Page 215 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 2

“Amai said you would do this,” she said quietly. “He said you’d approach me while I was broken and put me back together in your image.”

The accusation hit like a physical blow.

“That’s not true.” My voice was rough, desperate. “Amai’s projecting. He’s the one who breaks people and rebuilds them tosuit his needs. That’s how he operates. That’s how he’s always operated.”

I thought about Yahmaria. About the women before her. About the way Amai consumed people until there was nothing left but what he wanted them to be.

“I’m not him,” I said, and I meant it. “I’m not trying to control you or mold you into something you’re not. I just—” I stopped, the words catching in my throat. “I just want to be there for you. For the baby. If it’s mine.”

Truth turned back to me, her eyes searching my face.

“My family thinks I’m a fuck up,” I said, the confession spilling out before I could stop it. “Yeah, I’m listed on boards at the company. I hold positions. But they think I’m worthless. Winston thinks I’m a disappointment. Amai thinks I’m a thorn in his side. I’m not looking for pity—I’m just telling you the truth. It’s just what it is.”

The admission burned. Not because it was new—I’d lived with that reality my entire life—but because saying it out loud to her made it real in a way it hadn’t been before.

Truth was quiet for a long moment, her hands still folded in her lap, her expression unreadable.

“The entire situation is fucking with my mind,” she said finally, her voice softer now but no less intense. “I look calm. I look like I’m handling it. But I’m losing my shit internally about all this.”

Something in my chest loosened at her honesty. At the vulnerability beneath the anger.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. “I’m sorry my father violated your body. Used it for his own selfish needs. I’m sorry you’re caught in the middle of this family’s dysfunction.”

I paused, trying to find the right words.

“If it’s okay with you,” I continued, “I’d like to still be there for you. If it’s my child, I want to be part of their life. I want to bea real father. Not like Winston. Not like the man who raised me to believe I was worthless unless I was useful.”

Truth looked at me for a long moment, her eyes sharp and assessing.

“You’ll be part of their life regardless,” she said finally. “Because it’s a Landry. According to Amai, he has every intention of using that contract against me if I refuse to be with him.”

The words hit like a punch to the gut.

Of course, Amai would weaponize the contract. Of course he’d use it as leverage to keep her close.

“That’s what Amai does,” I said, the bitterness seeping into my voice. “He takes. When he doesn’t get his way, he takes what he wants. He hates being told no.”

I thought about the concrete hole. About the darkness and the suffocation and the terror of not knowing if I’d ever get out.

Amai didn’t just hate being told no.

He punished it.

“Well, he better get used to it,” Truth said, her voice firm, “because I’m done letting him try to run me.”

The conviction in her voice—the steel beneath the exhaustion—made something shift in my chest.

She wasn’t backing down.

She wasn’t accepting the manipulation, the control, or the power plays.

She was standing her ground.

And that was more attractive than anything I’d ever seen.

I looked at her—really looked at her—and saw not the broken woman I’d read about in the file, not the victim of Phillip’s betrayal or Winston’s manipulation, but someone who’d been through hell and come out the other side not tolerating bullshit.

Someone who refused to be a pawn.