After Divorce Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant (Leonica and Gabriel)
All Too Coincidental.

There was a knock on Gabriel's office door, momentarily distracting him from the paperwork on his table.

"Enter," He called. The door was pushed open and Billy, poked his head through the crack.

"Sir, sorry for the interruption, but I've got something urgent for you."

Gabriel glanced at the papers in his hands, before nodding. "Come in."

Billy did just that and shut the door behind him. Walking towards the male's desk, he placed a white envelope on the table.

"A while ago you asked me to look Into the individual whom had been digging into the Romero family's past," He stopped, waiting for his boss's reaction before continuing.

Gabriel, picked the envelope and opened it, pulling out the contents and his brows arched the moment his eyes landed on the picture in his hand.

"Who is he?" He asked, looking up at Billy.

"His name is Jamil Vanadas," Billy explained. "He's the current CEO of Herox Media and owns several branches and subsidiaries in the Middle East of Mexico and further investigation showed that he and Ms. Romero were quite...close in high school." Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Close? As in best friends?"

Hesitantly, Billy shook his head. "Not exactly, but they were more than just friends, they were...well, lovers."

"Lovers?" Gabriel asked calmly, but the look in his eyes was anything but calm.

"Yes. And," The assistant quickly scrambled to change the subject before the air became any more tense. "It is suspected that Mr. Jamil is the mastermind behind the recent events."

"How is that?" Gabriel questioned, finally tearing his eyes off the photo in his hand and looking at Billy.

"Like I said earlier, Herox Media owns many subsidiaries, which includes media, a few of the news articles published recently, were all published under IP addresses linked to the company."

"Hmm," Gabriel hummed as he placed the papers down. "Good job Billy. Please tell me when you have more information."

"Of course sir," The man bowed, but before he could leave the office, Gabriel asked.

"And Doctor Bailey? Have you been keeping an eye on him?"

"Of course, Sir, I've kept an eye on him as you requested."

"Good. Be sure to inform me if he tries to reach across to Leonica."

Billy hesitated in answering. He for one, wasn't a huge fan of keeping tabs on strangers phone calls, but at this point, with Gabriel's recently weirdly developed attitude, it was clear to him that his obedience was the only thing keeping his job intact. One wrong move and he could say goodbye to his cushy job and hello unemployment.

So he simply nodded his head.

"Yes sir."

Even though Leonica had been aware that something of sort was going to happen, she found handling the press's constant interview invites, media's unrelenting probing in her life and everyday watchful eyes, more annoying than she had thought. If anything, she could tell her father was having it the worst, not knowing how much his family and family name would be affected after this whole thing was over.

He had been getting a lot of calls and letters, some from the shareholders of his other businesses, some from the employees, and others from the public.

But not once did he show how affected he was, because his family, his children, were his first priority.

As for Cassandra, the woman was quiet, keeping everything inside while monitoring Irene's every step in the house.

It was safe to say the illegitimate child was walking on eggshells in her very own home. But it wasn't like Leonica cared, she had other things to think of, namely the press conference she was currently getting ready for. "Here madam, this looks great on you."

"Thank you." Leonica gave her the same tight lipped smile as the lady finished the final touches to her hair. The lady had done a good job, she noted as she caught her reflection across the mirror.

Her hair had been combed till it shined and her makeup was just as perfect.

She looked flawless, and that was a plus for the interview she was about to hold.

"Thank you, Anna." Leonica thanked the makeup artists which had been hired by Kennedy, who gave her a gentle smile.

"I should be thanking you, madam. It was an honor to do your makeup."

Leonica returned the smile. "Please, the honor is all mine."

A knock was heard at the door and Kennedy, who was waiting outside the room, entered.

"Ms. Romero, the conference starts in five minutes." He informed.

"Understood, thank you, Kennedy."

He nodded and left the room. Leonica glanced back at the mirror one last time, before pushing her chair back and standing.

"Good luck, madam," Anna offered as Leonica walked towards the door. "You're going to do amazing."

"I know," She replied with a soft smile as she left the room.

As expected, the conference Hall was buzzing with reporters the moment she stepped in.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself, before making her way to the podium.

"Hello everyone, thank you all for coming."

At the sound of her voice, the room became dead silent and everyone's attention was turned towards her.

"I'll keep this short, so I won't waste any of your time." Leonica paused, letting the tension grow, before continuing. "As you may already know, I'm here to speak on the behalf of my family, to clear up as many things as possible concerning the circulating rumors." She looked around the room, making eye contact with as many people as possible.

"The truth is, Irene Rosewood is indeed, the first daughter of the Romero family."

The silence was interrupted by gasps and murmurs, but Leonica paid them no mind. She kept her mind straight, sticking to the script she had taken all night to formulate.

"Irene Rosewood was a child born

out of wedlock, out of my father's previous love affair, but that's not to say that we won't welcome her into our family. In fact, as I speak, she's already settled into our family's home. We're trying our best to make her feel welcomed and comfortable."

A reporter rose his hand. "Doesn't the second madam's presence affect the family in anyway? After all, isn't it hard to accept the sudden appearance of a stranger?" Leonica chuckled and shook her head. "To us, she isn't a stranger. Ever since learning of her existence, I've taken Irene as the Big sister I've always wished to have."

