After Divorce, Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant-Chapter 174 Unsettling News.

"Is this true?" The stranger asked, glancing from Leonica, who had a neutral expression on her face despite the wave of confusion running amuck inside, and his phone which still had the article open on display.

"I mean, you don’t have to make an official statement or anything like that. I know how you rich people are, reputation and all, but-"

"That’s enough," Gabriel interrupted him, pushing the phone away from Leonica’s path of view. "It’s very rude to question someone over a falsely written article."

"Well, how can you say for sure that it’s false?" The stranger retorted.

"And who are you to say it was written based on true facts?" Leonica asked, finally regaining her composure after the tabloid she had read.

What a load of bullshit, she thought as she shook her head, people sure were thirsty for her family’s downfall to have enough time to create a bullocks rumor like this.

But then again, she shouldn’t be surprised, it was expected.

"I’m just saying-"

"Nothing." Leonica shot him a glare, causing him to shrink back and step away, then she smiled. "Please learn to mind your own business from now on."

With that, she turned around and picked Ashley up, not failing to notice the way a couple other people looked at her once they recognized her. Some even pointed and whispered.

Now it was really starting to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Let’s go Ashley," She said and walked away from the stranger, Gabriel following along.

The atmosphere was filled with silence until they had reached the parking lot and Gabriel was the one who broke the silence.

"Leonica," He called out as he gently held her wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction of her car. "I’ll drive you guys home." He added upon seeing the look of confusion that gathered across her face.

"No, that won’t be necessary." She rejected without a second thought. "Thanks for the offer though."

In normal cases, Gabriel would have backed off, allowing Leonica to walk away, have her way, but not today.

Today was different because he could tell how unfocused she was. The way her eyes seemed to flicker back and forth, the way her fingers twitched, the way she bit her lips, he could tell she was over thinking, probably trying to make heads of the article she had seen, along with those people’s stares.

No matter how unique Leonica is, she was just like every other elite, caring greatly about her family’s reputation and an article like that, true or false, was sure to leave a temporary dent.

He could tell she was feeling unsettled.

So, rather than allow her to drive home with her mind clouded, most likely put her, along with Ashley in danger, he held her tighter.

"I insist." He stated and continued leading the way to his car.

"Really, there’s no need." Leonica said.

"But I’m taking you."

"I have my own car."

"I’ll return it tomorrow." He pulled open the passenger door to his car after unlocking in. "Just let me drive you home, okay?"

Leonica was conflicted. A part of her wanted to reject him and go home with her own car, while another part of her was too tired to argue.

“Fine,” She eventually agreed and placed Ashley in the back seat, before settling in the passenger seat.

As soon as they were buckled up, he started the engine and they drove off, the silence between them remaining the same.

However, Gabriel was the one who decided to break it.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” Leonica asked in a nonchalant manner.

Gabriel shrugged. “The article, or even the stares.”

“I’d rather not.” She replied, not once turning to look at him.

Gabriel took note of the coldness in her voice, it was the same tone she had used each time she intended to put a wall up.

A sign that she was feeling uneasy, that she didn’t want to let him or anyone in.

Gabriel respected that and chose to remain silent for the rest of the ride.

By the time they arrived at Leonica’s place, Ashley had already dosed off, his bear clutched tightly against his chest.

Leonica didn’t bother waking him. She scooped him out of his seat, being careful not to wake him and stepped out the car, only to find that Gabriel had joined her.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door.” She informed him, watching as he pocketed the keys to his car.

She was about to say something else when the design on Gabriel’s keychain caught her attention.

It was a forget-me-not flower, the very same one Ashley had given her to give him after the fire incident.

The exact same symbol that was on her necklace.

Her eyes went to Ashley’s sleeping form and she sighed. “Ha, clever child.”

But could she really blame him? Every child wanted their parent together.

“Thanks for the drive home.” Leonica spoke, turning her attention back to Gabriel, who offered a slight nod.

“Don’t worry about it.” He looked like he was about to say something more, but opted against it, ruffling Ashley’s hair instead, before he bid then goodbye and walked away.

Leonica went inside after that, placed Ashley in his bed and went to get herself a drink, throughout which her brain replayed the article she had read and soon, she had pulled her phone out and began browsing the different type of articles based on what she had read. freewebnσvel.cøm

As expected, they were all about the same thing.

But it wasn’t what had her worried.

No, she was worried because she didn’t know where or who begun it. Was this another stunt to bring her family down, or was it....

She shook her head. No, thinking like that was not healthy.

She wasn’t going to assume the worse just yet. And hopefully, her mother wouldn’t.

Putting her phone down, she decided it was time for a shower. Perhaps she could call Owen, after all, his voice always had a way to calm her down.

~•~

Three hundred and fifty two thousand views in less than a day.

Irene smirked at the numbers written underneath the article that would soon bring about the end of her so-called Father’s demise.

“Looks like the media is having a field day with this,” Jamil commented from where he sat, his eyes glued to his phone as he too monitored the comment section. “I told you this was the right move.”

“Yeah,” Irene replied, not once tearing her eyes off her screen. “We need to spread more rumors, so that when we officially release the news, Benjamin would have no other choice but to come clean.”

“And when he does, he’d have no other choice than to accept you into the family. That’s when the real work begins.”

“Yes,” Irene nodded, a smile on her face as the thought of ruining her bastard of a father and the rest of his family became even more exciting.

“I can’t wait.”

Jamil mirrored her smile which grew more after he spotted one comment.

[Crazy news, but it has to be true, after all, I just ran into Leonica Romero and she seemed tongue tied. Probably doesn’t want to ruin the reputation of her family anymore than this news would.]

He chuckled after reading the comment. "Looks like this is going to be easier than expected."