Chapter 1 - Charlie (Part 1)

A SpongeBob pajamas, without a doubt, could not be considered a sexy outfit.

Charlie had been trying to fool herself all week when she realized that she didn't have a single outfit that could make her look seductive, but now, looking at herself in the mirror in her baggy pants and long, long-sleeved blouse, she didn't. had to deny it.

There was no way Morgan could stop seeing her as a child as long as she continued to dress like that.

Huffing in frustration, she changed quickly, dropping her pajamas onto the crooked pile of wrinkled clothes on one of her bedroom chairs. With luck, maybe she'd be able to stop by a store to buy something that would make her feel a little better before Morgan visited that night. The end of puberty had been very favorable for her, although her best friend didn't seem to realize it.

Sometimes it was hard to believe that she and Morgan had only known each other for 3 years instead of a lifetime. Since he was 17 years old, he was the one who made that house and the presence of his father and stepmother minimally bearable. She had been in that mansion for less than 6 months when they met and, if Morgan hadn't insisted on visiting her and making her life much happier, even if that meant putting up with Samantha's advances and Anthony's greed, she surely I would have gone crazy by now.

If only he realized that he could make her life infinitely better with a few kisses...

It was understandable that he kept himself physically distant when they were first getting to know each other and she was only 17, but… Damn, she was turning 20 that day. Maybe he wasn't old enough to finally receive his grandfather's inheritance and get rid of that house-shaped hell, but he was certainly old enough to know what she wanted.

And what she wanted was to be in his arms. In every possible way. Preferably not just without those ridiculous pajamas, but without any clothes. In neither.

With another frustrated sigh, only this time for an entirely different reason, Charlie grabbed his nearby bag and left his room, locking the door behind him to prevent Samantha from trying to play a trick on him while she was gone. Their relationship had never been exactly peaceful, but it seems that knowing that Morgan much preferred Charlie's company to hers had mortally wounded her ego. The same ego that was the equivalent of 90% of Samantha's body and personality. Since then, for the past three years, she'd made a point of taking a moment out of her day just to torment Charlie as much as possible.

"Going after Mr. Sullivan again?" at the sound of the venomous voice behind her, Charlie rolled her eyes; apparently, in fact, she couldn't think of the devil without him showing up. "When is you going to realize that bland girls aren't his type?"

"I don't know, Samantha..." With a half smile, Charlie turned to face the blonde woman, swathed in a silk dress and more jewelry than it seemed possible a human being could wear around her neck, who was looking at her with sheer contempt "Unlike what happened to you, he never told me that directly."

“Oh really?" her stepmother tried to disguise her grimace of irritation with a malicious smile "And what did he tell you? Who saw you as a stupid baby or a reckless little kid?"

What Morgan says or doesn't tell me has nothing to do with you, Samantha." undeterred by her provocations, Charlie made a point of opening a wide and luminous smile, making it clear that Morgan had never said anything negative to him "Perhaps, if you cared more about what Anthony has to say, instead of insist on only worrying about his partner, Morgan wouldn't look down on you so much. Oh, and if I remember correctly, he told you so himself, in so many words, the last time you two met and you tried to throw yourself at him. All this after he has kindly reminded you that you are a married woman, of course."

"I'll never understand why your father didn't lock you up in boarding school from the start…" she snarled, angry at the memory Charlie had revived.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you and he ran out of all my mother's money and would have nowhere to drop dead if it weren't for Morgan's business savvy." shooting her stepmother with a look, Charlie adjusted the strap of her backpack over her shoulder and turned around again "But, don't worry. Soon I will turn 21 and receive my share of the inheritance. So I'll never have the displeasure of seeing either of you two again."

"Is that so, sweetheart...?" Samantha sneered as Charlie walked away, and she could hear the wicked smile in her voice.

Paying no attention to those taunts, Charlie made her his way out of the mansion, past the renovated walls and gardens much better trimmed than they had been a few years ago. Partnership with Morgan had put money back in his good-for-nothing father's pockets, but no profit could compare with the millions he'd pocketed from the Foster fortune after his mother's marriage. Sometimes, in the dark of night, it was almost excruciating to think that she would still have to endure another whole year with the two worst people in the universe, before finally having enough money and independence to build a life of her own. But then again, she had already survived three long years of Samantha's abuse and her father's neglect. In just 365 days from now she could turn her back on that place and forget she ever had anything to do with the Mansons.

After all, it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go...

Morgan had once started to suggest that she could live with him while she waited to reach the age set out in her grandfather's will to receive her maternal family's inheritance, but...

