Pregnant and Spoiled by the Billionaire — Episode 23
Leo had answered questions from hostile investors, prosecutors, and reporters without losing control. Amelia’s question defeated every practiced response. He saw how carefully she held herself, prepared for another answer about responsibility when what she needed was a truth he had been afraid to name.
“You are the woman I think about when every meeting becomes unbearable,” he began. “You’re the person whose opinion matters after I’ve stopped caring what the rest of the world thinks. When you were behind those hospital doors, I would have given up everything I built just to hear you tell me the baby was fine.”
Amelia’s eyes filled, but she did not let him retreat into dramatic promises. “You care because we’re having a child.” It was the explanation she had used to protect herself since moving into his home. If every tenderness came from the pregnancy, then losing his affection would be as simple as giving birth.
Leo moved closer and took her hand. “I love our child because the baby is part of both of us. I love you because you challenge me, forgive more than I deserve, and refuse to let my money decide your worth. I love you because you are Amelia.”
The words stripped away the last distance between them. Amelia searched his face for uncertainty and found none. “Say it again,” she whispered, hardly believing the man who once paid her to leave was now offering something money could not purchase.
“I love you.” Leo touched her cheek. “Not because you’re pregnant. Not because I owe you protection. If the test says Tommy is my son, that truth will change my responsibilities, but it will not change whom I love.”
Amelia admitted that she had loved him longer than she understood. The feeling had begun in an elevator, survived humiliation, and grown each time he learned to listen instead of assume. Loving him did not erase what he had done, but forgiveness no longer felt like surrender when he was changing beside her.
Their kiss was slow, carrying relief rather than urgency. Leo held her as though receiving an answer he had no right to expect. When they separated, Amelia placed his hand over her abdomen, wishing the baby were far enough along to respond to the peace between them.
“Then I want to ask properly,” Leo said. Amelia tensed when his hand moved toward his pocket, but he laughed softly and left the ring where it was. “Will you be my girlfriend?”
She stared at him. “Are you a teenager?” The ridiculous formality dissolved the heaviness in the room. Leo insisted that after proposing for the wrong reason, he intended to take every missed step in the correct order.
“Yes, Leo Preston,” she said. “I would love to be your girlfriend.” The title sounded small beside pregnancy and marriage, yet it gave her exactly what she had requested: a place chosen for herself rather than assigned by circumstance.
Morning arrived with a prenatal yoga instructor Matilda had hired. Mandy positioned Leo behind Amelia and asked him to support her through gentle stretches. What should have been a calming exercise became a test of restraint when his hands settled carefully over her waist.
Amelia tried to focus on breathing while painfully aware of his body behind hers. Leo was equally distracted, watching sunlight catch in her hair and remembering the previous night’s confession. Mandy praised their bond, oblivious to the heat rising between them.
When a pose required both of Leo’s hands near Amelia’s stomach, he called for a break. Amelia teased that the great Leo Preston had been defeated by prenatal yoga. He blamed the room temperature and ended the session before Matilda’s instructor could expose anything further.
After Mandy left, they examined the stuffed bear from the hospital. Leo asked whether Amelia imagined a son or daughter. She hoped for a boy with his confidence but none of his arrogance. He hoped for a girl as brave and beautiful as her mother.
The conversation felt intimate in a way passion never had. They debated names, schools, and whether the child would inherit Amelia’s persistence or Leo’s inability to cook. For a brief hour, Jenny’s accusation faded beyond the walls of the penthouse.
Derek interrupted with confirmation that the laboratory had collected samples from Leo and Tommy under independent supervision. The result would take several days. Jenny had demanded access to the chain-of-custody records and threatened to reveal Tommy to the press if Leo did not let them move into the penthouse.
Leo refused the demand. He arranged safe lodging and support for Tommy until the result arrived, while making it clear Jenny would receive no unrestricted access to his home. Amelia agreed with the boundary, though compassion for the boy complicated her anger.
That afternoon, Matilda invited them to her birthday gala the following week. Leo asked permission to introduce Amelia publicly as his girlfriend and the mother of his child. He promised there would be no surprise engagement announcement and no decision made without her.
Amelia accepted, but before they could celebrate, Derek received a call from the laboratory. Someone posing as Leo’s representative had attempted to collect the sealed DNA samples. Security stopped the courier, yet the authorization carried Jenny’s forged signature—and a copy of a Preston Group credential issued from inside Leo’s own company.
