Chapter 70
Followed
Orthon’s POV
It was nothing really.
Just the housekeeper taking him out on a stroller. I didn’t know whether to be worried or not but she worked with me for years and I never had any reason to distrust her. Today wouldn’t be the first.
“Okay, so we can take a deep breath now. He is with Jane so for all we know, he is safe. We just have to wait for her to come back,” I said, trying
to calm them down.
“Are you sure?” Veronica asked worriedly. I couldn’t help but notice how pale she was already. The way she was panting heavily told me she was probably on the verge of passing out.
“Yes I am. Jane has been working with me for years. She probably heard him crying and decided to take him out for a bit since it didn’t occur to his mother,” I said coldly, standing from my chair to make room for Veronica
to sit down.
I glanced around the room for the fridge and grabbed a bottle of cold water when I found it. I handed it over to Veronica and she gave me at
thankful look.
“You look terrible,” I told her.
“Have you seen yourself?” She snorted. I managed to give a small smile. My head was spinning and my heart was not even trying to slow down.
Chapter 70:
“I’ll be fine. At least, now we know he wasn’t hijacked by kidnappers or anything.” I replied.
“You don’t think I deserve a bottle of water too?” Aric asked and I shot her a thick glare. “Fine, no water for me then.”
I knew she was trying to fighten the mood but I was just too angry at her right now. Getting arrested was one time but leaving your six months old baby at home alone?
That was the height of carelessness and irresponsibility.
“Let me take you upstairs,” I told Veronica, crouching over to lift her.
“You don’t have to…”
“Shhh! You’ve overworked yourself in the last couple of hours and you’re not supposed to, especially in your condition. I’ll carry you upstairs so you can get some rest,” I insisted.
“Please tell me we’re going to use the elevator this time,” she muttered as I lifted her off the chair. I chuckled and walked out of the room with Arie trailing slowly behind me.
“I’m sorry, Orthon. I didn’t mean for…”
“Please don’t. I don’t want to do this with you,” I cut her short. Arie bit her lip but thankfully stayed silent.
“I’m just going to wait for her down here,” she informed me before changing direction. I didn’t say anything to that and simply got in the elevator.
“You shouldn’t stay mad at your best friend for so long,” Veronica muttered against my sleeve.
“That’s the thing. I’m not mad at her. I’m fucking furious!” I huffed. “What
if something bad happened to him or he was kidnapped? What would we do? What would she do? I have all the money in the world to take care of her son and her, she doesn’t have any reason to go dragging some bastard’s inheritance with his family. Even if he was an asshole.”
“Well, he put her in the family way even though he had a family…” Veronica tried defending her.
“And he’s dead, okay? Fucking dead! I don’t see any reason why she should create more trouble for herself, or even go as far as assaulting anyone!”
“She’s angry and vengeful, Orthon. You need to go easy on her. Arie might look tough but she has seen a lot more than you can possibly imagine. She said she was a medic in the military, right? Do you have any idea how tough that is?” Veronica asked.
I wanted to make a snide comment but decided against it. I couldn’t disregard her pain like that. Even though she drove me crazy sometimes.
“Imagine that and having some man play you into believing you have found love, only to shatter your head to a million pieces and leave your pregnant!” She went on.
“I hate that you’re slowly convincing me not to stay mad at her. Anyone listening to you now would think you’re the best friend, not me,” I blurted and Veronica winked.
“Guess you’re not the only one who can play with words huh?”
Before I could respond to that, the elevator dinged and I stepped out.
I took her straight to my room and set her down gently on my bed. Those beautiful hazel eyes stared deep into mine and for a second, I wanted to give into the desire and kiss her senseless.
I
could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I leaned in. The smoothness.
of her skin as my fingers gently stroked her arm ignited sparks inside me and I could feel my body heating up.
I wanted her. I wanted all of her. I needed her. To be mine. Mine alone.
But then I blinked suddenly, realizing what I was doing. I promised her we were going to stay friends, just like she wanted. This was going to ruin everything.
She probably wouldn’t like it.
I moved away from her and I could have sworn I saw disappointment in her eyes but it vanished almost immediately.
“Sleep tight, Vee.” I said softly and she mustered a smile.
n’t go murdering Arie and tell me when the baby is back, okay?” she ked. I nodded.
“Of course.”
I left the room quickly, shutting the door behind me, and leaned against it for a moment to steady myself. My heart was still racing, and my hands. tingled where they had touched her.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I rubbed my face, trying to push away the image of Veronica’s eyes looking up at me, so soft and trusting.
Taking a deep breath, I headed back downstairs.
Arie was sitting in the lobby, fidgeting with her phone. She looked up when she saw me, her expression torn between guilt and irritation.
“Did you put her to bed?” she asked cautiously.
“Yeah. She’s exhausted,” I replied curtly, sitting down across from her.
“Yeah, she looked quite beat up,” Aric muttered. “I feel bad for dragging her into this mess.”
“Good. You should,” I snapped, but then immediately regretted it. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Look, I’m sorry. I just… I need you to start being more careful, Arie. For your sake, for Keon’s. You’re not alone anymore. This is not the army, okay? You’ve got people who care about you.”
She nodded, biting her lip. “I know. And I’m sorry too. I just… I don’t know how to stop being so angry all the time.”
“It’s not about stopping the anger,” I said after a moment. “It’s about channeling it into something that helps, not hurts. You’ve been through a lot, Arie. But you’re a mother now. Keon needs you to be his safe place, not his chaos.”
She looked down at her hands, her lips trembling. “You’re right. I’ll do better. I promise.”
Before I could say anything else, the front door opened, and Jane walked in, pushing a stroller.
“There you are!” Arie exclaimed, rushing over. She immediately scooped Keon out of the stroller, holding him close as he babbled happily. Tears ran down her face as she kissed his little head over and over.
“I’m sorry, Mr, Orthon,” Jane said, looking worried. “He woke up crying, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone, so I took him for a walk to calm him. down.”
“It’s fine, Jane,” I assured her, even though my chest was still tight with residual fear. “Next time, just leave a note or call me, okay?”
“Yes, of course. I’m so sorry,” she said again, looking genuinely apologetic.“Also, there’s a strange car that has been following us.”
“What?”
“Yeah, it followed us right from the park till I got home.”
