Chapter 126: Chapter 126

It was raining cats and dogs once again, exactly as it had been raining on that fateful day when Carol had left him till now. Sebastian was sitting in his aunt's house, sipping a mug of hot coffee and ignoring everything that she was currently saying. He looked like a shadow of himself, which was not a surprise, considering the fact that most times, all he did was drink and have to deal with a nagging Jessica, who was still in his house, even though he had taken her name off the deed to the house. Because of her, he was hardly ever in his house again, but preferred to stay here at his aunt's for a better part of the time he was not working himself to death ... literally.

"Are you even listening to anything I'm saying, Sebastian?" Mrs. James asked, shaking him a little to get his attention.

"No, aunt. I can't say that I am. I'm sorry, but I think I zoned out a little there. What were you saying?" He asked finally. Mrs. James shook her head, reminding him of when he was still a recalcitrant teenager, whose specialty was getting himself into trouble that he could not bail himself out of. She usually had this same look of disappointment and shook her head just like she had done whenever she and his uncle arrived to bail him out.

"What are you doing about finding your wife?" Mrs. James asked patiently. Sebastian had gotten tired of drinking coffee, so he got up, went over to the mini bar, and poured himself some liquor before coming back to sit down beside her again.

"Isn't it too early to start drinking, Sebastian? She's still your wife, anyway, isn't she?" Mrs. James asked disapprovingly.

"Yes, she is. I've not received any divorce notice, and I'm hoping not to receive any. Since she does not want to give in to gentle pleas, she's surely going to have to bow to my threats."

"What on earth do you mean by that?" Mrs. James asked, wringing her hands worriedly. She was all for Carol coming back into their lives, but the way Sebastian seemed to want to approach the matter was not good at all.

"I've sent countless mails and letters to her dad's house since I don't have her number and her dad is refusing to answer my calls or texts. I don't know if that's where she's staying for now, but I've been swamped with work and have not been able to go there. I plan to go there really soon though, to find out, and to confront her. She can't just walk away when the contract is not over yet and take my unborn child with her so that I do not know how they are faring or anything like that. If it comes to threatening her to return, I'm not above doing it."

"You enjoy having her mad at you, don't you? By your own admission, you did not take the news of the pregnancy well at all. What did you expect her to do, huh?"

"Well, I made a mistake. Everyone does. What she should have done was give me the benefit of a doubt. I get that she got angry too, but ignoring me the way she's been doing for the past month is not acceptable at all. The least she could do is let me know that she's alright." Sebastian argued, the words sounding hollow even to his own years, but he was quite desperate. He desperately needed to know how Carol was faring and how she was coping, considering that she refused to touch even a penny of the money that his uncle had given her in his will, and the one that he had given her as the settlement when the terms of their contract elapsed. He knew that she was not using the money because he monitored the account closely, but nothing happened.

Each time he thought of Carol's pain ravaged and tear-streaked face the last time he saw her, it felt as though a dagger was piercing through his heart. He had hurt Carol badly, and so it was not a surprise that even her father wanted nothing to do with him and refused to answer any of his inquiries about her. He supposed he deserved the torture, but then, in his opinion, he had been tortured enough. He would rather die than let his child be raised in penury, which was obviously what Carol intended to do because of her unreasonable pride. She was most likely somewhere, working at a menial job to make ends meet just to prove a point to him. He knew just how stubborn and proud she could be. She had even dumped her car, the one that she got away in, at a parking lot on the outskirts of town, no doubt knowing that there was a tracker in it and she did not want him to find her. So each day, he tortured himself with thoughts regarding where she was, what she was doing, and how she was faring. He became aware that his aunt was talking again and that he had zoned out again.

"Sorry, aunt. I did not get that." He said sheepishly, smiling a little.

"When do you intend on going over to her house? I'm bored and I could use the adventure or journey. Besides, I plan to put in a good word for you, although I don't know if it's going to be effective or not."

"We can go right now if you don't mind. I really need to see her for myself and make sure that she's okay. God! I've missed everything about her so very much." Sebastian breathed, hardly able to believe that he was saying such a thing out to his aunt's hearing, but knowing that it was true.

"I'm glad you fulfilled your uncle's last wish, which was to see you happy, in love, and settled. I have no doubt that he died a happy man, Sebastian. Thank you for giving him that." Mrs. James said quietly.

"Ho...How did you know I'm in love with her, aunt?"

Mrs. James gave a little laugh at that question. "Just listen to yourself, my dear. For the past one month, you've been worried sick about her and have been drinking yourself to a stupor. However, even before now, it was very obvious. Your uncle noticed it before he died and mentioned it to me, saying how happy and pleased he was with himself, considering that Carol always looked at you as though you hung on the moon and was clearly in love with you too. You always get this sparkle in your eyes when you talk about her, or when you see her. I've never seen you this way before, not even in all the years you and Jessica spent together."

"Wow. I'm surprised that you think that way. I'm also not so pleased that you have managed to make me sound like a sappy queen, but I'll take it that way, I guess."

"You don't have a choice, my dear. It is what it is. Alright, let me ask them to get the plane ready and go prepare so that we can go. I think it is about five hours journey or less, so if we want to come back early today, I say that we get going immediately. Let's go and find your wife and child."

Before long, they were on their way to Philadelphia, where Carol's parents lived, and on their way to Carol's old house. It had been almost two years since he had come here, but the memory of this place remained as fresh as the last time he was here when he had come to get married to a stranger who he knew nothing about. If anyone had told him that almost two years later, he would be so in love with the said stranger that he would find it difficult to live without her, he would have laughed out loud in their faces. However, here he was.

The big house looked deserted, even though a gateman had let them in, meaning that it was still in use. Sebastian shuddered inwardly, wondering if this was where Carol was living and planning to raise his child. The place looked like one of those houses that were used in movies as haunted houses. There were overgrown grasses everywhere and the lawns looked so unkempt. Looking at his aunt's face, Sebastian could see that she felt the same way he felt about the house.

Nonetheless, they got to the door and Sebastian knocked loudly, but there was no answer, even though he could hear faint music coming from somewhere. So he kept knocking loudly until finally, the door opened, and an equally unkempt-looking Belinda opened it, glaring at him and his aunt, and peering at them suspiciously, before finally recognizing who they were. Her face relaxed a little, but she did not seem any more friendly than she did when she first opened the door.

"What do you want?" She asked belligerently, her breath reeking of stale alcohol.