Pregnant and Spoiled by the Billionaire — Episode 24
The forged credential transformed Jenny’s claim from a private dispute into a calculated operation. Leo ordered an audit of every employee who could access executive identification records. Until the breach was understood, the laboratory moved the samples to a secure facility and limited updates to Leo, Jenny, and their attorneys.
Amelia expected him to destroy Jenny publicly. Instead, he separated suspicion from proof. “If Tommy is my son, any action I take against his mother will affect him,” Leo said. “I need the truth before anger makes decisions for me.” His restraint showed how far he had come from the man who threw a fortune at a misunderstanding.
Derek traced the false request to a temporary contractor hired three days earlier. The woman vanished before security could question her, but building footage showed her meeting Jenny in a parking garage. Leo now knew Jenny intended to interfere with the test, though he did not yet know whether she feared a negative result or simply wanted leverage.
Jenny denied everything and accused Preston Group of fabricating evidence. She threatened to appear at Matilda’s gala with reporters unless Leo recognized Tommy immediately. Her demands focused on residence, financial support, and public status rather than the boy’s emotional needs.
Amelia worried about Tommy. The child had already been taught to call a stranger Daddy and blame an innocent woman for a fall. Whatever the DNA revealed, he would be hurt. She asked Leo to arrange an independent child advocate and counselor before the adults’ conflict damaged him further.
Leo approved the request and allowed Amelia to help select the specialist. Jenny rejected the first appointment, insisting Tommy needed his father rather than therapy. Her resistance made the court-appointed advocate more concerned and created a formal record of the pressure being placed on the boy.
Days passed without another direct attack. Amelia resumed her studies from home, helping Professor Thomas design services for the future library. Leo returned to work but came home for dinner, turning their relationship into a collection of ordinary habits rather than grand declarations.
They still kept separate rooms. Some nights Leo stayed until Amelia fell asleep, discussing everything from her unfinished article to his childhood under Matilda’s impossible standards. Trust accumulated in those quiet hours, too subtle for headlines and more valuable than any gift.
On the morning of Matilda’s birthday, Amelia stood before a mirror and barely recognized her changing body. The pregnancy was beginning to show beneath the formal gown Matilda had chosen. Instead of feeling radiant, she felt as large and conspicuous as a parade balloon.
Leo found her tugging anxiously at the fabric. “Everyone is going to stare,” she said. His gaze traveled over her with such open admiration that she stopped adjusting the dress. “They should,” he replied. “You are the most beautiful woman in any room you enter.”
“You’re saying that because my hormones are making me emotional.” Amelia tried to laugh, but tears threatened anyway. Leo kissed her forehead and told her she did not see what he saw: courage, warmth, and a woman creating life without surrendering her own future.
His reassurance did more than praise her appearance. It reminded Amelia that pregnancy had changed her circumstances, not erased her identity. She took his arm and agreed to enter the gala beside him rather than through a private door.
The Preston estate glowed beneath hundreds of lights. Business leaders, politicians, and society figures filled the ballroom, many of whom knew Amelia only through rumors surrounding the campus incident. Matilda welcomed her at the entrance with an embrace that left no doubt about her place, silencing the nearest whispers before Amelia had to face them alone.
Guests whispered about the college student beside Leo, but few dared approach with cruelty. Amelia kept her shoulders straight and answered questions about journalism, the library project, and student support. She refused to let the pregnancy become the only interesting fact about her.
Matilda accepted birthday wishes with unusual impatience, eager for Leo’s promised announcement. She told Amelia that a grandchild was the greatest gift she could receive, then quickly corrected herself: “One of the greatest. Seeing my son learn humility is nearly equal.”
When Leo took the microphone, the room quieted. He thanked the guests for celebrating his mother and acknowledged Matilda’s devotion to their family. Then he extended his hand toward Amelia rather than summoning her with expectation.
She chose to join him. Leo introduced her as his girlfriend, the mother of his unborn child, and the future director of the Amelia Gates Library initiative. Applause rose around them, and Amelia felt the distinction he had promised: she stood there as both partner and person.
For one perfect moment, Leo’s hand rested at her back and Matilda beamed. Amelia believed the worst uncertainty might remain outside the ballroom until the test arrived. Then a child’s voice called, “Daddy!”
Jenny entered with Tommy dressed in a miniature tuxedo. Cameras turned before security could intervene. She wished Matilda a happy birthday and loudly introduced the boy as the grandson no one had invited.
Tommy offered Matilda a wrapped gift, then pointed at Amelia. “That’s the mean lady who pushed me,” he said. Jenny faced the shocked guests and declared that Leo had abandoned his son for a woman who abused children. As whispers became accusations, Derek hurried toward Leo holding an envelope stamped with the laboratory’s seal.
