Chapter 5.

The phone in Charlie’s hand let out a long buzzing sound. The call had disconnected.

“Damn it!”

Charlie hurled the slim device against the wall until it shattered into pieces. His breathing turned ragged. For the first time in his life, he felt as insignificant as an ant. He was being ignored. He had been blocked by the woman who once used to tremble in fear at nothing more than the sound of his disappointed sigh.

The office door burst open harshly. Sarah walked in with a swollen face and red eyes.

“Charlie, what are you doing?!” Sarah shrieked, her voice piercing. “You yelled at me in front of everyone! You defended that bitch?!”

Charlie did not turn around. He kept his back facing Sarah, staring at his own reflection in the dark glass window.

“Go home, Sarah. I’m tired.”

“No! I won’t!” Sarah wrapped her arms around Charlie’s back from behind, clutching his suit tightly. “That child... that child must be the result of Elena’s affair before she left! She’s trying to trap you again, Charlie! You have to believe me!”

The moment Charlie heard the word trap, his memories were thrown back to the night five years ago. The night he had thrown the divorce papers into Elena’s face because he believed she had sabotaged Sarah’s car brakes and left her paralyzed.

But tonight, he had seen Elena standing tall before him.

And he had also seen Sarah—the woman who claimed she could only walk again because of a medical miracle—running into his office without the slightest defect.

Something was wrong.

The guilt that had bound Charlie to Sarah all these years suddenly felt like chains tightening around his own neck.

Charlie turned around and forcefully removed Sarah’s embrace, though his movements remained cold and restrained. His eyes locked directly onto his wife’s.

“Were you really paralyzed back then, Sarah?” Charlie asked. His voice was dangerously low, trembling with the suspicion he had buried deep inside for the past five years.

Sarah’s face instantly turned pale.

“C-Charlie... what do you mean? Are you doubting me?”

“Go home,” Charlie cut her off firmly.

Sarah’s presence suddenly made him feel sick.

The next morning, the main conference room of Vane Corp was wrapped in suffocating tension. Every member of the board sat there with cold sweat covering their backs. At the end of the long table, the CEO chair belonging to Aethel Corp remained empty.

Exactly at nine o’clock, the doors opened.

Elena stepped inside wearing an ivory-white power suit. Every step she took was firm and intimidating. Behind her, Aria carried a stack of black documents.

Charlie immediately straightened his posture. His eyes never left Elena’s face. Dark circles were visible beneath his eyes, proof that he had not slept even for a single minute last night.

Elena sat down in her seat without even sparing Charlie a glance. She looked directly at the board members instead.

“Let’s begin,” Elena said coldly.

“Mrs. Elena,” one of the senior directors cleared his throat, “regarding yesterday’s unilateral cancellation of the logistics partnership—”

“I didn’t come here to negotiate logistics,” Elena interrupted sharply.

She snapped her fingers, and Aria immediately distributed new documents in front of everyone, including Charlie.

“I came to exercise my rights as the new controlling shareholder of your subsidiary company.”

Charlie opened the document. His eyes widened as he read the rows of numbers printed there. Aethel Corp had secretly purchased all of Vane Logistics’ bond debt from foreign banks.

“You want to destroy my company?” Charlie’s hoarse voice broke the silence.

Elena finally turned to look directly into Charlie’s dark eyes.

There was no hatred there.

Only emptiness.

And somehow, that emptiness hurt far more than anger ever could.

“This is just business, Mr. Vane,” Elena replied calmly. “The weak are eliminated. You taught me that five years ago.”

Charlie’s chest throbbed painfully.

He remembered how he used to slash Elena’s monthly allowance or leave her starving in the mansion whenever she made even the smallest mistake.

Now those same words had turned against him.

“The meeting is over. Mr. Vane, I need your signature for this asset transfer immediately,” Elena said as she rose from her chair.

The directors hurriedly left the room in panic, leaving only Charlie and Elena behind in the vast conference hall.

Charlie stood up and walked toward Elena until only a breath separated them. The elegant scent of rose perfume lingered around her body, replacing the cheap jasmine fragrance she used to wear when she was still his wife.

“Elena, for God’s sake, that child...” Charlie gripped the edge of the table tightly, restraining himself from touching the woman before him. “He’s my son, isn’t he? Why are you punishing me by hiding him from me?!”

Elena adjusted her white blazer before lifting her chin slightly, a faint sneer curving on her lips.

“He’s not your son, Charlie,” Elena hissed softly, her voice low but razor-sharp. “The child you once called a murderer died beneath the rain five years ago. The boy you saw yesterday is Leo. He only has one parent.”

“I’m his father! You can’t erase my blood from his body!” Charlie shouted, his eyes reddening.

Elena took one step closer, making Charlie freeze in place. She whispered directly in front of his face.

“Then where was that father when I was coughing blood onto your bedroom floor, Charlie? Where was that father when his precious little sister tried to kill my baby?”

Elena stopped there.

Before Charlie could respond, she had already turned around and walked away, leaving the man trapped inside a storm of panic and regret that was beginning to consume what remained of his sanity.