Chapter 14
Paxton’s POV
From afar, I see Celine come out of a cab, pay the cabman and walk in exhaustion to the gate. I slow down the car and drive into the parking lot. I stop the car and sit still without attempting to climb out.
I growl and hit the steering in anger. I am stunned by the revelation of who Celine’s baby father really is. He is someone I detest even before knowing him because of how he hurt Celine but now what I feel for him is pure hatred.
There was no look of recognition on his face and that made it all the more difficult for me to figure him out immediately.
Instead of sitting back and waiting up for Celine so she could give me more information about him, I left and asked Caleb to meet up with me somewhere private.
I needed to be sure I am not mistaking him for someone else. I wanted to be sure that he is the enemy I have been looking for all along.
I squeeze my eyes shut as I remembered how I drove with eagerness to where we met and how my heart was thumping wild in anticipation. Now that I know the truth, I am having mixed feelings about everything.
As much as I want to deal with the idiot for what he did to me and my family years ago and for what he is doing to Celine and her son, I am considerate of Celine’s feelings.© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
I am sure she doesn’t care about him but I don’t know what she will think of getting rid of him. Jason is his son and that boy deserves to grow up to know his father, even though the father is nothing but a complete jerk.
I hit the steering again and place my head on it, breathing in and out. This is someone I have been trying so hard to meet all to no avail. I know his father but Bryan and I have never met before.
I wanted to meet with him, become his friend, gain his trust, and strike but my disguise ruined everything. I had to save my life first before anything. I never knew this is where he stays.
I have his details now and all I need to do is make plans with Caleb and go to Bryan’s house to rescue Jason and deal with him. I believe I have to make Celine believe I want to go there to save Jason but I will also get my revenge.
I haven’t told Caleb about the whole thing yet because I don’t want to raise his hopes high. I want to convince Celine one more time and be sure that we are doing the right thing. It is now that I understand Celine’s fear and her daily emphasis on how dangerous he is.
If only Celine can understand, things wouldn’t be this difficult.
Should I just tell her the truth? Will she accept me for who I am? If I tell her that her baby father and his father are responsible for my father’s death, will she support me?
As much as I want to confide in her, I have a feeling it is a bad idea. Celine is scared of him because she knows who he is.
How sure am I that she won’t run away from me when she gets to know who I am too?
I curse beneath my breath, take off the seatbelt and step out. I lean forward towards the car and bring out the files I took along with me to meet Caleb before closing the door.
Everything about Bryan is in this file, every single thing about him, except Celine’s fake marriage to him.
If only I am not in love with Celine and her child, I would have gotten Bryan through them. But it’s impossible. First, Bryan hates Celine and I love Jason. I can’t hurt him or his mother and Bryan won’t turn up if anything bad happens for Celine.
I puff out air and stride to the gate. I see Celine’s shadow from the window as she flops heavily to the sofa. She looks completely drained and my heart tugs up in sympathy. I love her and I want to protect her with everything I have.
I haven’t told her about how I feel but I know she is aware. She keeps changing topics whenever I bring something up about dating. I hope to come out clean soon and she will accept me.
If she accepts me, I am going to fly her and Jason to Tokyo where we will be married while I come back here to deal with her stupid baby father.
I look away, feeling angry at her for not informing me of her intention to visit him. I walk to the gate and enter. I pass by her door and walk to mine, even though I am tempted to turn back and knock on her door so we could talk into the night.
Celine and I are two lonely people who find comfort in confiding in each other. I tell her things about me indirectly. I don’t want her to know my real identity yet until I have succeeded in winning her over.
Opening the door to my apartment, I enter and stride to the stool, drop the files and turn back abruptly to go out. I doubt if I can sleep well tonight without talking to her.
I move out and hurry to her door.
The closed-door stares at me as I stand there for a while, contemplating whether to bring up Bryan’s issue or not. I raise my hand unconsciously and knock.
