When Charlotte woke up the next morning, she spread her arms around the space Xavier had slept during the night but was disappointed to find it empty. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around but saw no sign of Xavier. She frowned. After everything that had happened last night, he had left without a word? Before she could come to any wrong conclusions however, she saw a white paper by the small wooden cupboard beside the bed. It was a note from Xavier that read: “Sorry I had to leave so early. I would have told you, but you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you. I love you. It was great hearing you say it last night as well as other things…” Charlotte blushed and placed the note on her chest. Okay, maybe he wasn’t such a dick that morning. Her eyes widened when she unlocked her phone and saw the time. It was several minutes after nine. She couldn’t believe she had slept for that long without waking up. Okay, maybe she knew why, but still. Xavier had been in the same pos
An hour and half later, Charlotte was dressed in a long dress that was more suitable for a ball than an actual party. When she expressed her concerns to her sister regarding the choice of outfit she had picked out for her, Kate assured her it was perfect. Apparently, it was just a get-together with some of her wealthy friends from before she left for Europe. Kate was dressed similarly with even elbow-high gloves. By the time they were done, they both looked like they always did on Sundays when they went to church as children under their parents. By now, Charlotte was more curious than skeptical. She didn’t think Kate could possibly have gathered people to kidnap her or something, but something was fishy about everything she was doing. And to make it worse, she wasn’t even good at lying. Each lie was more ridiculous than the last, yet Charlotte decided to flow along with it to see how far she could go. The answer was, very far. “We’re going out to meet a few people,” Kate a
“Charlotte, wait,” Kate called out to her sister as she caught up with her and pulled her back by her hand. “Leave me the fuck alone!” Charlotte yelled in a loud voice. “Can you just look past your own life for a moment and realize that not everything revolves around you? I hurt you first and that was the only reason I forgave you for what you did. I understand you were hurt and you were jealous. Shit happens. But mom and dad, what was their excuse? They never even let me explain. They just disowned me and boarded the next flight immediately they heard what happened. And let’s not act like they didn’t already hate me for other things before then. You were always the golden child.” Kate frowned and let go of her. “Can you stop saying that? Maybe you’re the one who has never tried to get out of your own head for one second while we were growing up. If not, you would have realized that mom and dad were just as unfeeling toward me as they were to you. I was so surprised when they ask
Xavier sat with his hands pressed together as he watched the detectives interrogate Laura’s assistant through the opaque glass window that served as a barrier between them. As he had half expected, the woman said nothing, just glared back at the detectives, being completely uncooperative. She only gave short sarcastic answers that went nowhere to any question that the expert detectives asked. Xavier didn’t know how much Laura had paid her, but it had to have been a lot, for her not to break a sweat no matter how serious their threats were. “You’re already under fire for being involved with Mrs Laura Roman. You don’t have to suffer her fate, you know,” one of the men said calmly, obviously playing good cop. “Just tell us what we need to know and you’ll be free from any consequences.” Xavier crinkled his nose at the sound of his own surname. It made him uncomfortable to try to imagine why Laura never bothered to change her surname even though they had been divorced for years
At the insistence of Kate and her father, Charlotte let herself be convinced to go somewhere private to discuss their family issues. The crowd that had gathered to watch the drama dispersed with disappointment written on their faces when Charlotte stopped pressuring her father to answer and asked Carlos to drive them to a new location. “Talk,” Charlotte said once they were sitting, making it clear she didn’t want them to change the subject. “Gee, where do I start?” Her father said, clearing his throat. “What did mom do?” Charlotte filled in for him. “Hold up,” her mother interrupted. “Don’t try to rope me into this. I didn’t do anything. Your father was the one who tried to dupe Mr Roman.” Kate gasped. “You tried to dupe Charlotte’s husband?”“Not Charlotte’s husband,” he corrected. “Her husband’s father. It was your mother who convinced me to do it.” The older woman laughed drily. “Really? I, who couldn’t get you to expand the company or let my family buy shares for years m
