Chapter 2: Last Breath

“Wake up. Wake up, Misses Cash!” 

Charlotte frowned when she forced herself up from the carpeted floor. She saw men in blue uniforms surrounding her. They were policemen. 

“Misses Cash. This isn’t looking good for you,” the man standing before her suggested.

“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked, utterly confused, her head aching. “Where am I?”

“Are you going to keep pretending, Misses Cash,” the policeman sarcastically remarked. He sighed deeply and added, “Misses Cash. You are under arrest for the murder of your grandfather and your grandmother.”

The words of the officer fully jerked Charlotte awake. She realized that she was in her grandparent’s home, and not too far was a lifeless body of an elderly woman on the floor. It was Cecile, her grandmother! She screamed, “Grandma!”

She ran in the body’s direction while crying. “Grandma! Who did this to you? Grandma!”

“Misses Cash! You are not allowed to tamper with evidence!” The policeman warned. 

Two men held her down as one read her rights, “Misses Cash, again, you are under arrest for the murder of your grandparents, Pete and Cecile Strauss. You have the right to remain silent…”

Just like that, Charlotte was locked up behind bars, wrongly accused of the death of her grandparents. She was framed, and all pieces of evidence pointed to her. Her grandfather may have died in a car crash a year ago, but a witness came forward naming Charlotte as the mastermind in planning Pete’s death. 

A week after she was locked up, Timothy filed for divorce. 

No one believed Charlotte when she blamed it all on Timothy and Victoria. 

Most of her friends and co-workers abandoned her. She was named the ungrateful granddaughter of the Strauss family. Those who tried to help her received threats from the Cash Family. 

Charlotte was helpless. It was exactly as Victoria had said to her. They had bigger plans for her, and they have achieved it. Charlotte was humiliated in ways she could never have imagined, and because of her suffering, she fell depressed. Her spirit was dying inside of her. 

***

Months later. 

“Miss Charlotte, you will be transferred to a hospital facility,” a jail warden said. 

Charlotte’s weak body was lying in bed. Hearing the news, she turned her head and nodded. She no longer had any strength nor the will to live. 

A private attorney visited her when she was four months in prison and claimed to be her lawyer. His name was Yael Amari, an old man with decorated wins in the court.

By that time, Charlotte was already skin and bones. She had been constantly attacked inside prison. She was stabbed twice and nearly raped. She was always living in fear that Charlotte seldom slept.

More than just the physical pain, the heartache of her husband’s and best friend’s betrayal and her grandparents’ death was eating her alive. No, she did not kill her grandparents, but her love for Timothy did.  

Now, more than eight months in lock-up, Charlotte was already bedridden. It took a lot of work, but her lawyer found a way to remove her from prison for a hospital confinement. 

Charlotte did not know how her lawyer managed to get approval, nor was she aware of where they were going, but the truth was, she did not care anymore. She only pushed herself to live for a few more days to thank her benefactor. Whoever the person who hired her lawyer at least believed in her innocence.

***

“Her organs are failing. She hasn’t been getting enough nutrition. Her medical records also suggested she had several injuries. She is dying, Mister Wright. You should have taken her out sooner.”

“We couldn’t. The Cash family was keeping an eye on her. It seemed like the entire Swaxon City was under their control. I had to pay off many officials. It wasn’t easy - Please, I trust you will keep this between us.”

“Of course, Mister Wright. We have given her all the medications needed, but I don’t know if she can make it. Mister Wright, you have to be prepared for the worst.”

‘What? Mister Wright?’ Charlotte was lying in a hospital bed when she heard the conversation inside the room. She opened her eyes and saw Liam Wright, her childhood friend. 

“Liam,” she said under her breath. “You - you are my benefactor?”

“Charlotte.” Liam sat by her bedside. He held her hand and revealed, “I’m sorry. I could not get you out of prison in time. You were already in for four months when I learned about your imprisonment. I hired a private lawyer, but my family suspected there was a powerful backing around your case. I had to be discreet about my actions and could not reveal myself to you then.”

“I could only work in the shadows to get you out.” Liam’s face tensed. He repeatedly heaved a sigh, clearly pained by Charlotte’s condition. A tear fell on his face as he admitted, “When Yael told me you were not in good  health, I did not expect to get you out in this state.”

“I’m sorry. I did not know. If I had known, I would not have stopped checking on you,” he said. “Please, Charlotte. Please, live. I will give you the best doctors to treat you, but you have to fight -” 

“Why? Why are you helping me?” She weakly asked.

The room hushed for seconds, but eventually, Liam confessed, “Charlotte, I’ve always loved you. That’s no secret anymore. We have parted ways over time, but you were always on my mind. I told you this when we saw each other in your college.”

Charlotte nodded. That incident at her college was the first time Liam confessed his feelings for her, but she was already in a relationship with Timothy. 

She thought that was the last time she would ever see Liam, but before her wedding day, he met her secretly while she tried on her wedding dress. Back then, he asked if she was happy. When she said yes, he left.

Charlotte and Liam used to go to the same school back in Braeton City, from primary to high school. When her father died, her grandparents took her to Swaxon City. Things happened so quickly, and she never got to say goodbye.

They were close. There was a time when she had a crush on him too, but they were too young to act on their feelings. Liam also had his issues.

She heard news about Liam, that he studied abroad and returned to manage the hotel business of their family. The next thing she knew, he became the new CEO of the Diamond Hotels. 

“I had always checked on you, Charlotte. That was why I opened a hotel here, so I could have a reason to see you, even without you knowing. I went to your husband’s CEO appointment. That was the last time I saw you. You were happy and looked so much in love. That day I gave up and stopped asking about you, but had I known - had I known,” Liam covered his face with his palm, crying. “I will make him pay, Charlotte! I swear!”

It could not be helped. Charlotte’s tears never stopped flowing. Liam held her for as long as she could remember. 

Liam’s confession moved Charlotte, so she tried to fight. That night and the succeeding nights, Liam attended to her needs. He worked remotely most days, but he sometimes flew back to his hometown. 

All this was happening while Charlotte’s lawyer was working on her case. 

Since she was already bedridden, there were days when Liam aided in wiping her frail body. He fed and tried to nourish her, but Charlotte’s body grew weak no matter how hard they tried. 

Her kidney was the first to give up, and her liver followed. Whatever medication she received was not enough to reverse the damage to her body.

When the doctors finally reported how Charlotte was dying, Liam stayed by her side for twenty-four hours. He spoke about random things, trying to make her happy. 

Soon, Charlotte’s awareness was slowly fading. She heard Liam cry as he held her hand. He kept saying, “I love you, Charlotte. I will never forget these last two weeks I spent with you.”

“I wish - I wish our fates were different,” he added. 

Charlotte reflected on Liam’s words and actions over the past two weeks. She had nothing to offer him, yet he took care of her. There was no denying his love for her. How she wished she could spend more time with Liam. Sadly, her time with him was coming to an end. 

The heart monitor inside the room was beeping loudly. Charlotte could get a feel of how her life was slipping away. Charlotte did not speak, but in her mind, she prayed to the heavens, ‘Gods… any gods - all gods! My soul can never rest… For the life Timothy and Victoria had taken away from me, avenge me! Give me justice!’

‘If only Timothy had simply divorced me. Why did he and Victoria have to destroy me?’ She questioned. ‘Timothy, Victoria, I swear, even after death, I will haunt you!’

‘God, are you there? Please hear me!’

At last, before taking her very last breath, she spoke, using all of her remaining strength, “Liam, thank you for your love. If I should live another lifetime, I will find you… and love you.”

BEEEP….