Chapter 6

Charlotte looked up at him, her expression puzzled. “What?”

Zac assumed she was still upset, deliberately holding onto the gift instead of giving it to him right away. That was fine. He could give her an out.

Softening his tone, he said, “I spoke too harshly at the store earlier. Don’t be mad, okay?”

That should do it.

Charlotte sighed, meeting his gaze with an earnest expression. “I’m not mad.”

Zac scoffed. “Sure you’re not.”

“Believe whatever you want.”

The casual indifference in her voice instantly irritated him.

“Charlotte, I already apologized. What more do you want?”

She continued packing, her movements unbothered. “I don’t need your apology.”

Zac stared at her for a few seconds, his expression unreadable.

After a moment, he asked, a little awkwardly, “Where’s the gift?”

Charlotte turned to him. “What gift?”

“Eugene said he saw you buying me a watch,” Zac said. “Didn’t you get it to apologize and make up with me? I’m back now. Aren’t you going to give it to me?”

Charlotte had been about to tell him the watch wasn’t for him, but before she could, Zac continued as if the matter was already settled.

“Come on, enough already. Dragging this out is pointless.”

At that, Charlotte suddenly laughed.

Zac’s brows furrowed. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” she said, looking at him with amused disbelief. “You’re hilarious.”

She met his gaze, her tone light but sharp. “I did buy a watch, but it’s not for you. And I don’t think I did anything wrong, so why would I need to apologize?”

Zac’s face darkened. “Not for me? Then who the hell is it for?”

Charlotte smiled. “None of your business.”

Zac clenched his fists, his temper flaring. “None of my business? I’m your boyfriend! And you’re out here buying gifts for another man? How the hell is that not my business?”

Compared to his growing anger, Charlotte was entirely calm.

She raised a brow. “Aren’t you Wendy’s boyfriend?”

Zac tensed, immediately blurting out, “It’s not like that between us!”

His voice was noticeably quieter than before, lacking its usual confidence.

Because he knew he was guilty.

His relationship with Wendy wasn’t exactly that of boyfriend and girlfriend—it was more like an affair.

He had already crossed the line, already done things he shouldn’t have.

And yet, on paper, Charlotte was still his girlfriend.

He liked Wendy’s passionate, daring energy and the way she was flirtatious and unafraid to take the lead.

But at the same time, he also liked Charlotte’s beautiful face, her soft, gentle nature, and the way she always seemed to understand him.

He wasn’t ready to tell her about Wendy and him. Not yet.

Trying to salvage the situation, he added, “Today, when I went to the jewelry store with Wendy, it really was because of my mom. We weren’t looking at rings for Wendy. We were picking out jewelry to match my mom’s new dress.

“My mom said Wendy has good taste and knows how to match accessories, so she asked her to go with me. It wasn’t just about rings—we had to pick out necklaces, earrings, and bracelets too, all carefully matched to go with her new dress. I know you misunderstood, but I was upset at the time, so I didn’t bother explaining. I wanted to see if you’d get jealous.”

“Jealous?” Charlotte’s eyes turned icy. “Oh? So now you care whether I’d get jealous?”

“Charlotte, I’m sorry—” Zac tried to smooth things over.

She cut him off. “Your apology is noted. I don’t accept it. And no, the gift isn’t for you.”

Zac’s patience snapped. His voice rose sharply.

“Then who’s it for?”

“My fiancé.”

Zac let out a sarcastic laugh, his eyes filled with mockery.

“Wow, Charlotte Riley, you really will say anything to force me into marriage, huh?” He scoffed. “So what, you’re saying that unless I agree to marry you—become your fiancé—you won’t give me the gift? And then you’ll forgive me? That’s what this is about?”

Charlotte frowned.

Where did he get this level of delusion?

Did he really think she couldn’t live without him?

Zac’s eyes were filled with disappointment as he shook his head at Charlotte.

“Charlotte Riley, I thought you understood the impossible gap between us. I thought you were sensible. But you just keep pushing for marriage over and over again. You’ve really let me down.”

Charlotte was rendered speechless.

With that, Zac turned and walked out.

The bedroom door slammed shut with a loud bang.

Charlotte let out a helpless sigh and shook her head.

She had been planning to use this moment to have a serious talk with him—to officially break up and tell him the truth that she was the heiress of the Riley family in Jersey City and was returning to get engaged to Sean Jasper.

But Zac hadn’t even given her a chance to speak.

Charlotte thought to herself that maybe the reason he was so convinced she was desperate to marry him was because she had given him that confidence.

For years, she had played the role of the obedient, understanding girlfriend—never checking up on him, never getting jealous, never prying into his personal life.

Except for physical intimacy, she had rarely ever denied him anything.

Maybe that had led him to believe she couldn’t live without him.

But what he didn’t know was that her so-called obedience wasn’t because she was naive.

It was because she had known all along that he never planned on making her his future.

A year ago, she had thought about taking Zac back to Jersey City and telling him about her true identity.

But then, she had accidentally overheard his phone call with his mother, Monica.

“Mom, don’t worry. I know you’d never approve of her marrying into our family. I’m just dating her for fun. If I ever actually plan to get married, obviously, you’d have the final say.

“You raised me better than to let some random girl drag me into a marriage. I know the difference between dating and marrying.”

Oh, so he knew the difference.

That was when she finally realized that Zac had never intended to have a future with her.

To put it plainly, he didn’t even love her that much.

But Charlotte wasn’t the kind of woman to lose herself over love.

She had always been able to pick things up and let them go.

Since Zac only wanted a relationship with no endgame, fine—she went along with it.

At the time, she needed companionship, needed emotional warmth in a city where she had no one.

That was all.

She had protected herself well—her first kiss and first time still untouched.

So why hadn’t she left earlier?

Because at the time, she had still liked him.

And she had gotten used to him being there.

Emotions were complicated. They weren’t always black and white, all or nothing.

After overhearing that phone call, she had never mentioned her family background again.

But after finding out she was nothing more than a substitute for Wendy, she suddenly found everything meaningless.

She could accept that there was no future between them.

She could accept that he didn’t love her as much as she once thought.

But she could not accept that he had been using her as Wendy’s replacement.

She was Charlotte Riley.

She was her own person.

*

However, Charlotte never expected Monica to show up at her door.

The woman was dressed in a deep blue silk dress, her ears and neck adorned with sapphire jewelry, and on her finger sat an enormous pigeon-egg-sized diamond ring—the same shade of blue as her outfit.

It seemed Zac was right. His mother was indeed the kind of person who would buy an entire set of jewelry just to match a dress.

Monica looked at her with an expression as if she were examining something she found distasteful.

Her eyes were filled with criticism.

“You must be Charlotte Riley?” Monica’s voice was indifferent, her tone carrying an air of condescension.

Charlotte remained polite. “Hello, Mrs. Gibson.”

“Mm.”

Monica stepped inside, her gaze sweeping over the room before finally settling on Charlotte.

“I’ve heard all about you and Zac.”

She sat gracefully on the couch, her legs crossed at an elegant angle. Her posture was refined, but her words were rough.

“Do you really think a girl like you is good enough to marry into the Gibson family?”