Chapter 71

Audrey
I am very confused. Why is all this happening to me? I hope everything Muse said about Pen is just a bunch of lies. If so, I'm in deep trouble.
"Can you at least tell me something? What am I supposed to do now? Where are you going?" I successively ask him questions, worried.
"Look, right now I have to go. I promise I'll contact you when I'm out of town." He reassures me with a more poised air.
"Are you sure? And why do you want to run away? What are you afraid of? Was Muse right about what she said?"
"Of course not my darling! I did absolutely nothing of everything she told you. Muse is just a great myth who sows chaos wherever she goes." He tells me sincerely.
"But if you say you are innocent of all these charges, why are you running away? You should stay and clear your honor." I pleaded.
"No my beautiful. Things are not that simple. Muse has probably already told lots of lies to Mr. Hawam who will surely come after me. He has money and power. I'm sure that he will have me locked up without even giving me the opportunity to justify myself."
"It's true that you're right. However, how come Muse accused you of being the lover of Pauline, our uncle's wife?" I questioned him with a suspicious look.
"I've already told you my darling. Your sister is a big mytho. She fabricated this lie to harm me. I am Pauline's brother. And indeed, I lived with your uncle during the period when Muse was there. was. Believe me my sweet, I regret with all my heart to have crossed the path of your sister." He tells me about the look filled with disappointment.
"Ah yes? And why so?" I hasten to ask him, more and more curious to hear his version of the facts.
"Your sister told lies about me to your uncle. She got me in trouble, and your poor uncle's wife, poor thing! She accused me of raping and abusing her. And as if that weren't enough, she accused me of being your uncle's wife's lover and that we were sleeping together on their marital bed. Your uncle and I had become dog and cat between us. Muse liked to stir up trouble and that's what she managed to do at your uncle's house. However, I found out that she dated several men and slept with them to the point of getting pregnant. When she saw her game being laid bare, she ran away from home and we never saw her again."
I listen carefully to Pen telling me about Muse's misdeeds. Why am I not surprised to hear this? This girl is truly a walking danger.
"Do you understand why I have to go?"
"I understand my love. I'm so sorry for everything she put you through!"
I felt so bad for him.
"Thank you darling!"
"But I don't understand why this relentlessness against you. What did you do to him?" I questioned him.
"Sweetheart, your sister had her sights set on me, whereas I just thought of her as a little sister. She made advances to me for a long time, but I always declined them. That's why 'She got mad at me and wants to destroy my life.
"I understand the poor thing! You are very beautiful, she couldn't resist your charm." I add.
"And I'm sure she's jealous of you. But let me tell you, she's no match for her. You're a beauty goddess in front of her." He complimented me.
"Thank you my love!" I replied with a smile.
"I have something to tell you." I spoke again, becoming more serious.
"Ah yes? Can't this wait? I have to go now." He replied in a hurry.
"I am pregnant !" I let go without waiting for him to give me permission.
"Excuse me? Are you kidding me?" He hastens to question me, letting out a nervous laugh.
I'm surprised to see Pen's reaction. Yet he told me he loved me. Why does he seem not to like what I just told him? What's going on ?
"Of course not! How can you think I could joke about such a sensitive topic?" I tell him, offended by his words.
Pen looks at me without saying a word. He doesn't seem to be happy to hear this news. And me imagining how he was going to jump for joy and take me in his arms. He always told me he would be happy for me to carry his child.
"Say something my love! Why are you standing there staring at me?"
"It's just, I'm just surprised by the news. I didn't expect it at all."
"But you said you would be the happiest man on earth if I carried your child?!"
"Yes, but not under such circumstances. How do you expect me to welcome the news, if I have to leave here?" He asks me.
"Well, it's simple! You just have to marry me. Then things will be back to normal. I can go with you." I proposed to him with a broad smile.
"No, I don't think that's a good idea. You have to have an abortion."
I thought Pen was playing a joke on me, despite the firm tone in which he said it, and the serious look he gave me.
"You're kidding I hope?!"
"No. Besides, I've never been so serious." He replies in a firm tone.
"But are you crazy? How can you think about abortion? We made this child who did not ask to be born, and we will take our responsibility to welcome him." I replied without batting an eyelid.
"Understand me my love, I would have been very happy for this pregnancy in other circumstances. But right now, when I don't even know where to go, do you think this child wouldn't complicate the situation?" He told me in a soft voice, trying to coax me.
"Whatever the situation, I'm never going to abort this child! You realize it, it's the fruit of our love!"
"In that case, you'll have to raise him on your own. Forget about me!" Pen said looking me straight in the eye.
"You can't do this! You promised me..."
I hold Pen's foot to keep him from coming out, but he pushes me with his foot, throwing me away from him and I fall on my ass. I run to catch him when he's outside the door, but he gives me a most resounding slap. He leaves leaving me alone in his office. I sit on the floor, then I start crying in pain, not physical, but emotional.
Muse
I stayed a little longer with my father.
"So why did you come to see me at work?" He asks me when calm returned.
"Ah dad! It's because of Euniel. I was at his clinic before I came here." I answer him in a voice filled with sadness and disappointment.
"What happened? Why this downcast look?" My father inquired, becoming more curious.
"Dad, Euniel disappointed me a lot. Guess he practically confessed to me that he doubts us."
"How so? I don't quite understand." My father replies looking confused.
"You know, I went to see him to find out if he had indeed returned and to ask him why he hadn't come to see us, since we were supposed to meet at the house when he returned, to talk about the death. from her father further points on the search for mama." I explain to my father who listens to me attentively.
"Yes, and what happened?" My father asked me more curiously.
"Well, Euniel told me that he no longer wants to work with us on the search for his mother. That he prefers to do his research on his own."
"And you asked him why he made such a decision?"
"Yes. He replied that he prefers to work alone because no one is going to know about the information he is going to discover. He suspects someone between you and me of leaking information to those who are keeping his mother captive. He thinks that's why we killed his father." I tell my father who listens to me religiously.
"Ah! To tell you the truth, I'm not surprised at his reaction. Anyone in his place would have had doubts about those he works with. But I believed at least that he could have given us the benefit of the doubt." My father told me in a calm tone.
"Me too, I never would have believed that he would have doubts towards us. And the worst thing is that he listens to his fiancée and it was she who asked him to be wary of us."
"Don't be hard on him. He's lost right now and he'll grab anything to get his head above water, even if it's a snake."
"What pisses me off is that he listens to this...Sandra and kicks us out like rotten old socks." I say angry.
"I think you're jealous there."
"But no!" I denied.
"Yes my angel! It was Sandra who snatched the man you love from you, and now she's managed to get him away from you. That's why you're more pissed off."
My father hit the nail on the head.
"Well, maybe you're right. This girl is annoying me. How can she get such twisted ideas into Euniel's mind? Besides, he listens to her as if her word were the gospel. You know that 'they're getting married in less than a month?
"As fast?" My father asked looking surprised.
"That's what Euniel told me. I think she took advantage of the situation to achieve her goal. Anyway, I wish them a lot of happiness and I hope not to cross paths with her again. Euniel." I say in a bitter voice.
"I'm sorry my daughter! You'll see, everything will work out for you eventually." My father reassures me.
"No dad. I don't have hope for that anymore. Besides, I can't accept someone who doubts me. It's his life, and he can do what he wants with it." I answered with discouragement.