Chapter Twenty-One
Carmella reached her office and was immediately informed by Ben that Jaxon was back from London. "Thanks, Ben, I'll just meet him and come back," she said excitedly and ran out of the office to the elevator.
It was strange that he had arrived and yet didn't meet her. He didn't come to her house nor did he call. She didn't like it one bit. Something was wrong here. Was Loria speaking the truth about him? Maybe he had moved on from her after being satisfied with her.
Closing her eyes, she went up the elevator to Jaxon's floor. The elevator doors slid open and a nervous Phil stood there with a pale face.
"Oh, there you are Carmella. Come on, sir's asking for you, " he said, without meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry," he mumbled while Carmella looked at him, puzzled by his apology.
"Okay, " she said with a smile, thinking that Jaxon might have missed her. She would surely give him a piece of her mind. She went up to his office room and opened the door and went in. Excitement coursed through her at the sight of him but then she noticed a tired and confused Gilbert with another unknown person in the room.
"Should I come back later?" She asked Jaxon who looked away. She stared at Jaxon's face. Something was wrong, she could sense it.
"No, just come on in," said Gilbert.
Carmella walked inside and looked at Jaxon as he looked down into his laptop avoiding her altogether. "This is our private investigator, Brian Dixons. He would be taking your fingerprints, Carmella," said Gilbert avoiding her eyes. Carmella's jaws dropped and she stood shocked like a statue. Why did they need her fingerprints?
"Why?" She asked feeling confused.
"Just do it, we can have the talk later," growled Jaxon and Carmella stared at him. What was wrong with him? After three weeks he returned and he wasn't even happy to meet her? She wanted to tell him about the baby, their baby and here he was behaving like a stranger. She silently obliged and allowed Brian to take the fingerprints.
"Jaxon, give me two days to make the reports," said Brian, packing his stuff up.
Jaxon nodded and Brian left. Gilbert too got up, "I can't watch this," he said, going out of the room and closing it behind him.
Carmella didn't move from the place where she stood, shocked. "What's the meaning of all this, Jaxon?" She asked him softly.
"Why? You don't know? After staging the entire show you're asking me what's the meaning of all this?" He barked at her. Carmella was more confused than before.
"What show are you talking about?" She asked as calmly as she could.
"Why did you steal my designs, Carmella?" He asked, with pain in his voice.
Carmella sat down on the nearest chair. "Steal your designs? Why would I steal your designs, Jaxon?" She asked him, her face mirroring the pain she felt at his accusation.
"You were the only one who knew about l'amour, they were the original version and yet to be copyrighted. I left them on my desk by mistake and locked the door and went off to London. You broke into Phil's locker, to access the key, and stole them. You could have asked me for them. I would have given them to you. Why did you need to steal?" He asked in earnest.
"You really think that I could do such a thing? I love you, Jaxon. I wasn't well for the last three weeks. How could you accuse me of such a heinous act?" She said, her voice was breaking trying to choke the tears that were pooling in her eyes.
"Why not? You might be a billionaire's daughter having pots of money but who doesn't want fame? Those designs could make you famous overnight," he sneered.
Carmella shook her head, the tears slipped and fell down from her eyes. "I don't need to steal to be famous Jaxon. You didn't get to know me at all. I have enough capabilities to make it on my own. If I can't do it I'll join my dad. I wouldn't need to steal," she spoke, her voice breaking portraying her broken heart.
"That's a good speech, but I have evidence to prove that you're the one who stole my designs. Own up Carmella and I'll forgive you, else I won't refrain from suing you," he threatened.
"What proof? Show me?" She said calmly, wiping away her tears. She would see the end of this.
He switched on the CCTV footage, "There, you were the only one who was seen on my floor after Phil was hospitalized and away from the scene. What were you doing here Carmella? You even deleted the rest of the footage," he accused rudely, his face red with anger.
Carmella took a deep breath. "I had come to take my personal stuff from my cubicle. If I would have deleted all the footage, I would have deleted this too which showed that I was here," she told him and he gaped at her wordlessly.
"I didn't do it Jaxon. Trust me. I love you, only you. I can't do this to you. I would have joined you in London but I wasn't well. Gilbert took me to the doctor yesterday..," she spoke but before she could finish her sentence, he cut her off.
"I don't want to listen to your crap, you can take your sob story elsewhere. If no one knew about the designs, how was it stolen?" He growled.
"Why don't you have the truth investigated, Jaxon? How can I answer that?" She pointed out. "We..," she started but he cut her off again.
"There's.no.we.or.us," he barked. "What we had between us is over. I'm your employer and you're a prime suspect in my organization. That's the only relationship we have. You cannot escape anywhere till the investigation is over nor can you join work. You will be under surveillance and stay in the apartment till the final reports of the investigation are out. Is that clear?" He told her with an expressionless, cruel face full of hatred. Carmella stood shocked by his statement. So she was a thief in his eyes?
Carmella was shattered by his accusations. She slowly turned around to leave but his next words stopped her in her tracks, "So were you f*cking Giles behind my back?" He asked and she just turned around and looked at him incredulously.
"He's like a brother to me, just like Tyler is. You won't understand it since you don't do relationships. Don't worry, I won't run away because I haven't done anything wrong. One day you will repent this Jaxon but sadly you won't get back what you've lost, " she said and ran out of his chamber.
She went to the elevators and Phil just stared after her, feeling sorry for her. A few teardrops escaped his eyes for the young girl. He would surely help her clear her name. He took out a magnifying glass from his drawer which usually helped him read small prints. He started minutely inspecting every square foot on his floor in case there was some evidence left before the cleaners came to clean the dirty floor. It hadn't been cleaned because of the ongoing investigation.
Carmella rushed to the parking lot and started her car. Her heart was broken to a million pieces and she knew that she could never be normal after this. Loria was right after all. Jaxon didn't trust women. In fact, he hated them just like he hated her. She drove over to the apartment. So she was the prime suspect and would be under house arrest, under surveillance till the investigation was through! She wouldn't be allowed to work too. She felt insulted and low. He could have waited for the final reports before giving out his judgment.
She parked her car and went to the elevator of her building. The elevators were out of order and the technicians were looking into the problem. She absentmindedly took the stairs, climbing to her floor. Deep in thought, her eyes flooded with tears as his cruel words went around in her head, back and forth. She missed a step or two and felt herself falling.
Panicked, she screamed as she tumbled down to the foot of the stairs. Her body was bruised but it was the excruciating pain in her abdomen that had her clench her teeth. A few neighbors came out and gasped seeing her. They rushed to pick her up, "No, don't pick her up. She might have broken bones. Call an ambulance, she needs to be taken to the hospital, " said one of the neighbors.
"Girl, do you have any family nearby whom we could call?" Asked another concerned neighbor. Carmella gave her phone to him.
"Gilbert, p-please c-call G-Gilbert, " she said as she fell unconscious. When she regained her senses, she was in an ambulance with a very worried Gilbert leaning over her.
