Chapter 196: Lose Her Forever

“Five years ago, a terrible scandal broke out, Miss Roberts was accused harshly by the general public for having illicit relationships with men, and later, it was revealed that she was pregnant.” Kaleb reported according to the investigations the private investigator he hired had found.

“What?” Tristan couldn’t wrap his head around this news, his hazel eyes were glazed with so many different emotions, but most of it was astonishment and disbelief. “But… Why didn’t I hear anything about this news five years ago?” At this moment, the information was still loose in his mind, nothing seemed to add up.

Kaleb sighed and dropped another file, “The investigator discovered that the news was deliberately blocked away from you or the Grayson group, furthermore, at that particular time, you were out of the city on a business trip, by the time you returned, the scandal had blown over, and Miss Roberts had already left the country.”

Once again, Tristan picked up the files, flipping through the pages, looking through all the information with his own eyes, everything Kaleb had reported to him was fully reported there and more.

Celine had indeed gotten pregnant five years ago. Inside the file were detailed investigations, reports from the pregnancy, and around the time frame, Tristan wasn’t shocked to see the date on her pregnancy report being a month after that fateful night they had shared together.

He felt an unknown emotion tighten his throat as he repeatedly stared at the papers, reading and rereading the information over and over again as if to merge it into his memory.

Celine had been pregnant five years ago… She had been pregnant… With his own child.

Though the suspicion had been in his mind, the confirmation that the child was his awakened a strange emotion within him.

His own child…all these years he hadn’t been in that child’s life, all these years she’d had to raise his offspring by herself. Guilt seeped into him like a heavy rock, it settled and weight heavily in his chest.

Tristan took a shaky breath to let the information sink in before realization of something Kaleb said hit him, he looked up at Kaleb and quickly asked, “You said… She had my children?”

Children…that was the specific word Kaleb had used.

This was the first time Kaleb was seeing such an emotion on Tristan’s face throughout the years he’d worked for him, it astonished him, at the same time, wasn’t unexpected.

“Yes, President, according to the investigation, Miss Roberts had twins, other than the girl at the hospital, there is still a boy.”

The man Tristan hired was the best that could be found, it wasn’t a surprise that he had been able to gather such detailed information, which was probably the reason it took him so long to gather it all.

There had been so many questions, too many that hadn’t been answered, that was why Tristan had ordered the investigation on the situation five years ago, he wanted to know everything, even details from her stay abroad. And the information revealed even the tiniest details of her pregnancy.

He saw it all in some pictures in the file. Celine, dressed in all black, a visible bulge in her belly. Celine, carrying one infant in her arm while pushing the other in a stroller. Celine, playing with two little toddlers in a yard.

An unknown emotion swelled Tristan’s chest as he watched every image, at the same time, an aching pain. She had his children… Not just one, she’d had two of his own kids, his own flesh. The pictures were like memories he hadn’t witnessed, and something twisted in his heart that he hadn’t witnessed those memories unfold.

Kaleb spoke with sympathy, “Miss Roberts fled to Westbrook when things got too intense. Fans got aggressive, putting her unborn babies at risk, so she left quietly. Had to start fresh, alone, no family, no friends. She raised her kids alone in a new place. Must’ve been tough for her.”

All the information continued to sink into Tristan’s mind.

Why didn’t she tell him? When she discovered her pregnancy, why hadn’t she told him about it? Why did she keep things from him?

When she had gotten in trouble, she could have come to him, he wouldn’t have let anyone say a single bad word about her. Tristan felt a painful clench in his chest as he thought about how she must have suffered all alone at that time.

“She should have told me she was pregnant…I would have been there, I would have…” His voice sounded too hoarse, broken.

“Maybe Miss Roberts was scared you wouldn’t accept the pregnancy, any woman would be scared.”

He recalled how she had cried that night, how she had felt all alone that night. After getting pregnant, she must have had to go through all that loneliness again.

Tristan felt his eyes sting as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. But his sight suddenly landed on the files on the desk and a familiar name fell into view.

