Chapter 37: The Truth About My Mother

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: The Truth About My Mother

~Frederick’s POV~

"What have I ever done to deserve this kind of treatment? This is too much!"

"I’m so sorry, Reynold," I whispered. "You’ve done nothing wrong. None of this is your fault. Listen to me."

He looked up at me, his chest heaving as tears streamed down his cheeks. He waited for me to say something, anything that could make the pain inside him a little easier to bear.

"I understand how you’re feeling right now," I began, trying to keep my voice steady. "I understand that this is painful, and I know everything must feel overwhelming right now. But you have to try to calm down and—"

Reynold didn’t let me finish. He violently shook his head, shoving my hands away as a bitter, broken laugh tore from his throat.

"No, you don’t understand, Frederick!" he screamed, his voice cracking with years of buried pain. "How could you possibly understand what I’m feeling? You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth! You’ve had everything handed to you since the day you were born. You were loved, protected, treated like royalty while the whole world bowed at your feet. Your life and mine are completely different!"

He buried his face in his hands for a moment, his entire body trembling before he looked back at me through tear-filled eyes.

"Since the moment I came into this world, all I’ve ever known is pain and hatred. I did nothing wrong. I was just an innocent baby! While you were growing up surrounded by love and protection, I ate alone in my cold room. I played by myself. I talked to myself because no one else would talk to me. I was completely alone. I couldn’t even complain, because the moment I opened my mouth, they would lock me away and punish me all over again."

His words hit me harder than I expected. I sat there, listening as years of pain finally poured out of him.

"You’re trying to comfort me, Frederick, but you don’t know what it feels like to be unwanted!" he sobbed, his hands curling into tight fists against his knees. "You don’t know what it feels like to spend nineteen years waiting for your mother, believing she was somewhere out there, only to find out she was gone from the very beginning. I endured everything because I believed I would see her one day. And now I find out that my whole life was built on a lie!"

I sat there frozen, his words leaving me completely speechless. For once, I had no idea what to say. Nothing I said could bridge the distance between the life he had lived and the one I had known.

"Alright, maybe I don’t understand your pain the way you do," I replied softly, holding his gaze. "But there’s one thing I know for sure, I don’t want to see you cry like this, Reynold. I don’t want you hurting yourself or making yourself sick. I know nothing I say right now can take away your pain, but you have to try to calm down and think about what you want to do next. Whatever decision you make, I’ll be here to support you."

He sniffled, wiping at his cheeks with the back of his hand, though fresh tears immediately slipped down to replace them. "It just hurts so bad... my heart is really breaking."

"Hey," I murmured, reaching out to cup his jaw. "If there’s anything you need me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll always be here for you."

"Then help me kill my family. All of them except my sister. The rest of them are wicked. Can you kill them for me?"

I stared at him, my heart tightening at the pain behind his words. "I know you’re hurting, but you don’t really want them dead," I said gently. "You’re not that kind of person, Reynold."

Reynold let out a shaky, hollow breath. "I can’t even believe it. They must have enjoyed playing with me while controlling every second of my life. But... It’s okay. At least I finally know. It was all a lie anyway, that’s why they wanted to get rid of me before I turned twenty-two and found out the truth by sending me away to Mr. Mike."

"Reynold," I called out, my chest tightening.

He offered a weak smile.

"It’s okay, Mr. Corvin. I’ll be fine."

I watched him quietly for a moment as he looked away, retreating further into himself. I moved closer to him and pulled him into a firm, grounding hug, resting my chin against his hair.

"You’re going to be fine."

"Thank you," he whispered against my chest. "Thank you for helping look for her."

"It’s fine. You don’t have to thank me."

He pulled back slightly, his red, swollen eyes searching mine.

"Can you... Can you help me find where she was buried? And maybe a picture of what she looked like?"

Even though I already had all the information sitting in my inbox, I hesitated. I didn’t want to shatter him any further today. I decided I would tell him about the grave later. But right now, there was another piece of the puzzle he needed to hear.

"There’s something else you need to know," I said gently.

He blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What?"

I took a slow breath, carefully choosing my words. "Your mother, Reynold... she was never your father’s mistress, despite all the horrible things they told you about her. She was his legal wife, the first wife. She never seduced him or forced herself into his life like they made you believe. And the woman who has treated you so badly all these years, the woman who made you believe those lies about your mother... was actually your mother’s best friend."

Reynold froze.

He stared at me in disbelief, slowly wiping the remaining tears from his cheeks. "What did you... What did you say?"

I explained everything to him in detail, how his mother’s best friend had an affair with his father and had children with him while his mother struggled to conceive; how his mother discovered the betrayal and decided to leave; and how, just before she could walk away, she found out she was pregnant with him, only to die in labor after everything she had endured.

Reynold listened to every word without interrupting. But halfway through my explanation, something changed.

His tears stopped. The trembling in his lower lip disappeared, and his eyes slowly went dry.

Before I could finish, he suddenly let out a sharp laugh.

He threw off the duvet, climbed out of bed completely naked, and began pacing back and forth across the room for a few seconds before turning toward me with an intensity that sent a chill down my spine.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice completely different from the devastated one I had heard moments ago.

"I’m absolutely sure," I answered, taken aback by his sudden change.

A breathless grin spread across his face. He hurried back to me, climbed onto my lap, and kissed me.

When he pulled away, his eyes were bright with an almost unsettling excitement.

"That’s great! That’s fucking perfect, Mr. Corvin!" he blurted out, a strange excitement dancing in his voice. "I seriously don’t even have to cry anymore. You were right!"

I stared at him, completely bewildered. "Reynold... are you okay?"

"Yes!" he answered immediately. "I always wanted to know the truth, but I never knew it was going to be this beautiful!"

I frowned at him. "How on earth is any of this beautiful?"

He leaned forward and kissed me again before pulling away.

"Never mind. I’m going to freshen up," he chirped, climbing off my lap. "And please, Mr. Corvin, order my breakfast. Make sure it’s a lot of food. Now I can actually enjoy your money, and going to university is going to be so much fun."

With that, he turned and practically skipped toward the bathroom.

I sat frozen on the mattress, my mind spinning.

How could someone who had been sobbing his heart out moments ago suddenly become this happy? What was going on inside his head?

"Little pet!" I called toward the bathroom. "Are you sure you’re okay?"

"I’m fine, sugar daddy!" he called back through the open door.

I blinked, my jaw dropping. "What did you just call me?"

A second later, he stepped out of the bathroom naked and sauntered toward the bed with a playful sway in his step. He crawled across the mattress, stopping in front of me with a wicked smirk.

"Sugar daddy."

"Reynold," I warned, reaching out and catching his chin. "Did I say something wrong just now, or..."