CHAPTER 70: CHAPTER SEVENTY: PURSUE MY OWN HAPPINESS

Christy’s POV

The silence in my room was thick and suffocating, the kind that pressed against your ears and made you too aware of your own breathing.

I was curled up against the headboard of my bed, knees drawn up slightly, and my hand rested over my stomach.

It was still flat, nothing about my body had changed on the outside, but I knew what was happening inside. That thought alone made my touch linger, my palm moving in slow circles as if I could somehow comfort the little heartbeat I knew was there.

A baby..... Mine and Kendrick’s baby .

The thought alone was enough to make my throat tighten and my eyes sting.

So much had happened in such a short time. It was simply too much. It was like I had been swept into a storm and dropped in the middle of nowhere, expected to pick up all the broken pieces and keep walking.

I tried to tell myself I could handle it, that I was strong enough, but the truth is my heart was breaking in too many directions at once.

The creak of my door jolted me out of my thoughts and my hand slowly slipped away from my stomach as though I had been caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to.

Mason stepped in, closing the door behind him with a calm expression. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, dark circles framing his eyes and he looked extremely exhausted as well. His eyes landed on me, sharp but also soft with concern.

"Christy," he said in that steady tone of his that always carried more weight than he realized. He crossed the room, his footsteps heavy against the wooden floor, and slowly sat himself onto the edge of my bed.

He studied me for a moment with a serious expression.

"What’s your plan? Are you going to give Kendrick another chance?" he asked me with a serious tone.

My lips parted, but no answer came, I stared at him, then at my lap, then at the wall, and still I couldn’t find anything to say.

Mason didn’t rush me, he just waited, his patience making it harder for me to escape the truth I had been burying.

"None of this... none of the mess between our parents and Kendrick’s mother... None of it was my fault or his." Finally, I whispered softly.

Mason’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened but he didn’t speak.

"And Kendrick never cheated on me with Celeste. That was all a scheme that she and the others came up with, it was just a damn setup meant to separate us. I see that now, I was too blinded by anger before, but I know the truth." My voice cracked slightly, but the conviction in my words was unshakable.

Mason exhaled slowly, but still said nothing.

My hand drifted back to my stomach almost unconsciously.

"And this baby doesn’t deserve to grow up without both parents’ love. I won’t let that happen, Mason. I can’t let that happen." he said with a determined tone.

The silence stretched, heavy, until Mason finally sighed and shook his head with a sad little smile.

"I knew it....I knew you would go back to him eventually. No matter how much you tried to fight it, no matter how angry you got, you loved him too much. It was only a matter of time before you stopped pretending otherwise." he said with a slight smile.

Tears stung my eyes, but I bit them back. He was right, I had tried everything, anger, distance, lies, self-denial....None of it worked.

The truth was carved too deep inside me, I loved Kendrick Black, always had and always would.

"You don’t understand," I muttered.

"Oh, I do," Mason said firmly.

"I understand more than you think, but what I don’t understand is how you’re planning to deal with Mom and Dad. Do you think they’re just going to smile and accept Kendrick after everything that’s happened? After what his family did to ours?" he asked me with a serious expression.

That made me sit up straighter, the fire inside me burned brighter and fiercer.

"They’re supposed to let me do what makes me happy. If they love me, and their love is genuine, they will accept my choice and if they don’t?" My eyes locked on his.

"Then I will have no choice but to pursue my happiness without their approval. This is my life, Mason. My child...My future....Not theirs." I said stubbornly.

Mason dragged a hand over his face in frustration.

"God, you are so damn stubborn." he groaned.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

"Like that’s news to you."I said with a slight smile.

"I knew you would say this," he muttered.

"I knew it the second I met you for the very first time. You never bend, Christy and this... " he gestured vaguely around the room.

"This could rip everything apart, do you even realize that?" he asked me with a frustrated tone and before I could answer, the door burst open with a loud slam.

