Chapter 3

At that moment, I recalled an incident in my past life.

Not long after I married Penelope, she returned home drunk one night. As I supported her back to her room, I had simply advised her to cut back on her drinking, but she became infuriated with me and shoved me to the ground.

I lost my balance and fell. The back of my head collided against the floor, fresh blood spurting from the point of impact in an instant. I cried out in pain as I stared at the blood staining my hands.

Penelope's glare was glacial. Her voice was icy when she asked, "Does it hurt? I hope it does. Arthur must have experienced pain a thousandfold worse than yours when he died!

"He's dead! He'll never return from the depths of the ocean! He never would have drowned if I hadn't chosen to save you that time. Charlie Brant, everything is all your fault!"

I stared at her in disbelief as the blood continued to flow from my head. My heart felt like it was slowly turning to ice. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

A long time passed before I spoke. "The yacht was sabotaged by your rivals, Penelope. You're also the one who asked me to get on the lifeboat. How dare you blame me for what happened? You're being utterly ridiculous!"

The drunken look on Penelope's face had completely disappeared, but her icy expression had intensified. "I never agreed to this marriage from the very beginning, Charlie. If you didn't tell Grandma that you liked me, I wouldn't have been forced to marry you."

I burst out laughing and looked at Penelope like she was a joke. "So, what you're trying to say is that I'm the cause of everything that happened?

"Instead of pinning the blame on me, you should blame your rivals and your family for pressuring you. You're acting like a complete madwoman right now."

I turned around and left after saying my piece. I then hailed a cab and headed to the hospital by myself to get my wound treated.

From that day onward, my relationship with Penelope turned into a cold war. I also never showed my vulnerable side to her ever again.

However, at that moment, a stranger was treating me gently because she was afraid of hurting me. I could feel tears stinging my eyes and quickly looked to the side. Inhaling deeply, I suppressed the tears that threatened to stream down my face.

"Thank you."

Sophie lifted her head and smiled. "You're welcome."

"Are you there, Ms. Frendell?"

A voice suddenly resounded through the door. A bespectacled man, who was dressed in pajamas, stood at the doorway. When he spotted me, his eyes raked over me as he took in my condition.

"You called me just now and told me that someone had fallen into the ocean. Is it him?" the man asked.

Sophie nodded and turned to look at me. "This is the yacht's onboard doctor, Dr. Justin Kirk. He'll conduct a check-up on you so we can get a better idea of your current condition."

I nodded.

Sophie moved to the side so that Justin could approach me. He conducted a simple check-up and asked me a few questions. After concluding that I hadn't suffered many physical wounds and had just spent too much time treading water, he rose to his feet and reported his findings to Sophie.

"Mr. Brant's overall condition is fine. He's just exhausted from spending too much time in the ocean. He'll get better once he gets adequate rest."

Sophie nodded before sending Justin on his way. They stopped at the entrance and exchanged a few whispered words with each other.

I looked outside while they were conversing with each other. The building storm had turned the ocean's surface into an endless stretch of darkness, turning the waters murky. I felt grateful that I was no longer outside.

I then directed my gaze back to the door. Sophie returned to my side after sending Justin away. She said gently, "The yacht will be docking soon. Where do you live? I'll send you back home."

I was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge not to go home. Besides, my parents weren't home most of the time. Even if I returned home, there was no guarantee that I would see them.

Furthermore, they didn't really care about me. They wouldn't even bother asking me what I was up to, even if I didn't return home for a whole month.

As for Penelope, we died together in my past life, so it was highly likely that she had also travelled back in time just like me. She would probably stay by Arthur's side for the rest of her days in this life.

In my past life, although I had been married to her for five years, she never once brought me to any events, and she never slept in the same room as me. Near the end of our relationship, she became completely disinterested in even speaking to me.

Every time someone asked about me, her expression would twist into one of disdain. In the end, I became our social circle's laughingstock.

In this life, I would allow Penelope and Arthur to live the rest of their lives together.

I looked at Sophie. There was a hint of pleading in my voice when I explained, "I don't have anywhere to go. Can you take me in for a few days?"

I pinned her with a pleading stare when she didn't respond.

If I remembered correctly, Sophie was the Frendell family's heiress. In my past life, when I had asked for a divorce, she was the only one who helped me. I knew that she couldn't be a bad person since she had helped me in both lives.

Seeing how pitiful I looked as I gazed at her, she suddenly lowered her head and stared at me with eyes that seemed to be burning with emotion.

"I'm not a good person," she said. "You'll have to bear the consequences if you want to come with me."

I could smell the scent of roses wafting from her because of our sudden close proximity. My head spun at how good she smelled.

"Alright. You can ask anything of me."

"Really?"

"Of course!"

I stared at her unwaveringly until she suddenly smiled.

The yacht eventually reached the shore. I could feel myself getting sick with a fever because of the extended amount of time I had spent floating in the ocean.

A familiar voice rang out when Sophie helped me get off the yacht.

"Charlie? Is that really you?"

It was Penelope, and she was surrounded by several police officers, who looked like they were just about to embark on a rescue mission.

She dashed toward me when she spotted me, looking at me with worried eyes. "Are you okay, Charlie?"

I looked at her icily before retorting, "Do I look okay to you?"