Chapter 74 – Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel

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The assistant stared at her in bewilderment. She had heard everything Hayley said on the phone earlier, so she could hardly believe that the girl had money to pay for these bags.

Alas, with a deft swipe of her unlimited black card, Hayley paid for the bags and left the store in a huff.

That afternoon, May was sitting on the edge of her chair across from Hayley as she glanced around the high-end restaurant. “This is the first time I’ve been to somewhere as fancy as this, Hayley! This is unbelievable!”

Hayley brought her cup to her lips as elegantly as she could and took a sip. “Tell me about Anastasia’s recent developments, May.”

“You know that jewelry design competition that’s been recently organized? Apparently, Anastasia’s design has made it to the finals, and the winner will be declared next week. If she wins, she will receive a million in prize money!” May informed the woman as jealousy gleamed in her eyes.

Even Hayley was astonished when she heard this. “What? A million?”

“That’s right! A competition like this typically caps the prize money at around 100,000, but I heard that President Presgrave is really going all out this year and racked up the prize to a million. It’s groundbreaking.”

Hayley tightened her grip around her cup. If she were to clasp it any tighter, the cup might break. So Elliot was the one who hiked up the prize money?

“President Presgrave is so generous,” May mused with a wistful sigh.

Hayley immediately thought of this as one of Elliot’s ways to repay Anastasia’s mother’s deeds, which meant that Anastasia was set to win the competition and walk away with a million in cash prize.

Elliot wielded power in various industries under the conglomerate, and it was only child’s play for him to manipulate the results of a jewelry design competition. As things were, it would not be the least bit surprising if Anastasia won first place.

No, I can’t let Anastasia walk away with that money so easily. I can’t let her win the competition without even breaking a sweat! Hayley was filled with spite and rage that she wanted to throw Anastasia out of Bourgeois and have her removed permanently from the design industry. I want her reputation to be fed to the dogs!

The jewelry design competition this time was the best opportunity for Hayley to get rid of Anastasia. Let’s see how you’ll fare when you fall hard from grace.

After lunch, Anastasia returned to the office with 100,000 in cash on hand. She took the satchel of money and walked up to the president’s office, whereupon she knocked on the door. It was Rey who opened it from within, and at the sight of him, she asked, “Is President Presgrave in at the moment?”

“Yes, he is,” Rey answered courteously.

She nodded. “I have some things to discuss with him.” With that, she marched through the doorway and saw that Elliot was seated on the couch, looking preoccupied as he went through a mountainous pile of documents.

Upon sensing her entry, Elliot merely looked up at her once, then turned his attention to the documents before him as he asked absentmindedly, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Without another word, Anastasia put the stack of cash in front of him and said, “I’m here to pay you back the 100,000 I owe you.”

Elliot’s pen paused on the page for a moment, but he recovered and signed off on the document before closing the folder. Having done so, he looked up at her and said coldly, “Stop right there, Anastasia. Take your money back.”

For all her love of money, Anastasia did not want to keep something that she did not deserve. She turned on her heels and said, “Donate your money to charity if you truly have nothing else to spend it on. There are others in this world who would appreciate your generosity.”

Hearing this made Rey speak up on his boss’ behalf from where he stood at the sidelines. “Miss Tillman, President Presgrave already has a charitable foundation under his name, and he donates billions every year into said foundation,” he said.

When Anastasia heard this, she faltered and let out an awkward dry cough. “Well then, pretend I said nothing.” With that, she flushed sheepishly and left.

When Anastasia picked Jared up from school that afternoon, she got the details for Family Day that was set on Friday. The teams would be made up of a maximum of two students each, and ideally, the students were to show up with their parents.

“Miss Tillman, I heard from Jared that his father will be here for Family Day as well. Here’s the thing—we’re going to need his father’s height and weight so that we’ll be able to get his shirt ready for the program. The shirts will be made according to the family teams.”

At once, the image of a tall and handsome figure surfaced in Anastasia’s mind as she asked the teacher, “Does it have to be matching family outfits?”

“It’s a school requirement, Miss Tillman, and it sets out a uniform dress code for the kids’ Family Day here. It wouldn’t be as fun if everyone wore whatever they wanted to the games,” the teacher said kindly, though she was making it clear that the requirement was absolutely mandatory.

