Chapter 44
( Charlotte's POV )
I stopped in front of the stairs and stared intensely at the door only a few steps away from me. This was it, exactly what I had come all the way to Alabama for. In front of me was Jemma's house and I felt like the second I entered this place, all the answers I had been searching for would somehow be there. I looked to my side to find Rose standing close by. I smiled as she placed a hand on my shoulder.
"So, should we go in?" She asked. I turned my head again and looked back at the house that was suspiciously calling out to me. How? Well I didn't know but if I had come all this way, I was definitely going to walk up those stairs and get into that house. I nodded before taking a first step, Rose right there next to me.
I had to admit that I had no idea what I was coming to Alabama for, I only knew that I wanted answers and the only way I was going to get them was where it all started.
It wasn't until we landed in Alabama that we decided, since we didn't know where to start or didn't even know anybody there, that perhaps it would probably be best if we went to Darcy's mother to ask her a few questions.
I wasn't even sure that the older woman was going to be able to recognize me until I knocked on her door and saw a huge smile on her face the second she registered who was in front of her door.
It took a lot of convincing from my part but I was able to get the information I needed from her. She was the only one who could tell me where Jemma lived and I wasn't leaving until I got that address.
So fast forward to the present and we were now finally here in front of a house that was supposed to be empty because Jemma wasn't there. I twisted the knob and realized that the door wasn't locked.
I shook my head. Who was dumb enough to leave their door unlocked? Rose and I stepped in anyway. What was the harm in only just looking? It wasn't like we were trying to steal anything. It was all research.
I stepped further into the dark house and looked around. "We should probably turn on the light." I said to Rose who already had her hand on the light switch before I was done with my sentence. I laughed.
"What? You know I hate dark places, it gives me the creeps." She answered before I heard noises coming from one of the rooms. I frowned as Rose and I looked at each other.
"There is someone in here." Rose mouthed and pointed at the hallway in front of us. I shrugged.
"Is there someone in here?" I called out and waited for a silhouette to appear in front of us, the darkness covering the face of the person. It was definitely a man, but who? that I had no idea.
I squinted my eyes trying to see who was walking towards me until I heard my name being called from the man's mouth. "Charlotte?" He appeared into the light. An overwhelming surprised took over as I finally saw the face of the person.
"Well, fuck me." Rose cussed, standing a couple of steps away from me.
_________________
"Royce? What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, blinking a few more times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.
"I could ask you the same thing." He replied as he came closer for a quick hug. I hadn't seen him for a few months now so it really was a shocking surprise to find him standing in Jemma's house. What were the odds of that?
"Jemma is a friend of mine, we are just here to get some stuff for her." I lied.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Long story." He walked over to the sofa and sat down.
"How about you tell me the shorter version of it?" I followed him and sat next to him on the sofa.
"Well, I met her a few months ago, we hooked up and that was it, we went our separate ways. Only then about three months ago, I received a mail from her saying that she was seven months pregnant and that the baby was mine. So I came here, we did the DNA that came out positive then she promised me that we'll keep in touch since I was moving to Ireland for a few months." He was explaining but I cut him off because this was all too juicy and I couldn't help myself.
"So, you're telling me that Sebastian is yours?" I asked with a huge grin on my face. I looked over at Rose who looked like she was about ready to explode with laughter.
"Sebastian? You're telling me she had the baby?"
I nodded. "Uhm, he's about what five weeks old now?" I answered.
"Holy sh!t I'm a father." His eyes were distant as he said the word. I shook my head. Although I wanted to give him the very well deserved time to process it all, I also wanted to hear more of the story, and my curiosity won out at the end.
"So, what happened once you moved to Ireland?"
"Once I got to Ireland, I tried to contact her by any means possible but all my attempts failed and I just didn't understand why. So I came here to find out that she was no longer living here in this house. And since I didn't know where else to look, I've pretty much been coming here once a month hoping that I could find her." His eyes then landed on me as he smiled.
