Doubt
2192 Words
Ashton’s POV
Cori is right, the documents aren’t asking for my father to be a part of the child’s life, they are asking him not to be a part of it. Better yet, they are asking me not to be a part of it.
“You want me to choose to be a deadbeat?”
“I just told you that you aren’t the father.”
“Then why send those documents in the first place?” Cori goes quiet and tries to leave again, but I press my hand against the door, stopping her from opening it. “Even if I’m not the father, you aren’t leaving this office.”
“It's a crime to keep me here.”
“I don't care. I won’t have you later suing me to support a child I don’t want.” Cori snatches the papers from my hands and shows them to me.
“I’m guessing you and your father have the same name. All you have to do is sign, and you won’t have to worry about that.”
Cori’s POV
I don’t want anything from Ashton, and the first chance I get I’m firing that attorney. My plan was to keep my pregnancy a secret from the man, and now, I can’t do that, nor do I blame him for being suspicious of me.
“Listen Corinne, I’m not-”
“Mr. Lewis, I asked you not to call me that. Please let me go and if you want, I will personally tell your family that I lied.”
“Good, let's go tell them now.”
Ashton’s POV
I was waiting for Cori to protest, but she simply nodded, and followed me to the sitting room where my very eager family was waiting to hear from her.
“Miss Russolini-
“Please call me Cori,” she gently interjects, letting me know that she must go by an alias for a reason.
“Whatever my son said, ignore it. Tell me the truth, woman to woman.”
“The truth is that I have never seen your husband a day in my life. My attorney made a mistake, and I sincerely apologize for any problems it may have caused.”
“But you know my son?” Cori pauses, then nods like a robot. “So, the baby is his?”
“Like I said, it was an accident,” Cori replies, telling my mother the truth in a way that confuses everyone.
“Is Ashton the father or not?” My father asks, irritated and hurt by Cori’s actions.
“No. Now can you please let me go home?” She asks, looking to Troy as if he can save her, but my brother is just as angry as my father.
“What is it that you’re looking for?”
“Nothing,” Cori says, this time with tears falling from her eyes. “I don’t want anything from anyone. I didn’t know my attorney was sending that letter. I would have stopped him if I did.”
“Why? What’s your relationship with Ashton?”
“We don’t have one,” she says, which is the truth, but Troy must feel like he needs to be heard.
“Ashton had s*x with her while she was drunk,” he blurts out, and my father’s features go so dark that I can’t even look at him.
“It wasn’t his fault. We used protection, but it must have broken.”
“I thought you said he wasn’t the father.”
“I think she’s lying,” Troy says. “Aston told me he was her first-”
“Troy,” I growl, embarrassed for not just myself, but for Cori as well.
“Please let me go home," she says again, but no one cares how pitiful she looks.
“I’m sorry Miss Russolini-”
“Please sir, I go by an alias for a reason. I have been respectful to your family thus far, and I'm asking you to do the same.”
“Okay Cori, but I’m afraid this problem won’t just go away. How old are you?”
“Twenty-one,” she replies, making my father glare at me even harder.
“My goodness, you're still a baby yourself. What did your parents say?”
“Please just let me leave,” Cori whispers, making me look like a predator who targeted a young and vulnerable girl.
Not just me, but everyone can tell that she isn’t acting and just wants to leave. So, my father asks Troy to wait with her while we go back to his office to speak.
“Explain the situation to me before I invite your mother into this conversation.” I’m not about to tell my father that I took the condom off while drunk, so I go with Cori’s story.
“We were drunk. If the condom broke, I didn’t know, but I’m almost positive it was her first time.”
“Don’t give me that sh*t,” he says with an attitude. “That lie may work on a woman, but I was your age once.”
“I said I was drunk.” My father ignores me, calmly sitting behind his desk before resting his head in his hands.
“And the probability of you being the father?”
“I don’t know; I saw her with another man not long ago.”
“And what do you want to do about this? What about Vanessa?” Now is probably a good time to tell my father that the woman hasn’t been my girlfriend in a long time, but he seems even more disappointed in me. “Whose son are you?” He questions.
Cori’s POV
Ashton’s mother just keeps staring at me, and I feel humiliated. I know she wants to ask me questions and truthfully, I would rather she just ask.
“Mom,” Troy says. “This situation is awkward enough; don’t make it worse by staring.” The woman ignores her son and questions me instead.
“How long have you known you were expecting?”
“Just over a week.”
“And you want it?”
“Not at first, but time was against me, and I couldn't afford to travel to where it wasn’t illegal to terminate.”
“Then why didn’t you call my son and tell him?”