Well, Elliot was the one who promised the kid he’d join Family Day, so he’ll have to wear the shirt no matter how ugly it is, Anastasia thought with dark amusement. “In that case, his father’s height is about six feet three.”

“Wow, Jared’s father is a tall one, isn’t he? What about his weight?”

“He has a pretty standard figure.”

“Okay, then. Now, if you could just transfer us the payment through the parent-teacher group chat, that’d be great!” Having taken down the details, the teacher walked off to attend to her other duties.

Presently, Anastasia had only just arrived home with Jared in tow when Francis called to tell her that he was here and that he would like to bring them to go house-seeing.

The new place was a two-bedroom apartment, but the layout measured up to over a hundred square meters. In spite of the two bedrooms, the living room was spacious and held plenty of design potential. Anastasia could already visualize how she would divide the space and set up a kiddy’s corner in the living room that would be perfect for Jared.

The new place also featured two balconies, one for airing laundry and the other for plants. Once she added a small table for coffee and work, and she could turn it into her own outdoor workspace.

Anastasia liked the place that Francis had chosen for her, and she appreciated how he had gone against Naomi and Erica just so he could provide a home for her and Jared.

“Pack up your stuff and move in whenever you want. If there’s anything you need at all, the mall is just an elevator ride away!” Francis said cheerily as he sat on the couch with Jared in his lap.

Anastasia nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll go back and pack up our stuff tonight. We don’t have much, so we should be done with the move by tomorrow afternoon. We could start cooking our first meal here tomorrow evening!”

“Great, then I’ll drop by and have dinner with you both,” Francis said with a grin.

Naturally, Anastasia would love to have her father over, but even she could not hide her worries in front of him. As if sensing her thoughts, he added hastily, “Don’t worry. I’ll be dropping by alone.”

Anastasia truly did not wish to have Naomi and Erica over. She nodded and said readily, “Okay.”

Over at the Tillman Residence, Naomi was still unhappy about her husband buying an apartment unit for Anastasia. The fact was very much a thorn in her side, and she had plans on asking Francis to splurge on a new apartment for Erica as dowry.

However, she knew that Francis couldn’t afford another apartment even though his company had been doing well recently. It was almost as if the universe was helping him; all his bids had been successful, and everything was smooth-sailing over at the company, not to mention the ledgers were looking positive. After all, it wasn’t easy for a small company with only millions in its assets to become a listed entity.

Meanwhile, Elliot was in his office at Presgrave Corporation, and he would be returning after his visit to Bourgeois this evening to tie up some loose ends at work. Just then, Rey approached him with a folder in hand and said, “President Presgrave, a new bid from Francis’ company just came in, and we’ve already approved of it.”

Elliot nodded in satisfaction. “Very well.”

“President Presgrave, I don’t think Francis knows that you’re the one who has been secretly supporting his company and allowing it to grow into its current state.”

“There’s no need for him to know. His wife had sacrificed her life for mine, and it’s only right that I treat his family well to repay her selfless deed.” Elliot rubbed the space between his brows as he felt exhaustion wash over him.

“President Presgrave, we’ve also given word to the panel working on the jewelry design competition.”

“Right,” Elliot said in acknowledgement, his eyes suddenly lighting up in anticipation.

“You should be getting back, sir. It’s already 9.00PM,” Rey pointed out gently.

Half an hour later, Elliot returned to his villa in the hills. When he stood in the spacious living room, he couldn’t help noticing how empty his home felt. It made him think of Anastasia’s small but cozy apartment. Perhaps a woman’s touch is just what this house needs, he thought. A child would liven things up too.

As his mind wandered, he thought about Anastasia and Jared. Anastasia was a stubborn soul who refused to take the easy way out. Moreover, she was independent, decisive, and never one to bend her will for the sake of money. She wasn’t someone he could buy, and for all the power he had, he knew he couldn’t make her marry him.

More importantly, he was the one who owed her a favor. As things were, he found it much harder to win over Anastasia than it was to manage a large corporation with a billion-something net worth.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Anastasia and the curves of her silhouette. The more he thought about her, the stronger the heat that coursed through his entire body. All of a sudden, his pants felt very constricting.