MasukCharlotte's pov
That was it.
There was only so much humiliation that one person could take.
And after 10 long years I had finally reached it up to my neck.
I pushed him off me, the force of my hand plus the unexpectancy throwing him off balance and giving me a chance to escape. He stared at me with a widened expression standing widgetally in front of him as near as the day I came into this world.
“Babe what's wrong?”
My left eyebrow twitched.
“Are you really going to play dumb?” I stomped around the hotel room picking up articles of clothes that I could still slip on my body and wear out Intel to become a social pariah.
He came behind me but I screamed.
“If you touch me…” I warned him about my entire face going red and letting intentionality carry the rest of my words as I continued picking up my clothes and putting them on.
He had enough sense to put on his briefs, watching me with a look that modeled bemusement with slight surprise.
“Are you really going to work out on me on our anniversary?” He said when I was finally fully clothed. “All this time you have been nagging that I never do anything for our anniversary, you've been whiny ever since you saw your gift and now you're just going to leave?”
So he wasn't even going to address the fact that he called out my sister's name while supposedly making love to me?
There was so much to unpack but I decided to start with the so-called gift that he was huffing and puffing about right now.
“Jacob, I have planned cruises, all paid vacations, camping trips …all of them paid out of my own pocket with my own money for us–for you!” I spread my hand gesturing across the hastingly arranged hotel room.
“And this…our bedroom is a million times better than this place, if you had just made me dinner placed all of this yourself instead of paying someone $5 to do it, I would have burst into tears of utter joy,”
He started to scratch his head viciously, “Why is it that nothing I ever do is good enough for you? You said I should have arranged a surprise for you. I did. Now what's the problem?”
It was like all the words I said previously had flown right past his head.
Tears finally gathered in the corner of my eyes as if they were holding a meeting.
“Do you know something, Jacob?” I said with a sad tilt of my head, “even with this pathetic setup to mark a decade of marriage I would have still stayed by your side, I would have continued to and you are more and more in this humiliation ritual that I call a marriage…as long as I could delude myself to believe in that a part of your heart belong to me not even all of it…”
Confessing all of this was so humiliating but I wanted to get this baggage out of my chest.
“Then you called out her name…” my voice cracked, “after 10 years you still call out the name of the woman that broke your heart, how am I supposed to get over that Jacob? How am I supposed to sleep next to you at night knowing that she's the one you hope to wake up next to?”
“I do love you, Charlotte!”
“More than her?”
He looked down, not even meeting my eyes.
I wiped away the tears with a tip of my fingers, the rest dried up just like my feelings for him.
“I can't keep doing this anymore…” I said ignoring the alert to look on his face, “Jacob, I want a divorce.”
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
If anyone ever told me that I would end up in front of the Green family Villa again 10 years ago I would have laughed in their face, showed off my ruby ring and said; “That's impossible, he picked me!”
Ten years.
Just thinking about it was heavy on the mind.
I had been a teenager back then and now I was a grown woman.
I had a bag slunk over my shoulder packed with only the essentials before I headed back home, my feet lingered by the door for the longest time before I got the courage to push past it.
My mind had already spun 1,000 different scenarios that I could work into but none of them was my parents on their knees with Cecilia casually flipping through channel after channel in the living room as they cried with tears running down their face.
Cecilia was the first to notice me.
“Twin,” she called with fake fondness, “you're back,”
The casual way she threw those words at me really ticked me off. It was like I was just coming from a trip to the convenience store.
The smile she had on right now reminded me of the same smile she had on my wedding as she acted as my maid of honor. Throughout the whole ceremony she was barely holding back from laughing out loud, as if my wedding was nothing more than a circus parade.
And I guess she was right.
In the end I had wasted so many precious years of my life, keeping her toy entertained, hereby and within reach.
It wouldn't be long before he came crawling back to her.
Then they would repeat their toxic cycle all over again.
“Yes I'm back,” I affirmed her words even as it formed a lump in my throat, “.. but what's going on here?” I said a gesture towards our parents. They looked at me with a spark of hope in their eyes
“Charlotte, thank goodness you came around, please say some sentences to your sister,” my father pleaded with me to get up on his feet, “is about to ruin the entire green family,” he said, moving his arms in dramatic waves up and down his face.
Mother was equally if not more over the top.
