Chapter 12
Charlotte stood at the front of a dilapidated classroom in rural Tanzania, guiding a group of elementary students through a basic English reading lesson.
The wooden floorboards creaked beneath her feet, and the afternoon sun streamed through windows that had no glass–just wooden shutters that could be closed during the frequent storms.
“Let’s try once more,” she encouraged, pointing to the simple text on the chalkboard. “The cat sits on the mat.”
This was her fifth day in the remote fishing village, and the reality of life here had been sobering. She’d expected educational poverty, but not this level of basic need. Many of these children came to school hungry, their only meals dependent on whether their parents had a successful day fishing in the dangerous waters of Lake Tanganyika.
When Charlotte had committed to the Peace Corps, she’d promised herself she would give these children everything she could. She couldn’t provide material wealth, but she could offer knowledge–the most powerful tool for changing their circumstances. Education might not guarantee a different future, but it was their best chance at one.
As Charlotte guided the children through a phonics exercise, a commotion at the doorway caught her attention. She looked up to find Isaac Wood leaning against the doorframe, watching her with that familiar half–smile that had graced countless society pages back home.
When their eyes met, he raised an eyebrow in greeting, causing several of the young girls to giggle and whisper to each other.
Fortunately, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. Charlotte set down her chalk and walked toward him, curious about his unexpected appearance at her classroom.
Isaac was notorious in New York social circles as a carefree trust fund kid who’d never faced a consequence in his life. He’d asked Charlotte out at least ten times over the years, each attempt met with a polite but firm rejection. When he’d suddenly signed up for the Peace Corps–a program that required genuine hardship and commitment–everyone had been shocked.
12:47
The Moment I Let Go My Uncle: Escaping the Forbidden Past
9.4%
Chapter 12
But these past weeks had changed Charlotte’s opinion of him. Beneath the careless facade, Isaac was surprisingly competent and genuinely committed to helping.
“What brings you to my humble classroom?” she asked, stepping outside into the blazing
Tanzanian sun.
Isaac’s smile widened as he handed her his phone without comment, his eyes never leaving
her face.
Charlotte tapped the screen to play the video that was already queued up. Her breath
caught when Elias’s face appeared.
The man in the video bore little resemblance to the controlled, disciplined Elias she knew.
This version was disheveled and clearly drunk, downing glass after glass of whiskey before
finally collapsing onto a bar counter, his perfect composure completely shattered.
Charlotte couldn’t hide her shock. In all the years she’d known him, Elias had prided
himself on his self–discipline. He considered bars beneath him and rarely drank more than a single glass of wine at dinner.
Noticing her surprise, Isaac leaned against the school’s exterior wall. “Turns out his perfect
Scarlett was running a long con,” he explained, watching Charlotte’s reaction carefully. “On
their wedding day, someone projected some pretty explicit videos of her with multiple men
onto the big screen. The whole thing imploded spectacularly.”
He lowered his voice, though the children were too far away to hear. “It’s all anyone’s
talking about back home. The Delaney name is mud right now. Word is, he lost his
promotion and got publicly dressed down by his commanding officer–career suicide in military circles.”
Isaac’s voice dropped even lower. “And with that vindictive streak of his? He had her
kidney surgically removed that same day–without anesthesia–and shipped her off to some
dangerous research mission with uncontacted tribes in the Amazon. Pretty cold–blooded,
even for someone like him. I mean, he supposedly loved her, right? Yet he showed zero
mercy.”
Charlotte’s expression tightened with pain. She’d experienced Elias’s ruthlessness firsthand,
but she never imagined he would turn it against Scarlett, the woman he’d chosen over her
repeatedly.
12:47
The Moment I Let Go My Uncle: Escaping the Forbidden Past
9.6%
Even now, remembering her previous life–the humiliation, the assault, the knife–made her shudder. Thank God she’d escaped that cycle this time.
Isaac watched her reaction with barely concealed concern. He’d fallen for Charlotte the moment they met at a charity gala years ago, but he’d quickly realized her heart belonged to Elias Delaney. Still, he’d persisted, hoping his genuine feelings might eventually win her
over.
Each rejection had been gentle but firm, and Isaac had always understood the unspoken. reason. What he couldn’t understand was what Charlotte saw in Elias. Sure, the man was handsome and successful, but his character was fundamentally flawed. He’d exploited Charlotte’s feelings, manipulated her, and treated her with casual cruelty–all because he knew she loved him.
After learning how Elias had treated Charlotte–forcing her through surgery without anesthesia, slapping her, publicly humiliating her–Isaac had quietly launched an investigation into Scarlett. He’d discovered a treasure trove of damning evidence: her gambling debts, her manipulation of Elias, her deliberate self–harm to create a medical
emergency.
The wedding day exposure had been Isaac’s doing–not to ruin Elias’s wedding, but to ensure Elias would live with the crushing weight of guilt for how he’d treated Charlotte. Seeing Elias drunk and miserable in that video had been deeply satisfying.
But Charlotte didn’t look pleased by the news. If anything, she seemed troubled, which wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for.
Isaac had traveled halfway around the world to join this Peace Corps mission for one reason only: to help Charlotte heal and find happiness again. He’d given up his comfortable Manhattan apartment, his social life, and all the luxuries he’d grown up with–just to be near her, to show her that someone genuinely cared.
Seeing her distress, he quickly changed the subject.
“Look at that sunshine,” he said, gesturing toward the brilliant Tanzanian sky. “It’s a perfect
day.”
Charlotte’s gaze followed his, taking in the vast expanse of blue above them.
“What I mean is,” Isaac said softly, his eyes reflecting a depth of feeling he usually kept
12:47
The Moment I Let Go My Uncle: Escaping the Forbidden Past
9.8%
hidden, “every day is a chance to start fresh. To leave the past behind.”
12:47 O
