Chapter 5

“You little bastard! How dare you hurt my daughter and granddaughter? Teach her a lesson!”

Susan’s eyes blazed with fury.

At her order, several bodyguards rushed forward and began punching and kicking Charlotte.

Charlotte curled into a ball, shielding her stomach with both arms as pain tore through her body.

But all she could think about were Susan’s words.

She had called her a bastard.

What kind of mother would say that to her own daughter?

Bruce looked at Charlotte curled up on the floor, battered and pale, and something strange flickered in his chest.

If she had just gotten rid of the other man’s baby like she was supposed to, maybe he would’ve shown her some mercy for the sake of their three years of marriage.

She couldn’t stay his wife but he could’ve still taken care of her financially after the divorce.

She had no one to blame but herself.

She had actually dared to go after Kiki.

Bruce pressed his lips together.

“Charlotte, kneel down and apologize to Kiki right now, and I’ll let this go.”

“And if I don’t?” Blood trickled from the corner of Charlotte’s mouth, but her gaze remained defiant. “What are you going to do, Mr. Ford? Kill me?”

Bruce froze for a moment when he met her eyes.

He had always thought Charlotte was obedient and easygoing.

He had never seen such raw hatred in her before, or the kind of reckless courage that came from having nothing left to lose.

The look in her eyes hit him harder than it should have.

“Kill you?” Bruce laughed coldly, anger flashing in his eyes. “You think threatening me is going to work? Charlotte, you’re more naive than I thought. I have plenty of ways to make you...”

“Daddy, it hurts!”

Kiki suddenly squirmed in Bruce’s arms.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, sobbing until her little face turned red.

At some point, Xena had placed a hand on Kiki’s back.

“Bruce, do you think something’s wrong with her?”

Bruce immediately snapped out of it.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Daddy’s taking you to the hospital.”

He forgot all about Charlotte and strode out of the ballroom with Kiki in his arms.

After everything that had happened, the birthday party was obviously over.

Adam and Susan had no choice but to see the guests out.

As Susan passed Charlotte, she gave her another vicious kick.

“You’re nothing but trouble. I’ll deal with you later.”

Charlotte lay on the floor like a broken doll, completely still.

Bruce was gone.

And with him, the crushing pressure that had surrounded her finally disappeared.

Was it finally over?

“Lottie.”

Xena’s voice suddenly came from beside her.

Charlotte’s entire body tensed.

She opened her eyes and found Xena looking down at her with a malicious smile.

“My sweet little sister. You wanted to threaten me, didn’t you?”

Xena slowly pulled out her phone.

“Then let’s see which one of us gets ruined first.”

She aimed the camera at Charlotte.

“Strip her and dump her outside the hotel. And make sure you record everything from start to finish.”

“No... Mmph!”

Charlotte’s face went white.

She tried to protest, but one of the bodyguards immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

She fought desperately against them, but she was no match for trained security guards.

Her eyes darted around, searching for help.

But Adam and Susan had already sent all the guests away.

Only a few hotel employees remained, and none of them dared get involved.

Then one of the bodyguards grabbed Charlotte by the collar and yanked hard.

Rip!

The sound of ripping fabric cut through the silent ballroom.

Xena kept her phone pointed at Charlotte, a twisted smile of satisfaction on her face.

“Don’t be scared, Lottie. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just recording a little video.”

Charlotte bit down hard on her lip as tears streamed down her face.

Regret hit her all at once.

She regretted fighting so hard to marry Bruce three years ago.

But even more than that, she regretted giving up her chance to study abroad for Xena, all because she had wanted to marry him.

“Bruce Ford. Xena Norman. You’re both going to regret this.”

Her words were muffled by the bodyguard’s hand, too faint for anyone to hear.

Charlotte struggled helplessly on the floor, both hands covering her stomach.

Her baby was the only thing she had left.

The bodyguard reached for her again, his rough, sweaty hand grabbing at her torn clothes as he tried to rip away what little she still had left covering her.

Charlotte closed her eyes in despair.

“Stop!”

A deep, commanding voice cut through the ballroom.

Charlotte’s eyes flew open.

Tears blurred her vision, and through them she could just make out a tall figure striding toward her from the side entrance.

He was exceptionally tall and broad-shouldered, his dark tailored suit fitting him perfectly.

There was something cold and intimidating about him, the kind of presence that made people instinctively move out of his way.

“Dr. Jenkins...”

Charlotte finally recognized him.

Without his white coat, Zac looked almost like a different person. There was an effortless authority about him that made her stare for a moment.

By then, he had already reached her.

His gaze dropped to Charlotte.

Her face was deathly pale, blood stained the corner of her mouth, and her tear-filled eyes looked completely hollow.

The smile froze on Xena’s face.

She eyed Zac warily.

“Who are you?”

One look at his clothes and the way he carried himself was enough to tell her that this man was no ordinary doctor.

Since when did Charlotte know someone like him?

Zac ignored her.

His attention remained on Charlotte.

“Can you stand?”

“Yes.”

Charlotte planted her hands on the floor and tried to push herself up.

But she had badly overestimated her strength.

She had barely gotten halfway up when her legs gave out.

Zac caught her before she could fall.

He steadied her for a moment, then slipped off his suit jacket.

The jacket was still warm from his body and carried a faint scent of cedar. He wrapped it around her torn clothes, covering her almost-exposed upper body and shielding her from the eyes around them.

Then he lifted her into his arms.

For the first time since entering the ballroom, Charlotte felt safe.

She gripped the front of his shirt tightly and looked up at him through tear-filled eyes.

“Please. Get me out of here.”

Zac frowned when he saw how pale she was.

“If you keep ignoring your doctor’s orders, there’s only so much anyone can do for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Charlotte whispered, lowering her eyes. “I didn’t mean to cause you trouble.”

She had no idea why Zac was here.

But right now, he was the only person she could rely on.

Xena watched from a few feet away, her expression growing darker by the second.

Something about Zac intimidated her. His presence was even more forbidding than Bruce’s.

But she knew she couldn’t let Charlotte leave.

If Charlotte walked out of here with those recordings, Xena was finished.

“I don’t care who you are,” she snapped. “This is a family matter. Stay out of it.”

“A family matter?”

Zac finally looked at her.

His cold gaze swept over Xena and the bodyguards.

“You had several men beat a pregnant woman and try to strip her in public.”

His voice was calm, but there wasn’t a trace of warmth in it.

“Since when is assault a family matter?”

“Don’t let my sister fool you,” Xena said, her tone suddenly softening.