Pregnant and Spoiled by the Billionaire – Episode 15
Amelia read Bethany’s threat twice. The lie was absurd, yet Leo had believed the worst of her once before, and that memory gave it power. “She’ll say I knew Jason paid for me,” Amelia said. “She’ll make our night look like another plan to get close to you.”
Leo took the phone but did not question her. “I already know the truth.” The certainty in his voice startled her. “I saw you fight Jason. I heard you beg strangers for help. Whatever Bethany says now cannot erase what happened in front of me.”
Trust should not have felt like a gift, but after weeks of judgment, it did. Amelia released a breath she had been holding since the black card landed in her hand. Leo forwarded the messages to Derek and told her she would not meet Bethany alone.
“If she thinks I’m frightened, she’ll disappear,” Amelia argued. “Then we let her think you’re coming alone,” Leo said. He had already begun forming a plan, but this time he explained every step and waited for Amelia’s agreement before setting it in motion.
That evening, Amelia entered the deserted campus café named in the message. Leo and Derek remained in an adjoining room with security officers and a police detective who had reviewed the bar footage. A recording device rested beneath Amelia’s sweater, its small weight reminding her she was no longer helpless.
Bethany arrived late and slid into the opposite chair. There was no apology in her expression. “Pregnant already?” she asked, glancing at Amelia’s abdomen. “You work fast. I guess Leo Preston was worth more than the five thousand Jason paid.”
Amelia fought the urge to recoil. “You drugged me.” Bethany rolled her eyes. “You needed money, and I gave you a way to make it. Don’t pretend you were too innocent to understand what kind of bar that was.”
“You told me I was serving drinks.” Amelia kept her voice steady even as anger shook her hands beneath the table. “You sold me to a man who tried to rape me. Now you’re following me and threatening my baby.”
Bethany leaned forward. “I’m protecting myself. Jason’s family is ruined because Leo pulled his money, and they want someone to blame. Tell him you agreed to the deal, and maybe all of us walk away.” The demand captured exactly what the detective needed.
“And if I refuse?” Amelia asked. Bethany smiled. “Then I tell Leo you picked him the moment you saw him in the bar. A billionaire rescues the poor student, she sleeps with him, and soon she’s carrying the Preston heir. Men like him always believe the story that protects their ego.”
The adjoining door opened. Leo stepped into the café with Derek, the detective, and two officers behind him. Bethany’s confidence vanished. “You’re wrong,” Leo said. “I believe Amelia.”
The detective placed Bethany under arrest for drugging Amelia, trafficking, extortion, and conspiracy with Jason. She shouted that Amelia had ruined her life as the officers secured her wrists. Amelia watched the friend she had once trusted face the consequences of treating desperation as permission.
Outside the café, the night air felt cleaner than it had in weeks. Leo draped his coat over Amelia’s shoulders but did not touch her until she leaned toward him. “Thank you for believing me,” she said. He looked down at her with quiet regret. “I should have believed you from the beginning.”
They had barely reached the car when a man stumbled from the shadows. Amelia recognized her father before the smell of alcohol reached them. “There you are,” he said, ignoring her fear as his gaze shifted to Leo’s expensive suit.
Amelia stepped back. “How did you find me?” Her father waved his phone. Bethany had contacted him before the meeting, promising money if he helped pressure Amelia. Now that he knew his daughter carried a billionaire’s child, greed had given him a new reason to claim her.
“You were hiding this from your own father?” he demanded. “A Preston baby is worth a fortune. I deserve a share after everything I did raising you.” Amelia stared at him, stunned by the ease with which he turned her pregnancy into another debt she supposedly owed.
Leo moved between them. “You stole from your daughter and left her facing homelessness.” His voice was dangerously calm. “You will return every dollar, surrender access to every account, and stay away from her.”
Her father laughed until Leo’s security team appeared behind the car. The sound died quickly. Leo informed him that evidence of the withdrawals had already been sent to an attorney and that any further contact would be documented for a restraining order.
When security removed him, Amelia’s strength finally gave way. Leo held her as she cried—not because her father was gone, but because some part of her had spent years waiting for him to choose her over his own selfishness. Leo made no promise to replace that broken bond. He simply stayed until she could stand again.
Back at the penthouse, Leo showed Amelia the private guest suite and placed the black card on the table between them. “No more misunderstandings and no more transactions,” he said. Then he set a ring beside it, his expression solemn rather than romantic. “But if you want our child protected from everyone who sees it as leverage, there is one thing I can offer that no contract can equal. Amelia Gates, will you marry me?”
