The Endless Take

My coworker found out my boyfriend was a trust fund kid and crawled into his bed.
Two months later, she sauntered over to my desk, nose in the air.
I'm pregnant with your boyfriend's baby. You should back off now, before things get ugly.
Whose baby?
I froze.
The rich boyfriend she was talking about… is a woman.
So whose baby was it?

1
The moment I walked into the office, my coworker, Amber, slid up to me with a sly grin.
"Mia," she purred, "who was that dropping you off downstairs?"
I played along. "My boyfriend, of course."
Her voice dripped with a sour mix of envy and teasing. "Well, well, keeping a secret boyfriend from us, are we? I saw the car. It was gorgeous." She nudged me. "So, when do we all get to go out for dinner and meet this mystery man?"
My best friend, Alex, is tall, has an androgynous look, and recently chopped her hair short. So, half-jokingly, I call her my boyfriend. She’d let me crash at her place last night and gave me a lift to work this morning. I never thought anyone would see.
But Amber had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Now she wanted a double date.
I couldn't help but smile, brushing it off. "Maybe some other time."
Her face instantly soured. She rolled her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean? You think just because your boyfriend has money, you can hide him away? So much for being 'besties'."
The passive-aggressive tone was grating. She wasn't done.
"Are you afraid we'll steal him away? Worried you don't quite measure up to his status?" she sneered. "Don't get too comfortable. Rich guys like him stick to their own kind. You'll probably be dumped before you know it."
That was it. "My relationship is none of your business." I was about to swing my Chanel bag right at her smug face.
Jessica, who shared our office space, saw the storm brewing and quickly stepped between us. "Mia, calm down. Amber's just having a bad day."
Our other colleague, Gita, moved to hold Amber back, who looked ready to lunge. "Alright, Amber, that's enough."
I lowered my bag, a cold smile on my face. "Apologize. Right now. Or I swear I'll rip that gossiping mouth right off your face."
Amber knew she'd crossed a line, and with both coworkers telling her to back down, her eyes welled up with tears. "I wasn't wrong! Why are you all taking her side?"
With that, she shoved Gita aside and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
Jessica gave me an awkward smile. "Mia, don't mind her. Amber's fresh out of college, she doesn't have a filter. Just... maybe be careful she doesn't get too close to your boyfriend."
I didn't say anything, just sat down and buried myself in my work.
My best friend is a woman, and she's very, very straight. Amber would need to sprout some new anatomy to have a chance.

2
After that day, Amber started watching me. Secretly.
Sometimes, I’d feel her presence and find her standing right behind my desk, trying to read my phone over my shoulder.
Just then, a message from Mr. Evans, one of the general managers, popped up.
Mr. Evans: Ms. Kim, The Grand Astoria is doing a new buffet brunch. Would you care to join me?
Mr. Evans must have figured out who I am. Ever since I started this internship at one of my family's subsidiary companies, he’d been engineering "chance encounters" and asking me out.
I was typing out a polite refusal when I felt that prickling sensation on the back of my neck.
I whipped my head around. Amber. Peeking at my screen again.
I instantly locked my phone and stared her down. She just picked up her water bottle and walked away as if nothing had happened.
Once she was gone, I texted Mr. Evans back, telling him to focus on his work. Then I replied to a message from Alex.
As luck would have it, a friend from college was having a birthday party at an event space right next to The Grand Astoria. She'd invited both me and Alex. Alex was texting to coordinate a time to pick me up.
Before leaving work, I touched up my makeup.
Gita winked at me. "Getting all dolled up for a hot date?" she teased. "Guess we won't be seeing you tomorrow morning, huh?"
As I applied my lipstick, I realized we might be out late, maybe even hit an after-party. I nodded. "I might be late tomorrow. Could you do me a huge favor and clock in for me?"
"You got it."
The second the clock hit five, I was downstairs, sliding into the passenger seat of Alex's Aston Martin.
From her electric scooter, Gita watched us go, sighing wistfully. "A rich, handsome boyfriend. Some girls have all the luck."
A few feet away, Amber watched us pull away, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she hopped on her own scooter and pulled up a map on her phone.
We partied until almost 11 PM before a few of us decided to hit up a karaoke bar. As Alex went to get the car, I glanced across the street and saw a familiar figure emerging from The Grand Astoria. It was Amber.
Was she having dinner there?
Alex pulled up to the curb, and the thought vanished. I got in the car, and we drove off.

3
The next day, Amber was back to her old self. The constant staring stopped.
Without her eyes boring into the back of my head, I could finally breathe—and use my phone—in peace.
But something else had changed. Amber's makeup and outfits grew more elaborate by the day. Rumors started flying around the office that she must have snagged a boyfriend.
One morning, she walked in swinging a Louis Vuitton tote, casually flashing a new Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet on her wrist.
Jessica gasped. "Amber! You look amazing! And that bag... spill! Your new boyfriend bought it for you, didn't he?"
Gita leaned in, her eyes wide. "That bracelet looks super expensive, too. Is it real?"
Amber lifted her chin, basking in the attention. "You like it? It's Van Cleef. Cost over three thousand," she said, feigning nonchalance. "My boyfriend knows I love nice things. He saw it and just bought it for me, no questions asked."
Jessica and Gita fawned over her, admiring her new trinkets. I glanced over once and lost interest. You could spot the cheap knockoffs from a mile away.
Suddenly, Amber was standing in front of my desk, reaching into her bag.
Just then, Mr. Evans appeared at the office door. His eyes darted to me for a second, then settled on Amber. He scanned her new bag and bracelet, his expression darkening.
"Amber," he said, his voice flat. "My office. Now."
Amber’s voice went sugary sweet. "Okay, Mark!" She shot me a triumphant smirk before sashaying out.
I watched the bizarre little performance, shrugged, and went back to my work.
I never could have predicted what would happen when she returned.
She slapped a piece of paper down on my desk—a lab report. Then she stood over me, looking down her nose with an air of absolute victory.
My eyes snagged on the bold letters at the top.
【PREGNANCY: CONFIRMED】.
"I'm pregnant," she announced.
I blinked, stunned. "Uh..." was all I could manage, before blurting out, "It's not mine."
The whole office went silent. Everyone was staring.
My response threw her off for a second, but she quickly recovered, her smugness returning. "Sorry to break it to you, but your boyfriend fell for me the moment he saw me."
Her voice turned sharp. "I'm pregnant with his child. You need to back off now, before things get really ugly."
Jessica and Gita were frozen, their mouths hanging open in shock.
"I told you you'd get dumped, didn't I?" Amber continued, her hand drifting possessively to her bracelet. "And look at you now. I'm carrying his baby. It won't be long before I quit this dead-end job and become a trophy wife."

4
A trophy wife?
Unwed, pregnant by another woman's man, and scheming to marry into wealth? No family with real money would ever let a woman like that through the front door.

Download the MotoNovel app, Search 【 240292 】reads the whole book.