Hello, sorry for the wait! I started working this week and I was beat, only time I had was Friday evening. Well it's after midnight now, but here is the chapter.
Some of you said last chapter was frustrating...I get it. Everything will start coming out slowly but surely.
I don't want to rush it and mess it up, so please bare with me. This year I will be teaching an elective course for 9 groups at my school and that's not an easy task, as I'll be teaching grades K to 8th.
Chapter pics up a few hours after last chapter's events.
Thank you so much for the support!
Double Deceit
Chapter 23
Discoveries and Confirmation
Bella's POV:
The air in the living room hung heavy, thick with the silence of a storm brewing. My heart pounded a frantic rhythm against my ribs, every beat a tiny hammer striking the fragile surface of my composure. The file lay open on the coffee table, its contents a stark and brutal betrayal.
Jacob's late nights, his cryptic phone calls, and the multiple business trips all pointed to a secret he was desperately trying to keep.
The file held the cold, hard truth. Receipts, emails, bank statements - all laid bare Jacob's infidelity and his deceitful financial dealings. Each document was a fresh wound, ripping open the fabric of what I thought was a perfect shared life, exposing the rot beneath. Whatever I felt for him vanished, even the guilt that almost consumed me when I didn't know who I wanted to be with at the hospital. That feeling was gone. How could I feel this way after all I've seen?
Mrs. Biers, was the only person I could turn to, the one I knew wouldn't judge, wouldn't dismiss my concerns. "Bella, Tesoro what 's wrong?"
"Mrs. Biers," I began, my throat parched, "I... I need to tell you something. It's about Jacob." My voice shook as I spoke, each word a painful confession.
She was quiet, her voice a comforting calm amidst the turmoil swirling in my head. "Bella, dear, what is it?"
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. "I found something, a file... it… it's about Jacob, about his affairs and his... his financial statements."
"Affairs and financial dealings?" She sounded relieved.
"Yes," I whispered, my hand trembling as I flipped through the file. "There are receipts for… for hotels, gifts. And… and there are invoices for… for money he's been skimming from the company. It's a lot, I haven't seen all of it, I'm both disgusted and afraid to find out the rest."
"Oh, Bella," Mrs. Biers finally said, her voice heavy with sadness. "I had a feeling, you know. That Mr. Black was up to no good after everything you told me, but… but I never thought it would be this bad."
The truth was so much uglier than I could have ever imagined. The man I had loved, the man I had built a life with, was nothing more than a shell of the person I had thought him to be.
"I… I don't know what to do, Mrs. Biers," I finally said, my voice a mere rasp.
"I'm sorry, Bella," she said, her voice filled with a familiar maternal warmth. "This isn't easy. It's heartbreaking, I know, but you must be strong. You deserve better than this."
"I… I want to leave him," I choked out, the words heavy with a mixture of fear and liberation.
"Leave him," she echoed, her voice firm, offering an unspoken reassurance. "You will be fine, Bella. You are strong, you are smart. You will get through this."
The file lay open on the coffee table, a tangible reminder of the pain, the anger, the betrayal that had torn through my life. I knew I had to make a choice, a choice that was terrifying yet liberating. I had to choose myself, my happiness, my future. I had to leave Jacob. I was going to leave Jacob.
As I stood there, surrounded by the wreckage of my marriage, I felt a strange sense of calm settle over me. I had Mrs. Biers, her unwavering support as a beacon in the darkness. I had Edward, the man who loved me more than I deserved. The man who showed me what I had been missing. The man that made me find the real me. And I also had myself, the strength, the courage to rebuild my life, to find myself again.
The future was uncertain, but for the first time in a long time, I felt a flicker of hope, a promise of a brighter tomorrow. I would leave Jacob, not because of the pain, but because I deserved better, because I was worth it.
Edward's POV:
Everything was dark, I could hear beeping sounds. I tried to open my eyes but I couldn't.
My abdomen hurt. It hurt more than before. I tried to move but I couldn't.
My mind swirled…They're not yours…They're not yours
They're not yours…They're not yours…They're not yours…They're not yours
The white ceiling swam into focus, a blurry canvas against the throbbing in my head. A wave of nausea washed over me, and my hand instinctively went to my abdomen.
