The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress
Chapter 146

Trigger warning: This trigger warning may prove triggering to some as it mentions stillbirth etc: Please don't read if this may be triggering to you. Grayson POV

It's as cold and sterile as I expected, the so-called prisoners milling about casually while security keeps a wary eye on them. I'm led down a long corridor and into a room where she is sitting at a table, her eyes expectantly raised towards the doorway where she is waiting for me. Her hands are neatly placed in front of her and there's a guard behind her. She wears a nightgown and a white robe. She looks different from what I expected. Although to be honest, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Her hair is knotted and matted, unbrushed and disheveled. Her eyes are bleak and her complexion is pale. Her clothes are clean but scruffy and she has slippers on her feet. If she's trying to blend in with the rest of the prisoners she's doing a good job, but I'm not fooled by her appearance, not one bit. This is just another ploy to ensure she doesn't go to jail. Another way to get sympathy for the hard done by heiress. I walk into the room and sit on the chair opposite, unfazed by the look on her face or the small smile that curves on her lip. If she thinks she's going to incite fear into me she's got another thing coming.Many paragraphs are missing. Read the complete book on Jo b n ib.c om. Her baby bump is big, almost bigger than Flairs and she absently rubs it while looking at me. "Grayson," she says delightedly "you came to see me."

I raise a brow "I grew sick of your damn lawyer hounding me and Flair day and night. I want it to stop Charlotte. Now." She laughs. It chills me to the core. "Well if you had just come, he wouldn't have had to" she practically sings. "Cut the crap" I growl "I don't appreciate my wife being disturbed in this difficult time for her."

"Oh yes" she breathes as though realizing "She's what, eight months now, just like me?" she says sweetly "How is darling Flair's pregnancy going?" she spits out as I glare at her. "None of your business," I said moodily.

"What are you having Grayson? Boy or girl?" she continues in that annoying sing-song voice that makes me want to wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze until she can't breathe "What gender are you having? Why don't we see if I can guess?" "How about you cut the f*****g games and tell me what you want," I say, pinning her with a gaze.

She laughs. "Well I would have thought it was obvious," she says as though uncertain as to why I didn't know "I mean, clearly, I need somebody to take the baby when it's born."

I inhale sharply. This was not what I had expected. Not at all. "Your mother," I said calmly "can take care of her granddaughter."

"My mother is gone," she said calmly, leaning back and regarding me silently "She's left. Washed her hands of me for good and decided she couldn't handle having a daughter in the insane asylum. We both know she should be in here with me" she whispered behind her hand and glancing around "my mother is just as crazy as I am."

"The father. Where is Ferryweather?" I demand.

She stares at me. I deflate.

Mr Ferryweather had committed suicide two days before. He hadn't been able to handle the constant scrutiny of his affair with Charlotte not to mention the time he would be spending behind bars. He'd hung himself in his cell with his bedsheet before his trial could even take place or his verdict given. It was a stupid idea to even suggest him but I was desperate. "Mr Ferryweather's family," I said.

"His parents are dead and he had no siblings" Charlotte supplied, leaning back and regarding me with a triumphant smile.

"You can't be serious Charlotte?"

But she looked deadly serious as she regarded me. It brought shivers to my spine.

"This baby bears the Deluca name," she said solemnly "and it needs to be brought up by a Deluca. I'm not going to be allowed to raise it here and it needs to go to someone, even if I hate that b***h Flair, you guys are the only other family I have besides Grandfather" she scowls.

I cringe. I can't ask this of Flair. It's too much for any woman to take on. Our own child is due within the month and she's going to be flat out. Asking her to raise another child, not hers would be selfish and hurtful. Add to that being Charlotte's and she would no doubt lose her cool. I didn't even know what I was feeling about this.

"You hate me, why ask me to do it?"

