Charlotte sat in a daze while staring at the man who was with her before she died.
Liam Wright.
He was undoubtedly handsome. His features were accentuated by prominent, chiseled jawlines that added a touch of ruggedness to his face. His suit spread nicely against his broad shoulders and chest. His mesmerizing green eyes easily held her gaze.
The memory of Liam crying on her deathbed almost made her weep. Charlotte held the urge to walk up to him and simply hug him. She figured she would find a suitable opportunity to do that later.
Instead, she smiled at him and said, “Liam, thank you for your time - for seeing me.”
Liam had welcomed her in one of the hotel’s mini-conference rooms. He ordered tea and some snacks for Charlotte. Inside, Liam’s bodyguard stood behind Charlotte, watching them as they chatted.
“Charlotte, I’m rather surprised that you came to see me. What can I do for you?” Liam asked, his voice exuding authority as he crossed his legs. He picked up his teacup and took a sip.
How Liam carried himself did not look like he was affected by Charlotte’s presence. However, she knew this man still loved her. He was just hiding it.
“Liam, I need help. I don’t know why I chose to ask you for help, but I felt like, you are one person I could trust,” Charlotte began.
Raising a brow, Liam asked, “What can I help you with that your husband cannot?”
“My husband absolutely cannot help me because he is the source of my problem,” Charlotte said before taking a deep breath. Her hands trembled as she drank from her tea, then she returned her attention to Liam.
“Tell me. How so?” Liam asked.
“Liam, let me get straight to the point.” She strengthened her voice and revealed, “My husband is cheating on me with my best friend, Victoria Walton, and they are plotting to kill my grandparents in order to take the CEO position of Strauss Asset Investments, as well as to acquire the wealth of my grandfather!”
“They plan to destroy me - pin their crimes on me,” she added before clenching her jaws.
“Unfortunately, I have no proof of their plans or solid material to prove their affair. I only overheard their conversation as they had sex in our marital bed, thinking I was fully asleep,” she resumed. “They had added sleeping pills to my drink and thought I was completely knocked out.”
Charlotte saw how Liam’s eyes widened. Her eyes caught how his knuckles turned white as he clenched his hand on the table’s surface. His lips twitched as he coldly answered, “When did you find out?”
“Last night. They did it last night in our bed,” she admitted.
Liam leaned back in his seat. He asked, “If they had drugged you as you say they did, then -”
“I spilled my drink last night. They were unaware. They thought that I drank everything,” Charlotte explained. Technically, this happened in her past life when she walked in on Timothy and Victoria having sex. If it were not for the fact that she spilled her wine on the floor, she reckoned, she would not have awoken to find out about their affair.
Silence stretched between them following her revelation. Soon, Liam suggested, “Charlotte, this is your husband we are talking about. Are you sure -”
“I would not!” She nearly lost her control, thinking about her previous suffering. “I would not just spout any nonsense, Liam. I know what I heard and had long suspected my husband was cheating. They plan to destroy me, Liam!”
“Then, just ask for a divorce. I can help provide security for you and your grandparents,” Liam suggested.
“I’m - I’m afraid that won’t be enough,” Charlotte declared. “If security is all my concern, I could do it myself, but I need your help.”
Liam’s brows met. With a hand gesture, he encouraged, “Elaborate.”
Charlotte covered the terms of her prenuptial agreement. After which, she strongly voiced, “I refuse to give him anything! Why would I? He betrayed me!”
‘He even killed my grandparents and left me to rot in prison!’ That was a piece of information she could only keep to herself.
“So I plan to catch them in the act, take a recording, get more proof of their affair, and then surprise Tim with my demand for divorce, but it doesn’t stop there,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she described. “You see, I made the grave mistake of helping my husband acquire company shares in the past through other board members. So I can’t get rid of him that easily - Yes, I plan to kick him out of the company.”
“In fact! I want to compete with him in the CEO position, but given my gender, I feel that the board of directors will doubt my capacity to run the business,” she said. “That’s where you can come in and help me. With your influence, I can certainly get more clients, making me the more competitive CEO.”
“I guess you have had this all planned out already,” Liam remarked, and the smirk on his face suggested he was amused.
“Yes, and of course, while I do this, I will work on my best friend’s downfall,” she said. “She isn’t going to get away for betraying me.”
Liam drew in a deep breath. He answered, “Connections won’t get you to the end. You need to prove -”
“Oh, I am confident about where to put the company’s money in the coming years. I will prove myself worthy. I simply need to get through the gender bias treatment that has gone on for years,” she proclaimed with certainty.
