my mind the moment I saw Olivia’s bruise.”

Now Astrid turns as white as a ghost.

~Yes, lady. He knows this child’s name. She’s his daughter.~

“Liv is okay,” I assure him. But he looks at Olivia, who is still crying and clutching my hand.

“Princess, come to Daddy,” he says, crouching down to her level. And that does it, she runs to him and cries so hard that my heart shatters.

Astrid stumbles back.

“Even if Astrid didn’t know who you two were, she hurt a child who is clearly ill. A scarf is ~the~ sign of a cancer patient. When did her hair start falling out?” he asks. Everyone gasps.

“This morning. She was so upset and she wanted to see you. I told her she could—and you had told her the same—but all we got was trouble.

“Why don’t they know you’re married?” I ask, fiddling with my fingers.

“It didn’t really cross my mind that it might be important. My personal life is none of their business. But I see your point.”

I nod at him and sigh.

“Astrid,” James says. “Call everyone to the ground floor, five minutes.”

“But sir…”

James’s face is turning redder by the second. This girl has no clue what she’s gotten herself into.

“Do it, or you're fired on the spot. You laid hands on my daughter, who has cancer, for God’s sake.

“Now we have to monitor the bruise. If it gets worse, we need to rush her to the hospital because her immune system is compromised from the chemo.

“If you don’t do as I say, I’ll fire you right now and you’ll never work in this industry again,” he says, his voice icy.

Astrid swallows hard and bolts.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but my family needs me,” James says as the other men look at him.

“It’s okay, James. We understand, family comes first. We’ll reschedule, just let us know when it’s convenient,” one of the men says sympathetically.

“Next week is chemo week, so we’ll meet online, okay?”

“Sure, whatever works best. I have to agree with your wife on this one, James. You should be upfront so this doesn’t happen again. That way you’ll have better control over your staff.”

~Aha, he’s clearly married and well-trained. Your wife has done a good job, sir.~

“Agreed. That’s what we’re going to do right now,” he says as he comes over to me. He pulls me into his arms and kisses my forehead. He touches my bump. “How’s this little one?”

“Okay. But I'm stressed as hell,” I admit.

“Relax, A. It’s not good for you.”

I take a deep breath and inhale his scent. I relax instantly.

We walk to the elevator and descend. “This elevator is really creepy,” I tell him.

“I know, it was here when I bought the place. I didn’t see the need to replace it,” he says, watching Olivia who is on her belly again, giggling at the floor.

When we reach the ground floor, his staff has already assembled. He walks to the front of the group, but I stay put.

“Hi, everyone,” he says confidently. “I have an announcement.” The crowd starts to murmur and whisper among themselves.

“Just to clear the air, I know there’s been talk about my frequent absences. I’m not off on business trips or planning another expansion.”

“I’ve been dealing with some family stuff,” he tells the crowd, their eyes growing wide. “I’m usually a private guy, but something happened today that can’t be repeated,” he declares.

His gaze hardens as he looks at Astrid. “Anna, could you come up here?” I step forward, feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze.

“This is Anna, my wife,” he announces, his voice filled with pride.

“Hello, everyone,” I greet them, smiling.

“As you can see, Anna is expecting. We’re having our second child. Our first is this little angel, Olivia.” Livvy walks over to her dad and he lifts her up.

“A few months ago, Olivia was diagnosed with lung cancer.” The room fills with gasps and my eyes well up with tears.

“Today, her hair started falling out and it really upset her. She wanted to see me. But one of my own staff grabbed her roughly.

“And when my wife told a staff member she was here to see her husband, she was called a liar—and a whore. This can’t happen again, which is why I’ve gathered you all here.”

The crowd of men and women nod in understanding. Some look a bit let down to find out he’s married, but that’s their issue, isn’t it?

I glance at Olivia’s arm and notice the bruise is growing. I gently lift her sleeve.

~Damn it!~

“James,” I say, ignoring the fact that we’re the center of attention.

“Yes?”

“Look.” I raise Olivia’s arm to show him.

The bruise has turned a deep blue, the handprint no longer visible.

“Shit.”

“Swear jar!” Livvy pipes up, causing the crowd to chuckle.

“Not now, Olivia,” James tells her sternly, and she immediately falls silent. “We need to get her to the hospital, she needs a transfusion,” I inform him.

“Clear the way, everyone. Astrid, if you so much as breathe in my daughter’s direction again, you’re fired!” he bellows, sending a chill through the room.

~The bruise is spreading.~

“We need to leave ~now~.”