Chapter 16
Charlotte’s tears flowed freely as she nodded, unable to speak for a moment. Finally, she managed a single word through her emotion.
“Yes.”
Isaac stared at her in disbelief, as if afraid he’d misheard. The realization that
Charlotte–the woman he’d quietly loved for years–had actually agreed to be his girlfriend hit him in waves of escalating joy.
When it finally sank in, he pulled her into a tight embrace, his heart hammering against his chest. For the first time in his life, Isaac felt like he’d found his place in the world–not in Manhattan’s penthouses or exclusive clubs, but here in this remote village, with Charlotte
in his arms.
“I’m going to spend every day making you happy,” he whispered against her ear, the fireworks still bursting overhead like a celebration of their beginning.
Charlotte closed her eyes, letting herself sink into the warmth of his embrace. After years of giving her heart to someone who only broke it, she’d finally found someone who treasured it. The sense of peace that washed over her was entirely new–a feeling of coming home she’d never experienced before.
Elias Delaney, however, was not a man who accepted defeat easily.
After Charlotte’s rejection, he returned to New York, requested a month’s leave from his commanding officer, and immediately flew back to Tanzania. In his mind, whatever coldness she showed him was nothing compared to what he had inflicted on her. He deserved her anger, but he was determined to earn her forgiveness.
When he arrived back at the village, he headed straight for the school, only to freeze at the
sight that greeted him.
In a secluded corner behind the building, Isaac had Charlotte pressed against the wall, one hand braced beside her head, their bodies close in an unmistakably intimate pose.
As Elias watched, unable to look away, Isaac leaned down and captured Charlotte’s lips in a
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Chapter 16
passionate kiss–urgent and possessive.
What shattered Elias completely wasn’t the kiss itself, but Charlotte’s response. She wasn’t merely allowing it–she was enthusiastically returning it, her fingers threading through Isaac’s hair, pulling him closer, her body arching toward him with an abandon Elias had never witnessed in her before.
Elias felt something crack inside his chest. His vision blurred with something hot and dangerous, his breathing becoming shallow and painful. His fists clenched so tightly his nails cut into his palms, his entire body trembling with an emotion so intense it threatened to bring him to his knees.
Until this moment, he’d convinced himself that his feelings for Charlotte were based in guilt and familial obligation. Even when he’d learned she was with Isaac, his primary reaction had been anger–anger that she would choose someone he deemed unworthy.
But now, watching her kiss another man, Elias finally confronted the truth he’d been denying for years: this wasn’t concern or guilt or brotherly protection.
This was jealousy. Raw, consuming jealousy that burned through his veins like acid, making him want to tear Isaac away from her with his bare hands.
He was in love with Charlotte. Had been for longer than he cared to admit. He’d just been
too blind, too arrogant, too certain of her devotion to recognize his own feelings.
Charlotte had never dated anyone else, had always been there for him, had always put him
first. He’d taken for granted that she would always love him, always wait for him, no matter
how poorly he treated her.
Now she had truly moved on, and the realization came far too late.
What cut deepest was the expression on Charlotte’s face when they finally broke apart–a radiant happiness he had never seen during all their years together. With him, she had always been restrained, careful, afraid of rejection. With Isaac, she was luminous,
unguarded, free.
Elias wanted to storm over and tear them apart. But what right did he have? What claim
could he possibly make? Any intervention would only push Charlotte further away, solidify
her hatred for him.
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So he stood frozen, forced to watch as Charlotte smiled up at Isaac with an expression of genuine affection she had once reserved only for him. Forced to witness her nestling into another man’s embrace, looking more content than he’d ever seen her.
For the first time in his thirty–two years, Elias Delaney understood what it meant to want something he could not have. The sensation was foreign and devastating–like drowning on dry land.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from them until they finally departed, Isaac’s arm wrapped possessively around Charlotte’s waist as they walked toward the village center, her laughter floating back to him–a sound he’d rarely heard when she was with him.
When they were gone, Elias slammed his fist into the concrete wall with enough force to split his knuckles open. Blood dripped onto the dusty ground as pain shot up his arm, but it was nothing compared to the agony in his chest.
Was this how Charlotte had felt all those years, watching him with Scarlett? This helpless,
consuming ache?
The belated understanding of what he had put her through–the casual cruelty, the deliberate humiliation, the physical pain–hit him with crushing force. He had been a monster to her, and still she had given him her kidney, her blood, her unwavering loyalty.
And what had he given her in return? Pain. Humiliation. Betrayal.
Elias hated himself in that moment with an intensity that rivaled his feelings for Charlotte. He had done this–driven away the one person who had truly loved him, pushed her into another man’s arms. The happiness on her face with Isaae was a damning indictment of his
own failure.
He knew then that Charlotte would never forgive him. How could she? The moment he had forced her to donate her kidney without anesthesia, he had severed any possibility of
redemption.
For once in his life, Elias Delaney chose not to fight. He recognized, with painful clarity, that he no longer deserved Charlotte Whitmore.
With a heavy heart, he pulled out his phone and dialed his commanding officer.
“Sir, I need to cancel my leave request,” he said, his voice hollow. “I’ll be returning to base
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Chapter 16
immediately.”
There was no reason to stay–not when each day would only bring fresh pain as he watched
Charlotte build a life with someone else.
As he walked away from the village for the last time, a bitter smile twisted his lips.
He had lost Charlotte completely, and the fault was entirely his own.
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