31

ABRM31

BENJAMIN'S POV:-

My eyes widened as I watched Charlotte running. She pushed me as she ran. My heart sank in the pit of my stomach at the thought of her leaving me. But soon, I frowned in confusion. Instead of running to the main door, she ran toward my bedroom. As soon as she was inside, she locked herself in. It took me a moment to finally realize what actually happened. She ran and hid just because I called our son.

It didn't make any sense why she would run and hide from our son. For years, she was once raising that poor child all alone. And after some crisis, when the child actually wanted to meet his mother, she was hiding in a room like a coward.

Charlie came downstairs and as he found me standing alone, his face fell. The bright smile he had on his face was long gone. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. My heart was still pounding when I saw her running. It felt like I was going to have a heart attack as I watched her making a move to get away from me.

"Where is mama, dad? I heard you calling me. Is she outside?" Charlie asked me in a low tone. He had tears glistening at the corners of his eyes but he forced a small smile on his face, thinking he could fool me. Looking at my son's tears, I couldn't hold back either. I was pissed at Charlotte.

I walked toward my bedroom door and banged it hard. "Open this door, Charlotte. Don't behave like a child. Your son is waiting for you." I growled at her angrily, hoping she would submit to me but when was the last time she submitted to me without me holding something as a leverage against her.

"He is no longer my son. I don't want to see him. Tell him to leave. I don't care!" I was surprised by the hatred I heard in her tone for our son. Or maybe, it was for me. I couldn't say what was going through her mind. She was behaving like a child.

"Don't be ridiculous. There is no way a mother wouldn't care for her child. Especially when she has raised that child all alone. Open this door." I growled back at her angrily while I didn't stop banging the door for her to open.

"I raised my child but that boy is no more. He died and the son you talk about is your son only. He can't be my kid if he decides to leave me for money." I turned to look at Charlie whose cheeks were dampened with his tears.

I bet she had never even scolded him. And all of a sudden, he was hearing hatred dripping words from his mother who loved and cared for him for years. I walked toward Charlie and hugged him tightly to comfort him. He was just a child who was cursed with my blood.

"Does she hate me this much that she won't even open the door and look at me?" The poor kid asked me a question I couldn't answer. I didn't know what Charlotte was thinking. I could only imagine her distress. But that didn't give her the right to break the heart of an innocent child. Charlie had nothing to do with the war she and I had between us.

I started rubbing his back just to help him calm down. He was crying like a little baby who was disturbed as he hadn't seen his mother for a long time. "Shhh… it's alright! She doesn't hate you, boy. She is just very weak and in distress. Why don't you go back to your room and study? Meanwhile, I will talk to her." I whispered softly in his ear, trying my best to comfort him as best I could do.

To be honest, I had no idea what parenting was and how I was supposed to do it. A month ago, I didn't have a clue that I could become a father. After Charlotte, I never tried to look at another woman. Emily once took advantage of the moment of my weakness but I didn't let her win. I forced the contraceptives down her throat as soon as I woke up.

After losing her, I finally realized how much she meant to me. Once she disappeared from my gaze, I was a total mess. But until I was able to accept the truth, it was already too late. Even back then, when I was not sure if the baby was mine or not, I was willing to bring her back and accept her child no matter what. But the way she disappeared, it made me wonder if she was even alive.

As the obedient son she had raised, Charlie nodded his head and walked away. His head was narrowed and he didn't dare to look back at my bedroom door. I saw the droplets of tears he left behind. It angered me. Gritting my teeth, I started banging on the door again. "Open this fucking door, Charlotte. You just crossed a line you should never have crossed in the first place." I growled at her angrily.

As stubborn as she actually was, I doubted she was ever going to listen to me. Gritting my teeth in anger, I pulled the key of my bedroom door out of my pocket and unlocked the door. As soon as I opened the door, she gasped in surprise. She stood up and was about to make a run to the bathroom to lock herself in again when I wrapped one of my arms around her waist.

I captured her in time. I closed the door and locked it again. I didn't want my son to hear us arguing about him again. I never really thought she could be this mean to her own son. She was practically alive because of Charlie and I felt like it was time I told her about how Charlie fought his way to me just so he could save his mother.

I could hear her heart pounding in her rib cage as she tried to free herself from my hold. "Behave! You don't want to see my worst side, Charlotte." I growled at her, expecting her to submit but instead, she slapped me across the face, leaving me in shock. She pushed me away and my heart dropped in the pit of my stomach. I saw her face flushed with embarrassment.

It was as if I might have stripped her naked in front of everyone. Shaking my head, I tried to get control over her. I tried to embrace her again but she shoved me away, as if she was disgusted by my touches. My mind showed me an image of her with that bastard Stewarts and I growled in anger.

I was about to ask her if she liked being with him but I froze when she asked me a question instead. "How can you do this to me? I am not a puppet you are trying to control. I am a human being. I feel hurt. I get angry and I would like to have some control over my life." She started crying like I had never seen before. It was as if she was lost of all hopes. It was the first time I thought about it and it made me realize that she was right. I never considered her feelings at all.

Drawing a shaky breath, I tried to embrace her again. She didn't fight me. She let me hug her. "I just wanted you to meet your child again, Charlotte. I knew it would make you feel better!" I whispered softly in her ear.

"He is no longer my child. He is your kid and he proved it the first chance he got." She growled at me, squirming under my tight embrace.

"What are you talking about?" I asked out of confusion.

"He embarrassed me in front of everyone just so he could be with you. You father and son… you can't have everything your way." She growled at me again. I saw betrayal in her eyes.

It made sense as I tried to feel it with her heart. A mother who was accused of cheating and was kicked out when she needed me the most. She was betrayed by everyone. She still decided to keep that baby I called a bastard as I kicked her out. She practically surrounded her life around that kid that I snatched from her. That's what she saw. That's what my lawyer made it look like.

The one person she had raised with all the good she had gotten from her parents. She tried to raise a person like she was. But when Charlie decided to stay against her wishes, she felt betrayed again. It made me wonder what she actually went through after she left.

I cupped her face with both of my hands and made her look up at me. She had tears in her eyes. My heart clenched as I knew I was the reason why she had tears and pain in her eyes. I remembered how I had promised her all the happinesses and within months, I forgot about those promises. The fact that she was pure all along and it was my child that she was nurturing inside of her belly, stabbed my heart again.

I wiped her tears with the pads of my thumbs gently. "Tell me what you actually went through after I kicked you out. After I accused you falsely. I want to hear everything. Tell me." I whispered softly while staring into her eyes.