Chapter 238: ~ 238
Chapter 238
~Franklin~
The moment I walked into Octavia’s office, I knew something was wrong.
Her shoulders were tense, her jaw tightly set, and her eyes held a deeply disturbed, flared-up look that immediately set off alarm bells in my head. She looked incredibly tired, not just physically, but emotionally drained. That is not good for her or the baby.
"Baby?" I called out softly, stepping further into the room.
Octavia snapped out of her thoughts, turning around quickly. She tried to force a small smile, but the exhaustion bleeding through her expression was impossible to hide. "Franklin, she has just—"
Before she could finish the sentence, before she could dive into whatever toxic drama had completely ruined her peaceful afternoon, I held up a hand. I knew my wife. I did not want her stress level to skyrocket. She was carrying our child; she needed peace.
I respectfully changed the topic, stepping closer and gently taking her bag from her hands.
"You know what? Stop. Don’t say another word about this office. It can wait," I said with a warm, soft smile, my voice dropping into a comforting tone. "I know exactly what will make you happy right now. Put your coat on. We’re leaving."
She looked at me suspiciously but did as she was told. Ten minutes later, we were in the back of the SUV. Instead of giving our driver the directions to our home, I leaned forward and whispered a completely different address.
By the time the car came to a complete stop, Octavia’s eyes widened with pure, excited realization.
"The beach?" she gasped, turning to look at me, the heavy, dark cloud on her face instantly washing away. She looked excited like a kid.
"Yes," I confirmed, laughing softly at her reaction.
We stepped out of the vehicle, the cool, crisp sea breeze hitting us instantly. It was completely dark now. Even though we were both still dressed in our formal work attire, we didn’t care. We kicked off our expensive dress shoes, leaving them by the edge of the grass, and walked barefoot onto the sand.
Octavia let out a long, breathless sigh, her toes digging into the sand as she walked beside me. I could physically see the tiredness leaving her body, her shoulders dropping as she inhaled the salty air.
"This is exactly what I needed," she whispered, reaching out to wrap her fingers tightly through mine. "How did you know?"
"Because I know you," I murmured, pulling her closer into my side.
We walked slowly along the shoreline, and sat down.
"I still think it’s a boy," Octavia said suddenly, a playful, stubborn glint returning to her eyes as she looked up at me. "I’m telling you, Franklin, I can just feel it. He’s going to be just as stubborn as his father."
I chuckled, shaking my head as I pulled her firmly against my chest, my hands resting naturally over her flat stomach. "And I’m telling you, it’s a girl, sweetheart. A beautiful, brilliant little girl who is going to have her mother’s fierce intellect and completely wrap me around her little finger."
"Oh, please. If it’s a girl, you’re going to spoil her completely rotten," she teased, leaning her back against me.
"Absolutely," I admitted without a shred of shame, pressing a soft kiss against the side of her neck. "I can’t wait for us to have our babies, Octavia. To see them running around our home. It’s going to be perfect."
Octavia quieted down for a moment, her fingers gently wrapping over mine where they rested on her stomach. Her tone became a bit more serious, filled with a tender, conversational vulnerability. "Franklin... promise me something."
"Anything."
"Promise me we won’t let the babies make us distant," she murmured, turning around in my arms to look up into my eyes. "I’ve seen so many couples get so consumed by parenthood that they forget how to be partners. They stop looking at each other. I don’t ever want us to lose this."
I reached up, my thumb gently tracing the smooth line of her cheekbone. "Hey. Look at me. That is never going to happen. Our children will be the absolute center of our world, but you are my foundation, Octavia. We built this together. I will love you always. We are a team, always."
A soft, beautiful smile spread across her face, and she leaned up to press a sweet, lingering kiss to my lips. The peace between us was absolute, a perfect sanctuary away from the madness of the world.
But as the kiss ended, the lingering shadow from earlier finally crept back into her eyes. She leaned her forehead against my chest, her voice dropping into a quiet, heavy tone.
"Bella came to my office tonight, Franklin," she said softly.
My body instantly went completely rigid. The warm, peaceful bubble we had just created shattered in a single second. A dark, dangerous wave of protective anger flared up in my chest, my grip tightening around her waist. "What did she do?"
"She tried to get to me," Octavia explained, her voice laced with frustration. "She claimed everything I have belongs to her. But then she said something weird. She said she has a secret so dark and ruinous that it will completely shatter my world. I acted completely unfazed, Franklin. I told her she was nothing but a gold digger who had to fake her own kidnapping just to get your attention. She left, but she looked so wicked. She told me she couldn’t wait to pull her biggest card."
Octavia looked up at me, a flicker of genuine confusion in her eyes. "Franklin, what could it be? What is she hiding?"
Hearing her words, a heavy, suffocating guilt settled into my stomach. My heart hammered violently against my ribs.
I knew exactly what the secret was. Bella was pregnant. She was carrying a child, and she was planning to use that pregnancy as her ultimate nuclear weapon to destroy my marriage, to force her way back into the Flemington family, and to rip Octavia’s peace away from her. Octavia didn’t know yet. I had been keeping it from her, trying to find a way to tell her.
But looking down at my wife’s beautiful, trusting face under the moonlight, I realized I couldn’t keep secrets from her.
If we were a team, if we were going to face this war together, she needed the truth. Whatever fallout came with it, whatever pain or anger it caused, I would stand by her and face it head-on. No more lies. No more hiding in the shadows.
I gripped both of her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes, my voice trembling slightly with the weight of what I was about to confess.
"Octavia, listen to me," I said, my voice thick with emotion. "I need you to listen to me very carefully. There’s something I’ve been trying to handle, but you need to know the truth before she can twist it. Baby, I have something to tell you. I..."
Ring. Ring. Ring.
The sudden, piercing sound of a phone ringing shattered the quiet night air, cutting me off my confession.
Octavia blinked, startled by the noise. She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out her glowing screen. She sighed, looking at the caller ID. "It’s my mom."
I swallowed hard, my heart still racing as I nodded. "Answer it. It’s fine."
Octavia pressed the screen and brought the phone to her ear, her demeanor instantly shifting back into a polite, gentle tone as she greeted her mother. "Hey, Mom. Yeah, Franklin and I are actually out right now... Yes, he’s right here."
"Mom? Mom, slow down, what are you saying?" Octavia asked, her face turning dead pale in a matter of seconds.
There was a brief pause as Patricia spoke again.
"What?!" Octavia suddenly shouted, her voice cracking with a terrifying mixture of shock and panic. Tears instantly welling up at the corners. " We’re coming right away! We’re on our way right now!"
She slammed the phone shut, her entire body trembling so violently that she could barely stand.
I dropped my cane, instantly grabbing her by the arms to keep her from collapsing onto the beach. The confession about Bella’s pregnancy was instantly wiped from my mind, replaced by a cold, gripping dread. I had never seen my wife look this terrified in my entire life.
"Octavia! Octavia, look at me," I demanded, shaking her gently as I tried to pull her back to reality. "What is going on? What did she say?"
Octavia choked back a sob, her hand gripping my shirt so tightly she ripped the fabric, her voice small, broken, and terrified.
"My father... my father is at the hospital," she choked out.
Comments