There was a strange silence between them. Charlotte could tell that Liam was thinking hard. Soon, he said, “Charlotte, I’m sorry that your husband is cheating on you and if he is plotting to ruin your life. He is a scum. You deserve someone… so much better.”
Liam’s suggestion took Charlotte aback. She wondered if he was already offering himself. Clearing her throat, she asked, “How I wish this someone would miraculously appear before me and be my knight in shining armor.”
“You - don’t - need to look very far,” Liam suggested.
“Oh,” Charlotte raised. “Do you know who this might be, Liam?”
“Someone,” Liam answered, making Charlotte smile inwardly.
Following Liam’s reply, Charlotte heard Liam’s bodyguard coughing violently behind her. She turned to the big guy who looked like that famous former wrestler, ‘The Rock.’
She realized she had seen this man before, at the hospital where she died and at this same hotel, during her husband’s appointment. This man was Chadwick, Liam’s head of security.
“Sorry, Miss Charlotte. I did not mean to interfere in your conversation with the boss,” Chadwick said.
“Anyway, Charlotte,” Liam called her attention. “I will help in any way I can, but honestly, I find it rather troublesome. What do I get from this in return?”
‘What do you get in return?’ She thought. Charlotte fixed her posture and looked Liam straight in the eye. She said, “I’ll give you half of my shares at Strauss Asset Investments -”
“Give me?” Liam clarified.
“Yes, I will give it to you,” Charlotte answered. “Happily, willingly, and freely.”
‘Liam, you deserved so much more after the help you gave me in my past life,’ she said to herself.
“But before that, I will find a way to buy shares from the other investors and give them to you. That will automatically make you a major shareholder in my family’s business,” she replied. “Then you will have authority in the major decision-making in the company.”
While Charlotte left him confused, she wasn’t done offering yet. She lifted her chin and confidently said, “And after I have formally divorced my husband, I will… marry you, Liam!”
Chadwick coughed loudly again!
Liam, out of nowhere, slid off his seat. His chair fell to the floor sideways. Thank goodness his long legs managed to save his ass from falling.
‘Oops! I might have… shocked him a little,’ Charlotte thought.
June 9, 2023. Chapter 1-3. Hello again, guys. Glad to see you back here. This book is my entry to the new goodnovel writing contest under the reborn category. Hope you will enjoy this one.
"Chadwick! Get me another chair! This seat is broken!" Liam ordered his bodyguard. Charlotte gave Chadwick an apologetic look, for the latter had to fetch a new chair from the side of the conference room. Truth be told, Charlotte did not find anything wrong with the seat. The hotel was new, and so were all the pieces of furniture. The Diamond Hotel brand was not the type to invest in low-quality furniture. Liam's face was flushed as he sat on a new seat. He fixed his suit and cleared his throat, saying, "I think I - I must have heard you wrong. What did you say again?" Charlotte had his full attention. His eyes were narrowed, fixed on her face, and his body leaned closer against the table's surface. He even tilted his head just a little, with his right ear slightly angled toward her. 'How clear do I have to be?' Charlotte wondered. "Liam." Charlotte moved her chair closer and resumed, "After my divorce, I will marry you, Liam." Liam loosened his tie. He puffed air out of his
"Have you ever wanted something so badly you are tempted to take it at the first available opportunity?" Liam asked Chadwick when the bodyguard caught up with him in the car. For the last half an hour, while waiting for Chadwick to join him, Liam had been gawking at the street, wondering what to do. To marry her? That would be a dream come true, but to be with her because her husband betrayed her, he could not help but feel insecure. He certainly did not want to be a rebound guy! He had been in love with Charlotte for as long as he could remember. The problem was, after Charlotte's father died, she left Braeton City without telling anyone where she was going. Back then, he was too young to have the resources to find her. His parents initially did not support his request to find Charlotte. They thought he would get over his young love, but that never happened. He tried, but Charlotte was the only girl that filled his heart. Liam was already in college, studying in London, when he
Charlotte's heart galloped, hearing Liam's words. She turned to him with a bright expression and echoed, "You have made your decision?" Liam straightened his face to the front. In his deep voice, he answered, "I have taken a considerable amount of time to think about what you have offered. Normally in business, one must learn to decide quickly, so I have been trained to make smart and fast decisions all my life. But with your request, I took as much time as I needed." Charlotte, "..." At the front seat, Chadwick coughed, catching Charlotte's attention. Chadwick had been coughing too often. The bodyguard was hinting about Liam's white lies. It had to be! "Sorry, Miss Charlotte. I don't know what is it with me today," Chadwick said. "Please don't mind me." When Charlotte peered back at Liam, she saw how he was squinting at Chadwick. He glanced at her and then returned his gaze to the front. He narrated, "Just two days ago, I closed an excellent deal at Alberto City. I bought a comme