“Come in”, her soft, calm voice utters, reminding me of how I fell in love with her voice the first time she spoke to me. Her appearance isn’t the only thing that attracted me to her, everything about her did.
Her brown hazel hair, her beautiful emerald eyes, her long pointed nose, her sexy curves which she hides in loose clothes, and her soft appealing voice that pushes me over the edge, making me want to kiss her inviting innocent lips.
I grumble when I feel my arousal. I open the door and enter. I see her sitting on the sofa close to the window and I approach her as she raises her head to meet my gaze. She knows I am the only person that can visit her at this time of the day.
“Hi”, I flash her a smile.
“Hi”, she replies without a smile. She has a worried expression on her face with creased brows. I can’t help but wonder if this has to do with Jason or her recently lost job.
“What’s the matter?” I sit close to her with my left arm around her shoulder. She turns to me and smiles sadly.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” She nods. “I saw you left with him and you are saying nothing?”
She looks surprised. “Jason is sick so he asked me to go with him to see him. I’m sorry I didn’t inform you.”
I nod, watching her innocent face. My anger towards her for not talking to me is completely down. We both relapse into silence. I am thinking of how to bring Bryan’s issue up.
“What is his full name?” I demand, without mincing a word.
She frowns and asks. “Who?”
“Bryan.”
“Oh. Bryan Martin Pedro. Why do you ask?”
“Nothing”, I answer and pull her to me.
“You look worried, what is the matter?”
She sighs loudly and relaxes her head on my chest. “I’m just worried about Jason. Bryan plans to employ a nanny for him tomorrow.”
I am silent. Is this why she is worried?
“We can go there tomorrow if you want”, I inform her and she bolts up sharply.
“No, Paxton. Can we forget about that already?”
“Why?” I am beginning to get pissed that she is against my idea again. I thought we have gone past this stage already.
Why the hell will she change her mind in just a few hours of giving me the go-ahead? I wouldn’t hesitate to let go if only Jason is the one involved but now that I know who Bryan really is, I won’t let go so easily. This is a fight I must end, whether she likes it or not.
“I just feel it is still not a nice idea…” She trails off.
I watch her intensely, trying to figure out if there is more to this. Celine is acting strange with her strong opposition to not going over to Bryan’s mansion.
Who is she trying to protect? Me or Bryan? Is she afraid that he will get hurt or she is truly scared of me getting hurt since he is dangerous?
“What are you not telling me, Celine?” I question as she gulps loudly.
“What? Nothing”, she replies sharply and looks away.
“What are you scared of?” I raise her jaw so she will be looking at me in the face.
“Talk to me. If you love your son, why don’t you want us to get him out? Why are you sitting here worried and mourning like a widow? What is the problem with you? You were ready to give me the go-ahead just a few hours ago and now we are back to this? What did he tell you?”
“He didn’t tell me anything, Paxton. Don’t misunderstand me. I am worried about Jason and I seriously want him back. It seems you still don’t understand me. I just want us to be careful. Besides, it’s not as if he is going to hurt Jason. I believe we need to take a more calm approach so he can do what I want. Fighting him will do no good at all. Bryan reacts to things when he gets pissed off and I know he will be mad at me if you go there on my behalf. Let’s just think of another way…”
“You don’t want him to hate you anymore?” I ask her, getting the idea of everything. She hates the fact that he hates her. She hates the fact that he did not recognize her as a wife and he still does not recognize her as his baby mother. Celine wants more than this.
“You hate the fact that he hates you right?”
“What? No!” She denies it, even though her eyes are saying otherwise.
“Are you in love with him?” I demand from her as her eyes bulge open in shock. This is the only explanation of her reason. She doesn’t want me to get hurt but she doesn’t want him to get hurt too.
This is more than letting Jason know him as his father, this is because of what she feels and I am going to get to the root of this.
“What?!” She exclaims loudly.
“Are you not in love with him?” I ask again, hoping she will deny it and assure me that I have a chance with her but she isn’t saying anything.