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

Forty Eight

Charles interrupted her thoughts as he tried to push a fork carrying a piece of caramel-drizzled pancake into her mouth. 

Giving him a small smile, she opened her mouth and munched on the delicious food but her mind could not stop pondering. 

Never could she have thought that Uncle Ben was the person responsible for the terrible fate she faced. 

"Charles?" Isabella called as she faced her husband who was focused on dishing another plate. 

"Yeah?"

"I need to know everything." A hard gaze rested in her eyes. That look silently urged Charles not to dissuade her from knowing the entire truth. "I want to know all that you know."

"What do you plan to do when you know everything?" He gently set the plate in front of her, his eyes watching her as calmly as they could. 

"I don't know. I just want to know."

"I guess you should know." A sharp exhale followed. "I didn't intend to tell you at first, but what good will keeping things from you be?" Reaching for her hand, Charles softly said, "There is something I want to say before I tell you anything." Eyes wandering her face, his hands soon came to her face and he held her lovingly, his body seemingly moving closer to hers. "It will hurt to hear the truth, but you should know about it now when you still getting used to this new life. So, when you finally hear the whole detail, promise me you won't let it affect you that much. I don't want you to go back to being a gloomy person."

Isabella bit into her lower lip as she returned his caressing gaze. As her hands came up to rest on his, she eagerly said, "Charles, I will be fine. Just tell me already."

He gave a curt nod and got up from the floor, Isabella's eyes following him as he walked to a drawer at the far end of the room and brought out a small file. 

"So, some days ago, before we left, Augustus messaged me about some discoveries he had just made." Charles sat back beside her on the bare floor. The file on his lap, his eyes met hers again as he said, "He had the opportunity to go over the finances of your company from the time your father started having issues. Caleb also helped with this investigation. A lot of irregularities were observed in the records right from about twenty years ago."

The file in his hand made rustling noises when he brought out some papers.

 Taking a brief look at the front page of the clipped papers, Charles continued, "To cover up the irregularities, a loan was obtained from Manifold. Now..." He handed her the papers. "...the loan recorded was not so much of a huge amount. But off record, the loan was a really big one which could only be paid feasibly within fifteen years based on how functional the hotel was."

"This loan is the reason my father needed me to get married, isn't it?" Isabella noted the figures of the off-record loan and she had to just shake her head while she wondered what sort of thing her father needed the enormous amount for. 

Charles drew some air in between his teeth. "Yes and no."

"Uh?" 

"Ben Idoh comes in at the loan part." Nodding at the papers in her hands, Charles said, "The off-record loan was taken by Ben Idoh. After your father got a loan with no interest from Manifold, Ben went behind him and took a bigger one that had an interest. He took it in your father's name."

"What? Why would he...?" Wearing a confused look, Isabella took one more look at the paper.

 What on earth did Uncle Ben need such a large sum of money for?

 And why did she have to get married to some jerk because of it?

"Now, coming to you." Charles made to answer the question on her mind. "Years after the hidden loan was received, Ben was unable to pay it back and as you know, the interest was in effect. When he approached Manifold again to explain his situation, Manifold mentioned his willingness to forgo the loan owed if you get married to his son."

Isabella's entire system felt like it could crash.

"When Ben finally told your father about the loan and the condition attached, your father initially refused."

Her eyes narrowed instantly as curiosity ran through her veins.

Hastily, she said, "Why did he do it then? When my father approached me about the issue, he looked so distraught. I felt really sad for him because I thought he had gone through a lot. So, why would he listen to Uncle Ben and have me married off so easily?"

"Hey," Charles gently called as he reached for her arms and tenderly rubbed through them, hugging her into his chest after. With his chin gently resting on her head, he continued, "Ben had some dirt on your father. He knew your father wouldn't want you to know about it. So, Ben Idoh made your father accept the idea and he gave you to Manifold's son.

"Dirt?" Isabella recalled something Gabriel blurted out about her father after one of the court hearings they had.

Was the big dirt linked to her father being a cocaine user? Was that what Ben Idoh used to lure her and her father into such a murderous deal?

"Isabella..." 

She looked up at the man who just called her name with a kind of strain.

The drag in his voice made Isabella suspect that the dirt was not what she thought it was.

 "Charles... What is it?" she questioned eagerly as she pulled away from his embrace.  

Taking the file again, Charles brought out some pictures. "This is why your father could not argue with Idoh's wants," said Charles as he placed the pictures in her hands.

"Wh-what...?" The incoming question Isabella had faded before it had a chance to be uttered. Her head seemed to fly as she scanned through the photos one after the other, each one causing her heart to grow heavy with pain.

"Bella..." Charles hugged her immediately, his action stopping her from taking a further look at the images. "Your father used to get sexual services from underage girls."

‍​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‍