Chapter 323 A Bargaining Chip
Samantha stopped trying to dance around the subject.
There was no point anymore.
If Ryan wasn’t going to understand what she wanted, she’d force him to hear it.
"Ryan..." she said quietly. "When are we getting married?"
The question hung between them.
After everything that had happened, she saw nothing unreasonable about asking it. As far as Ryan knew, they’d slept together. If that was the situation he believed they were in, then asking him to make their relationship official was only natural.
Silence.
Not a single word came from the other end of the line.
The longer the silence stretched, the harder Samantha’s heart sank.
The color slowly drained from her face.
Finally, Ryan spoke.
"What happened with the Taylor family isn’t something that’ll blow over overnight. You’ve made powerful enemies. Stay out of the spotlight for a while. Keep a low profile."
He hadn’t answered her question.
Not yes.
Not no.
The omission left Samantha feeling as though the floor had disappeared beneath her feet.
Still...
She couldn’t deny he was right.
The confrontation at the gala had turned into a public disaster. If she pushed him into announcing an engagement now, the Taylors would only become more determined to retaliate. Worse, they might decide the Knight family had chosen her over them.
If the truth about that night ever surfaced...
The Knight family would never accept her.
No.
She had to wait.
She had to let the outrage die down before taking another step.
As the panic eased, Samantha slowly convinced herself Ryan wasn’t rejecting her.
He was protecting her.
Protecting both of them.
"You’ve thought this through," she murmured. "I understand."
"Get some rest."
Without another word, Ryan ended the call.
Samantha lowered the phone and collapsed onto the couch.
Even though he hadn’t outright refused to marry her, an uneasy feeling refused to leave.
Daisy had overheard enough of the conversation to piece everything together.
"He’s right," she said, sitting beside her. "Lay low for a while. The Taylors won’t stay angry forever. Once things cool off, you’ll have room to make your next move."
She squeezed Samantha’s hand.
"Ryan isn’t turning you down. He’s looking out for you."
Samantha bit her lower lip until it nearly hurt.
Eventually, she nodded.
There wasn’t another choice.
*****
Rose didn’t spend another moment worrying about Samantha or the Taylor family.
None of it was her concern.
Over the following week, she checked in regularly on Grace’s recovery.
At eighty-two, emotional stress could be almost as dangerous as a medical emergency, and Rose wanted to make sure the older woman remained stable.
Fortunately, Grace had spent decades as a physician herself.
Between her personal doctors and around-the-clock nursing staff, she was in excellent hands.
After several reassuring visits, Rose finally stopped worrying.
Most of her attention returned to the final approval process for the G.S surgical robot.
The FDA paperwork was moving forward, investor demonstrations had gone well, and only a handful of legal documents remained before commercial production could begin.
Whenever she had a free afternoon, she drove north to the assisted-living community where her grandfather lived.
The staff adored Gabriel Bennett.
He had become everyone’s favorite resident.
As soon as Rose stepped into his apartment, he smiled warmly.
"Where’s Ryan?"
Rose laughed softly.
"Working."
Gabriel nodded as though that explained everything.
"That boy always works too hard."
He shuffled over to a cabinet and proudly began pulling out expensive tea tins, imported vitamins, and gourmet gift baskets.
"Look at all this. Ryan keeps sending these over. Says they’re good for my health."
Rose quietly watched him unpack one package after another.
She knew exactly where they had come from.
She ordered them herself through online delivery services whenever she was too busy to visit.
Somehow, her grandfather had convinced himself Ryan was the thoughtful one.
She didn’t have the heart to correct him.
A few days later, work sent Rose to the Hamptons for meetings with a medical manufacturing partner.
By the time she returned to Manhattan, only the final contracts remained to be signed at Sky High Technologies.
Just before entering the building, her phone buzzed.
A text from Grace.
Grace: [Sweetheart, when are you free? I’d love to visit your family’s antique gallery sometime this week. Would you mind showing me around?]
Rose immediately thought of something Ryan had mentioned.
