Chapter CHAPTER CXIII
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10TH DAY OF DECEMBER. That was the day Chase Romano was brought into the world. That was the day he was delivered to fulfil his father and uncle's dreams for their empire. That was the only thing he had been for those two Romano men. An heir.
Chase rested his back on the couch in his bedroom, twirling a glass of scotch in his hands while his eyes narrowed in on his alarm clock that sat on the bedside table as the time struck twelve midnights. It was his birthday. His thirtieth birthday.
The only day he was allowed to do anything of his choice when he was still under his uncle's training. On the tenth of December every year, he was always rewarded for being a good and obedient nephew by being given the freedom to spend his day any way he wanted it. Those were the times he enjoyed spending it with his mother and sister.
But on his sixteenth birthday, his uncle changed that.
Chase could still remember it clearly. His uncle took him to a club. He told him he was going to dictate his freedom on that day. That was the day he first took alcohol. He was forced to take alcohol.
His uncle's exact words that day were; "It's your sixteenth birthday, Nipote. It's your sweet sixteen, and I want you to enjoy it the way your dad and I did ours,"
After being forced to chug down more than a bottle of alcohol, he was thrusted into a room filled with horny women. He had his first sex that night. It wasn't sex. It was rape.
At the end of the night, he was the only one who walked out of that room alive. He ended all those women's lives after the deed. And he got punished for that; after that night, he was never allowed the freedom he used to get on his birthday again.
A knock on his room door got his attention, and he blinked back the unshed tears in his eyes before groaning out loud as he buried his face in his palms after dropping the glass on the coffee table. His cousins knew he always liked being alone throughout his birthdays.
Who the fuck was knocking on the door?
The person knocked again.
Irritated, he scowled. "Come in,"
The door was gently opened, and Sophia walked in with a radiant smile on her face enough to make his day.
She closed the door and rushed to him, slumping on the couch beside him when he didn't make a move to stand up. Before he could realize it, her small arms were around his neck while she snuggled her face deeper in his hair, basking in his scent. "Happy birthday,"
Chase said nothing. He wasn't used to being wished on his birthday. He had restricted his cousins and everyone who knew him from doing that as well. His birthdays brought bad memories of his sixteenth birthday. Inhaling the scent of her coconut shampoo from her hair, he placed both of his palms on her waist and pulled her away, gently placing her on his lap.
Sophia didn't get the memo that he didn't want to be with anyone. She knew nothing about him. So she wrapped her arms again around his neck and clasped her fingers together, her smile not fading away. "Happy birthday, Chase," He turned his face away. "Hmmmm,"
Sophia frowned at his cold attitude and unwrapped her arms from his neck. She placed her right palm on his cheek and made him turn his face towards her. "What's the problem?"
"Nothing," He circled his palm around her small wrist and pulled her hand away from his cheek. Still staring into her eyes, he kissed the inside of her palm, not smiling.
She shuddered at the feel of his lips on her skin. "Why then are you behaving so cold?"
"It's nothing serious," He let go of her wrist. He rested his head back on the couch and sighed, closing his eyes. "Just work. That's all,"
Her hands made their way to his hair, and she massaged his scalp. "You're tired? And here I thought you'd be excited for the surprise I have for you,"
Chase opened his eyes and looked up at her. "What's that?"
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"You expect me to tell you?" She failed at raising her brow up. "Nope," She pouted her lips. "It's a surprise, and I won't be telling you about it unless you want to see it for yourself,"
"It's a surprise, Chase," He remembered his little sister's words. "Don't you want to see it?"
He was curious as to what surprise it was. "okay. I'll come with you,"
~~~
Chase masked the surprise on his face with a look of indifference as he stared at the whole kitchen. The surprise wasn't all that big, but still, it was cute and loving.
There was a small, round chocolate cake on the kitchen counter with a glass of wine beside it. They were balloons hanging around the kitchen ceiling along with poster cards of the writing 'Happy birthday, Chase' on them. Sophia's excited voice reached his ears from beside him. "Tell me what you think about the surprise,"
"It's nice," He turned to her. "I'll give you a ten,"
"Oh no," She waved her hands dismissively in the air. "You can't give me a ten yet. I haven't even given you the main surprise,"
Chase's brows furrowed into a frown. "What other surprise do you have for me again?"
Sophia smiled and stepped forward, managing to hold his hands in her small ones. "Have you ever dreamt of having a family?"
His frown deepened. "What do you mean?"
Sophia shook her head at him. "Don't you still get what I'm trying to say?"
"I won't understand if you talk like that," He said. "Just come out clean and drop the surprise,"
"Are you that eager?" She wiggled her brows at him.
"Sophia,"
"Fine," She huffed, rolling her eyes. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest as she thought of ways to just tell him. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down at her feet. "Chase, I-,"
"Is everything okay?"
She nodded. "I-," She held one of his hands and smiled. She guided his palm to her stomach, leaving it there as she stared up at him. "We're-we're going to have a baby, Chase,"
Chase stilled and pulled his hand away from her stomach on reflex. "What the fuck are you saying?"
Sophia's smile fell, but then she shook her head and smiled again. "Don't you still understand? We- Me and you- we're going to have a little baby, Chase. There's going to be a mini us running around the whole mansion soon," She tugged on his arm, squealing. "I can't believe I'm going to be a mum. Do you know how long I've waited to tell you this?"
Chase moved away from her, his expression dead serious. "Sophia, if this is a fucking joke, stop it. It's too expensive,"
"Why would I joke with something like that?" She said. "Wait, I even have my test results," She rushed to the counter. She took out a white envelope and handed it to him. "look, it's my test results. Guilia and I had it done after I took the pregnancy kit test to be sure it was correct,"
Chase collected the envelope from her and tore it open, his hands shaking. His expression became darker as he read every single thing in the paper. "What the fuck?"
"You're equally shocked, aren't you?" Sophia cupped his cheeks, staring into his eyes. "I felt the same too when I found out. I couldn't believe it!" She hugged him. "I'm so happy, Chase. I can't wait to see our little baby," She then pulled away from the hug and jumped on her toes. "I want us to have a baby girl, Chase. That's exactly what I told Guilia the other day. I want our baby to have a similar hair and eye colour with you. I adore your features a lot and-," Her rambling stopped when she noticed Chase's expression. He didn't look happy at all. "Chase?" She walked closer. "What's the matter? You don't look happy at all,"