Black Rose

Chapter 19

I was just tired of having to deal with the situation.

And so, I decided that I wouldn't.

Instead I've put my focus into my pregnancy. Dr Martens had already stressed that I had to keep my stress levels and blood pressure down, especially because I'm carrying twins. The health of my babies is more important than anything and anyone right now.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" Fabio asked as he walked into the kitchen. Ethan was sitting in the lounge watching cartoons.

"You've asked me that every day for the past three weeks and my answer has been no. What makes you think it would be different now?" I asked.

"Come on Rose. You can't let this eat you up in silence," he attempted to sway.

"Except it isn't. I've let go of it Fabio because if I go down that path, my stress levels are going to go up and I'm not willing to risk my babies' health over Olivier's shady behaviour," I replied.

"Ok, so he did something shady. That's more than you've given me in the past three weeks. Where did he do this shady thing?" he questioned.

"Grace's letter came. She got in," I informed.

"Really? That's grea- wait! You're trying to distract me," he caught on.

"No, I'm not. I'm telling you something that I don't mind talking about," I defended as I poured the batter into the cake tin.

"Rose, whatever he did is big enough to make you not wear your engagement ring. You haven't worn it once since we've come back," he commented.

"You're observant," I said.

"Of course, I am. Now will you please tell me what's going on?" he begged.

"Why don't you call him and ask him?" I asked.

"He gets super snappy with me, something he's never done with me before, and the fact that he's staying at a hotel speaks volumes. You know that someone is bound to ask questions about that at some point, right?" he pointed out.

This was news to me.

"He's staying at a hotel?" I asked.

"Yeah! He's been staying there since the night you told us to come back," he informed.

The day of the discovery.

"I didn't know that," I admitted.

"Look, at least tell me what he did so that I can put the pieces together for you if possible," he offered.

I bit my lip, unsure. "I went looking for him three weeks ago at his office, and Rowena told me that he hadn't come in. I bumped into Castro on my way out, and once he knew of my dilemma, he took me to some apartment. We got there an-"

"And Olivier was there with a blond woman. Damnit!" he said irritably.

"Wait, you know just from the little bit I just said?" I asked.

"I knew from the moment you mentioned Castro taking you there," he replied.

"I don't understand. He said he didn't take me there to hurt me," I said in confusion.

"He didn't. He must've had a suspicion and hoped it wasn't true, but it was something you needed to see. Did Olivier see you?" he asked.

I nodded. "The blond answered the door dressed in nothing but a dress shirt, but he appeared just seconds later, dressed in nothing but dress pants."

"Ok, so at least he's aware that he messed up," he commented.

"Who is she Fabio?" I asked, knowing very well that I wasn't keen on finding out.