Chapter 28
Issac quickly removed his jacket and draped it over Evelyn’s exposed body as he crouched beside her.
Evelyn wailed dramatically as if the world were ending.
“Get the fuck out of here, Charlotte!” Issac shouted, completely missing how deathly pale Charlotte had
become.
Ronald snapped out of his shock and fushed to support Charlotte. “Are you okay?”
Charlotte clenched her teeth, her eyes reddening. “You make me SICK, Issac Wood, really.”
She pushed away Ronald’s hand and struggled to stand on her own despite her unsteady legs.
Issac’s heart tightened. The look in her eyes seemed to say that once she walked through that door, she
would never return.
He felt a flicker of panic.
Ronald: “Sir… I think she hurt her back really badly when you pushed her.”
Issac’s eyes widened.
Suddenly remembering how forcefully he’d yanked her, flashing back to her expression of pain, he immediately stood up and went after her, ignoring Evelyn’s theatrical sobbing.
****
“Summer, I need to end this now. I just… can’t stomach the sight of him anymore.”
Charlotte leaned against the corner of the elevator, barely audible as she spoke on the phone, her voice fighting to hold back tears.
Unable to return to her department in such a state, she had forced herself to leave the building despite the excruciating pain and drive to her new place.
Summer heard the breaking point in her voice and immediately grabbed her purse and car keys. “Where are you right now?”
Charlotte gave her the address.
Summer: “I’m on my way. Stay still.”
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She wasn’t just Charlotte’s divorce lawyer but her childhood friend. She knew Charlotte well–seemingly gentle and delicate, but fiercely proud and strong inside. Since discovering Issac’s affair, she had been methodically preparing for divorce despite her pain, never once breaking down in front of Summer.
For her to sound like this, she must have been hurt beyond measure.
That motherfucking piece of shit Issac!
“Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
Charlotte ended the call and leaned back with closed eyes, completely still.
Her long hair obscured her face, blocking out the surrounding light. Her thoughts seemed to be dragged into an endless black vortex, falling deeper and deeper…
Time passed.
“Are you planning to move anytime soon?”
A rich, cool male voice gently broke the silence of the elevator, where you could have heard a pin drop.
Charlotte’s eyes snapped open as she turned her head in alarm.
Her gaze landed on broad shoulders in black and a pale, elegant neck–black and white creating a stark, sophisticated contrast. Looking up, she met deep, intense eyes as cold as glaciers staring at her, though his expression wasn’t unkind.
་་
“It’s you…”
She recognized him, mumbling softly before they continued their awkward staring contest.
་་ “1
Zarek Weasley was thoroughly confused by this dazed woman before him.
She had followed him like a shadow from the parking garage into the elevator, then commandeered the most critical corner and refused to move.
He leaned toward her, his movements carefully measured.
At six–foot–four, he towered over her like a mountain.
Charlotte instinctively raised her hand to block him. “What are you-”
Before she could finish, a beautiful, elegant hand landed on her arm, palm facing outward, then… gently moved her aside to reach the fingerprint scanner.
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Charlotte: “…”
Only then did she finally snap out of her foggy mental state.
The elevator hadn’t moved because she hadn’t pressed anything…
And she had been blocking the fingerprint scanner, preventing him from using it…
How embarrassing. Truly mortifying.
The elevator began to ascend.
When the display showed 5, she quietly reached for the scanner herself, while noticing his floor.
46–the penthouse.
She shifted awkwardly, the atmosphere strangely intimate despite their being strangers.
Just then, a phone vibrated nearby, followed by that cool, rich voice entering her ears: “What’s that? Hmm? Measurements? Ms. Whitmore asked for…”
Charlotte turned her neck as if it were rusted, her embarrassment now approaching neurotic levels, her
vision blurring.
She took a deep breath. “…Is this a bad time?”
Zarek’s expression remained gentle but unreadable.
“Ding-”
The elevator doors opened.
Charlotte stumbled out like someone escaping a burning building, one hand supporting her injured back.
***
When Summer arrived, Charlotte was lying face–down on the bedroom’s large bed. She appeared calmer now, though there was a hazy, broken beauty to her stillness.
“What happened?” Summer crouched beside the bed, her voice gentle.
Charlotte focused her gaze.
The bizarre elevator encounter had actually jolted her out of her emotional spiral, bringing her a strange sense of calm.
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She recounted the office incident with surprising composure.
Summer, however, was furious.
“You’re still working at Harmonex, and he’s already dragging that homewrecking bitch into the office? Having sex in broad daylight and then physically assaulting you?”
“Has he completely lost his mind? Is he so goddamn shameless that he’s not even trying to hide it anymore?”
“Charlotte, they’re openly taunting you now. Are you sure you only want a divorce? Because I can think of several creative ways to destroy him.”
Charlotte tried to turn over but winced as sharp pain shot through her lower back.
She gave up and remained on her stomach. “You know why I chose this approach. It wasn’t fear. I
wanted him to know that I rejected him first. I won’t waste a single tear on a man who’s become this
repulsive. I’m throwing him away like the contaminated garbage he is.”
Summer’s eyes filled with rage and sympathy.
She gently stroked Charlotte’s hair. “Talking so tough, yet look at what that bastard’s done to you.”
“Got carried away in the moment,” Charlotte smiled self–mockingly. “Two more weeks and they could fuck on the dining table while I’m eating breakfast–I wouldn’t even blink.”
“Afraid your eyes might rot?”
“Animals mating. At most, I’d throw up a little.”
“…That’s still hard on your stomach.”
Summer stayed with her a while longer, and seeing that Charlotte was doing better, went to the pharmacy to buy some pain patches for her back.
Outside, night had fallen.
Issac had searched everywhere Charlotte might normally go, called all her friends, and even visited his
in–laws.
Still no sign of her.
Summer was the first person he’d called. She claimed not to know where Charlotte was.
By his tenth call, she wasn’t answering…
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Charlotte finally spoke up. “Just answer it. He probably knows you left the law firm early today.”
“That piece of shit, now he’s worried?” Summer walked to the balcony to take the call, immediately letting loose. “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Cheating Asshole himself. Isn’t Charlotte’s disappearance exactly what you wanted? Now nobody’s standing between you and your little slut’s fuck sessions. How perfectly convenient!”
Her words confirmed they were together. Issac’s voice was hoarse. “Let me talk to her.”
“Can’t. I don’t know where she is. Maybe she jumped off a bridge. Why don’t you check the obituaries
tomorrow?”
With that, Summer hung up.
Let him suffer!
On the other end, Issac’s face turned frigid.
Summer’s phone rang again. Charlotte came out from the bedroom. “I’ll take it.”
Summer handed her the phone.
Charlotte answered, “Stop harassing Summer. I’ll come back when I feel like it.”
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by the sound of heavy breathing. His voice was cautious. “Where are you? I’ll come get you right now! How’s your back? Are you still in pain?”
“Hah…” Charlotte let out a bitter laugh. “Issac, your fake concern makes me want to vomit. Save the performance for your girlfriend–I’m not buying it.”
Chapter 29
Chapter 29
