After Divorce Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant (Leonica and Gabriel) novel Chapter 105

As if seeing her expression and knowing exactly who she was thinking about, Arvan asked. “So how is Gabriel doing?” 

“He’s… He’s good. “Leonica was quick to answer, only to sigh a second later. 

“But?” Arvan pressed on, encouraging her to let out her frustrations, only to feel disappointed when she shook her head, clearly Insisting on keeping whatever struggle she was facing to herself. 

“If you say so,” He muttered, voice just low enough to hide the disappointment that had temporarily washed over him. 

“She looks tired.‘ He thought as he watched her respond to the message which h silently groaned and rolled her eyes. 

he was sure had come from her assistant, seeing as she 

She loved work, but hated it, along with fish, deep water and reading for long periods of time. 

At least that’s what she had told him throughout their discussions in the past and that was what he committed into his memory. 

Why did he commit all that into his memory? Like the answer wasn’t already clear. 

He was attracted towards her, not because she was a fellow single parent or because she was the type of woman a man wanted or because of the uncanny resemblance she had to Irene, but because she was Leonica. 

The woman who loves beaches, but feared deep waters. Hated reading for long periods of time but craved to have a book written by her and have fan signs. Hated work but wanted to make sure her father’s company, the company which had now been passed into her, excelled more than anything. 

She is the type of woman who had the most beautiful smile and the most mesmerizing voice, along with the most beautiful personality. That was who she was and that was why he felt that undeniable attraction towards her. 

And although, she had made it clear, gesture and situation wise, that she wasn’t interested in being in a relationship and neither was she interested in starting a new relationship, he didn’t care. 

He’d wait, as long as she needed, as long as she’d have him waiting, and then, he’d properly court her. 

But for now, he was more than content to be a friend. 

“Well,” She spoke, pulling him out of his reverie. “I should get going The company is waiting and my assistant has sent m thousand messages, asking me to return. I have to interview a new employee today.” She added, 

me like a 

“Tough” He said and received a look from her that said it all 

“Tough, compared to your work it’s nothing. Were the words clearly written on her face. 

“Anyway,” He said, deciding to end the conversation right then and there, before it even started. “I hope to hear from you again soon, maybe when we’re all free, we could have dinner or something “He offered, pushing his luck more than knew he should 

tronica blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend his words and when it was clear that she had, a small tired smile graced her features, and she nodded. “That sounds nice,” 

+ 

“See ya, Leonica.” He waved her goodbye, and turned around, walking back to his car and watching as the door was pulled open by his 

driver. 

He paused to wave at her one last time before entering. The driver, after closing the door, bowed at her before settling into the driver’s seat and driving away. 

And once the black Chevrolet disappeared, Leonica sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose and making her way back into her car. 

She was exhausted. 

Her emotions were a mess, her thoughts were all over the place and her heart felt heavy. 

Part of it had to do with Gabriel, he was always a menace in her life that it no longer surprised her at this point. The other half of it had to do with the fact that for some reason, she left like she was leading Arvan on, 

She wasn’t blind. His attraction towards her was clear. 

He was a wonderful man, handsome and all, but Leonica just wasn’t ready for romance. 

Not now at least. But what was it that Anastasia had told her a few days ago in her office after seeing the gifts Arvan had sent? 

Something about it never hurting to keep her options open? 

once again 

Leonica arrived at her company immediately after she had left Ashley’s school. As usual, Kennedy was waiting in front of the lift for her. 

‘Such a diligent assistant.‘ She thought as she walked towards him and he towards her. 

“Good morning Ms. Romero. The employees you were meant to interview have arrived.” Kennedy informed as they walked into the clevator. 

“Thank you.” Leonica smiled and pulled out her phone, going through the list of candidates and reading their files. 

By the time she has finished the list, the lift had arrived at the interview floor and shortly after, was seated in the interview room. 

“I’ll have the candidate sent in a minute. In the meantime, please have a cup of coffee.” Kennedy offered, gesturing at the table which was covered in a variety of cups of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and milk 

“No thank you. Just bring me some water.” She politely declined and watched him bow before walking away, disappearing from her 

line of sight. 

A few minutes later, Kennedy had returned with a cup of cold water and a candidate. 

“Candidate 1109.” Kennedy said, his eyes briefly meeting Leonica’s as he introduced the candidate. “Leonica Romero, CEO of Romero Empire” 

“Hello,” Leonica gave a subtle nod in the man’s way. 

“Hello Ms. Romero,” The man who was tall and had chestnut brown hair greeted with a vague but somewhat unsettling smile on his lips. “Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Stuart Reeds. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

He Discovered He Had A Son 

“Stuart Reeds was his name.” Kennedy explains, pacing the office all the while his employer sat behind her desk, reading through the employee candidate list for what seemed like the hundredth time. 

After the interview has ended, a bit too quickly than he had expected, Leonica had requested for the fe, mumbling underneath her breath about Stuart having this awful off putting vibe around him. 

But even after yet another background check, license plate scans and criminal background check up, they still couldn’t find anything for match her suspicion. 