Tristan furrowed his brows and uttered suspiciously, “Erica?”

What did she have to do with all of this?

Tristan quickly read through the part that had Erica’s name.

Confusion, realization, anger began to set in. It was all her, Erica had been behind it all.

She had leaked the news of Celine’s pregnancy and had even released fake pictures of Celine with other men in bed.

Fury surged through him. It was all because of her. If not for her, he’d have known about Celine carrying his kids, his own flesh and blood.

But… Why had Celine been scared, not telling him about her pregnancy or their children? Was it because he had told her he didn’t want any commitments? She must have been scared of his rejection, she must have been afraid that he would refuse their children.

He would never do that to his own children, his own blood, but he didn’t blame her for not knowing that, it was all his fault.

Tristan once again ran his hand through his hair, his eyes glistening, the rims reddened.

It was all his fault, all that while he was suppressing his desires to look for her, to go find her because he was afraid of the emotions he was feeling for her, he felt like she would have a certain control over him and she would ruin his rigid heart.

But now he knew that… She had indeed ruined his rigid heart, she had completely melted it jelly soft, she had melted his heart, the heart he thought had frozen, the heart he thought felt absolutely nothing at all.

’Tristan I Love You.’

Her soft words of confession echoed in his ears.

Regardless of how much she’d suffered because of him, she loved him, regardless of all the pain she had to go through, she loved him, regardless of how unworthy he was of her, she loved him.

Memories began to replay in his head, every single moment holding a deep meaning in his heart, deeper than he would have wanted to allow it, the memories, the emotions, the heart-jolting feelings ran deeper than he could accept, which was what frightened him, scared him away. The gravity of his own feelings for her scared him.

He felt a deep ache in his chest every time he saw her cry, her tears, her disappointment, her pain hurt him deeply, it cut at his heart like a sharp blade. All his life, no one had ever had such an effect on him.

Her laughter, her smile, her joy always felt like a soothing medicine to his heart, her presence always brought warmth into his heart, the kind of warmth he was willing to run away from, willing to avoid, to run away from the pain.

He repeatedly closed his eyes to it, refused to let his heart see, refused to let his heart accept that…

That he loved her…

Tristan shut his eyes, the realization sinking deeply into his chest as his heart beat increased its pace.

He loved her.

He had loved her ever since he set his eyes on her on her wedding day. Her beautiful eyes had captivated his heart, but he refused to accept it.

He had never once believed in love, but he had fallen in love with her at first sight, however, his firm principles and his beliefs had led him to not see it, to not accept it.

Those feelings had been the real reason he got up and left as soon as he saw the sun that morning.

He loved her deeply, so much so he was more than willing to do anything for her, he would be willing to let go of everything for her. If his feelings ran this deeply, how could he be able to turn out like his father, how would he be able to hurt her?

His heart bled for the fact that she had single-handedly carried his children, birthed them all alone without support, then raised them on her own as well, while he was there, struggling to forget the feelings he had for her, struggling to get her out of his head, struggling to push his feelings, his emotions to the back of his head.

But what he hadn’t known was that… Love was a feeling one could never get rid of once it sunk its roots into your heart.

And he had come to realize that the hard way.

Five years ago, it hadn’t been just lust that prompted his desire for her. He had been smitten since he set his eyes on her, her eyes had caught his heart, ensnaring, capturing it in her hold.

As she strode down the aisle towards her groom, her sheer innocence had melted him, she had melted him, from then on, had he accepted his own feelings for her, he wouldn’t have complicated the situation so much.

But he had denied it due to his beliefs and strong aversion towards love and emotions, blinding himself to not see his own heart melting for her.

And now… If he didn’t do something soon enough, he might as well lose her… For the rest of his life.

“Boss.” Kaleb called softly. He could see the depth of emotions in Tristan’s eyes for the first time.

“Get the car ready, Kaleb.” Tristan said, hurriedly getting out of his seat behind the desk.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep