Mr. Remington Got Me Pregnant

Chapter 75

Emery’s POV

I'm handing Elsie over to Reagan and just getting the hell out of here.

The noise fades behind me as I walk. Past the garden. Past the paper lanterns swaying in the evening breeze. Past everything that was supposed to be magical and became something else entirely.

I find myself in the far corner of the estate grounds where the manicured hedges give way to older growth, where no photographers venture and no guests wander. My hands are shaking as I pull out my phone.

Harmony answers on the second ring.

"Emery?" Her voice is rough, tired. "Is everything okay? Is the party—"

"I'm so sorry to disturb you." The words come out unsteady. "I know you should be resting. I know I shouldn't be calling."

"What happened?"

I close my eyes against the memory of Marian's smile, of Victor's patronizing tone, of Landon standing frozen at the edge of the crowd while I drowned. "I need Gloria's contact information."

Silence stretches between us. I hear the soft beep of hospital monitors in the background.

"You're ready," Harmony says finally. Not a question.

"I have to be."

She gives me the number without hesitation. Then her voice drops, heavy with warning. "Be careful, Emery. Whatever Portia buried, she buried it for a reason. And she doesn't leave loose ends."

"I know."

"Do you?" A pause. "Because once you open this door, there's no closing it again."

I think of my daughter back at that party, of the world I'm trying to build for her, of the enemies who will never stop coming. "I understand."

The call ends. I stare at the number glowing on my screen for a long moment before I dial.

Gloria answers warily. "Who is this?"

"My name is Emery Remington." I hear her sharp intake of breath. "Harmony gave me your number. She said you might be willing to talk."

"About what?" The old woman's voice carries decades of suppressed guilt, heavy and worn.

"About what happened fifteen years ago. About what Portia did."

The silence that follows seems to last forever. When Gloria finally speaks, something has shifted—resignation, perhaps, or relief.

"I wondered when someone would come asking." Her voice trembles slightly. "I've been carrying this for so long. Too long."

"Tell me."

"Mr. Remington had an affair." The words tumble out like she's been holding her breath for years. "A woman named Catherine. Beautiful. Young. She worked at one of the satellite offices."

My grip tightens on the phone. "Portia found out?"

"Of course she found out. Portia finds out everything." Gloria laughs, but there's no humor in it. "The affair wasn't even the problem, not really. These families—they have arrangements, understandings. But Catherine made a mistake."

"What kind of mistake?"

"She got pregnant. And she threatened to go public if Mr. Remington didn't leave his wife."

The evening air suddenly feels colder against my skin. "What happened to her?"

"She disappeared." Gloria's voice drops to barely above a whisper. "One day she was there, making demands, threatening to expose everything. The next—gone. They said it was a car accident. Country road, bad weather, tragic coincidence."

"But it wasn't an accident."

"No." The word falls between us like a stone. "Portia arranged it. Made it look routine. Paid the right people to forget what they saw, to lose paperwork, to look the other way. I was there when she made the calls. I heard enough to understand."

My stomach turns. I think of Portia's composed smile, her carefully controlled cruelty, the way she navigates every situation like a chess master three moves ahead.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I was scared." Gloria's voice cracks. "And then she offered me money. So much money. Enough to disappear, to start over, to pretend I never knew anything. I signed papers promising I'd never speak of it. I took her check and I ran."

"But you kept something."

Another pause.

"I was scared." Gloria's voice cracks. "And then she offered me money. So much money. Enough to disappear, to start over, to pretend I never knew anything. I signed papers promising I'd never speak of it. I took her check and I ran."

"But you kept something."

Another pause. "Insurance. Documents. Recordings from the security system before they wiped it." Gloria exhales slowly. "There's a safe deposit box at First National in Hartford. Box 1247. Everything is there."

"And the key?"

"That's the thing, Mrs. Remington." A strange satisfaction creeps into her voice. "When I left, I couldn't take everything with me. Portia was watching too closely. So I hid the key somewhere she'd never think to look—inside my grandmother's Bible. I left it behind when I went. Told them it was worthless, just an old book I didn't want anymore."

My heart pounds harder. "Where is it now?"

"The basement. Where they put all the things the staff leave behind—old uniforms, forgotten belongings, things too insignificant for Portia to notice." Gloria's voice steadies. "It's been sitting in that house for fifteen years. Right under her roof. The key to her destruction, gathering dust with the discarded things."

The irony cuts through me like a blade.

"I'm old now, Mrs. Remington. Tired of carrying secrets that aren't mine. Whatever you do with what's in that box—that's your choice. I'm done protecting people who don't deserve it."

The call ends.

I stand motionless in the fading light, the phone still pressed to my ear, the weight of what I've learned pressing down like a physical force.

Portia arranged a woman's murder. Covered it up. Built her empire on silence and fear and buried bodies.

This information could destroy her completely. It could bring down the Remington name, unravel the empire, expose decades of carefully constructed lies.

But Landon is part of that name. Elsie carries it too.

Releasing this would not just punish my enemies—it could shatter my daughter's future, brand her husband's family as murderers, drag us all into a scandal that would never fade.

I have a weapon powerful enough to end everything. And I don't know if I can use it.

Footsteps approach through the grass behind me.

"Emery."

I turn to find Landon, his face pale with worry, his eyes searching mine for damage he cannot see.

"I'm so sorry." He reaches for me, pulling me into his arms, his voice breaking against my hair. "I should have moved faster. I should have stopped her from coming. I should have protected you, and I failed. Again."

I let him hold me. I feel his heart pounding against my cheek, feel the desperate way his arms tighten around me like he's afraid I'll disappear.

But I cannot speak.

My mind is elsewhere—standing at a crossroads I never imagined, holding a truth that could burn everything to ash.

I have the power to end this. To destroy the woman who has tormented me since I entered this family. To expose the rot at the foundation of the Remington empire.

I just don't know if I can survive what comes after.