The Cripburn Complex, 1423 Arroyo Place, Southport, New Jersey.....
Trembling hands reached up to flush the toilet bowl as vastly weak in the knees, Charlotte Freedman attempted to get back to her feet following the latest round of morning sickness. If there were ever any doubts about her pregnancy, they had long been erased via nausea and rough mornings that accompanied them. Charlotte didn't have the heart to tell Victor Harlowe that he might be the father of the child, might being the ideal phrase as she wasn't quite sure herself if it had been his. Try as she might, she found herself more than a bit flustered with being ignored and set aside for his convenience and she wasn't in the least pleased by the fact that he refused to acknowledge what they shared all those nights he'd come to her place for a chance to spend the night in her bed when his daughter had been living her life via sleepovers and camping trips without him.
In fact, Charlotte was downright enraged by the treatment she suffered at the hands of the man she had fallen in love with and wanted so badly to make him sorry that he'd ever ignored her and her affection for him. This proved to be a tragic mistake on her part as her rage and feeling unwanted and unloved got the better of her and she found herself seeking a measure of revenge against the grieving widower who had been more inclined to use her body than to actually love her.
She'd poured on a few drinks at a local club and went about flirting with anything on three legs and found herself in the midst of a tall dark and handsome stranger with the most alluring eyes she'd ever seen. His voice was smooth and deep, not so unlike Victor's when he'd been given to passion and it sort of reminded her of him as the stranger whose large hands caressed her body and lead her out into a darkened alleyway.
Ever the fool, especially when drunk, she was all too eager to part her legs for him as he took what she offered without hesitation. She was only aware of his scent, which had been the most appealing thing she'd ever been around, and his deep voice that dripped into her very ears like sweet music she craved from the very depths of the innermost parts of her being. He was a wild and dangerous stranger, once more reminding her of Victor when he'd been drunk and aroused in her presence.
She couldn't help herself as she gave in to him loving every moment of his rough play and animalistic needs until it was over, he had left her in the alley a mess and highly ashamed of having betrayed the man she loved without so much as a word of goodbye. He was gone and she was sick to her stomach, especially when she realized that the encounter could possibly have left her pregnant due to her purposely going off the pill with Victor and their lack of protection on that night.
She was relieved she had not gotten any diseases, but the looming possibility of having a child with a man she had not truly known still haunted her. There was also the possibility that the unborn child could belong to the love of her life and what ramifications her actions that night had on their continued relationship.
Charlotte finished up in the lavatory getting to her feet as she flushed the toilet and moved toward the sink washing her hands and face before tackling the task of brushing her teeth. She knew she'd been pregnant at this time the test and the morning sickness had been big indicators and she'd even gone to see a healthcare professional. There was no more getting around it, she was pregnant but had no idea who the father of her child had been. A mysterious stranger whom she had given into for one night of unyielding passion at her lowest point or the man who had held her heart even as he kept his from her.
Once more Charlotte's mind ventured back to the last time Victor had been in her bed. He seemed at peace in her presence and slept well through the night despite his initial feelings of being involved with her. While she understood that he was still in a good deal of pain from the loss of his wife, she didn't know why he couldn't just let it go and see what else life had to offer him after the cruelty he experienced the first time he took a chance on love.
Charlotte sighed trying her best to calm her nausea as she contended with the images of time spent with Victor Harlowe and the mysterious handsome man who had picked her up at the local bar. She loved the way he made no apologies for his desire for her, it slightly reminded her of Victor when he'd been under the influence of alcohol. The two men seemed to have a good deal in common when their needs became priority over anything else both even had an almost animalistic sense of themselves when given to passion and she enjoyed being with both of them but she'd been head over heels in love with Victor whom had been a kind and compassionate man caring for his only child the best way he knew how. Of the two men, she had no doubt in her mind that Victor would have been a much better father.
It took some doing, but once Charlotte cleaned herself up. She gathered the courage to tell the man she loved directly that there was a possibility that he had sired her unborn child.
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The Vaunt Apartment Complex, Southport, New Jersey.....
It was an eerie feeling that had come over Charlotte Freedman when she arrived at The Vaunt complex in search of Victor Harlowe. She had attempted to reach him at the school, but it was reported that there had been no sign of him since the previous afternoon and that everyone else was trying desperately to get in touch with him. Word had been going around that Savannah had disappeared as well as she wasn't with the Runnels family and Victor had not even bothered to call in. Upon hearing this, Charlotte decided to chance venturing to his apartment complex only to see a good deal of damage and caution tape outside the place as many a neighbor stared out at the scene.
Victor's apartment had broken glass and quite a few signs that something terrible had happened. The worst had been the numerous detectives scribbling and the flashing of light of cameras as the news outlets attempted to break the rather tragic story. There was no sign of theft but there was a good deal of blood and broken glass inside along with empty bottles of wine and the sheet-covered body of the deceased left behind in the chaos.
Charlotte almost vomited from the scent of blood and death that had been all around an apartment she often found herself visiting in a more intimate fashion whenever Victor dialed her up on the phone. One of the officers stopped her as she headed inside unsure of what to make of what was happening.
"Ma'am do you live here?" he asked. "I'm afraid I can't have you disturbing our crime scene."
"What happened?" asked Charlotte devastated by the scene despite not knowing what was going on. "Where is Victor?
"You know the deceased?" asked the officer sadly. "I'm sorry for your loss miss, but there was nothing anything we could do...by the time we got the call from concerned neighbors he was already gone."
Charlotte pushed passed the officer not willing to believe that Victor Harlowe, the man she loved was dead. Not when he had so much to live for, not when he had children to raise. There was no sign of Savannah anywhere despite all the blood, Charlotte wondered if she even knew her father was dead.
Still moving toward the sheet-covered body huddled against the nearby wall in the living room, Charlotte found herself unable to move any further as tears began to stream down her cheeks, beneath the sheet, she took note of the hand protruding from it and recognized Victor's wedding ring. He never took it off, aside from their intimate moments, and always quickly put it back on whenever they parted. It had been on his finger even now and only confirmed what she had feared most when she first arrived at his apartment complex amid the chaos.
"Victor..." she said taken aback by the sight of him.
All at once the tears kept coming as she thought of the final moments she spent with him and how she had feared telling him that he could have been the father of her unborn child, Charlotte's wayward hands found her belly and she realized that he would never know about the child and that she had wasted the chance to inform him when he'd been in her bed, much too terrified to tell the truth right then and there no matter his reaction.
Suddenly the thought of Victor's child came to her and she approached the officer.
"Victor's daughter is missing as well," she said. "If this is related...you have to find her...she's already lost so much...and to lose her father as well..."
"We are doing everything we can Ma'am." said the young officer with a sad expression filed across his pale face. "We have an A.P.B. out on the daughter as we speak."
Charlotte turned her attention back to the deceased Victor Harlowe. She had loved him with every fiber of her being, even when he'd been too stubborn to acknowledge it. She watched as his body was loaded onto a stretcher and the paramedics wheeled him away careful not to remove the blood-covered sheet that draped over his lifeless body.
Once more, she placed a hand on her belly as her thoughts traveled back to her unborn child. If Victor Harlowe had truly been the father, then it was to be his final gift to the world and to her and his daughter Savannah.