Chapter 3

I frantically shoved Henry away, terrified that they would send me back to that horrible place. Tears streamed down my face as I fell to my knees before him.

Henry shot a long look at me before averting his gaze and leaving.

I clutched the blanket as if my life depended on it, trembling violently as I hid under the covers. Suddenly, I felt someone patting me before slowly pulling the blanket away.

"Don't be scared, Charlotte. It's me. Terence Carter."

Terence Carter.

I opened my eyes and shot a timid look at him, slowly calming down.

Terence had been my neighbor when I was a child. Angelina's mother treated me terribly at the time, scolding and beating me without rhyme or reason. Terence was always the one who took me in when she chased me out of the house.

We lost contact with each other after I returned to the Sharpe family.

"Your body's still very weak, Charlotte. Here. Have some soup," Terence said as he offered a bowl of chicken soup to me.

However, I didn't dare accept it. I was too scared to trust anyone ever again.

Terence placed the bowl of soup down and reached behind me.

I was briefly stunned before I reached behind to unbutton my patient gown, moving like a puppet on strings.

Terence froze for a split second before immediately grabbing my hand and buttoning the gown again.

"I just wanted… to fluff the pillow for you," he explained. "I really regret it, Charlotte. I thought that you were living a good life with the Sharpes. I also assumed that you were going to marry Henry soon. If I had been a little more determined, you wouldn't have…"

He choked on his words as his eyes reddened. A hot tear rolled down his cheek and dripped on my palm, causing ripples to radiate across my heart.

If this was a dream, I didn't want to wake up. However, it didn't take long for the dream to be shattered.

"Stripping in public to seduce the men who were at the party wasn't enough for you, Charlotte? You're even seducing your doctor now?"

The hospital room door was thrown open. Anger and disdain were written all across Mom's face.

Terence shielded me behind him as he brandished my medical record. "Charlotte is severely ill, Mrs. Sharpe. Please refrain from stressing her out even more."

"Post-traumatic stress disorder? There's no way that she has that. We just sent her to the academy so that she would learn the rules. Why would she develop PTSD from that?"

Mom averted her gaze after glancing at the medical record.

Angelina supported her with a pained look on her face as she tried to advise me. "She's right, Char. I know that you and Dr. Carter are old friends, but that doesn't give you the right to forge a medical record to anger them and make them worry about you."

"If you doubt my professionalism, you can ask other medical organizations to run tests on Ms. Charlotte, Mrs. Sharpe," Terence said with a frown. "Our priority is to cure Ms. Charlotte as soon as possible."

His tone was extremely firm, which planted a seed of doubt in Mom's mind, especially when she recalled my strange behavior.

However, she swiftly smothered that idea when she remembered how thorough Angelina was with her work. She had even personally dropped by the academy to investigate it, confirming the fact that I had willingly harmed myself and committed those heinous acts.

She refused to believe that a scheming woman like me would develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Stop humiliating yourself in front of everyone, Charlotte. Come home with me right now," Mom demanded with a wave of her hand, prompting Angelina to immediately dart forward to grab me.

"No…" I whined while shaking my head, frantically swatting her hand away.

The bowl of chicken soup toppled off the table and spilled all over the floor.

Mom's expression darkened in an instant. "Behave yourself, Charlotte Sharpe!" she berated sharply.

Terence pulled me behind him and shot serious looks at them. "I already told you that Charlotte's in really bad shape right now, Mrs. Sharpe. She can't leave the hospital yet. Will you only be satisfied after you've killed her?"

Mom's expression shifted slightly. She shot a mocking look at me before saying, "I know my own daughter better than anyone else. She picked up her habit of lying from her foster mother. Unfortunately, it's impossible to fix her terrible habits."

Henry barged into the room the moment the words left her lips. He rushed toward me, shoving Terence aside to grip my shoulders.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? If I had known that you were suffering, I never would have allowed you to continue staying there!"