Chapter 35: Before His World Shattered

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Before His World Shattered

~Frederick’s POV~

"Yes, I’m entirely certain," the man confirmed. "And to make matters worse... the woman Mr. Blake is married to now, the one currently playing the role of the wicked stepmother, was actually that first wife’s best friend. And..."

The line crackled slightly.

"And what?!" I demanded, my voice rising.

"And she was having an affair with her best friend’s husband," the investigator continued. "She even had two children with him while her friend was struggling to conceive."

My jaw tightened. "Go on."

"When the first wife discovered that her husband had fathered two children with her best friend while she was struggling to conceive, she decided to leave the marriage. But before she could walk away, she found out that she was pregnant too. She carried the baby to term, gave birth, and passed away shortly afterward."

I went silent for a moment, trying to process what I had just heard.

"How could she die just after giving birth?" I asked, my voice strained. "Was she sick or something?"

"According to the report, she was in labor for several hours before she was finally taken to the hospital. By the time she arrived, she was already extremely weak. She managed to give birth to the baby, but she died shortly afterward."

My grip tightened around the phone as anger boiled inside me.

Damn, these people were pure evil.

So his mother had been dead all along.

That was why they had kept lying to him, dangling the promise of seeing her over his head and using it as leverage to control him. They had told him they would let him meet her when he turned twenty-two, knowing full well that she was no longer alive.

A profound wave of grief and anger washed over me for Reynold.

He had spent years enduring unimaginable abuse, holding on to the desperate hope that one day he would finally see his mother.

How could anyone do this to him?

"Do you know where she was buried?" I asked, my voice dangerously low.

"Yes. All the details have been sent to your email."

"Alright. Dig deeper into her family," I said. "I want to know everything about them, every detail, every piece of history. I’m going to make those bastards pay for everything they’ve done to him."

"Right away, sir. I’ll look into it."

"Alright. Thanks."

I ended the call and let my hand fall to my side.

I stood alone on the dark balcony for a long while, my mind racing as I tried to process everything I had just learned.

What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say?

I couldn’t just drop this on Reynold. It would completely shatter him. Yet, I couldn’t keep it from him either. He needed to know the truth. He needed to understand that his mother wasn’t locked away somewhere, that she wasn’t coming back, and that his father and stepmother had been manipulating him all these years.

"But how was I supposed to tell him something like that without completely breaking him?"

For nineteen years, he had endured relentless torment while holding on by a thread, all because he believed he would see his mother again someday.

I let out a heavy, shuddering sigh and ran a hand down my face.

Steeling myself, I stepped back through the glass doors and into the warmth of the room.

It was going to crush him. There was no doubt about that. But living a lie was worse. I would figure out how to tell him. I always did.

As I walked back in, Reynold raised his head from the table and looked up at me with a soft, genuine smile. "You’re back."

"Yeah," I murmured, forcing my expression to remain calm.

He tilted his head, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly as he studied my face. "Is everything okay? Your voice sounded different when you were talking."

"Yes," I lied smoothly, walking back to my seat. "It was just a long business call that stressed me out."

He gave me a sympathetic look and reached a hand across the table. "Take a deep breath. Is there any way I can help?"

A bittersweet ache twisted in my chest. I offered him a faint smile and covered his hand with mine. "You don’t have to worry about a thing, little pet. I’ll be fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked softly, searching my eyes.

I nodded slowly, holding his gaze. "Yes."

Reynold nodded slowly before standing up from his seat. He picked up the bottle, poured a fresh glass of wine, and handed it to me with a soft expression. "Drink your stress away."

I took the glass from his hand. We stared at each other across the table in silence for a long moment.

He tilted his head. "Are you sure everything is fine?"

"Yes," I murmured, watching the way the amber lights caught his eyes. "It’s just... there’s something you need to know."

"What’s that?" he asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Tomorrow, I’ll tell you," I said, pushing the heavy truth back into the dark corners of my mind for tonight. "For now, let’s celebrate."

He looked at me searchingly for a beat before offering a soft, yielding nod. "Okay. But stop looking so sad... it worries me."

I smiled at him and patted my thigh. "Come here," I told him.