"Thank God that you guys are here, you'll be able to tell me where she is right?" He asked.
I looked back at Rose who was now laughing loudly unable to contain it any longer.
"I do know where she is in fact, but I'll need something from you in return."
He frowned. "What?"
"A copy of the DNA test."
His frowned deepened as he looked at Rose who was still laughing. "I'm sorry. Why are you laughing and why do you need the DNA test?"
"Because well my dear Royce, Jemma has Darcy convinced that he's the father of her child."
"Darcy? How the fuck do they know each other?"
"Long story short, they were high school sweethearts who rekindled their romance for a few weeks while he was down here visiting his dying father, same time as she apparently slept with you and now Darcy thinks the kid is his." I answered quickly. "So, do you have that DNA test with you now?" That was the only thing I was really interested in.
Poor Royce looked so shocked and dumbfounded. "Uhm, yeah, yeah, I have it in my rental parked outside." He said, his eyes looked lost. He then focused his eyes on me. "Do you know where she's at?"
I nodded and felt suddenly nauseous. "She's currently in New York," I gagged my words as I quickly got up. "Would you excuse me for just a second?" I said as I ran towards the first opened door I saw, thankfully it was the bathroom.
"What's wrong with her?" I heard Royce ask from the living room.
"Oh you know, excitement and all." Rose answered, an air of nonchalance in her voice. I would have been laughing if I wasn't puking my guts out.
_____________________
And that was basically how I ended up with the proof of what I had known from the get go. I knew that child wasn't Darcy's and now I could finally show him so that we could get rid of the Jemma problem once and for all.
I was buzzing with excitement the whole way back to New York and I couldn't wait to see Darcy and shove those damn results in the bitch's face. "Are you sure you want to go see him right now? Wouldn't it be better to wait until tomorrow?" Rose asked as she leaned into the open window of my Uber.
"I can't stop now. Plus, I want him to go with me to the doctor's appointment tomorrow. So this needs to happen today." I answered.
"Do you think he's still at his office?" She asked.
I nodded. "Yea I'm pretty sure he is, it's only five in the afternoon and he usually doesn't leave until six or seven when everyone is gone."
"Ok, so I guess call me to tell me how it went?"
"Yeah, definitely." I smiled before kissing her cheek and then we started driving.
_______________
It took longer than planned to get to his office from the airport but we made it before six and, the second I got out of the car and walked into the building, I felt nervous and nauseous and it unfortunately got even worse the closer I was to his floor.
I took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator immediately noticing the fact that Bridget wasn't at her desk. I smiled, less issue I had to worry about. I kept the smile on my face as I opened the door without knocking as if I owned the place.
"Charlotte." Darcy's voice resonated inside his well designed office.
My smile fell off my face the moment I registered what was in front of me. Total déjà vu, Expect now the person having sex with Darcy on the desk wasn't me but instead Bridget. I laughed because that was the only thing I could possibly do then. I watched as he quickly pulled himself off of her, putting on display her naked body spread on the expensive desk.
It all now made sense why this bitch hated me from the beginning, it all made perfect sense now and I was too stupid to pick up on that before. Slap in the face.
Bravo Darcy.
Why was this shit always happening to me? I definitely needed to work on my timing. I saw him quickly zip his pants with the condom still on as he walked towards me. I stayed where I was and gripped tightly the paper I was holding in my hand as I waited for him to get closer.
"Babe," he started but stopped when he noticed the glare I was sending his way. I pushed the papers roughly to his chest before speaking.
"I brought you the proof you so needed. I guess I shouldn't have bothered because at the end it doesn't matter." He grabbed my arm.
"Don't touch me." I growled, pulling my arm roughly from his grip. "I hate you." I turned around to leave, the disgust impossible to miss. On my face. I was so furious that I had forgotten the fact that I had also placed the pregnancy test result from the doctor inside of the DNA test as a suprised. I was freaking pissed.
___________________
Thank you for the votes and comments. 😘😘
(You know I just had to.)