“I just got off the phone with my lawyer,” Xavier told Charlotte when she returned to the living room. “Did he check everything?” Xavier nodded. “He did. The divorce proceedings, everything is in order. There’s no loophole she can use to get anything from me anymore.” “Did you speak to Private?” Charlotte asked. Xavier sighed. “Why won’t you speak with him? That’s who you need to talk to,” Charlotte pushed. “I know he practically has access to any information about me he wants, but still, I’m tired of having him run all these personal searches for me all the time,” Xavier complained. Charlotte stared at him in disbelief. “But that’s his job.” “I know…”She placed her palm on his. “I understand what you’re saying, but your lawyer can only go so far. The only person who can discover hidden stuff that could come back to bite us in the future, whether legally or illegally is Private. Once he finds out why exactly she’s here, I’ll send her a message to let her know I’m open to he
Xavier walked into his office with his bodyguard who had gone to join him after dropping Charlotte off. He had a set look on his face as he walked into the office building, but it couldn’t be farther from how he really felt. He basically ignored the workers who were confident enough to greet him, dismissing them with one nod. “The elevator is out of order, sir,” a young boy Xavier recognized as an intern told him. He had been sitting in a chair right next to the dysfunctional elevator. “Is this what your school sent you here for? To learn how elevators work?” Xavier said with irritation. The boy opened his mouth to speak by Xavier waved him away. He was more irritated by the problem with the elevator than the boy. “Has anyone called maintenance?” He asked. While the boy left to verify whether help was on the way, Xavier groaned with frustration and went through the stairs with Carlos following silently behind him. By the time he got to his office panting, he was pissed. He dismi
“Charlotte, wait,” he called, catching up with her in the hallway and pulling her hand. She stopped walking, but she didn’t turn to face him. “I’m sorry, Char,” he said, trying to get her to turn to him. She pulled her hands away from his and finally turned to face him. “Are you sorry about what you did or sorry because I found out?” She asked. Xavier glanced around and noticed the employees who now seemed to have so much to do on the hallway. “Please come back to the office. I’ll explain everything,” he begged her, trying to hold her hand again. She slapped it away. “Don’t you dare,” she snapped. “I already handed in my resignation letter. I am under no obligation to follow you anywhere.” “I never said you were under obligation,” he tried to explain. “I just want us to talk this out so I can explain to you and apologize appropriately. Preferably somewhere more private.” She pursed her lips and crossed her arms tighter. “Just forget it, Xavier. I’m too angry to even look at
“I can’t just let you go,” Carlos told her, trying to make her see reason. “I know you’re thinking about your job but trust me…” “This has nothing to do with my job,” he said. “I know that woman. She’s a snake. You’ll like her when you meet her but when she successfully corners you, she’ll strike.”Charlotte sighed. “I know you don’t support what I’m doing. You probably don’t even understand why I have to do this but it’s really important for me,” she said. Carlos was not the person she should be mad at. He was just looking out for her, like he always did for some reason. Sometimes, she wondered if he knew her from somewhere or if she reminded him of someone dear to him he had lost. “Mr Roman will be mad if he hears I drove you there,” he said and Charlotte frowned. “Will you stop mentioning his name?” She said in a sharp tone. “Whatever I choose to do with my life is my business. If you don’t drive me there I’ll find my way myself.” “Charlotte…” “Will you lock me up in my room
Everywhere went silent after Laura’s declaration. Charlotte blinked once, then twice, but she still didn’t wake up from the nightmare that was unfolding before her, nor did the woman take back her words. Charlotte looked down at the little boy who was clinging to his mother. He was a splitting image of her. The more she looked at him however, the more the boy began to look like the least person she wanted him to resemble. No, it couldn’t be. Xavier fell silent, but he was breathing hard. Slowly, everyone turned to him, waiting to see his reaction to the news. “Is this some kind of joke?” He asked faintly. “Of course not,” Laura said, a look of exaggerated shock masking her face. She held her son by the shoulder and tried to push him toward Xavier. “Caleb, this is your father.” “Can you stop fucking saying that!” Xavier snapped, running a hand through his hair. The boy flinched and ran back cowering between his mother’s legs. By now, several phones were raised and recording, as n
Xavier didn’t know what to do. This was just like Laura to do something like this. Why on earth did he end up storming there without thinking this through first? Laura knew him. They had been married for five years after all. She knew that the only thing that could get him here was something that had to do with Charlotte and that was why she had sent those images. When he entered his car and speedily drove to the restaurant, he had known from the start that this was simply her way of getting his attention. He had ended up going anyway, just to make sure she didn’t end up sending the images to someone else like she had threatened to do. What he hadn’t known however, was that she had orchestrated all of this from start to finish. The images had only been bait. Neither of them even remembered that was the reason he had come there in the first place. The little boy staring up at him couldn’t possibly be his. No. This was just Laura trying out something stupid and him falling for it on
Xavier sincerely hoped Charlotte would be home when he went there. He drove like a mad man, the fear of Laura’s presence overtaken by the fear of his wife leaving him or doing something to herself. He knew Charlotte didn’t have anywhere else to go. He hated that that was his only consolation. But she had a lot of money now, so if she really wanted to even leave the country, she could. “Welcome, boss…” one of his security guards greeted him when he entered the house. “Is she back?” He asked, cutting him off. “Who, sir?” The guard asked and Xavier glared at him. “Who else would I be talking about, you…” he stopped to catch his breath and rethink what he had to say. “Is my wife home yet?” “Uh, no. I haven’t seen her after she left in the morning.” Xavier ran his hand through his hair after hearing what he had desperately hoped he wouldn’t hear. He dialed her number even though he was sure she would not respond. After he got sent to voicemail four times, he knew sh
“Stop saying that Charlotte, please,” Xavier murmured. She shrugged. “In life, it helps to be honest with one’s self instead of just living in a web of lies. I don’t know whether you did it on purpose, but I don’t care. I’m no longer accusing you. Everything that has happened today has opened my eyes to something I didn’t know was there. I let things happen around me without actually being a part of it. All my life I’ve been pushed around by people I didn’t question, circumstances I didn’t question. But now I’ve realized that isn’t life.” “Are you trying to say I’m always pushing you around?” Xavier asked, obviously hurt. “Am I as bad as Jonah or every other abusive person you’ve ever been around? I know I’ve messed up in several areas, but you can’t deny what we have. I’ve never seen you as less in any way.” Charlotte smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She looked past him, deep in her own thoughts as she turned on the twirling chair. “Like I said, I’m no longer accusing you. Yo