Charlotte left out the fact that there was a potential threat to her grandparents' life. Knowing her grandfather, he would declare war, but without solid proof, the Cash family will only suppress his accusations and make things difficult for them. Her grandfather may be wealthy, but the Cash Family had political power in Swaxon. Timothy's father was the mayor, and his mother was a city councilor. "I can't believe it," Her grandfather remarked, learning of Timothy's relationship with Victoria. "I know, Grandpa. And Timothy wasn't planning on divorcing me until he gets the CEO position," Charlotte revealed. The two of them were inside Pete's study. She had left Chadwick to go around the estate and evaluate the overall security of the place. "Is this why you hired a bodyguard? Where did you even find this man? Are you sure you can trust him?" Pete asked. With a nod, Charlotte answered, "I am sure I can trust him with my life." "Just file for a divorce. Confront him, and maybe
Charlotte watched as Timothy's forehead formed beads of sweat. He ran his fingers through his hair and admitted, "I'm sorry. One of the HR associates walked up to me and said she saw you on the road, and a man had carried you in his arms -" "Oh," Charlotte gulped. "That was the gentleman I spoke of. As you can see, I got injured. That man helped me up and brought me to the nearest hospital. And honestly, I did not get his name. I simply gave him money for the trouble." Hearing this, Charlotte conceded she needed to be more careful when being with Liam. She could easily encounter someone who was acquainted with Timothy or Victoria. "Well, did the HR associate see this man's face?" Charlotte asked, evaluating what lie to make. "No, she said she was driving by Julian Road when she thought she saw you," Timothy said. "She wasn't really sure if it was you." Recalling Julian Road, and the angle at which a person would be driving through it, Charlotte came up with a story, "That gentlem
Timothy has had it bad in Los Angeles. The night he and his assistant arrived, the hotel they were supposed to stay in had apparently been overbooked. They were bumped off to another property which was below Timothy's standards. The strange thing was that Clarence Sinclair's assistant was the one who booked the hotel for them. Mister Sinclair was apologetic, so Timothy simply let it pass. It was the hotel's fault and not the secretary's. The following day, Timothy and his assistant searched for another hotel and rested. He went to see Mister Sinclair on the third day, but the latter had successive meetings. Timothy and his assistant waited outside Clarence's office for six hours. He didn't eat because he feared his potential investor would leave, but to his dismay, Mister Sinclair still left, saying he had stomach flu. On the fourth day, Timothy was able to speak to Mister Sinclair, but the entire time, he thought the man was not paying attention. After three hours of discussing
"Oh, my god! Did you lose weight?" Victoria said. Her eyes rounded while studying Charlotte. The two ladies were already inside Victoria's living room, each sitting across from the other. "A little," Charlotte replied, her eyes glued to the watch on Victoria's wrist. In the past, she never minded Victoria's luxurious pieces of jewelry or watches. However, now that she thought about it, Victoria never made it big, so how could she have afforded it? They could be gifts from fans, or they could be gifts from her husband! "How much did you lose?" Victoria asked, studying Charlotte from head to toe. "I don't like it. I hope you won't go back to being malnourish. I didn't like how you looked like a skeleton before!" How Charlotte wanted to roll her eyes. She could not believe how she had listened to Victoria in the past. She responded with a shrug, saying, "I did not lose that much weight, so don't worry. I won't be that thin." Since Charlotte's rebirth, she followed a strict diet.
All prison cells at Swaxon West Correctional Facility were closed at night, but the door was open in one cell. Charlotte jolted as soon as a hand covered her mouth. Whoever was on top of her pushed her frame so firmly that she could barely move. “Adjusting to prison, I see,” It was one of the tattooed female inmates who had constantly watched her. “Don’t worry. I won’t be long. I’m just sending a gift from Victoria -” A scream muffled into the woman’s hand as Charlotte cried in pain. She was stabbed with a fork in her stomach! The unknown inmate only laughed and declared, “We are going to make your life here a living hell.” As soon as the woman retreated, Charlotte shouted, “Help! Help!” *** “Help! Please!” Charlotte fell off her bed and woke up from her dream. Her entire body trembled, remembering the first night she was attacked in prison during her first life. The deafening thunder further made her shiver in her place as Charlotte crawled backward. She hugged her legs an