*Previously worked in C&D industry as the head of their accounting department.” He continued an, unaware of how the name of the mentioned company had caught Leonica’s attention 

C&D industry? She asked, raising her gaze from the file for the first time. Her question earned a nod from the assistant, which later left her to think back to where she had heard the said name. 

Less than a minute later, it clicked into place. Owen, he had mentioned that very same company during one of their discussion when they uncovered Angelina’s ploy and the CEO’s name was. 

“Stuart Campbell.” She mattered and almost instinctively, looked down at the picture on Stuart Reeds resume. Her gut was telling her sothething was wrong here and as if on Cue, Angelina’s words replayed in her mind. 

“Kennedy, run a background check on Stuart Campbell.” Leonica ordered, keeping her gaze glued on the paper. 

“Of course, give me a few minutes.” He said and rushed towards his laptop. 

As the sound of him typing on his keyboard overlapped the silence in her office, Leonica’s phone dinged, indicating the entrance of a 

text message. 

She reached for it, unlocking it to see it was a message from Doctor Bailey, Surprising, but nonetheless, she read it. 

[Ms. Romero, I apologize for not calling, my schedule wouldn’t allow it, so instead, I’ll leave this brief message. Mr. Bryce asked that I contact you in his stead and request that you meet him. Today] 

Gabriel wanted to meet her? Leonica’s inside suddenly felt sore at the thought. Even after she had told him they were divorced, he still wanted to meet her? Why? 

Had he regained his memory? No, she shook her head at the thought, shaking away the weird feeling that she couldn’t describe, that had come over her. It Gabriel had regained his memory he would either have called her on his own, or found his way to her company by 

now. 

So it was safe to say he hasn’t regained his memory, which really made her wonder why he wanted to see her. 

“Background check completed.” Kennedy announced as he pulled the printing paper out from the printing machine and brought it to Leonica. “Here you go boss.” He handed it to her, which she received with a small thank you. 

Looking down, Leonica wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or confused, to see that the man in the picture was far different that the person she had interviewed. 

The Stuart Campbell in this picture had dark shaggy hair and a pair of soulless looking eyes. The average look for boring ol 

businessmen. 

Whereas, the Stuart Reeds she had interviewed had chestnut brown hair and eyes of the same color. And unlike Campbell, he wore medicated glasses. 

Although the evidence showed that the two were different people, Leonica couldn’t help but have that same gut feeling she had towards Angelina when the bitch has gone from devil po saint 

Perhaps it was because Reeds previously worked in Campbell’s company and Campbell was… still is, Angelina’s lover. 

The most reasonable explanation if you asked her. 

While Leonica was trying to sort her gut feeling out, Kennedy printed another paper out from his laptop and attached it to a file of already bulky papers before handing it to Leonica. 

“H.R. finished finalizing the contract termination documents today.” He said as she looked from the paper on her desk and back to him Termination? The wheels in Leonica’s head was almost spinning, until it stopped, recognition kicking in 

Termination documents! As in the once she had requested two months ago when she wanted and still wants to, terminate the contract between hers and Gabriel’s company. 

“I’ll have company’s attorney handle the matter immediately once you’ve signed.” Kennedy informed, lingering near the coffee machine to brew him and his employer yet another cup of coffee. 

Perhaps he makes too much coffee, he had thought, glancing down at the transparent Glass that was feeling with dark brown liquid. 

“I see I’ll take out some time and look over it.” Leonica said as she places it in the drawer of her table and reaches for her phone, turning on the screen time see that she had read Doctor Bailey’s message, yet not replied. 

How should she reply? In all honesty, she really didn’t want to see Gabriel. Seeing him brought back the worse of memories that made her seem like a weak person. Along with the fact that she didn’t like how her heart behaved around him. 

And this new side of him, certainly was something new. 

Bane, she thought as her gaze settled on the key chain Ashley had given her to deliver to Gabriel. For a moment, she felt bad for her sen, knowing that he had probably gone out of his way, broken the bank all so he could get a keychain for the very sane father who did 

remember him. 

was something to heave heavily about. 

Turning her gaze to Kennedy, who was fast at work, sipping from his coffee every now and then, she asked. “Kennedy, what’s my schedule like for this afternoon.” 

Kennedy quickly stopped the work he was doing and pulled up his boss’s schedule on his laptop. “You’re free until six o’clock if this evening‘ 

His announcement had her brows creasing “What do I have by six o’clock?” She questioned. 

Kennedy took one look at the schedule again before informing “You have a schedule dinner meeting with the brand ambassador and his manager.” 

‘A meeting with Owen.‘ She thought, missing slowly as she clearly recalled setting something of sort a few weeks back. 

“Alright, if it’s like that, then it’s seems I’ll have to step out for a bit.” 

“Of course,” Kennedy nodded, watching as his employer reached for her phone, fingers gliding across it’s screen. 

II apologize for the late reply Doctor. I’ll take some time out today and visit the hospital. Thank you for passing along the message.] 

Leonica replied. 

Back at the hospital, Gabriel sat up right in one of the chairs, staring intensely at the photo on the table. 

