She shook her head, knowing that she had come close to losing him
“I love you, too, she sobbed. ‘I love you and need you more than I have ever needed anyone, and that scares the shit out of me, she told him truthfully.
He opened his arms and she moved to him. They both held each other close. Are you sure you want to marry me and be my husband?”
Benjamin tilted his head down and she looked up at him. We’re alrearly married, sweetheart. The only question is do we–you–want to do it again, and do it right this time in front of our family and friends?”
She nodded at him, making him grin. “Not good enough, you have to verbally say it.”
“Yes, I want to marry you again and do it right this time,” Pandora replied firmly and his grim got even bigger.
“Yes,” he hissed before kissing her. “So, we’ll recite our vows again on our anniversary then, now we just have to get it all booked.”
“Yes, my wedding’s going to be that day again,” she said, stopping and biting her lip. “The same day as my birthday, she told him shyly.
“I know,” he replied, causing her to tilt her head at him. “It’s in your file. I just thought it was a coincidence when I first noticed it.”
Pandora rolled her eyes at her stupidity. Of course, he knew her personal information.
“When is your birthday?” she asked.
“May twenty–fifth.”
“That’s very soon then,” she gasped and Benjamin nodded before pulling her close and kissing her again.
The last week should have been filled with Benjamin and Pandora getting used to being a family, but instead, they had been working with attorneys, building a case for the court, which started the next day.
“Hi, Milton said as he walked in along with the family lawyer.
Over the past week, Pandora had grown accustomed to Benjamin’s family walking in without knocking or ringing the doorbell. Thankfully, they all texted first, unless they were summoned over.
“You’re working late,” Pandora commented but felt nervous about the fact that they both looked worried.
“Milton, Mr. Hill, Benjamin greeted, taking hold of her hand as he sat beside her.
“We have something we can use against Derrik,” Milton started off softly. “I have enough evidence to tie him to the sale of your bedroom set and missing furnishings. I also have records of the jewelry which was sold at a local pawn shop.”
She gasped, stopping Milton’s talking. “He sold my grandma’s set?” she asked, feeling a mix of anger and hurt.
Milton’s eyes flickered to Benjamin and then came back to her. “No, he gave that to Miss Smith, Milton swallowed. “Now, this is going to hurt and upset you so let me get it all out before you ask any questions, okay?”
Pandora nodded, knowing she needed to know what he was going to say, but hated the fact that she had to hear it.
1/2
Chapter 100
“We’ve connected him to the house sale as well. He managed to get your documents because he had access to your home by working under a false name for a security company. He also tampered with my police car, that’s why the tire went flat and we crashed into the curb. We can prove that due to the camera the city installed in my vehicle, I also believe he tampered with your vehicle, but that’s currently speculation.”
“The money he gained from the sale of your home to five different families totaled nearly one million dollars, but he has spent almost three–quarters of it.”
In shock at the amount, her eyes popped wide open. “How on earth did he manage that?”
Milton’s eyes flickered to Benjamin so she followed him and saw that Benjamin looked angry.
“I guess since this was my idea, Milton is silently telling me it is my turn. The hair sample I took from you was clean. But I suspected something was off due to your ability to become pregnant so easily by me. On a hunch, I looked at your past health records from your primary care provider and found that each time you went in for a yearly exam, your body had high levels of synthetic hormones showing.”
She frowned at Benjamin, who closed his eyes. “Mr. Hill managed to talk Mackenna into having a blood test, and she also has high levels of synthetic hormones in her system. When Milton searched her home, he found unmarked tablets that have been confirmed to be a high dose form of birth control pills.”
Benjamin stopped and licked his lips. “I believe that Derrik was drugging your morning coffee with the same pills that Milton found. He has also clearly been doing this with Miss Smith. There was never an issue for you to have children. The scar tissue from your endometriosis was not as bad as you thought. From what we have figured out, the reason you were unable to become pregnant was due to the high levels of birth control you had been taking.”
Pandora felt her bottom lip wobble. Benjamin clasped her face and she looked at him.
“But the baby, her baby… she was pregnant,” she whimpered, praying that Derrik wasn’t cruel enough to do anything to hurt her or her unborn child.
“I can’t prove it at this point, but I believe he may have given her another drug to cause her body to reject the baby.”
Her hand covered her mouth, feeling pain for Mackenna and the innocent child she lost. Though she didn’t know the loss of a child, Pandora knew what going through the worry of a child possibly not surviving felt like.
“How… I mean how? Why couldn’t I see who he really was when I was married to him?” she asked Benjamin who shrugged.
“You knew him as a young boy. You dismissed the selfish parts of him to just be a flaw in his character,” Milton explained.
