Chapter 1The Terms and Conditions

Four months after we broke up, I called Leo. "I'm pregnant. Do you want this baby?"

Leo was quick to distance himself. "We used protection every single time. Don't you dare pin this on me."

I asked one more time, just to be sure. "So you're positive you don't want this child, right?"

"Do whatever you want. I don't want it."

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn't have to worry about a custody battle.

I had the baby on my own. Raised her on my own.

When she was six, I spent most of my savings on a house in the city center to get her into a top-tier school district.

On her first day of school, she brought a man home.

"Mom, he keeps saying he's my dad and wants to fight you for custody." My daughter, Zoe, looked completely exasperated. "What's the deal? You never told me my dad was an idiot."

* * *

It was the first time I’d seen Leo in six years.

To be fair, he hadn't changed much. He was still dressed like he’d just walked out of a magazine, not looking a day over thirty. He was scowling at me like I was his mortal enemy.

"Mom, I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat?" Zoe rubbed her stomach.

"Yep." I went into the kitchen and got her a slice of the coffee cake I’d baked.

Leo just stood in the doorway, motionless, as if he planned to stand there until the end of time if I didn’t invite him in.

Zoe finished her cake, then turned to look at Leo and sighed dramatically. "Mom, maybe you two should talk? I have homework to do." She picked up her little backpack. "But just so we're clear, my custody is non-negotiable."

The word "custody" finally struck a nerve. Leo glared at me, his voice rising. "Zara, you've got some nerve, having my kid without telling me—"

"Stop!" I held up a hand. "You're a grown man. Can you please get your emotions in check?"

"You secretly had my child and you're telling me to be emotional?" He stared at me, dumbfounded.

I glanced at Zoe’s closed bedroom door. She was mature for her age, but this wasn't a conversation for her to overhear. Worried the walls were too thin, I walked out of the apartment and led Leo to the stairwell.

"Zara, don't think I don't know what you're up to. You saw my family's money and thought you could have a baby to get a piece of it, right?" Leo sneered. "Well, I'm telling you, it's not that easy!"

I pulled out my phone and played a six-year-old recording.

"I'm pregnant. Do you want this baby?"

"We used protection every single time. Don't you dare pin this on me."

"So you're positive you don't want this child, right?"

"Do whatever you want. I don't want it."

When it finished, I played it again, just in case he hadn't heard clearly.

He looked like a duck with its neck wrung, his accusations dying in his throat.

"I knew this day might come, so I kept the evidence." I crossed my arms, looking him up and down. "Still just a trust fund kid after all these years. Looks like your parents know your limits, not even letting you touch the family business."

I leaned in. "You should take good care of that face. If you ever manage to bankrupt your family, you can still trade on your looks."

"She's my daughter. Past, present, and future, she has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"You want to fight me for custody? Who do you think you are?"

Furious, Leo punched the wall. The move might have had a certain angsty, teen-movie charm if he were seventeen. On a thirty-year-old man, it was just pathetic.

I patted his shoulder. "If you have issues, get help. And I'm warning you, stay away from my daughter, or I'll call the cops and report a kidnapping."

"On what grounds? I'm her father!"

"Oh? And your proof?"

"I can get a paternity test!"

"Buddy, open your eyes." I gave him a pitying look. "A DNA test after six years of silence doesn't magically grant you rights."