Page 162 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 4

Chapter 30

AMAI

The casino floor smelled like old carpet and river water—a thick, stale scent that clung to the back of my throat. The overhead lights flickered, casting shadows across rows of silent slot machines and felt-covered tables that hadn’t seen a bet in years.

Priest had Truth and Trumai moving toward the exit—Truth’s arms wrapped tight around the baby, her face pale but determined. She looked back at me once, just once, and I saw everything in that look: fear, exhaustion, relief, and something else I couldn’t name.

“Go,” I said.

She hesitated.

“Go.”

Priest’s hand was on her shoulder, guiding her toward the corridor that led to the lower deck where our boat was waiting. Truth stumbled, caught herself, and kept moving. Trumai’s cry echoed through the empty casino—sharp, terrified, alive.

The sound of it nearly broke me.

But I didn’t move.

Because Kaisen was standing twenty feet away, his back to the reinforced windows that looked out over the black water. His face was twisted—not with rage, but with something worse.

Confusion.

Like he genuinely couldn’t understand why this was happening.

“You’re making a mistake,” he said.

I laughed. It came out harsh and ugly, echoing off the low ceiling. “That’s what you’re going with? After everything you did—after you drugged her, kidnapped my daughter, locked them on this floating prison for over a month—you think I’m making a mistake?”

“I saved them.” His voice cracked. “I saved them from you.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind.”

“Am I?” Kaisen stepped forward, his hands spread wide like he was trying to reason with me. “You executed Rahsaan’s mother in front of him while he was right there. You think that’s the kind of man who should be raising a child?”

“I think the man who should be raising my child is the one whose nut produced her, bitch ass nigga. I don’t give a fuck what you think about me!” I moved toward him slowly, deliberately. “Not the one who had to steal her in the middle of the night.”

“She didn’t know what she was choosing!” Kaisen’s voice rose, desperate now. “She was confused—traumatized—she couldn’t see what you were doing to her!”

“What I was doing?” I stopped ten feet away from him, my hands loose at my sides. “I gave her everything she asked for. Space. Time. Respect. I let her make her own decisions about her body, her medical care, her life. You want to tell me what part of that was traumatic?”

“You manipulated her.” Kaisen’s jaw clenched. “You made her think she needed you. You isolated her from everyone who could’ve helped her see the truth⁠—”

“The truth?” I cut him off. “You want to talk about truth? Let’s talk about how you knew about the fertility clinic before you ever met her. How you read her file, studied her life, and then accidentally ran into her at that park. Let’s talk about how you played the nice guy, the safe option, the one who wasn’t dangerous—all while knowing you’d already violated her in the worst possible way.”

Kaisen flinched.

“Yeah.” I smiled, cold and humorless. “Truth told me everything. Every conversation. Every moment you made her feel like she could trust you. She told me how you made her believe you were different from me—that you were the one who saw her as a person instead of a possession.”

“I did see her as a person⁠—”

“You saw her as mine.” The words came out low and lethal. “That’s all you ever saw. You didn’t want Truth. You wanted to take something from me. You wanted to prove you could win for once in your miserable fucking life.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” I took another step forward. “You spent your whole life in my shadow, Kaisen. Everything I had, you wanted. Every accomplishment I earned, you resented. And when you found out Truth was carrying my child—when you realized I was going to have the one thing Winston said I could never have—you couldn’t stand it.”

“She was happy with me!” Kaisen’s voice broke. “On this boat, away from your world, away from the violence and the war and the bodies piling up. She was happy. I gave her peace. I gave her safety. I gave her a home where she didn’t have to be afraid every time someone knocked on the door!”