CHAPTER 4
Isadora's POV
The IVF.
I had thought it was crazy at first. I had thought that I was being too desperate for someone who was just healing. But as days passed by and loneliness became a constant companion, and the reminder of everything I have lost. I found myself staring into the future with a hollow heart and an aching womb.
No husband. No child. No purpose.
This is not what I wanted for myself.
The idea never left my mind, floated, taunted me. It is even worse to the extent that I had a dream about running around the garden with a child. And just like that, it began to feel like the only hope I have to have someone real and pure by my side.
And so, in the last two weeks, I reached a conclusion. I'm getting it done. Immediately, I grabbed my car keys and drove into Dr. Renee Matisse's fertility clinic is the best private fertility clinic in the city.
The process began immediately. I signed the papers and let them harvest my eggs. The sperm donor was anonymous, just the way I wanted it. No strings. No face. No future confrontation. No complications. Just a clean slate—a quiet and most favourable path to motherhood.
The insemination was completed yesterday. And here, I am. My heart is full. I've never been this happy in the past few months.
I took another cookies, munching on it as I watched the Keeping Up With The kardashian family show.
'Ding. Ding'
That was my phone. I picked it up and the caller ID—Dr. Matisse.
My heart skipped a beat. I was supposed to go back to the clinic after a month to do a scan. Why was she calling me now?
I picked the call, her voice trembling and panicking. "There's been… a mix-up. The sperm we used… it didn't belong to the donor you selected."
"What?" I screamed, jumping to my feet. My hand was trembling so much that I nearly dropped the phone. "What the hell do you mean, a mix-up?!"
"Yes…. It belongs to another client. A very powerful man. He's just found out, and he's threatening to sue the clinic if this isn't resolved. I-I'm so sorry, Isadora. Please… we didn't mean to—"
I paced across the room now, phone clutched in my hand, heart thudding like war drums against my ribcage. I still couldn't believe what I'd heard.
A mistake.
My womb.
A battleground of legal threats and misfiled labels. Why does it feel like I'm cursed? My only hope has been shattered again?
"Please… come to the clinic," she said, her voice desperate. "I need to explain some things to you in person."
I clenched my fists, anger swirling inside me. "Get the fuck…."
"Please…" she cuts in.
I couldn't ignore her. "Alright."
I snatched the car keys and ran out of the penthouse. I ignited the car and started driving towards the clinic.
_________
At the hospital, I walked towards the sterile hallway towards Dr. Matisse's office.
When I reached her door, I breathed in and out, steadying myself before pushing the door open. Her pale face appeared, nervous eyes flickering toward me.
"Isadora," she called gently. "Please… come in."
I walked in stiffly, chin high despite the heat building in my chest. I expected her to be alone.
But she wasn't.
There was a man standing by the wide window with his back turned at me. He was dressed in an immaculate black suit.
"She's here," Dr. Matisse said to the man.
He turned towards me, and he was no other person than Jasper Harrington.
My stomach twisted.
"You?" we both exclaimed at the same time.
He fixed me a glare, his face as stunned as mine. "What the fuck are you doing here, Isadora De Santis?"
I could swear that my heart skipped a beat at the way he called my name. My name has never sounded so melodious before.
I hadn't seen him in nearly four years. The last time I saw him was at a contract bidding in turkey—which he secured the contract.
"What do you mean by what am I doing here? I'm the one whom your sperm was inseminated inside." I said, voice coated with disbelief and venom. "Apparently I've been impregnated with your spawn."
His jaw tightened. "There has to be a mistake."
"Oh, there's been a mistake alright. This whole goddamn thing is a mistake."
Dr. Matisse wrung her hands between us, her voice trembling. "Please, both of you… this was not intentional. The files were swapped accidentally. We only discovered it after the insemination."
I whirled on her. "So, what now? You think I should just carry a billionaire rival's child like it's no big deal?! You've got to be kidding me!"
She looked like she might faint. "I know how serious this is, Isadora. And I'm begging you… please don't press charges. He—Mr. Harrington—he could destroy my entire career."
Of course he could.
I turned slowly back toward Jasper, the man I'd hated for years. The man whose family spent decades trying to destroy mine. The Harringtons and the De Santis were oil and water, rivals in business, enemies in legacy. Jasper had always been a cocky, spoiled brat when we were younger, always a step ahead in competition and a step behind in decency.
"Listen to me very carefully," I said, each word crisp and sharp. "I would never, ever carry your child. I'd rather burn my uterus out with acid."
He crossed his arms, studying me with a cold expression that made my blood boil. "Funny. You think I want to have a divorcée as the mother of my child too? If anyone should be doing the rejection, then it should be me," he said colly. "It should be I," he pointed a finger at himself, "Jasper Harrington."
He seems to know a lot about me. "it's seems you've been keeping up with me, haven't you?"
"Of course, not. I have got better things to do. I'm just saying you should stop the pretense. You must be thrilled to get knocked up with the golden sperm of a billionaire rival."
Thrilled? I wanted to slap the smug smirk off his face.
Instead, I narrowed my eyes and hissed, "I don't want your child. I didn't plan this. And I will sue this clinic to ashes if something is not done about this."
Dr. Matisse whimpered. "Please, Isadora… just give us time. We'll figure this out…"
"No," I cut her off. "I don't want him as the father of my child."
"Of course…. We will." He reached for his phone, his fingers hovering around the screen, then he placed the phone in his ears. "Get my lawyers. I'm suing this clinic." He ended the call.
Dr. Matisse collapsed into her chair, terror written all over her face. "I'm doomed," she said, her hand gripping her head. "Everything I have built for the past twenty yeas would go down the drain." Tears was streaming down her face.
My chest tightened at the sight of her helplessness. My gaze shifted towards Jasper. His jaw was clenched, staring out of the window like he was expecting his lawyers to come in from there. I knew this asshole well: he wasn't just bluffing.
I couldn't watch as she lost everything she's worked hard for. We might not have known each other for long but from the little time we've spent together, I knew she was a good person.
"Jasper…." I called softly.
He didn't answer. He didn't even turn back.
I continued anyway. "I don't think there's a need to call for a lawyer. How about we sort this amicably.... like adults."
That got his attention and he turned, his piercing silver eyes staring deep into my soul.
"Marry me just until the baby is born," he said, like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. "It'll be a contract. Nothing more."