Chapter 6
A few days after Charlotte’s discharge, Elias received an invitation to an exclusive charity auction benefiting veterans‘ families. When he mentioned it to Scarlett, she squealed with excitement and raced upstairs to plan her outfit.
Later, he glanced at Charlotte sitting quietly on the couch, her face still discolored from the fall. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
“You should come too,” he said, his tone making it sound like an afterthought. “Least I can do after you gave blood for Scarlett.”
Charlotte opened her mouth to decline, but Elias had already turned away, heading back to Scarlett’s room. As usual, her response wasn’t actually required.
The auction ballroom at the Ritz–Carlton sparkled with Michigan’s elite. Throughout the evening, Elias bid aggressively on anything Scarlett showed interest in–a first–edition
Hemingway, a weekend in Martha’s Vineyard, a private dinner with a celebrity chef–while Charlotte sat beside them, her mind already halfway to Tanzania.
When an extraordinarily rare diamond and sapphire set came up for auction, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
“Elias,” Scarlett whispered, squeezing his arm with practiced delicacy. “I need to wear those
when I become Mrs. Delaney. Please?”
Without hesitation, Elias raised his paddle. After a brief bidding war with a tech billionaire,
he secured the jewelry for $12 million, earning admiring glances and whispers about his
devotion.
Charlotte didn’t even bother looking up–until the auctioneer’s next announcement cut through her detachment like a knife.
“Our next item has extraordinary historical significance. This is an original bullet casing
recovered from the Battle of Fallujah, carried by the late Captain Clayton Whitmore during
his final mission before his heroic sacrifice.”
Clayton Whitmore–her father’s name.
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Charlotte’s head snapped up, her chest suddenly tight. Without conscious thought, she
raised her paddle, her hand trembling slightly.
Elias didn’t bid, but watched her with an expression that might have been guilt on anyone
else’s face.
“Thirty thousand, going once!” the auctioneer called.
“Thirty thousand, going twice!”
“Congratulations to Miss Whitm-”
“Wait!” Scarlett suddenly tugged at Elias’s sleeve, her eyes wide with manufactured interest. “Elias, baby, I want that bullet casing for my collection. It would look perfect in that display
case you bought me.”
For the first time that evening, Elias hesitated. He clearly recognized what this item meant
to Charlotte–a tangible connection to the father she barely remembered.
But as Scarlett gazed up at him expectantly, he turned to Charlotte. “Let this one go,” he said, his tone somewhere between commanding and uncomfortable. “I’ll buy you
something else–anything else. Scarlett wants this particular piece.”
Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears she refused to let fall. She said nothing, simply raising her paddle again with quiet determination. This wasn’t about money–it was about the last piece of her father she might ever have.
Elias’s expression hardened. After a moment of internal struggle that barely registered on his face, he made a specific gesture to the auctioneer–raising his hand with all five fingers
splayed.
A murmur swept through the crowd.
“Holy shit, did he just signal unlimited backing?” someone whispered loudly enough for
Charlotte to hear.
“That’s the ‘blank check‘ signal,” another voice added. “No one can compete with Delaney
money.”
The room buzzed with excitement while Charlotte felt something inside her finally,
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irrevocably break. He knew exactly what this meant to her–a piece of her father, the only thing besides the now–broken pendant that connected her to her parents–and still, he chose Scarlett’s passing whim.
The last ember of hope she’d been nursing, that somewhere deep down he might care about her feelings, extinguished completely. Charlotte lowered her paddle, her voice barely
audible. “Fine.”
She set down the bidding paddle and picked up her purse, ignoring Elias’s suddenly confused expression as she walked out of the auction house with her back straight despite
the hollowness in her chest.
Outside, her phone buzzed with a notification–her flight confirmation for tomorrow evening at 6pm, just hours after the scheduled kidney donation. Charlotte exhaled slowly, a weight lifting from her shoulders.
Just one more day.
One final obligation.
Then she would be free of Elias Delaney forever.
Back at the mansion, Charlotte efficiently packed her suitcase. It was almost darkly amusing–after more than a decade living here, everything she wanted to keep fit into one carry–on, while Scarlett’s possessions had already taken over multiple closets after just a
week.
As she zipped the suitcase closed, her bedroom door crashed open. Elias stood in the doorway, his face contorted with a rage she’d never seen before, radiating a cold fury that made the room temperature seem to drop.
“What the actual hell is wrong with you?” he snarled, advancing into the room. “You’ve really sunk this low? Stealing to get what you want?”
Charlotte froze, genuinely confused. Before she could ask what he meant, he continued, his
voice cutting like ice.
“I know that bullet casing belonged to your father. I was going to let Scarlett enjoy it for a while, then give it to you later as a gift. But this-” he gestured wildly at something in his hand–Scarlett’s phone, “this is beyond pathetic.”
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His anger seemed to build with each word. “I clearly failed in raising you properly. To honor your parents‘ memory, I need to correct this behavior.”
Before Charlotte could process what was happening, Elias stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face.
The force of the blow snapped her head to the side, leaving an angry red mark blooming on her cheek. Charlotte stood perfectly still, too shocked to react. In all these years, through all their conflicts, he had never once struck her–and now he had, over something she hadn’t
even done.
As Elias lowered his hand, his phone rang. His expression shifted as he answered.
“Yes, this is Elias Delaney… What? Scarlett’s where? I’ll be right there.”
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