“Yes, please talk to her Charlotte…you're one of the only people that can get through! Tell her that she can't cancel her wedding to THE Hayden Maxwell”
Charlotte POV The morning sun filtered through the windows, casting a warm glow into the room.My eyes fluttered open, but I didn’t move there for a bit.I just laid there, staring upward, my body heavy and my mind restless. For a second, I thought about closing my eyes again and pretending none of it happened. Pretending none of that drama with Aiden never really happened.But even that felt like a lie.So I sat up.The air felt colder than it should have as my feet touched the floor. I pulled my robe closer around me and stood there for a moment, steadying myself before walking out.The hallway was empty, as it normally was by this time.I walked down the stairs slowly, my hand brushing the railing as I went. When I reached the living room, I paused for a bit, taking in the quiet peace…My gaze drifted toward the television without thinking, almost out of habit. I picked up the remote from the table and turned it on, not expecting anything.Maybe just noise to fill in the silenc
Hayden POVI couldn’t sit even for a full minute.I paced the length of my office and back for what felt like the hundredth time.Aiden. My half-brother. The man I had thought dead. How could he have this kind of hold over me? How could he walk into my life, act casually, and suddenly everything I’d worked for … everything Charlotte and I had built… feel as if it were teetering on a knife’s edge?I shook my head, forcing my thoughts back to reason.I couldn’t let him control me. I couldn’t allow him to use Charlotte and our unborn child to manipulate me, or the company. That much was non-negotiable.“Sir,” Lyra’s voice cut through my thoughts.I turned to see her standing in the doorway, her expression carefully neutral, though I knew she was tense. “He’s here,” she said simply. “Aiden is here for the meeting.”I inhaled deeply, pressing my fingers against my temples for a moment. “Alright,” I said, my voice low, controlled. “Let’s do this.”The room we met in was neutral. Here there
Hayden’s POVI found Charlotte in our bedroom.She was sitting near the window, one hand resting absentmindedly on her stomach and her eyes distant and far away. For a moment I stood by the door, watching how the late evening light softened her features and how beautifully angelic she looked.Thank God I got my sight back to enjoy this. Though beside that, I could still see the tension in her shoulders.. Since thag dinner, both of us haven't truly been eased of it. I closed the door behind me quietly.She looked up, and just once glance at my face and her expression changed instantly.“What happened?” she asked carefully. I didn’t answer immediately. I walked toward her slowly, removing my jacket and setting it aside.“He called,” I said finally, my word brief but she understood.Her body stiffened instantly. “Aiden?”“Yes.”She stood up slowly, her brows furrowed.“What did he do?”I exhaled sharply through my nose.“The donation I called about, that we rejected? That wasn’t th
Chapter 144Hayden’s POVThe morning sun filtered through the glass walls of my office tower, bathing the entire floor in a soft golden hue.It felt like a new beginning.For the first time in days, I allowed myself to focus on something other than Aiden.Maxwell Enterprises stood tall…literally and figuratively. The building hummed with activity as employees moved with purpose, assistants walked briskly down hallways and analysts clustered around screens in discussion. The low murmur of productivity filled the air.Everything was stable and normal as can be… I stepped out of the elevator onto the executive floor and nodded at the receptionist.“Good morning, Mr. Maxwell.”“Morning.”My stride was steady as I walked toward my office. The glass doors opened automatically and I stepped through. When I reached my desk, papers were already scattered around it. Some maybe business reports, or maybe revenue projections, acquisitions updates and some the quarterly growth summaries.Stro
Charlotte POVThe dining room felt colder after Hayden and Aiden left.The air, which had already been tense, it even now seemed hollow.Plates of untouched food remained between us.Cecilia picked up her wine glass, slowly and deliberately.I watched her carefully as she avoided my gaze at first.The silence stretched between us for several seconds before I finally spoke.“So,” I said softly, folding my hands together in my lap. “It’s been almost a year.”She nodded without looking at me. “Yes. It has.”“You left without saying goodbye.”Her lips curved faintly, though there was no warmth in it.“I didn’t think you would care.”That stung more than I expected.“I did,” I said honestly. “You are my sister. You'll always be my sister.”She finally looked at me then and there it was.There was no warmth or softness in her tone.“You’ve always been sentimental,” she replied.I ignored the tone.“How is mother?” I asked and that caught her off guard.Her expression shifted… just slightly.
Hayden’s POVThe sound of metal gun hitting polished wood was soft and gentle.But it might as well have been a gunshot.I watched as Aiden placed the gun on the dining table between us like it was nothing more than an additional utensil.He still wore a calm face meanwhile, he may have just made a corspe in another room.Charlotte’s breath caught beside me.My body tensed instinctively, every muscle locked.But under the table, I reached for Charlotte’s hand.I found it immediately.I intertwined my fingers with hers and squeezed gently.I’m here.She squeezed back.I could feel her pulse racing.Across from us, Aiden smiled as if he had just told a joke.“My apologies,” he said lightly, adjusting his seat. “One can never be too careful these days.People can be annoying, can't they?”I only nodded once, forcing a smile.He straightened his tie, the blood on it had already dried up.The doors opened and servants began bringing in dishes… perfectly plated courses, steaming and fragran