"Edward, you're awake!" A voice, sweet and melodic, sliced through the fog. Bella's face, etched with worry and relief, filled my vision. Her eyes, usually sparkling with joy, held a flicker of something else – fear maybe? There she was, perched on the edge of the hospital bed, her face a mixture of concern and relief, her honey eyes shining with unshed tears.
A wave of confusion hit me. Leah…Her accident…the twins… I wanted to ask, but the words wouldn't come.
"Mrs. Biers is here, too," Bella said, and I saw her in the corner, her face creased with concern. Mrs. Biers has been a silent, comforting presence in my life for almost twenty years. Now, she was Bella's, a gentle hand in a world that had become chaotic after I met and fell for Bella.
"Edward, you're going to be okay," she said, her voice soothing. "The surgery went well."
"Surgery?" I managed to say
"You had an intestinal obstruction, but now you're going to be fine. The doctor said everything went well, you will heal," I nodded weakly.
"How long was I out?" I asked, my voice stronger now.
"Just a few hours," Bella said, "But it felt like a lifetime."
She squeezed my hand, her fingers warm and reassuring. "You're going to be just fine," she repeated, her voice filled with certainty.
And at that moment, I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe she was right. I wanted to believe that everything would be okay.
But then came the memory, a cruel and lacerating echo of what had happened before the blurry world of the operating room swallowed me.
Leah.
"Leah," I said, the word scraping against my throat.
"Edward, please," Bella pleaded, her voice tight. "Let's not talk about Leah now. You need to rest."
I wanted to ask, to demand answers, but my exhaustion was stealing my voice, my strength. A wave of nausea hit me again, and I closed my eyes, trying to push the thoughts away. The image of Leah, her face contorted with anger, her voice venomous, kept flashing before me.
They're not yours…They're not yours…They're not yours…They're not yours
"Edward?" Bella asked, her voice softly insistent. "Edward, what's wrong?"
I tried to push the memory back, to focus on Bella, on our daughters, on the life we were building. But the echo of Leah's words continued to resonate, a harsh discord in the symphony of my thoughts.
"Edward, did Leah tell you something?" Mrs. Biers' voice, usually soothing, came from behind Bella.
I opened my eyes, my gaze fixed on her. "What do you mean?"
"You were with her before the surgery," she said, her voice low, but firm. "Did they call you about the accident?" I nodded.
"Do you know she's pregnant?" I nodded again.
"Did anything else happen?" Mrs. Biers asked worried.
My heart ached. "The twins…" I croaked, my throat raw.
Bella squeezed my hand, her touch a comforting anchor. "They're fine. Healthy and strong."
I denied with my head as the memory of Leah's words came crashing down. "James, Ephraim?" my voice rasped, barely a whisper. "They're not…"
"Darling?" Bella's voice was laced with concern, but I couldn't focus. My vision blurred, the room spinning around me.
"The twins," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "Leah… she said…"
"Edward, what are you talking about?" Bella's hand tightened around mine.
Leah had been adamant. Her voice, sharp and cold, echoed in my mind: "Edward, they're not yours."
My mind raced, trying to make sense of everything.
"She said... she said the twins... they weren't mine," I choked out.
The room seemed to tilt. The sterile white walls closed in on me, suffocating me in their whiteness. I saw the confusion in Bella's eyes, I saw a flicker of something else in Mrs. Biers' eyes, a mixture of sadness and something akin to knowing.
"Renata," I rasped, my voice weak. "Do you know something?"
My question hung in the air, unanswered. The weight of it, of the doubt and the betrayal, pressed down on me. It was a truth that had been buried deep.
"Oh, Edward, I'm sorry." she said looking guilty.
"What do you know, Renata!" I demanded.
"Edward I…"
I knew, deep down, that I needed to find out the truth, to face the reality that had been hiding beneath the surface of our lives. I needed to know if the children I was carrying in my heart, the sons I've raised for the past year, were truly mine.
"Edward, please, you just had surgery" Bella pleaded, her voice choking with emotion.
"Bella..." I whispered, the doubt creeping in like a cold wind. "I... I need to know."
"What do you need to know?" Bella's voice was tight, the fear in her eyes mirroring the growing storm on my own.
"I need to know if... if they're truly mine," I said, the words barely audible.
I needed proof. I needed something, anything, to hold onto. Would Leah lie about this? She seemed pretty convinced when she spat the words at me.
"Bella, Leah is not lying," Renata said.
