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Double Deceit
Chapter 21
Unraveling
Bella:
Wednesday, February 17th, 2024.
As the clock ticked down to the trimestral board meeting of STI (Swan Technologies Inc.), the atmosphere in the meeting room crackled with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. My parents and The Blacks chatted amicably, their voices a quiet hum against the sleek, corporate backdrop.
I arrived punctually, as I took my seat to the left by the head of the table, I couldn't help but notice Jacob's absence. He was scheduled to present his report on the company's financial performance, a crucial agenda item. Where was he?
A ripple of commotion ran through the room as Angela, head company lawyer and close friend, called the meeting to order. "Good morning, everyone," she began, her voice crisp and professional. "Please open the files on the desks in front of you."
As the leather-bound folders were opened, a collective gasp filled the air.
In that instant, my heart sank. A cold dread settled in my stomach. My gaze fell to the empty chair beside me, where Jacob should have been.
"What the hell is this?!" Sarah exclaimed.
Just then, my phone rang, shattering the silence that followed her question. It was an unknown number, but I answered anyway.
"Mrs. Black?"
"Yes, this is she,"
"We are calling from Seattle Memorial Hospital, in regards to your husband Mr. Jacob Black."
The air in the boardroom felt thick with tension. Sarah clutched the file in her hands, its edges digging into her palms. My stomach churned with a knot of nausea. I didn't understand what was happening. The room now felt suffocating, the air heavy.
Angela stood beside me, her face etched with concern. She'd just finished the call I'd received, her voice laced with a subtle tremor. "It's the hospital," she said, her gaze finding my eyes. "They said there was an accident…"
My world seemed to spin. The file slipped from Sarah's grasp, landing on the polished mahogany table with a dull thud. It was a sound that echoed the thud in my chest, the sudden, chilling realization that something was terribly wrong.
"What… what does that mean?" I choked out, the words catching in my throat. The room seemed to shrink, the walls closing in on me.
Sarah picked up the file, her trembling fingers tracing the edge of a photograph. It was Jacob, his face lit with a smile as he stood beside a woman I didn't see clearly, my vision blurred. The photo was old, but the unmistakable familiar glint in Jacob's eyes stabbed me with a pain that was both physical and emotional.
"What the hell is this?" Sarah said again, her voice laced with anger. I looked at her, my mind struggling to grasp the gravity of the situation.
Angela leaned forward, her face a mask of sympathy. "We discovered some... discrepancies in Jacob's financial records and some other things. It seems he's been… leading a double life."
The world tilted on its axis, the floor becoming unsteady beneath my feet. My breath came in ragged gasps, a cold dread creeping up my spine.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, my voice cracking. I felt a sudden surge of panic, my body trembling uncontrollably. The file, now lying open on the table, became a grotesque spectacle. Bank statements, email printouts, and a plethora of receipts, all pointed to a life Jacob had meticulously hidden from me.
My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat echoing the chaos in my mind.
"Who put this file together?" Mom asked. I was barely listening.
"I'm so sorry, everyone, I put it together," Angela apologized.
I pushed back against the leather chair, the image of Jacob's smiling face from the photograph burned into my memory. My fingers flew to my stomach, my twins, I needed to regulate my breathing.
"Bella, please calm down," Angela said, her voice soothing.
Angela took my wrist, "she's hyperventilating!"
"Bella, darling, you need to calm down. Think of the babies, breathe in, breathe out." Mom suggested as she circled my back soothingly, Angela handed me a bottle of water. I took a few sips and tried to control my breathing but it wasn't working.
As Angela helped me to my feet, tears streamed down my face. My body shook with an overwhelming feeling of betrayal and helplessness. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, a tightening ache that spread like wildfire through my body.
"Mom, I don't feel too good. I feel like that day after the airport, my pressure…my heart is beating really fast," I managed to get out.
"We need to go to the hospital now, all this shit in the file can wait. Bella, you are more important," Dad said as he led me out of the room.
"And Jacob, we have to see what happened with Jacob!" Sarah added.
The hospital was a blur, doctors and nurses moved about, their faces grim, their hushed whispers echoing in the air. They told us Jacob was the victim of a terrible accident. An accident, they said, but the word tasted like ash on my tongue.
They had called me because I was his emergency contact, but I wasn't in the right mindset right now. Dad made sure I was looked at; my pressure was a little high. They placed me in a small treatment room. I asked for Edward to be contacted, they tried to locate him but he wasn't answering his phone, so the on-call OB saw me instead and she medicated me.
I was instructed to relax for a few minutes, I managed to drift off knowing my mother was in the room with me.
I don't know how long I was out, I opened my eyes and Sarah was in the room. Her face was etched with worry, her eyes red-rimmed from crying. "What happened?" I croaked out.
Sarah hesitated, her gaze flickering towards Angela, who stood at the door, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. "We don't know yet," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "But they're doing everything they can."
"They also informed us that the person who caused the accident is here also."
"Did you have a chance to look at the rest of that file?" Mom asked Sarah.
