Richard's POV
Challenge is what I take Arabel's denial as and I am not one to shy away from challenges.
I'm just trying to get an understanding of where she is coming from and what she stands to gain from all of this. Being mad is ok and expected but having to pretend is totally out of it.
I can't deny the fact that I was upset when she denied it again. It thought it was finally time for her to come clean. I was ready to go on my knees and plead with her for forgiveness. I was ready to get yelled at, slapped in the face and hit in the chest.
She didn't do any of that. Instead, she said to my face that she wasn't Arabel but Bella.
Shooting to my feet and grabbing my phone, I move to the window searching for a name. As soon as I see it, I dial the number and place the phone on my right ear, my left hand in my pants pocket.
He picks at the second ring. “Hi, boss.”
“Where are you?” I demand immediately just in time to see Arabel out glancing around, probably to see if her husband is still around.
“Home, boss”, Leo answers. “Do you need me?”
“No”, I mutter sharply. I thought he was within the vicinity. Arabel is about to leave and she mentioned taking the next flight to London today. “See me in my office first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Sure, boss.”
I disconnect the call, my gaze on her. Her phone is glued to her ear. Suddenly, the guy from earlier appears from behind startling her.
She let out a laugh before hitting his chest playfully. Something stirs my heart painfully at the sight before me.
The fact that this should have been me in his shoes hurts the living hell out of me, making me regret everything all over again.
Despite the pain contrasting in my chest, I don't look away. My curiosity won't let me. He let her hit him till she gets tired, and I see her saying some things to him.
His face hardens and they speak for a while before he nods in understanding and opens the car door for her.
What are they saying? Is she talking to him about me? I remember how mad he looked when he saw me earlier too. She must have told him who I was.
But what is she telling him now?
She enters the car laughing at something he is saying before he closes the door and turns over to the other side to slouch into the driver's seat.
Just then, the door behind me opens, making me whirl around sharply to see who the intruder who doesn't have the courtesy to knock is.
My mom stares at me with tears in her eyes.
“Mom?”
“Arabel”, she points to the door. “I saw her, did you see her too?”
My heart beats hard. I didn't plan for them to meet this way. Getting my mother involved is a really bad idea at this stage. Arabel is still denying me and I don't know what mother would do about it.
I want to resolve this myself.
“Richard, did you see her?” She questions again, nudging me immediately, expecting a reply.
With a heavy sigh, I nod. Lying to her would do no good. She will go to any length to make Arabel uncomfortable and she might end up not signing the contract. I do not want that.
“What?!” She exclaims, clamping her hand over her mouth and spinning around. “What is she doing here? I asked her, she said she wasn't Arabel. What happened? Where did you find her? What is she doing here?”
“Mom”, I say and grab her shoulders. “Calm down. Come sit.”
She obliges and I lead her to a chair before sitting on the desk across from her. With anxiety, she watches me, signalling to me to spill the beans.
“It's her,” I say, the doubt from yesterday jumping back into my head, making me shake my head to wave it away. “I'm not sure but she said she isn't.”
“But you think it's her?” Curiosity is written all over her. Even if I do not want Arabel's forgiveness, for the sake of Mother, I would ask her to forgive me no matter the condition she is giving.
Mother was sick after she left. It made me blame myself for months for my rash decision. I didn't want to forgive myself for making my mother that way. I knew how much she loved Arabel yet I pushed her away. Arabel wasn't just my wife to my mother, she was like the daughter she never had.
She adored her. They were best friends. Each other's confidant. Sometimes, I get jealous of their mother-daughter love.
“I had my doubts but now I am certain it is her. She is just denying it because she is mad at me”, I stare, looking down as the memories from four years ago race through my head.
The hurt on her face when I mentioned the divorce papers. The note she left in her room before leaving.
It meant a lot.
“Why?” Mother breaks down. I know she is pained and she might probably push the blame at me once again like she always does. Waiting patiently for the blame, I lean down, not saying a word. “Why is she doing this?”
“I have no idea but I intend to find out. Leo will be here tomorrow and I will have him get every information he can get on her. I guess that would determine our next line of action.”
Mother is shaking her head and I am dreading what she must be thinking. “Should I just go talk to her? Beg her and…”
“No, mom. This is my mess, I will handle it. No matter what, I will get her forgiveness…”
“And get her back”, she interrupts sharply, glaring at me coldly.
“No, I don't think that would be possible.”
She stands up quickly, fury visible in her eyes. “Why?”
“She is married, Mother”, I almost shout so she would know I want Arabel back as much as she does but this is already beyond me. “She even has a child. She is happily married to someone else obviously.”
Silence elapsed.
Her face falls in defeat.
Suddenly, she gazes up. “How do you know she is married?”
I shrug. I don't know how but her silence gave her away the day I asked her if she was married. She only smiled and left. I figured she didn't want me to know a single thing about her private life. What was between us was work and work was it.
“She told you that?” Mother questions impatiently, peering down at me.
I shake my head. “No, mom. She didn't but her silence did.”
“Silence? Did you speak to her? Did you meet? What is she even doing here in the first place?”
“We are partners”, I reveal, earning a gasp from her. “She is the CEO of Eagles Homes and Interiors and she is our new partner.”
“What? Really?” She looks thoughtful for a while before asking. “You said she has a child?”
I nod again, wishing we can change the topic. I trust Leo and he will take care of it the way I want it. When I have enough evidence that she is indeed my ex-wife then I will confront her once again. I'm sure by that time, she will have no more escape route and she will have no choice but to come out clean and reveal the truth about what happened to her four years ago.
“How old is the child? Do you know?” I raise a brow at her wondering why the focus is on the child.
“She said she was three.”
“Three years?”
I nod.
Silence falls again as I stare at her. Then the slow widening of her eyes and how she opens her mouth again with a shout leaving her lips, makes me jerk upright in fright.
“What is it, mom?”
She shakes her head, nods at me and grabs my hands. “She left home four years ago, right? I'm sure she didn't meet a man in just a few days of leaving New York, so that leaves us with one thing. The baby.”
In confusion, I demand. “What happened to the baby?”
“The baby might be yours”, she announced with a wide grin on her face and my heart skips a beat.
She meant the baby is mine? What?
“I'm pretty sure Arabella left home when she was already pregnant. The baby must be yours, Richard”, she replies excitedly.
My brows furrow again and it sinks in fully.
Daisy is my child?
“What the hell?”