The said photo in particular has been discovered in his wallet earlier today when he had requested for his belongings from the nurses. They brought his clothes, which were all battered up with burnt edges, leaving Gabriel to wonder what sort of Accident he has actually gotten into 

However, the thought was fleeting as the very next second, he had spotted the object he was looking for. 

His wallet, 

The brown leather keeper held a few things. ID card. Driver’s license and a golden wedding band that had fit perfectly around his wedding finger when he tried it on 

Must have been his wedding ring. He came to the conclusion and had been about to slip it off when the very same picture he was currently staring hard at, had caught his attention. 

It was a photo of him and a child who looked to be somewhere around the age of five? At an amusement park? A festival? 

Gabriel really couldn’t pin point the exact location and his damn memory wasn’t doing anything to help. But that wasn’t even the issue at hand. 

The issue at hand was that the said boy in the picture, looked so damn much like Gabriel 

The resemblance was too uncanny, safe for the bunch of golden hair that adorned his hair. It was clear w much, this child was either his son, or his step brother from another father. But the latter was impossible seeing as both his parents 

clear without thinking things too had kicked the bucket in an arson incident over two decades ago. 

So, that left him with the only reasonable option. This child in the picture, was his son. Of so, then who was his mother? Leonica? Well he could see some sort of resemblance between the two, especially the hair. Leonica’s hair was white now, but he could tell there was a time when her hair had been bright yellow, just like this child’s. Perhaps it was form the picture he had seen, or a memory he 

Whichever it was, Gabriel found his thoughts straying towards her existence, particularly why her hair had become white. 

Marie Antoinette Syndrome, his eyes narrowed at the thought, however, the door to his room opened seconds later with a knock. Bill stepped in, bowing his head as he held the package for the food he had gone to get. 

“I apologize, the line was a bit long, but I’ve managed to get what you requested.” Bill explained as he walked towards the table where Gabriel was seated. 

The CEO’s expressionless‘ face did not change in the slightest, but his voice expressed his gratitude enough as he spoke. “Thank you. You may leave for now.” 

Of course, sir.” Bill managed to say, stopping himself before he could stutter in surprise. He still hasn’t gotten used to Gabriel being different from the man he worked with fore give years, with wore the same face. 

He placed the bag on the table and gave a little bow, turning around to leave, when to his dismay, Gabriel stopped him. 

Say.” He began holding the picture he had stared at for the past twenty minutes, up in the air. “Do you know who this child is?” He asked a question he already knew the answer to, but still wanted go hear some sort of confirmation. 

Bill, who was surprised to see the picture, immediately blurted out. “Young master Ashley?” Only after the words had left his mouth did he realize that he might have said something he wasn’t meant to. 

Leonica had informed him that Gabriel didn’t even remember her, so it was damn obvious that he didn’t recall having a son. 

Was telling him the right thing? 

“Ashley,” Gabriel muttered the familiar sounding name, taking note that that just might be the name of his supposed son. After that, he has turned his attention on Bill. “So tell me, who is he?” 

The assistant visibly sweat dropped, feeling like he was trapped against a wall with no knowledge of the right decision to make. 

Luckily, when it seemed like the heat was getting too much to handle, the door behind him slid open and like his hero, Leonica walked 

in 

Bill has never been so happy to see her to the point that he had quietly sighed, 

The first thing Leonica sensed as she walked into the room was that she had interrupted something important. 

But it was not like she cared. “Doctor Bailey said you wanted to see me, what for?” She went straight to the point foregoing all the pleasantries and greeting 

“I do, but first,” Gabriel leaned forward, placing the photo on the table and sliding it towards her. “would you be as kind as to explain this to me?” 

Leonica’s brows knitted together with confusion, but when she looked down at the photo, she understood where he was coming from and in that moment, three one words sounded in her mind. 

Fuck You Fate. 

The Inevitable Couldn’t Be Avoided. 

The inevitable couldn’t be avoided, Leonica told herself over and over again, as she stood in front of the picture Gabriel had slid across the table, feeling like she had felt the day she revealed Ashley’s identity to him back at the hospital 

Gabriel, noticing her hesitancy to speak, spoke up. “You seem to be keeping a lot of things from me, Leonica” 

“I’m not.” She argued, gaze still glued on the picture while her mind tried to phantom about escape from the situation 

But, did she really need an escape? Leonica’s definition of escape, as she has learnt, is to complicate things more than they already were. But did she really need to do that right now? 

What harm could it being to come clean? The voice in the back of her mind questioned. 

Yeah, what harm indeed? 

The worse that could happen was Gabriel denying Ashley and finally cutting ties with them both, using his amnesia as an excuse. That sounded nice, until it didn’t and ended up leaving a sour taste in Leonica’s mouth and a rising hile that she tries to force down a couple of times. 

“If you’re not, then tell me, who is that child? Gabriel argued back, watching her with narrowed eyes. It was clear that the wheels in her head was spinning, most definitely trying to form what? 

An answer? Gabriel questioned, not sure why she’d have the need to find or make an answer when it was clear to all, even he who had lost his memory. 

Shit he was still trying to come to terms with 

A sigh from Leonica brought his mind back to the important matter at hand. He cocked his head to the side, watching her more intensely this time around.