After Divorce, Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant
Chapter 94 Unveiling Secrets.

Chapter 94: Chapter 94 Unveiling Secrets.

Leonica’s office buzzed with the hum of fluorescent lights, a stark contrast to the unease settling in her stomach after seeing Owen’s troubled expression.

"What’s going on, Owen?" she inquired, her eyes narrowing with concern. “Talk to me, what’s wrong?” She asked again after he had remained silent for far too long, too long for Leonica’s liking.

Taking a deep breath, Owen began, "After Ashley’s birthday party, I had my doubts on the present Angelina gave him, so I had a chat with my friend, the designer of that very same figurine. He testified to a few of the figurines going missing and thought that was all, but I didn’t. From what I saw, Angelina wasn’t the friendliest of person towards you; her acting may have deceived a few people, but not me. So it didn’t make sense for a woman who clearly doesn’t have good intentions towards you to go out of her way, purchase a stolen figurine, all because she wanted to give YOUR kid a present." He paused and stared pointedly at Leonica waiting for the moment she would catch the drift.

Although she sensed something was wrong with Angelina’s action, just like back at Ashley’s birthday party when she had given him the figurine, Leonica couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly was wrong.

“Where are you going with this?” She asked, sense of curiosity growing as much as the dread in her stomach.

“I asked around, connected the dots and pulled a few strings.” Owen pulled out his phone, opening up a batch of picture before placing it on the table and sliding it to Leonica where she now sat. The first picture was that of a purchase receipt. Leonica carefully read the receipt details while Owen explained. “A few days before Ashley’s birthday party, Angelina had the figurine delivered to her, it was apparently purchased by Stuart Campbell, irrelevant in this matter, and at least that was what I thought until I found this.” He said as he took the phone, made a few swipes and handed it back to Leonica.

Leonica’s eyes widened, realization dawning upon her after she saw a picture of the figurine Angelina had given Ashley and another figurine of the same brand. The original figurine. Comparing the two, it was obvious that the first one had been messed with.

"That can’t be good.” She muttered the obvious and Owen nodded. At once, she was on her feet, passing the phone back to Owen as she headed for the door. “I need to leave.”

Knowing this wasn’t going to end well, or even begin well, Owen stood up and quickly blocked her path, thanking the stars that brightened up the sky at night that he was taller than the female despite being younger. “Whoa, where are you going?”

Leonica squinted her eyes, silently asking if he didn’t know the answer to that question. He did, but still wanted to confirm with her before he did anything. “To confront Angelina.” She stated at once.

Her answer had earned a sigh along with a disagreeing head shake from Owen. “You can’t do that, Leonica. Look, I showed this to you so that we can avoid the situation before it happens, not cause a situation.”

“So you want me to let her walk scoot free?”

“Not exactly. What I mean is that we should first attend to Ashley’s safety, gather enough evidence, as in have the figurine in our possession along with camera footage from the day of Ashley’s birthday party to pair up with the receipt, before we confront the culprit. If we do things otherwise, she just might get away.” Owen explained and watched as Leonica huffed, visibly calming down.

“Now, where’s the figurine?” He asked.

It took Leonica sometime to think, trying her hardest to recall where Ashley had told her he was going to keep the toy. When she recalled the spot, she gently snapped her finger. “The toy box.” Her voice came out in a gentle tone, low and nearly inaudible, but Owen who was standing close to her, heard it clearly. “I’m sure it’s in there.”

“Well then let’s go. I’ll drive.” He offered, not because he did not trust her driving ability at the moment, but rather, because he worried about her safety. The chances of her getting to the figurine and then moving to confront Angelina were bigger than small. And from the vibe he got from this Angelina woman, he knew she wasn’t a walk in the park.

Leonica looked like she was about to turn down his offer. She opened her mouth, but clammed it shut and nodded, walking out of her office with hasty.

Thankfully, when they arrived home, Ashley was still at school.

“Ms. Romero, is there something you need?” Grace asked when she saw them walking into the house.

"I need to get a few things from Ashley’s toy chest, do you know where it is?" Leonica asked.

"Underneath his bed. Shall I help you look for what she need?"

“That won’t be necessary; Owen’s already here to help me.” She pointed towards the said blonde who lowered his head in a respectful bow which Grace returned. “You can go back to whatever it is you were doing, I’ll be sure to call you if I need anything.”

“Of course, Ms. Romero.” Grace said and turned to Owen, bowing as she excused herself.

Once she was gone, Leonica looked over her shoulder and beckoned for him to follow her up the stairs. He did just that, all the while admiring the interior of her house.

Even after all those years, she still liked the same thing; Owen couldn’t help but chuckle silently at the thought, relieved that the woman in front of him was still the same person he knew.

Arriving at Ashley’s room, they careful dug through his toy chest, before they spotted the figurine and Leonica gently pulled it out.

Owen was quick to collect it and carefully examined the figurine, his eyes narrowing as he spotted the out of place arrangement. Pulling the hand off, the wrist to be precise, he spotted a tiny needle tucked away discreetly.

Leonica’s expression became grim as she saw the needle. “Innocent my foot,” Owen muttered after recalling Gabriel’s words on the day of Ashley’s birthday party. He took another second to examine it before coming to a conclusion. “Whatever this needle is, it seems clean. I don’t think Ashley’s had contact with it.”

Relief washed over Leonica as she realized Ashely hadn’t laid a finger on it. But the relief was soon run over by anger towards Angelina’s action. The woman was so cruel to the point that she had brought Ashley, an innocent child into her unrequited, one-sided hatred.

What the hell was wrong with her? Sure, Leonica had never believed in her sudden change and this wasn’t a new trick in the bible at all, but the fact that she had dared bring a child into this entire mess, was something she couldn’t wrap her head around.