“I don't have his contact information, and I didn't even know who he was until after we were together. Before then, he was just a random guy who came to my job a lot.”
“Where do you work?”
“Now, I’m a pediatric nurse, but back then, I cleaned a bar.”
“And how’s your boyfriend?” Troy suddenly asks, but I have no idea what he’s talking about. “The guy you were with at your graduation.”
“You mean the man who offered to help protect me from your brother, then tried to force a kiss on me in the parking lot?” Troy makes a weird face, looking away from me in guilt.
“Why was he protecting you from Ashton?”
“Your son showed up at my graduation ceremony uninvited.” The woman looks to Troy for an explanation, but her husband and son return, changing the topic.
“So, we’ve made a decision. We will pay for the procedure, but you will sign a non-disclosure.”
“With all due respect, no one in this room can tell me what to do with my body. I’ve already said I don’t want or need anything, and I’ve already said he wasn’t the father. If Ashton is worried, all he has to do is sign the papers sent to him."
“He isn’t signing anything, and since we can’t guarantee that you won’t later try to sue him, we have something we want you to sign.”
Ashton’s POV
“Fine,” Cori says, opening her hands as if the documents are ready, which takes my father by surprise.
“You really don’t want anything from him?”
“It was a mistake for us to have been together in the first place.” That stung, but she's right. “All I ask is that he doesn’t interfere in my lawsuit against Gold Brand.”
“As a man who knows a thing or two about the law, I'd advise you to drop your suit, especially since paternity is in doubt. You can’t confidently say who the father of your baby is, and Gold Brand attorneys will have a field day with that.” Troy clears his throat, and my father asks him to speak.
“That guy at her graduation wasn’t her boyfriend.”
“I saw him kiss her.”
“No, you did not,” Cori replies with an attitude. “You may have seen him lean in for a kiss, but I denied him, and before that day, he never spoke to me. I told you that I wasn’t well like in school.”
“You also told me that your name is Cori Russo, and that is-”
“The truth,” Cori shouts. “If you must know, my father named me after his ‘first love’ while my mother was recovering from having a c-section. She gave me the nickname Cori, and out of respect for her, I’ve kept it.” On that note, I made the decision not to call her by that name again, but her last name is still an issue. “My father may have been horrible, but before he died, my grandfather was the only positive male influence I had in my life. I kept half of my surname for him.”
“Okay, enough about names,” my mother says, clearly affected by Cori’s speech. “What is it that you want her to sign?”
“A nondisclosure of possible paternity, and until it can be confirmed, I want her to stay with Ashton.”
“What?” Cori asks, looking at my father as though he is crazy. “I will sign whatever non-disclosure you want, but I will not move in with a man who took advantage of me.”
Cori’s POV
I can’t believe how bold the senior Mr. Lewis is with his request, and I wonder if the man thinks it's okay for his son to have a pregnant woman living with him while he’s engaged.
Ashton used my loneliness as a weapon, ‘respecting me,’ and making me feel safe with him up until the moment he got what he wanted from me. I didn’t say no, in fact, I wanted to be with him, and I didn’t ask any questions, so that’s my fault, but I’m not moving in with the man, and no one can make me.
“Fine, but since you don’t want to agree, I’ll be forced to inform your employers of your attempt at extortion.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, my brow angrily creasing.
“You sent me a letter claiming that we had a s****l relationship, and it nearly cost me my marriage. Now, you’re accusing my son of being the father to get out of what you did.”
“Mr. Lewis, what would you gain from doing that? Regardless of who the father is, I’m a pregnant twenty-one-year-old woman with no family. If you take away my livelihood, what would I do after my baby is born?”
“If Ashton is the father, he will take-”
“I DON'T WANT THAT!” The room falls into a deadly silence, and not caring about anything, I start to beg. “Please Mr. Lewis, I don’t have anything else. If I found out sooner, and if things between your son and I didn’t play out the way they did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
“Miss Russo,” the man says, obviously trying to show me that he’s been listening to me. “You seem like a nice girl, but the simple fact is that your baby has the potential to ruin my son’s life.”
“So, you ruin mine to stop that from happening?” I look over to Ashton, who I feel is hiding behind his father like a shield, hoping the man will say anything. “Ashton, you know how hard I worked for this, how many nights I lost sleep, and why my job is important to me. Please don’t do this. I will sign anything you want; I’ll fire my attorney right now, but please don’t force me into a messy situation.”
“Cori, I wish I could trust you, but-”
“You mean the way I trusted you when you promised to make sure I was safe, or when I blindly followed you back to your apartment?” At this point, I can’t help but to cry.
“That isn’t the same. A baby is different.”
“But you're not the father,” I lie.
- Writer