"You saw the file, you showed it to me, I read the whole thing. It wasn't hard for me to piece it all together," Renata said as she rummaged through her purse.
"What are you talking about? What file?" I asked.
"The one where I discovered my husband had been cheating on me amongst other things,"
"Was he cheating before we got together?" I asked.
"I don't know,"
Renata finally found what she was looking for, she gave an envelope to Bella.
"This will clear your doubts," she said, her tone grim.
My heart raced as Bella opened the envelope, removed the paper inside, and read its content.
Bella's POVIn the file, I'd seen a few pictures of Jacob with a few women, Mrs. Kebi being one of them. The snide comments she said that night made sense now. Those few pictures made the contract void, completely null. I needed to talk with Angela because she said there was more.
I held the paternity test in my hand, the paper crinkling between my fingers as I reread the results for the tenth time.
"What does it say?" Edward demanded.
The words were stark, black against white, impossible to ignore: "Jacob Black, biological father."
My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage of disbelief. James and Ephraim, Leah's sons, weren't Edward's. They were Jacob's.
His betrayal, the harsh truth of it, clawed at my throat, leaving me gasping for air. I had never suspected. Now I understood why Renata acted the way she did when she saw the picture of Jacob as a baby. She saw the resemblance immediately. For how long has she known?
Edward was in the bed next to me, his face pale and gaunt, his eyes red-rimmed and swollen. He hadn't spoken a word since I'd shown him the test. He just stared at the wall, his expression a mask of pain and shock.
"Edward," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I...I don't know how to explain."
His gaze flickered towards me, he didn't speak, but the look in his eyes was enough to tell me everything. He knew, was in shock.
I reached for his hand, my fingers brushing against the clammy skin. "Edward, please...you have to believe me. I had no idea." He was hurting, just as I was. I didn't love Jacob anymore, but that didn't mean that all of this hurt any less. Until Last September, Jacob had been the center of my world, but now that world doesn't exist. it was all crumbled to dust, shattered by the weight of his betrayal. I had felt guilty after I slept with Edward the first time, but he had been living a double life for who knows how long.
The words were a cruel twist of the knife, reminding me of the promises we had made, the love we had sworn would last forever. And now, the room seemed to shrink around us, the air becoming thick and oppressive. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. My mind swam with a chaotic mix of emotions: shock, anger, betrayal, fear. Fear for Edward, fear for myself.
The nurse entered the room, her smile faltering as she saw Edward's state. He was distraught, his face contorted in anger, his voice rising in a guttural scream.
"Get out! Get out of here!"
I stood up, my legs shaky, and tried to calm him down. "Edward, please, calm down..."
He shook his head, his eyes wild and frantic. "No! This can't be true, she couldn't have done this to me! She couldn't have played with me like that. I know we had problems but…Five years Bella, we were married for five years!" He cried.
"IT WAS ALL A LIE!"
The nurse rushed to hold him down, but he was too strong, too enraged.
"Edward, please, calm down. This isn't good for you, love" I cried, my heart breaking at the sight of the man I loved, my soulmate, now spiraling into madness.
The air in the room was electric, charged with tension and fear. The nurse finally managed to calm him down, injecting him with a sedative that sent him into a deep sleep. As he drifted off, I watched him, my heart aching for what he had lost.
I couldn't believe this was happening. Jacob, my so-called husband, the man I trusted with my life, had taken everything from me. And now, Edward, the man I loved more than anything in the world, was breaking down before my eyes, consumed by the pain of his betrayal.
Two weeks later:
Mrs. Biers stood beside me, we were clearing out his drawers.
"This is...odd," I said, holding up a small box.
Mrs. Biers peered at the box, her brow furrowing. "What is it, dear?"
"It's...I don't know, a box…looks like a medication," I said.
Mrs. Biers took the box from me, and as she inspected it, her eyes widened.
"What?" I pressed.
"But how..." she said, turning back to me. "For how long…" she paused unsure.
"How long have you been trying to get pregnant?" Mrs. Biers asked, her voice barely a murmur.
I stared at her, bewildered. "What do you mean? Why do you ask?"
She looked at me, "For how long have you been trying to get pregnant, Bella?"
What was Jacob hiding? Thought's on how Edward reacted? It's definitive Bella will leave Jacob, question is...Will he let her go willingly or will the Blacks put up a fight?