The Con Man

Chapter Thirty-Two

The next morning Belle woke up early and decided to cook breakfast for them. She had no clue where this all was leading but she was going to handle it one day at a time. She was not going to rush or make any more stupid decisions and she liked being around Alex. He was like a drug, bad for her but she couldn't get enough of him. Belle brushed her teeth and took her clothes out from her bag, which she had gotten from her apartment yesterday evening.

She headed down to the kitchen and looked around as to what to prepare for breakfast. She decided to make scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Belle got to work humming as she cracked the eggs into the bowl.

Alex came down the stairs and stopped when he saw the scene in front of him. Belle was in the kitchen cooking. Alex's heart filled with contentment as he saw her work her way around the kitchen. He could stand here and watch her all day. God, how he wanted to wake up to this every morning and come back home to all of this in the evening, to his family.

"Smells good in here" Alex commented.

Belle yelped and nearly dropped the spatula she was holding.

"I was making breakfast. Hope you don't mind"

"Why would I? Hazel is still asleep. She does sleep a lot."

"Yes she does. It is a great blessing for me. Even as baby she was very easy and rarely cried at night. I didn't know what I would have done if she had been a fretful baby."

Alex wished he was there with her through her pregnancy. He wished he was there to hold her hand when she gave birth to their baby girl.

"Belle, last time I heard you were married to Ethan. How come you ended up in San Jose?"

Belle loaded two plates with food and came around the counter and handed Alex his plate and then she settled next to him on a stool.

"It is a long story Alex."

"Please Belle, tell me this one. I am dying here not knowing how you ended up like this. Just tell me this and rest all can wait."

"Alright..."Belle said quietly and Alex saw the pain and hurt in her eyes and he held her hand.

"The night I left from office for dinner with dad, he wanted to tell me something. Over dinner he told me that he wished me to marry Ethan as this would be beneficial for the company. We had a fight and I told him I couldn't answer him. I left from there to come over to your place and on the way I was kidnapped. Then you know what happened. Daniel told me things and I heard a recording of you and him discussing plans and it broke me beyond repair. I already had a bad past when it came to relationships and this just made everything worse. The only thing I remembered from that night was passing out and last thing I heard was you coming in." Belle looked at Alex for his reaction but his face was blank from any emotion. He squeezed her hand and motioned her to continue.

"Few days later dad came to my place and asked me again to marry and I said yes. I wasn't thinking at that time. All I wanted was to forget the pain I had and never experience love again. I wanted my life back on track. Ethan is a nice guy, Alex. He understood that I couldn't give him anything and he also handled our marriage like a business deal. However I couldn't forget you. I came to visit you but I didn't have it in me to see you. Soon we were married and then on our honeymoon----"

"Honeymoon!?" Alex exclaimed.

"It was for name sake. During that I found out I was pregnant and Ethan wanted me to tell you but I couldn't. I didn't want you to be part of my life." Alex winced at the last part.

"So we decided to keep it to ourselves for the time being but I guess Ethan told to my father. He was worried about me but my father had something else in mind. He used this and asked me to divorce Ethan. He said I cheated on Ethan and he couldn't let me ruin the family name. I didn't know my father was playing such a big game and Ethan was just his pawn. He had it in the pre nuptials that I would give up the company to Ethan after our divorce. He had tricked me into signing them. He never wanted me to take over the company. He believed I couldn't handle it. I guess the major reason was I wasn't even his blood."