Charlotte peers off into space "You're the only one who would show any caring towards it. I don't want my child to grow up as I did with my mother" There was a small crack in her voice but she swallowed hard and then gazed at me stonily "And you're too kindhearted to say no and let the baby go into foster care or be adopted by some other family"

She was right. I wasn't the type to turn my back on an innocent baby. Even one that was being born by Charlotte. But I was hesitant. This wasn't some decision you made on your own. This wasn't something you just agreed to without the input of your wife. "You would never be able to regain custody. You would never be allowed visitation. You would never be able to see them" I said quietly "It would be far kinder if the baby was adopted than to have it adopted by family and know they are keeping it from you." "Is it?" Charlotte asks, rubbing her stomach "Is it really?"

She begins to hum under her breath. I can see a nurse peering into the room.

"Mr Oakes, may I speak with you for a moment" she says quietly.

"I'll be back," I tell Charlotte, getting up and following the nurse out.

She frowns. "I'm not sure what Mrs Deluca is telling you but she's about to undergo a medical procedure shortly."

"She didn't mention that," I say confused "Is something wrong?"

"The baby is no longer alive," the nurse says very quietly "Unfortunately because of how far along she is, she will have to be induced and give birth to her, there's no other option. It's caused her to become" she pauses and tries to frame it delicately "unhinged. She refuses to believe her child is deceased. There's no heartbeat. I've seen this happen with patients before. She's had a psychotic break."

I exhale. Glance back towards the doorway. See Charlotte continuing to rub her stomach and talk softly to herself. "What do I say? What do I do?"

"Nothing you say or do is going to convince her that the child in her womb is gone. Just go along with her fantasy" the nurse advises me with a sigh and shake of her head "She won't believe it until her baby is in her arms. I'm sorry for your loss" she adds as I nod tightly "I would have informed you of this before you saw her, but I was busy dealing with an emergency" she added apologetically.

"It's okay," I say quietly.

I enter the room. Charlotte's eyes light up. "Have you thought about what you're going to do? Have you called Flair?" she asks.

I lick my lips. "I'm actually going to go home and discuss this properly with Flair," I tell her, feeling my chest tighten as I look at her swollen belly and the sparkle in her eyes, my heart breaking silently for her as I fight back tears.

Charlotte had well and truly lost it. She'd finally lost all sense of reality.

"That makes sense" Charlotte nods "Don't want to just ask something like that out of the blue."

She giggles.

Despite my anger and my rage, I feel pity as I look at her. Pity for what she has become. Pity for the child she has lost and has no knowledge of. I feel a lump in my throat.

"Grayson, do you think I'll ever get to go home?" the question stuns me.

She sounds childish, her voice innocent-like.

I blink. Does she understand why she's here? Has she forgotten what she's done or is this just another ploy to seem like she's insane? I don't know anymore. But she looks vulnerable. "Not right now Charlotte" I go for the soft approach.

I don't have the heart to tell her there's no way in hell she'll ever get out of here ever, not after what she's done. She bites her lip and glances back down at her stomach. "Can I name her?"

My throat constricts. A girl. I fight back tears. "Sure," I say as evenly as I can muster, "I think you should most definitely name your child."

She looks pleased.

I can't hold my composure for much longer. "Charlotte I have to go, but I'll come to see you again soon" I promise thickly as she looks at me with a childlike innocence "Okay." "Okay, Grayson."

I stumble out of there, desperate to feel the fresh air, to breathe. Tears continue to threaten to fall as I almost fling myself into the limo and the driver wordlessly drives me home while I finally lose it, telling Flair everything. That night we received a phone call. After the procedure, Charlotte held her baby girl in her arms and something inside of her had finally snapped. She had put the baby down gently, and then snatched up a scalpel and slit her wrists in a vertical manner, causing her to bleed out from a surgery where she had already lost blood. She died despite their best efforts to save her.

Part of me thought it might be for the best. Maybe in the afterlife, Charlotte would finally replace some peace. Charlotte named the baby with her last breath. "Lana."

I arranged the funeral and Lana was buried with her mother, in a private ceremony, away from the media. Karen never attended. She seemed to have vanished completely and hadn't left any forwarding details to contact her. We decided to respect her wishes and stopped Knox from trying to track her down. She deserved her privacy. Charlotte and Lana now rest in a graveyard, and the media frenzy has finally died down. We can finally live our lives again, without the worry of Charlotte constantly hounding us. It's bittersweet.