Extremely taken aback, Charles's eyes darted towards Isabella whose arms were crossed, a little frown on her forehead. He wasn't ready to wonder what she could be thinking or feeling after the crazy bomb Daphne just dropped.
So, while trying his best to stay calm, Charles swiftly faced the pregnant woman and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Daphne gave a little chuckle which always sounded somewhat evil whenever Charles heard it. Slowly, she got up and their eyes levelled. "What?" She looked oddly amused. "Are you going to deny sleeping with me?"
Charles almost grabbed his hair in anguish. Still attempting to stay still and refusing to acknowledge the fact that things could go terribly wrong from that moment onward, Charles began to ask questions.
He wondered what sort of ill fate he had to be in such a situation.
Daphne was just a fling and that was all she ever was. After a week of having her around, he broke all ties with her and she had no issues with it.
But it seemed things were not as settled as he thought.
"Daphne..." Charles fixed his signature hard gaze on the woman, a part of him hoping that she would break down in tears and confess that she was lying. Charles maintained that look for a few seconds before asking, "Are you certain this baby is mine?"
She scoffed. "Are you accusing me of sleeping around while I was with you?"
"You were with me for a week, Daphne. So..."
"So, I have made the wrong calculations?" Her eyes narrowed and she took a few steps forward. Her motion almost caused their skins to touch but Charles quickly walked backward, his being still finding it hard to face Isabella.
"You might have. Who knows?" His brows jerked as his words suggested many things. "And maybe you have chosen me to be the father of this child for certain reasons. And I can not help but wonder what those reasons could be."
"Are you calling me a gold digger?"
"You and I know that I don't indulge in name-calling. Listen to me, Daphne..." Charles's shoulder briefly brushed Isabella's as he shifted a bit. "I am very certain there is something fishy here. And there is one way to find out whatever thing it is you are hiding." A suspenseful pause followed his last word, his glare intensified as seconds flew, and his growing anger refused to be tucked aside. "We are going to conduct a DNA test."
"What?" Daphne chuckled again, her forehead wearing a crease Charles interpreted to be a sign of worry. "You can't conduct one while I am still pregnant."
"I think we can. But fine. Let's have one done after the child is delivered."
"What will happen to me till then? Uh?" Her confidence threatened his soul as well as his recently renewed relationship. Daphne sounded so sure that the child was his.
Charles who was fighting hard to avoid giving in to the crumbling in his heart started to wonder what he would do should everything be true.
"Are you going to toss me aside till you are ready for the test?" Daphne's question cut through his thoughts "No, Charles. I won't let you treat me that way."
The defiant tone she had in her voice got on Charles's nerves.
"Excuse you?"
"I am here because I want to live with you!" Charles's eyes grew a slight bulge in reaction to her screamed utterance. "As the mother of your child, I deserve to be with you. If I will be carrying your child, I should at least live properly. I can't raise this child in the environment I presently live in."
"Do you realise what you are saying, Daphne? Uh?" His voice was now carrying that pressing tone that made his employees dread his other side. "You are asking me to let you stay in the same house I live in with my wife. How is that sane? Does that make sense to you?"
Charles was trying hard to refrain from bellowing at the woman.
He was so close... so close to using deadly means to get rid of her.
"What?" The shrug Daphne gave suited the calm look on her face, and it angered the man even more. "Is she pregnant like I am?" The way she stuck her nose into the air made Charles wish he could throw a quick jab in her direction. But he had to be reasonable. " Is she carrying your child? For all we know, she might even be barren."
"How dare you, Daphne?" His tone became deeper and reeked of menace. "Who do you think you are to speak ill of my wife?" From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Isabella was no longer standing beside him and he felt weak instantly.
"You know what..." He dug into his pocket and took out his phone. After texting some details to the Managing Director of his company, he looked up at her. "I have made arrangements for you to stay at a hotel. Remain there till I say otherwise."
"You can't control me, Charles" she retorted, her eyelids batting furiously.
"What? Aren't you trying to do the same?" Daphne fell quiet. "Stay there till I say otherwise and don't cause any trouble. Is it clear?"
"When do I get to live with you?" Her question stopped the tracks of the man who was already approaching the entrance.
"If this turns out to be some game you have decided to play, trust me, Daphne, I will make you regret ever meeting me." A small sigh left his lips and Charles gently said, "Wait here for the car coming to pick you up."
Then, without a single glance at the woman called Daphne, he left to go meet Isabella.
When Charles entered the modern house, he met Isabella sitting in front of the large glass that gave a view of the city ahead.
After he settled beside her, Charles wondered what to say. He couldn't, for the love of his life, find a single word to say. But he knew he had so much to tell her. So much...
Isabella didn't give him a chance to find those words of his as she asked, "It is funny, isn't it?"
Her voice was so calm it almost frightened him.
"What is?" he cautiously asked.
"Just barely a few days after your real father asked for a grandchild, Daphne shows up." Her head swung in his direction. The little arch of sadness on her lips made Charles feel terrible. He considered himself responsible for the heart-wrenching expression on his wife's face.
No doubt, he had to do something to fix the issue.
But, Isabella spoke again before Charles could do as he wished.
After a small exhale, she said, "It is very funny.'
"Isabella... Daphne is a past fling. And I am very certain she is lying about the paternity of her child."
"What if she isn't lying?" The periodic wrinkling on the sides of her eyes was enough evidence that she was close to tears. After a deep swallow, some tenderness in her voice, Isabella asked, "What if the child is really yours? Won't you want the child? Your child, Charles... Won't you need to be around him or her? Uh?"
Her questions greatly confused him.
"I..."
"Do you know what pains me the most in this situation?" Isabella gathered her knees to her chest. "It is not the woman who is trying to weasel her way into your life nor is it the child she claims to be yours. I am not even pained by the fact that you are most likely going to keep the child if it is yours."
Charles, with a pitiful look resting on his face and dejected exhales leaving his lips, pulled Isabella closer by snaking his arm around her shoulder. Then, with a strained voice, he said, "Isabella.."
He hated that she was sad. He hated even more that he was the reason she was that way.
One of Isabella's hands fell on his and she caressed his skin as lovingly as she could, her eyes following the little motion she initiated.
"The fact that I won't be able to give you a child..." Isabella looked up at Charles. "That makes me sad."
"What do you mean? What do you mean by not you won't able to give me a child?"
Taking a deep sigh first, Isabella had her eyes darting to the side again before she replied to him. "I should have told you this way earlier. But I was too scared."
"What is it?"
Charles followed the huge gulp that went down her throat with his eyes and he already suspected what she had to say would have something to do with Gabriel.
"I suffered a miscarriage while I was married to Gabriel."
Charles felt like he had been kicked in the guts. "Y… You miscarried? Wait… You were pregnant for that bastard?" he asked and it could not be denied that great fury was ingrained in his voice.
As her head came up again, Isabella's eyes were already filled with tears. She bit into her lower lip to hide its slight tremble and Charles felt a squeeze in his chest.
"No, Charles..." He felt the way her body jerked after she dragged a breath in and out of her lungs. " ... I was pregnant with your child."