Chapter 46 — Revealing The Truth

Zinnia.

Secret.

I told Clave the biggest secret of my life. That too, while I was drunk.

This was the worst possible scenario. How could my drunk ass not think twice before spilling out such a sensitive and important truth to Clave? How out of mind was I?

No, I shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place. Stupid impulsive decision!

I wanted to explain this secret to Clave calmly and nicely and wanted to give him the chance to ask me questions once and for all because I never wanted to revisit that topic. But look what one night of alcohol did to me!

I punched the bathroom wall hard out of frustration, ignoring my headache.

What's going on inside Clave's mind right now? What should I do to fix this?

Feeling angry at myself, I reached out and turned on the cold shower, letting freezing water fall all over me, while I was still fully clothed.

Over the sound of the water, I heard two sharp knocks on the door.

"Zinnia, are you okay?" came Clave's concerned voice from the other side of the door.

I felt tears sting the back of my eyes hearing his caring voice. I gulped the lump in my throat and hollered, "Yes, I'm okay!" I was glad for the shower for drowning out the hoarseness of my broken voice.

"You didn't take your clothes inside, but I think you are showering now?" he spoke up again when I thought he left. "Do you want me to give you your clothes or do you have a bathrobe inside?"

"Bathrobe," I responded briefly after I took a quick scan of the bathrobe hanging in the stand. My voice was low; I wondered if he heard me. But as he didn't ask me anything else, I assumed he left for which I was thankful.

I finally let myself fall to the drenched floor and curled up my knees up to my chest.

At this moment, I wasn't feeling bad for telling Clave the secret. I was feeling guilty for telling him in a drunken state. My mom was right. I should've told him the truth when I was in my right mind. He didn't deserve to know the truth about Draven like that.

Tears streamed out of my eyes as a picture of how I got Draven in my arms came into my mind.

The moment I held him in my arms for the first time in the hospital, I knew right then that his life alone was my first priority. Giving him all the love and care he deserved was my goal. My son became the sole reason for my existence.

A subtle smile formed on my lips, remembering how I changed his diaper for the first time. I had no idea what I was doing, and Draven kept crying. I felt so hopeless and frustrated. I couldn't go to anyone for help, either. My mom wasn't aware of Draven.

I had initially thought of raising him all alone secretly, but in the end, I had to go to my mom. I was clueless as a mom, and the fact I still was a teenager back then didn't help.

As my mom started helping me out and Draven gradually started growing up under both of our care, I thanked the stars every day for blessing me with Draven.

And I knew that Clave also thanked the stars for the day he met Draven; it showed from the affection and love he showered Draven with. That's why he deserved to know the truth about Draven.

But definitely not in the manner I revealed it.

Since the damage was done and I couldn't go back to change anything, I had to explain everything in detail to him.

I made up my mind on that and decided to actually stand up and take a shower.

Once I was done, I put on my bathrobe and got out of the bathroom, only to find Clave sitting on the edge of the bed with a big fluffy white towel in his hand.

He stood up and walked toward me. He peeked behind me and analyzed, "There's no steam coming from inside." Then he narrowed his eyes at me. "Did you just take a cold shower?"

My silence answered him. But as I tried to explain by starting, "Cl—" I couldn't even finish saying his name as he made me sit on the bed and drowned my vision with the big towel.

"You are crazy, Zinnia. Today's weather is a little chilly and you took a shower with cold water," he started scolding me and also gently started drying my hair with the towel. "What if you catch a cold now? Or a fever? You never care about yourself!"

"Cla—"

"Shush," he quieted me sternly. "Since you don't take care of yourself, at least let me do it properly for you, kid."

I was about to protest when I remembered Draven doing the same with me. So I crossed my arms against my chest and quietly waited for Clave to finish drying my hair.

Once he was done, he heaved a sigh in relief, as if he completed the biggest challenge in his life. It melted my heart. He was so cute!

Finally, he sat next to me, his earlier annoyance with me no longer visible. His face held pure concern for me. Sometimes it was a curse how well he knew me. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

I nodded my head, assuring him.

There seemed a prolonged silence between us until Clave spoke up.

"Zinnia, I have something to tell you."

Everything froze around me at that instant. Did he want to talk about what I said last night in the drunken state? Before he could make up his own assumptions, I should be the one to speak and clear everything out.

"Cl—" I was interrupted by him for the third time.

"Please, Zinnia, let me talk right now."

I reluctantly nodded.

He took my hands in his, sucked in a deep breath, and started saying, "Yesterday, I received a case. A client approached us to find out about a certain someone. When I dug deep, I got to know that he was looking for his son."

I patiently listened to him.

"He had no idea about his son's existence until recently. So now he is desperately looking for his son. After trying to find his son on his own for the past two years, he finally decided to give our company the case."

"Oh," was all I could say. "Did you take the case?" I asked, even though my first question was why he was telling me all this. But I supposed that he must have a good reason behind it.

He shook his head. "I rejected the case last night."

"Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Because I gathered some information about his son and where he was born. And Zinnia, I dropped the case because... the client is looking for his son, and his son is Draven."

My eyes widened and I felt my heart stopping at that moment. Clave didn't say a word as he let me digest the information. He just gave my hand a little reassuring squeeze and I squeezed back tightly.

It was happening. After all this time... the past had come knocking on my doors. Draven's father learned about him. He would come and take my son away from me now.

No.

"Did you tell him about Draven's whereabouts?" I managed to ask.

"No." He pulled out one hand from my grip and caressed my cheek. "Zinnia, I felt that you didn't want him to know about Draven yet. I am sure you have your reasons, and I don't want you or our son to get hurt in any way."

My eyes got watery once again at his words. Why was he so sweet and understanding? He wasn't even questioning me.

"I am sorry," he mumbled. "I wanted to tell you about this last night, but you were drunk, so my first priority was to put you to sleep."

"Why are you apologizing, Clave?" I spoke up, my heart melting at his gestures. "I should be the one apologizing. I told you my secret last night in a drunken state and..." I couldn't even say anything anymore. I was lost for words. I felt like crying.

Clave immediately cupped my cheeks and made me meet his sincere and firm gaze. "Hey, look at me, baby. You didn't reveal anything to me in your drunken state. So you have nothing to worry about."

"I didn't...?" I was utterly confused. I vividly remember I was telling him something about Draven.

He smiled softly and circled my cheek with his thumb. "You were about to, but I stopped you. I didn't want you to reveal anything big related to your life when you weren't in your right state of mind."

This time, my chest swelled with pride for having Clave Taylon in my life. How could a human being always know what to do to make me feel the best? It was as if he was created for the sole purpose of making my life complete. He did everything I needed.

And what was I doing in return for him?

The least I could do was start by telling Clave the truth now.

"Clave," mustering enough courage, I finally let out, "I didn't give birth to Draven. Kavita did."