Kelvin stormed inside, his face twisted with fury, his steps were sharp and heavy like he had been pacing outside before finally snapping. His chest heaved, his fists were clenched, and the air around him crackled with raw anger.

"Kelvin," Mason said immediately, rising slightly, half-ready to intercept him when he noticed that his eyes were fixed on me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked him with a stern tone.

Kelvin’s eyes locked on me, then flicked to Mason, his expression dark and wild.

"You want to know what’s wrong? I just found out who reported me to the higher-ups." he said furiously.

My stomach dropped instantly, dread clawing its way up my throat.

Mason frowned. "Who?"

Kelvin’s answer came out like a blade.

"It was Kendrick, that bastard sold me out." he yelled angrily.

The words sliced through the air, leaving the room in stunned silence.

My breath caught in my throat and my hand instinctively pressed against my stomach like I needed to shield the child inside me from the storm exploding in front of me.

Mason stiffened, his jaw clenching.

"Are you sure?" he asked with a frown.

"Sure?" Kelvin spat, his voice low and venomous.

"I saw the damn report myself. His assistant’s name was right there. He threw me under the bus without a second thought! ." he yelled angrily.

"No," I blurted, shaking my head.

"That doesn’t make sense, Kendrick would never.. " I was about to say something but he cut me off.

"You don’t know him as well as you think you do, Christy!" Kelvin snapped, stepping closer, his anger radiating off him like heat.

"He is a Black. Do you even understand what that means? They’ll sacrifice anyone for their own damn gain." he said with so much hatred.

"That’s not who he is," I said firmly, though my voice trembled.

"Of course you would defend him. You always defend him, no matter what. Even now, when he is stabbing me in the back." Kelvin scoffed

Mason stepped in then, holding out a hand between us.

"Enough, Kelvin...This isn’t the way." he said while trying to calm Kelvin down.

"The hell it isn’t!" Kelvin barked. His chest was still rising and falling too quickly, his fists clenching so tight his knuckles turned white.

"I’m not going to stand here while my sister defends a man who is actively destroying us. He is like poison, Mason. And if Christy goes back to him, she’ll drag herself and us down with her." he said angrily.

My vision blurred with tears, but I refused to back down.

"You don’t understand him. You don’t know what we have been through, what he has been through. Kendrick isn’t perfect, but he is not the enemy and definitely not what you think." I said, unsure if I was trying to convince him or myself.

Kelvin’s laugh was hollow and cruel as he looked at me with anger in his eyes.

"Then what is he, Christy? Because from where I’m standing, he is nothing but a curse you can’t let go of." he said in annoyance.

His words pierced deep, but I refused to break down, as I held my tears back. I straightened my spine while clutching my stomach, and met his fury with all the strength I could muster.

"He is the father of my child," I said steadily.

"And no matter what you or anyone else says, I will not let my child grow up without his love. That’s my decision and I won’t back down from it." I said with a tone of finality.

The room fell into stunned silence, my words hanging heavy between us.

Mason closed his eyes briefly, exhaling as though he had been holding his breath the entire time. Kelvin, however, froze like I had slapped him across the face.

For a second, the anger in his expression faltered, replaced by a mixture of shock and confusion. I also saw a little bit of hurt. But his anger returned shortly.

"You are making the biggest mistake of your life," he said coldly, his voice trembling with suppressed rage.

"And when it all blows up in your face, don’t expect us to be there to pick up the pieces." he said angrily.

He turned sharply and stormed out, the door slamming so hard the frame rattled.

The silence he left behind was deafening.

Mason sat back down slowly, his expression grave. He reached for my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"You have made your choice," he said quietly.

"And now... we will all have to live with it." he added while tapping my hand gently.

I looked down at my stomach, my heart heavy but resolute. I knew the road ahead would be brutal, but for the first time in a long time, my decision felt right.

Because this wasn’t just about me anymore.

It was about the life growing inside me and the love that tied me to Kendrick, no matter how much the world tried to rip us apart.

And I swore silently that nothing.. not my parents, not my brothers, not the past, and not even fate itself was going to take that away from me.