Blackmailing His Runaway Bride by Dance-is-me (carter reed .txt) 📗

Fifty Four

 

“What?” Charles's exclamation wasn't loud yet it rang in Isabella's ears. 

Isabella never saw herself telling Charles that part of her past so soon.

 In fact, if she had a way, she would have made sure that he never found out. 

But then… Since they had come that far, she just had to tell him that he was once a father.

Rather, to put it better, she had to inform him that he would have been a father if not for the sorry situation she was in.

“You were carrying my child?” Slight anger wrapped Charles's voice when he asked that question. It seemed he wanted to be certain that he hadn't heard wrong. Isabella gave a short nod and his brows would not stop jerking with further confusion. “So, what happened? Wait a minute…”

His head tilted to the side, and his fingers danced in the air in eccentric circles as he reasoned something. “Isabella?” he called, his eyes trained on the view outside the huge window.

“Yes, Charles?” Isabella wasn’t surprised that tears were already falling from her eyes. She took a second to wipe her face before looking in his direction again.

“What you are trying to tell me is that you were aware you had my child inside you, yet you agreed to marry a stranger. With my child inside you?” Isabella could tell he was trying not to raise his voice.

“Charles," she bit into her lip to avoid breaking down into more sobs, " I found out after I got married to him. When I found out, I was confused and I honestly thought of running back to you because staying with Gabriel wasn’t so amazing. But Gabriel found out about the pregnancy. He got angry. I got angry. And in the process, he…”

Isabella's voice suffered a loud hitch and her gesticulating hands took a rest. After letting go of a deep breath that made her soul shiver, she faced Charles. 

The growing sternness in Charles's eyes lessened instantly and he shifted closer. “What did he do to you? He... he is the reason you miscarried right? What did that man do to our child?” 

Isabella’s chin bloated for a second and her tears came back. The pain she felt back then came back and began to tug her chest. As she gave in to her silent cry, Isabella wondered if she would ever forget everything that happened during her marriage to Gabriel.

 Would her willingness to strive to live in the present keep getting molested by her terrible past?

A little sniffle brought Isabella back into reality and she faced Charles who wore pure concern on his face. And, she continued what she was saying. “He… he punched me…” She gulped hard and released a painful gasp after. “He punched me right here.” 

Isabella began to give her stomach small slaps, her head shaking with great dejection because she felt more sorry for herself. 

“Wh-what?” Charles was showing a kind of fear Isabella had never seen before. His breaths became more ragged as his shivering right hand landed on her stomach. “R- Right here?” 

She nodded. “After that, he called me names and he didn’t stop dragging me on the floor. All I know is, I got treated at the hospital, and I went straight to my father. After a safe night with him, do you know what my father did?” A bitter chuckle came from the woman. 

“He drove me back to Gabriel’s place while I was sound asleep. When I called him a few days later to tell him that my doctor had told me I would have difficulties when it comes to conceiving, my father told me there was no way I could leave.

He said Gabriel will always find me even if I run miles away and that strangely scared me. And I found it hard to think of running away.

But you came along...” She wore a smile and faced Charles. When she saw his face, Isabella almost started another bout of tears. Her hands came to his face and her thumbs did the job of wiping off the tears streaming down his sorrowful face.

“Don’t cry, Charles.” Isabella managed to smile as she said those words. “Crying doesn’t fit you.”

“It doesn’t fit you either.” 

Isabella's lips broke into a grin, her hands still not ceasing to wipe his soft face. 

“I love you, Charles,” she blurted. And, she meant it.

The warmth his large hand brought to her stomach was retracted but that hand soon cupped Isabella's face. And she felt more at peace and assured. As their locked gazes intensified, Charles asked, “Why did you have to suffer so much?”

“Hmm.” She looked thoughtful. “Maybe it is my punishment for being stupid enough to marry a stranger because my father said so.” Charles began to draw lines on her skin with one of his long fingers. “I sometimes wonder why I didn’t think of running away after my father dropped the marriage bomb.” 

“Did you even think of me at all?”

Isabella’s eyes fell to the ground as she replied, “After I got married to Gabriel, I tried hard not to think about you. But I did anyway. And I felt so guilty.”

“You didn’t seem like you felt guilty when we met again. You were majorly stubborn.” The ache in his voice was still there but the jovial tone he added to it made Isabella less worried about him. She didn't want him to plunge into the depths of sorrow for too long because of her.

“I was actually a bit frightened,” Isabella replied, her eyes closing as she relished the feel of his finger over her skin.

“Of me?” Charles looked absolutely amused. 

“No. I was frightened because something within me was aware that I was still in love with you.”

“You could have greeted me with that instead. Do you know how red you were after I kissed you? You could have beat me up if you had the chance,” Charles said, his words now teasing her.

Isabella pulled her hands away and gave him a small beating on his chest causing him to chuckle. “You don’t have to say it that way. I wasn’t angry. I was surprised.”

“I guess I am the master of surprises.” 

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