Flashback [||]

She exhaled deeply, trying to clear her mind before going into the flat. Knowing its digital lock, she punched in the code with ease, and the door opened. She closed the door behind her and paused to look around. The living room was dark, and the silence was deafening, making her thoughts race through her head.

She looked at the open door to her bedroom, where she and Gabriel had once slept. She heard faint whispers coming from inside. A dim source of light appeared as a soft glow filtered through the half-open door. She moved stealthily toward the room, taking care to avoid making a sound. Disbelief overcame her as she looked through the small opening and saw what was happening.

She saw her husband with another woman. They laughed at something while drinking and enjoying their so-called meetings. Charlotte felt disgusted, as if it were somehow her fault that they were together. Rage consumed every part of her body. Her hands trembled violently, and she felt hot tears fill her eyes. The room that once held cherished memories of love now felt like a betrayal. Anger surged through her veins, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the painful sight. The woman's laughter echoed in the room, mocking the love they once shared. "How could Gabriel do this to me? Gabriel, the person I trusted and loved, gave me this heart-wrenching pain." Questions swirled in her mind, each one more painful than the last. They were planning something, and Charlotte wanted to hear, so she leaned further and listened to her nightmare.

"Now I really got tired of her and felt trapped in this marriage, but I didn't know the way out," Gabriel said as he held her hand.

"Then just get rid of her," that woman replied as she took a sip from her glass.

"Get rid...?"

"Just like you planned to get rid of her parents," She shrugged. "Not to mention you already killed her mother."

"But I can't kill her now, I mean she is pregnant with my twins," Gabriel looked quite concerned.

"As if you wanted them__."

"Yeah but I wanted Lopez Food Company shares, If I killed her now we might lose those shares. So we have to wait till next year," Gabriel poured another glass of wine for himself.

"Next year?" That woman exclaimed. Her eyes pierced into his soul. "You wanted me to wait that long?"

"No, baby I don't want you to wait," Gabriel stood up from his seat and walked towards her. "But who will raise them?" He pulled her in his embrace and took a quick peck on her lips. "I don't want to burden you."

"I can raise those kids, but close this chapter as soon as possible," that woman growled.

Charlotte mustered all her remaining courage and pushed the door open, making it squeak loudly. The faint light made it hard to see the woman's face, or perhaps Charlotte was just trying to draw their attention to herself. When Gabriel and the woman suddenly turned to face her, their expressions a mixture of surprise and shock, a thick stillness fell over the room.

The woman was none other than her best friend, Sarah. It felt like her world was spinning. Everything blurred before her eyes as she tried to process what had happened. She didn't know when it all started between them, but witnessing them together in that moment suggested they had been acquainted for quite some time. Sarah and Charlotte had been friends since childhood. They shared everything, from their deepest secrets to their wildest dreams, but she never imagined sharing her husband. She never imagined that her best friend would be the one to stab her in the back.

Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision as Charlotte struggled to find her voice. "How could you?" she managed to choke out, her voice trembling with a mix of hurt and anger.

Charlotte had often heard her husband speak of Sarah, praising her intelligence and beauty at various gatherings. She had always brushed it off as mere admiration for a dear friend, never suspecting that something deeper was going on.

The impact of realization struck her like a thunderbolt, sending shockwaves of emotion through her body. How oblivious she had been! The signs had been right in front of her, like a door to her ignorance. The covert late-night conversations, the furtive gazes they shared when they thought nobody was observing-it all became crystal clear in that moment, and Charlotte was astounded by her previous lack of perception.

Her sight grew hazy, and she heard nothing except static as a wave of dizziness swept through her mind. Her knees gave out. She felt someone hold her arms before the ground rushed up to meet her face. Later, she regained consciousness in the hospital, only to see a distressing sight beside her bed: her only son.

 

Charlotte sat up abruptly and immediately searched for her other son, but he was nowhere to be found. Panic took hold as she desperately scoured every corner of the hospital room. He wasn’t there. What else might he be? What if someone had taken him? Charlotte thought feverishly. As she stood up, she felt her heart pounding frantically against her chest and her legs growing numb. How much had he wept before being taken away? Didn’t someone have the ability to assist him? Was he now alright?

"Now, what should we do to this Charlotte?" She suddenly overheard Sarah speaking to Gabriel in a hushed tone from behind the closed door.

Gabriel let out a deep sigh, his voice filled with animosity. "What should we do? Just increase her medication dosage," Charlotte strained to listen to their discussion.

"And what about that second child?" Sarah asked, unknowingly causing Charlotte to instinctively reach out toward her son’s bed.

Gabriel’s words pierced her ears: "How much harm could a deceased child cause?" A shiver ran down Charlotte’s spine as his revelation settled in. The atmosphere in the hospital room became stifling, making it difficult for her to breathe. The weight of his disclosure bore down on her chest, almost suffocating her. However, the thunderous applause forced her to bury her painful memories in the depths of the past.

She saw Ethan standing on stage, addressing the press. "The president of this company—Ms. Charlotte Lopez," he gazed at his mother with a smile. "She is not only my mother but also a remarkable woman who single-handedly established Lopez Food Company with my grandfather. Throughout her life, she has been a source of strength and independence, and she holds great admiration for me. Now, the time has come for me to assume the responsibility of being the successor of our family business."