Sighing, she placed the disturbing thoughts away, making a mental note to deal with Angelina in a few hours, but as for now, she need to thank Owen and perhaps, settle things with his confession before he turned into a part two of Angelina.

Handling one Angelina was bad enough, talk less two; one created from her choice of ignorance.

"Thank you, Owen," She said with a smile, her gratitude sincere. "You might have just saved Ashley from whatever Angelina had planned."

Owen offered a small, reassuring smile, his gaze lingering on Leonica. "It’s the least I could have done. But that aside,” He paused.

“That aside?” Leonica repeat with a tilt of her head.

Leonica’s eyes furrowed as she studied Owen more closely. It wasn’t the first time that something about him tugged at the edges of her memory, like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Sensing her confusion, Owen decided to jog her memory.

He rolled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal his wrist which had a triple star tattoo—a small, intricate design that held a world of memories. “Remember this?” He asked her, hoping that this much was enough to trigger her memories.

The amount of relief he felt the next second as Leonica’s eyes widened when recognition dawned upon her was unspeakable.

"Owen?" She muttered now seeing the boy who been her neighbor many years ago.

Except, back in the days his name had been Owen Benet, his father last name, now that she thought about it. And his hair had been a lovely chestnut brown that Leonica recalled complimenting and running her hand through each time they had a tutor session. Those two things aside, many other things had changed.

His height was one of those things. Owen had been shorter than Leonica, reaching her someplace around her shoulder, now he towered over her with a noticeable gap. Another thing that had changed was his body build and his countenance. Owen from all those years ago was shy and reserved, never dared to talk back to the bullies when he toyed around with him and stole his lunch money.

Now here he was, being the star of the century. Who could have phantom that.

Owen chuckled at her astound expression, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think I’d changed too much."

It took her a few seconds more, but Leonica couldn’t help but smile, a flood of memories rushing back as she stepped closer and examined his face, now noting the resemblance between him and her forgotten tutee. "You’ve definitely changed, but I should have known that mischievous glint anywhere."

Owen feigned a wounded expression, placing his hand on his chest to seem all the more dramatic. "I was a bit heartbroken when you didn’t recognize me when we met in your company."

Leonica laughed at his act, the tension of the moment dissipating as she reached forward and patted his head, noting that she still enjoyed patting the younger boy on the head just like she did years ago.

Owen however, wasn’t too fond of the way she looked at him with the same eyes from all those years ago. Like he was still a kid.

Had she not seen his speech? His confession?

Was she dense to his romantic feelings both then and now? Or had she simply chose to ignore them?

“You know you shouldn’t treat me like a kid anymore, Leonica.” He said.

“What? Oh,” She quickly withdrew her hand, believing that it must be awkward for Owen after all these years and he might probably be offended seeing as it had taken her close to three weeks to recognize him.

She wouldn’t even have recognized him had he not shown her the tattoo she had taken him to get just before he moved away with his mother after his parents had divorced.

“I’m sorry, and I owe you, Owen. How about I treat you to dinner as an apology and a thank you?" She offered with a smile.

Owen’s eyes sparkled with amusement. "I’ll take you up on that offer, Leonica."

~*~

The restaurant was a cozy haven, filled with the comforting aroma of delicious food. Over a shared meal, Owen and Leonica caught up on the years that had passed. They spoke of life, love, and the unexpected twists that brought them back together.

By the time their short vacation had come to a close, they had caught up with the years of life they had missed and Leonica felt much better. However, a coincidental glance at the restaurant’s clock told Leonica that she had enjoyed her meal with Owen far too much.

It was already close to evening, past the time of closing for Ashley’s school. Normally, she wouldn’t have been in a rush to pick him up seeing as the school bus would have done her work, but today was different; after all, she had personally offered to pick him up after school.

“Ah, shit.” She muttered.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m meant to pick Ashley up.” She said and clicked her tongue to the top of her mouth. “This was fun Owen, we should definitely do it some other time, but as for now, I have to leave.” She said and stood up.

Owen did the same, not ready for their time together to come to an end so soon. "How about I accompany you to pick up Ashley from the kindergarten? I’m sure he’d be glad to see me again." He proposed.

Leonica chuckled as his narcissistic words. “Confident, aren’t you.”

“What do you expect when you’re a mother and son’s favorite person?” Owen said as he hailed the waiter over and handed his card to him.

“No, it’s my treat, I’ll pay.” Leonica protested.

“Just because it’s your treat doesn’t mean you should pay. And besides, having you here with me is more than enough.” Owen said and winked. After he got his card back, he said. “Now come on, we don’t want to keep Ashley waiting any longer than he already had, now, do we?”

Leonica chuckled underneath her breath before she followed him towards her car. Thankfully, the ride to Ashley’s school as short as the restaurant Leonica had chosen was coincidentally close to it.

Stepping into the school, Leonica nearly ran into Arvan who looked confused after seeing her. “Leonica? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s alright.” Leonica answered as she chuckled at Arvan’s question. What else was she doing in a kindergarten if not to pick her son up? “And I’m here to pick Ashley up. Have you by any chance seen him?”

“Not really, but,” Leonica smile flattered at his last word.

“But?” She repeated.

“I ran into the principal a couple of minutes ago and he told me that Ashley was picked up by his godmother and taken to his father’s place under your orders.” Leonica narrowed her eyes at the news, clearly not recalling giving such an order. “What did he say her name was again?” Arvan muttered to himself.

“Anast..?” Leonica had begun but Arvan’s words interrupted hers.

“Angelina.”

Leonica’s smile completely faded and she asked. “What... did you just say?”

“Her name, the principal said her name was Angelina.”

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