Page 49 of The Secrets of a Sin

Pregnant.

Phoebe was fucking pregnant.

Every vein in my arm feels ready to combust as my fierce grip tightens around my phone, but the physical pain I am experiencing is nothing compared to the cruel gash that was just driven deep into my heart. She was carrying a life. Our bloodline. My future niece or nephew.

“Sir, are you there?”

Ending the call, I chuck my phone clear across the room and it completely shatters on impact. My palm fists my chest as the other smashes the wall beside me.

Pregnant.

There’s no way Phoebe ended her own life knowing she was carrying a child. Of all the things she dreamt of as a kid, having a family was one of her main ambitions in life. She wanted the husband, the five kids, the white picket fence. She wanted it all.

And now it was all ripped away from her.

Squeezing my fists as tightly and painfully as I can, I let the hot burn of rage enter me, then trail up towards my head where ideas of what to do next filter my mind. I can’t just sit here and weep. My body and heart won’t allow me to. So, rising to my feet, I rush around the house searching for my keys, and once I have them, I head outside to my car.

If anyone was going to hear my wrath, it was St. Catherine’s.

And I'd make sure I’d burn it into their heads that I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Not now. Especially not after this.

* * *

“I told you you’re no longer welcome here, Arsen.” Cora orders from behind her desk as I plant both hands on the wooden surface. Getting her full attention wasn’t a difficult task when I knew just how badly she still desired me. As much as she wanted to hate me, her body clearly thought differently.

“You should know by now that I don’t follow the rules.” I respond, noticing her eyes peer up from her paperwork. Her mouth opens slightly as a short exhale of air rushes out from between her lips. She quickly removes her black-rimmed glasses from her face before focusing solely on me.

“I’m not doing this with you, Arsen. Either you get out of my office, or someone will escort you out.” Her chest heaves, but the glimmer in her eyes tells me she’s enjoying my attention. Leaning over her desk, I knock over a picture frame in the process and tighten my jaw.

“I highly fucking doubt you want me gone, Welch.” I grind out. “Even if you wanted me gone, you know I wouldn’t let that happen.”

Her bottom lip becomes swallowed by her top teeth as she digs the sharp ridges into her flesh.

God, she was too fucking easy.

“What is it you want?” She demands angrily. “To defile the school’s name? Threaten us at knife point again? What could you possibly want?”

Slowly pulling back, she watches me with wary eyes as I take a step away from the desk. I want to wring her goddamn neck for letting this happen to Phoebe. How could the principal of a respected school let a student get savagely murdered on school grounds? And a pregnant student, at that.

“I want this school fucking shut down. Burned to the ground, whatever it takes to make it disappear off the face of the earth.” I growl, watching as her frame jumps back slightly in her swivel chair. “And you.” I point a finger in her direction, causing her face to immediately pale. “I blame you.”

“Arsen…” She scoffs in disbelief, but her tone cracks as if she is about to cry.

“Phoebe was fucking pregnant!” I snarl, and her eyes widen in complete shock. My words echo throughout the room, so I wouldn’t be surprised if others heard me, but I could care less if they did. I’d gladly shout it over the intercom to expose this fucking school for what it really is.

A fraud.

A hazard to every student that went here.

“I… I didn’t.” Tears begin to fill her eyes, but sympathy is an emotion I’ve never experienced, so watching her cry in front of me was nothing more than an annoyance.

“You didn’t realize it because you don’t really care, Cora. And why should you?” I snap. “She wasn’t your daughter, your sister, or related to you in any other way. She was just another troubled girl that filled your school until…”

“Stop it.” She orders sharply as her crying intensifies. Her body shakes uncontrollably, and finally, I feel my insides ignite with power.

“And if you think for one second that Phoebe would’ve killed herself knowing she was pregnant, you’re all fucking clueless.” I shout, glaring daggers through her eyes until she looks away.

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