Reynold stood up, holding his wine glass in one hand, but as he tried to walk around the table, his steps wobbled and he nearly tripped.

I reached out instantly, catching him by the waist before he could fall. "You’ve had way too much to drink."

He planted himself right on my lap, straddling my thighs with a hazy, defiant smile. "I only drank a little."

"This isn’t a little, you’re completely drunk."

"That’s not true," he mumbled, blinking heavily. "I can still see you clearly."

"That’s only because I’m sitting right in front of you."

Before I could say anything else, he tilted his head back, drained the rest of the wine in his glass, and leaned in close. He left just a faint trace of it on his lips, set the glass aside on the table, and whispered against my mouth, "Kiss me."

"Reynold, are you..."

He didn’t give me a chance to finish. He crashed his lips against mine, sliding his hands around my neck, and breathed right into my ear, "I’m hot... and I feel so horny right now."

He pulled back, his chest rising and falling as he locked his flushed gaze onto mine. "Please... fuck me, Daddy."

I stared at him. I knew it was the alcohol talking, but hearing those words, coming from this usually guarded, stubborn boy, sent a sharp jolt straight through me. Under normal circumstances, I would have dragged him straight to bed without a second thought. But with the heavy weight of what I had just learned about his mother pressing down on my chest, my mind felt clouded, struggling to fully catch up to the heat of the moment.

Reynold didn’t wait for me to answer. He grabbed my hand, pressed it flat against his thigh, and guided it lower, slipping my fingers past the waistband of his trousers until my palm met the hot, bare skin of his cock.

"I’m hard for you, Daddy... take me," he whimpered, pressing his lips to the sensitive skin just below my ear and sucking softly.

That broke whatever hesitation I had left.

I wrapped my hand fully around him and stroked slowly. Reynold gasped, hips bucking up into my fist, but he shook his head. "I want more."

I pulled my hand out from his trousers, gripped his hips, and stood him up. With a few quick, rough movements, I stripped his trousers and underwear away, letting his heavy, throbbing cock spring free into the cool air.

Reynold didn’t hesitate. He pulled off his thick hoodie and let every piece of clothing drop until he was standing completely naked right in front of me, shivering slightly from the ocean breeze.

I reached out, my hands sliding over his warm skin, tracing the smooth lines of his chest and stomach before wrapping my fingers securely around his hard, weeping cock.

Reynold let out a long, ragged groan, his head falling back against my shoulder.

Without giving him another second to beg, I stood up, hooked my arms under his thighs, and lifted him effortlessly onto the edge of the dining table. I pushed his legs wide apart, spreading him open for me, then pulled my chair forward and sat right between his thighs.

He was completely exposed to me, hips trembling, thick cock standing hard and leaking, twitching with every shallow breath.

"Daddy, please... suck me," Reynold begged, voice cracking into a desperate whine as his fingers tangled in my hair and pulled me closer.

I didn’t make him wait. I sealed my lips around the slick head, swirling my tongue over the tip before sinking down and taking him deep.

A high, broken cry tore from his throat. His hips jerked forward helplessly as I worked him in slow, wet strokes, tongue dragging along the underside, lips tight, sucking him with deliberate, torturous pressure until he was sobbing my name into the quiet room.

Slurp. Slip.

The wet, filthy sounds of my mouth filled the space between us, drowning out the distant crash of waves outside. Every time I took him to the base, Reynold’s thighs clamped tighter around my shoulders, his heels drumming a frantic rhythm against the legs of the chair.

"Ah... fuck, Daddy—" he choked out, fingers locking in my hair, his grip tightening as he tried to push deeper into my throat.

I swallowed around him, letting my teeth graze lightly along his length before pulling off with a sharp, wet pop, then immediately taking him all the way back down. Thick pre-come coated my tongue. I gripped the firm curves of his ass with both hands and pulled him flush against my face, sucking him harder, faster.

His breathing turned ragged. His whole body trembled, chest heaving, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes as the pleasure pushed him right to the edge.

"Suck, Daddy... faster, please!" he begged, his voice thick with need.

I pulled his hips right to the edge of the table, spreading him open.