An obvious lie, but of course the press didn't know this and they happily gobbled up her answer, discussing amongst themselves about how Leonica should be the standard for aristocrats.

Less than a few seconds had gone by when another reporter rose her hand. "How is the first madam reacting to the sudden appearance of a love child?"

Leonica didn't even hesitate to respond. "My mother was a little shocked at first, but she too, is warming up to Irene and I'm glad for that."

Another round of murmurs followed and a few more questions were thrown about here and there, all which Leonica had prepared for.

After fifteen minutes of answering questions, Leonica glanced at her watch and realized it was time to wrap up the conference.

"Let's take the last question, please." A female reporter stood up when she said this and it only took her a few seconds to recognize the familiar face. Florence.

"Since the conference began, you

haven't for once explained why Ms. Irene was separated from her father in the first place. Either have you mentioned anything about her birth mother, and so I was wondering what exactly happened? Did Mr. Romero heartlessly turn his back on the family he had irresponsibly began building in a bid to marry Cassandra Romero, the previous heiress of Pandora Holdings, thus abandoning the illegitimate child?"

The moment Florence finished, the room was filled with a deafening silence. Everyone's eyes were glued to Leonica, waiting for her to speak.

But the thing was, she didn't know how to answer that question. Out of everything she had planned for, Florence showing up and asking this, wasn't one of them.

"Ms. Romero," Florence continued, taking the opportunity given by Leonica's lack of response. "Is the Romero family perhaps hiding something? Do you, yourself, have an ulterior motive for being so accepting of your father's illegitimate child?" At the sound of the accusation, Leonica narrowed her eyes. Florence wasn't going to get the best of her today.

"Miss," Leonica called, ignoring the questions and instead, focusing on her. "Why are you so curious about the past? Do you, by chance, have a grudge against the Romero family? Or, are you perhaps trying to impose something?" Now all eyes were on Florence. The female was taken aback, not expecting her questions to be turned back at her, and in her shock, she found herself answering.

"No," She shook her head. "Of course not, I'm just doing my job as a reporter and making sure that Ms. Irene's story gets the justice it deserves."

Leonica's face was blank for a few seconds before it brightened up with a smile. "I appreciate your concern Miss Winslow, but my sister is getting the justice she deserves, so, please respect the Romero family's privacy and know your boundaries." This time, it was Florence who was speechless, and as a result, Leonica took the opportunity to conclude the press conference.

"Everyone, thank you for coming today and I hope to see you at the introduction party this coming Saturday. Goodbye." With that, the lights in the room went off and Leonica was led backstage.

The moment she was out of the public's sight, her face dropped.

"Who let Florence Winslow in here?" She asked Kennedy as he led her towards her car through the hidden exit.

"I'm not sure, madam. The security was tightened, so she must have bribed the guards to let her in."

"I see," Leonica hummed, not liking his response. "Please investigate this and see to it that the guard who accepted the bribe is dealt with. He should know that the Romero's doesn't take kindly to people trying to harm us." Kennedy simply nodded, and without saying another word, he held the door open for her as she stepped out into the parking lot.

However, her steps halted when she spotted a figure leaning against her car.

"Leonica," Jamil stood up straight and offered her a simple wave as soon as he spotted her. "Hi."

Leonica looked anything but pleased as she turned back to glance at Kennedy who quickly bowed in apology. "I'll see to it that the security is changed." Was all he could say.

Turning back, she stared at Jamil, a look of annoyance evident on her face.

"What are you doing here?"

Jamil pulled out a single rose from his pocket at her question. "I came to congratulate you on how well you did on the conference today." He walked closer and tried putting the rose in her hair. "Who would thought that every single thing you said was a Re-"

Leonica harshly slapping the rose away, had his sentence cut shut. "I'd prefer if you'd not try to get close to me."

Jamil frowned, clearly displeased. "You didn't use to be this cold, Leo."

"And you didn't use to be this foolish. The Vanadas I knew, realized when he needed to stop fooling around and right now is right about that time."

Jamil's brows twitched but his lips pulled back into a smile. "You're adamant on rejecting my offer."

Leonica looked at him, her face was cold and her eyes were emotionless. "I told you Vanadas, I'd much rather get screwed by a dog than give you a second chance. So fuck off."

Jamil was quiet for a while, his gaze on her was intense, and for a split second, it was as if his eyes had changed, becoming dark and full of hate, but it was gone just as fast, making her doubt whether she had seen it or not. "Alright," He finally spoke, his voice calm as he took a few steps back. "I'll tune it down a notch for now. But the next time you see me, it's you who'd beg me to take you."

"That'll never happen," Leonica responded, her words were like a dagger that pierced through Jamil's pride.

"We'll see about that." With those final words, Jamil turned and walked away.

When he was gone, Leonica allowed her gaze to drift to the rose on the floor, with one thought lingering in her mind;

It was all too coincidental.

Florence appearing at the conference, Jamil, waiting for her after the conference.

It was as if everything was happening according to a plan.