Sarah sighed and gave a nasty look to Angela. "My son's health and wellbeing is a bit more important right now! What's on that fucking file can be discussed at a later time, Renee." She snapped.
Mom was taken aback by her outburst. "I need some air," Sarah said after a few seconds of silence.
"Look Bella, I'm going to go now, I'll hold the fort in the company until all of this is sorted out." Angela said reassuringly.
"Mrs. Cheney," Mom started. "Does anyone else know?"
"My husband," Angela admitted.
"Not a word of what's on that file to anyone else, understood?"
"Yes, Mrs. Swan," Angela nodded.
"Where 's dad?"
"He went to get us something to eat," I nodded.
I wasn't hungry but I needed to eat.
"Mom, I can call Renata and you can go," I offered.
"You're going to stay here with the blacks?" Mom raised a brow.
Not a good idea…
"You will be discharged soon, I want you to go home and rest." I nodded in agreement. I wanted to crawl in bed and stay there for eternity.
Dad came in with the food and we ate quietly, he'd brought me soup so I sipped on the broth and ate a few bites of the noodles, vegetables and chicken. I was going to put my finished bowl back in the bag when I noticed a sweet treat there. Dad got me a Hershey's Mr. Goodbar. I opened it and broke half, I felt a lot better after I ate the chocolate bar.
Billy and Sarah came into the room, "What happened?" Mom asked.
"He was in a car crash, he was hit from behind, Jacob lost control of the car and crashed."
"Oh, my goodness that's horrible!" Mom said.
"How is he?" I managed to ask.
"He hit his head. He has a few cuts and bruises. He also broke a few ribs, but his left leg took the worst of it," Billy explained.
"He's in surgery right now,"
I was in shock.
"Could he die?" I whispered, Sarah sobbed.
"No, but he could lose his leg," Billy said, his tone flat.
As I sat there, the weight of the unknown pressing down on me, a single question rang in my head, an echo of the betrayal that had ripped through my heart. It may sound hypocritical because I cheated, too, but for the looks of it, whatever Jacob has been doing, it's been going on for a while. Who was this man I thought I knew?
Edward's POV:
The dull ache in my stomach had turned into a full-blown, twisting knot. I lay in bed, sweat clinging to my forehead, wishing I could just disappear.
The phone rang, it was the hospital. Leah, they'd brought her in.
My heart hammered against my ribs. A feeling of dread spread all over me. Were the boys okay? I hurried to the hospital and all of my pain and discomfort were forgotten.
"She was in a car accident," the nurse said, her voice clinical and detached.
What had happened? My mind is a whirlwind of questions and worries. The sterile smell of the hospital, usually a comforting presence, felt suffocating.
I was ushered into a small waiting room. The fluorescent lights buzzed, the air thick with anxiety. A doctor, young with a weary expression, took me aside.
"Dr. Cullen, your ex-wife was involved in a collision. She hit another car. The impact caused the other driver to lose control of the vehicle. The damage he suffered was significant." He paused not getting into too many details as he couldn't tell me everything.
He explained that the seatbelt, meant to protect, had left a massive bruise and laceration on her chest and abdomen. "She's going to be okay, but we are monitoring the baby."
"Baby?" I choked out the words. "She's pregnant?" The doctor nodded. "Yes, the baby is in observation. It's incredibly resilient, but the impact could have caused internal damage. We're monitoring her for any signs of bleeding."
The doctor left, leaving me with a gnawing sense of dread. I paced the waiting room, until a nurse told me I could go in and see her. I was trying to get a hold of Harry or Sue, but neither of them answered their phones.
Leah had a lot of explaining to do.
She was groggy and pale, and they'd put her in a hospital gown, the loose fabric revealing the gruesome bruise blooming across her chest. The doctor failed to mention the gash on her face that had been stitched. It was going to leave a scar once it healed. I noticed her wrists were braced, sprained in the impact.
I neared her bed, but she flinched, drawing away.
"Leah," I said softly, my voice strained. "What happened? Why did you hit the car?"
She looked at me, her eyes clouded with pain and something else. Shame? Resentment?
"He was going with her…" she mumbled, her voice raspy. "I couldn't... I just couldn't..."
"Who?" I didn't understand. "He was going with her…" she mumbled again. "I had to do it," she admitted.
"You know the person you hit?" She nodded.
"Leah, what were you thinking?" I demanded, my voice rising. "You could have been killed! What if the boys had been in the car with you?" My anger boiled to the surface.
"Don't you dare talk about the boys," she snarled, her voice cracking. "Don't you dare pretend you care about them. They're not even yours!"
The words pierced me, "Leah, what do you mean?" I gasped. "They're not yours," she repeated monotonously.
I felt a sharp pain spread through my abdomen, instinctively my hand clutched my stomach. The room was spinning.
Everything went dark.
Maybe it is not what you expected, but some parts of the cat are out of the bag...
Thoughts? Theories? Will Jacob make it? See you on the next one! Thanks for the support!