"Forget I said that!" Morgan had amended almost immediately after making that suggestion, her cheeks coloring slightly red "It was a stupid and completely inappropriate idea. There's no way I can subject you to sharing a roof with a boring old man like me. How about I rent you an apartment in town for a few years? That would be so much better..."

Charlie's heart had raced and then frozen at the speed of the blink of an eye, watching him suggest they move in together and then drop it, almost immediately. And, unfortunately, she hadn't been able to convince him that there was nothing inappropriate about that wonderful idea, however insistent it had been. For a few days, she had even considered accepting his proposal and finally getting rid of that miserable mansion, but her father's insistence that he stay, after discovering Morgan's plans, worried her.

It wasn't like he loved her or wanted her around, of course. The only thing that interested him was finding a way to grab as much of the money as possible that his mother and grandfather had saved for her before they passed away. And, as much as Anthony had found a way to put everything he'd received from Sophia after being widowed in his name, that mansion had once been Foster property and Charlie knew his grandfather would be disappointed if he found out that she'd left so much behind. thing that he had struggled to build throughout his life behind him. A year wasn't so much after all. Soon, she would be an adult and have enough money to give back to the Foster name everything her good-for-nothing father had stolen by seducing and marrying a poor, sick, helpless girl who didn't even have enough strength to survive childbirth.

Until then, it was best that she keep her enemies close, to prevent Anthony and Samantha from trying anything to usurp her inheritance, should she choose to step aside.

Shaking her head to dispel those thoughts, Charlie hailed a taxi, letting the tension she felt slowly fade away as she approached the neighborhood, the streets, and finally the front door of the small house with grimy white walls and faded drawings of animal paws everywhere. Relieved, Charlie paid the taxi driver quickly and practically skipped to the best place in the world, at least for her.

"Hello, birthday girl." Her friend Vivian greeted her with a hug as soon as she walked in "How does it feel to be twenty?"

"I want to hug some puppies and never have to see my stepmother's face again." Charlie grumbled, as he also wrapped his arms around Vivian.

"Well, I'm glad to know that at least I'll be able to help with that first wish." she laughed "Mirabel gave birth in the early hours of today, much earlier than we expected."

- Serious?!" Charlie gasped worriedly, scanning the crates against the nearby wall, looking for the dark-eyed, caramel-furred mutt. "Is she okay?" Why you did not call me? I would have come right away..."

“Mirabel is fine, although her postpartum situation still requires a few days of supervision." Her friend calmed her down, with a peaceful smile that only a veterinarian with years of experience like her would be able to give, in that situation "She gave birth to five puppies. Unfortunately, one of them was born malformed and did not survive."

"Oh…" Charlie wailed, feeling her eyes sting as the tears began to well up.

Don't be like that, Charlie. Remember? I told you this the day you signed up to volunteer here, years ago: losses are an inevitable part of being a veterinarian, unfortunately." Vivian said sadly "But the important thing is that your heart is in the right place. It's okay to mourn a death, just don't forget that the living should always be your priority." With a gentle smile, she held the shivering pup out to Charlie. "Now come here. We have four new houseguests who need to be fed, examined and prepared to be placed on the adoption list once the nursing period is over."

"You can leave that to me!" Charlie nodded, struggling to let Vivian's words restore her spirits.

"Jack has already started doing that. Go inside and tell him to leave you that. I need him to help me sort documents for creditors." Despite Vivian trying to say it matter-of-factly, there was no smile in the world that could disguise the depth of regret in her expression.

"They still haven't given up on collecting the mortgage?" she snarled, furious. "What's wrong with him understanding that we're going through a difficult time? We'll pay off debts when things get better. Or is it that they don't understand how the concept of a charity works?"

"Banks understand nothing but the language of interest rates. But in part, a large part of this situation is my fault. I shouldn't have been so impulsive and bought this place 5 years ago. Not before I was financially stabilized and knew that I would be able to pay the mortgage without running the risk of jeopardizing the animals' quality of life... Or worse." Vivian shook her head, her head down "Of closing the doors completely because of the debts."

"Do not say that!" Charlie hurried to hug her by the shoulders "If you hadn't created this place, imagine how many animals would have died or continued to live abandoned in the streets? You did the right thing. Those stupid, heartless bankers are wrong." she muttered, even angrier knowing that her good-for-nothing father was one of those men "And as for the debts, everything will be fine. Just make sure you get us another year. And then, on my next birthday, I guarantee I'll pay off all debts and become your partner." Charlie assured, full of determination and euphoria "Together we will ensure that no more animals go hungry or cold in this city!"