He had an incredible memory.
If he’d once seen an authentic Old Mr. Taylor painting hanging inside the Bennett Gallery, there was every chance it was still there.
She replied immediately.
Rose: [Anytime. Just tell me what day works best for you.]
She slipped her phone into her purse and headed toward the revolving doors.
At that moment, a black SUV pulled to the curb.
Samantha stepped out.
Rose almost didn’t recognize her.
The past few weeks had taken their toll.
Even designer makeup couldn’t hide the dark circles beneath her eyes or the exhaustion etched across her face.
The instant Samantha noticed Rose, her expression turned icy.
Rose simply let out a quiet, amused breath.
She’d created her own problems.
No one else.
Without slowing down, Rose walked straight into the lobby.
That tiny hint of amusement was enough to make Samantha’s stomach twist.
She’s laughing at me.
She has to be.
Ever since the scandal exploded, Samantha had barely left her penthouse.
She’d skipped charity galas, fashion events, and every social gathering where she might run into members of the Taylor family.
If anyone exposed her publicly now, whatever remained of her reputation would disappear overnight.
Today’s Sky High’s shareholder meeting, however, couldn’t be avoided.
The board was voting on a major restructuring plan.
Every shareholder had been instructed to attend in person or submit a proxy vote beforehand.
Missing the meeting without authorization meant automatically accepting whatever resolution passed.
Although Samantha understood very little about corporate governance, she still wanted to make an appearance.
Mostly...
She needed to feel like life was returning to normal.
She walked through the marble lobby.
Before she’d gone more than twenty feet, a violent wave of nausea rolled through her.
Her face turned white.
Covering her mouth, she hurried toward the nearest women’s restroom.
She barely reached a sink before vomiting.
Again.
And again.
By the time it stopped, only bitter stomach acid remained.
Cold sweat soaked the back of her blouse.
She stared at herself in the mirror.
Her reflection looked even paler than before.
For several days she’d been waking up nauseated.
The earlier episodes had been mild enough to ignore.
This...
This was different.
A terrible realization struck her.
Could she actually be...
Pregnant?
The sensation wasn’t unfamiliar.
Her hands immediately began trembling.
She grabbed her phone and called Daisy.
"I think..." Samantha whispered. "I think I might be pregnant."
Instead of panicking, Daisy sounded excited.
"That’s actually good news."
"What?"
"If you’re pregnant—even if the baby isn’t Ryan’s—you finally have leverage."
Samantha froze.
Slowly...
She understood.
"You and Ryan haven’t gotten married yet," Daisy continued. "But once he believes you’re carrying his child, he’ll have every reason to make the wedding happen."
Her voice grew more animated with every sentence.
"The Knight family has always wanted the next generation secured. This couldn’t have come at a better time."
Even using the pregnancy to pressure Ryan into marriage suddenly seemed realistic.
For the first time in weeks...
She had a real bargaining chip.
"But..." Samantha whispered.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
"If I’m pregnant... the baby isn’t Ryan’s."
It was Ethan’s.
If everything hadn’t gone wrong that night...
None of this would be happening.
"It doesn’t matter," Daisy replied without hesitation.
"Pregnancies last nine months. That’s plenty of time to control the narrative."
Her tone became colder.
"The important thing is becoming Mrs. Knight first."
"Once you’re legally part of the family, everything else can be handled later."
Samantha tightened her grip around the phone.
The uncertainty slowly disappeared from her eyes.
The Hill family’s finances were already collapsing.
Crisis after crisis kept piling up.
She couldn’t afford to wait anymore.
"I understand."
She inhaled deeply.
"I’ll go buy a pregnancy test right now. If it’s positive... I’m going straight to Ryan."
After ending the call, Samantha didn’t even bother going upstairs for the shareholder meeting.
Board votes.
Quarterly reports.
Corporate strategy.
None of it mattered anymore.
There was only one thing left she needed to accomplish.
She was going to make Ryan Knight marry her.