Xavier sat up, now more interested in the interrogation at the name he had begun to hear more frequently these days. Mr Don, Laura’s brother. The owner of the most successful tech company in the country, who owed his success to the startup money given to him by Laura who had gotten so much from frustrating Xavier’s life. Xavier already felt disgusted by this man who was shameless enough to accept that kind of money, whoever he was. He was thankful he never got to see him or any of Laura’s family for that matter, throughout the time they had been together. “You said you work for Mr Don,” Private continued. “Can you tell me more about that? How it started, perhaps.” “Mr Don found me in Venezuela. I was running from the law after what I had done. He told me he admired my quick thinking, and asked me if I wanted to come here and work for him. Of course I said yes.” Private nodded. “I see, so what was the work description exactly? Did working for him mean being his sister’s
Xavier smiled when Private called to give the news that Mr Don was already on his way to meet him. He had been wise enough not to take his implied threats lightly. His contentment dampened slightly when Charlotte didn’t respond to his many calls. His nose crinkled in worry as he wondered what she would have been doing. He couldn’t afford to go back to the main house because he wanted the meeting to end as soon as possible, and considering the fact that Mr Don was already on his way coming with his private jet, and a nurse was checking up on him, going to the main house would only waste his time and possibly distract him. When Charlotte still didn’t answer an hour later, Xavier dialed Carlos’ number. It was his first day back, but he had told Xavier he had driven Charlotte and her sister somewhere, and given the fact that neither his wife nor her sister was responding, he was beginning to get worried. “Where is my wife?” Xavier asked after pleasantries had been exchanged. “She
Don sighed. “As much as it pains me to admit it, I think my sister has lost her mind.” Xavier let out a dry laugh. “You’re only realizing that now?” Don stared at him. “I’m being serious. I believe she has gone insane. It will only keep getting worse if I don’t do anything about it, but each time I try to talk some sense into her, she just shuns me and reminds me she’s responsible for my success and goes ahead to do whatever the heck she wants to do. I managed to convince her to go to therapy once and the therapist gave me a written note telling me I had to admit her in a psychiatry ward.” Xavier pressed his lips into a tight line. Sure, he had always made remarks about his ex wife’s mental health, but he never actually thought she had lost it to that point. It was scary to even think about it. “Okay, she’s going crazy. What did Private have to do with the whole thing?” He asked. “Private and her assistant were just there to prevent her from going too far, but unf
“It’s time for bed, Caleb. Let’s go,” Charlotte told Caleb with her arms crossed over her chest, giving him no room to argue. “Just let me win this game…” he argued absently, more focused on the game he was playing on his iPad. “You’ve spent your extra fifteen minutes,” she said, taking the device out of his grasp. He frowned, but conceded in the end. “Fine.” As Charlotte tucked him into bed, she couldn’t imagine how the times had changed. It had been six months since Laura had been taken away, her parents had been released and since she had started running her own business. Caleb had started therapy again, and it had definitely worked. These days, he spoke so often and did whatever he wanted to do that it was hard to believe he had been the same mute boy from months ago. He had just turned four, but the topic of his birth mother never came up fortunately. He seemed to blend right in, just as sweet and annoying as any other four year old boy. “I love you mommy,” he wh
When Charlotte saw Jonah being led out by a prison ward officer, she froze and started to wonder what she had been so scared about. He looked nothing like he did before. He had slimmed down to an almost unrecognizable state and his face looked like he had permanently lost the ability to smile. He walked with the slouch of someone that had given up on life in general. Charlotte doubted that whatever he was going through had happened in that prison in such a short time. “You can wait for me,” Charlotte whispered to Carlos who reluctantly left her side when he understood. “Hi,” Jonah said when he was sitting opposite her. He tried to smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace. He couldn’t meet her eyes. “Hi,” she said simply. She couldn’t let him see she pitied him. “How have you been?” He managed to ask. “You look good.” She couldn’t say the same for him. “Why did you call me here, Jonah?” “Straight to the point like always, huh?” He said with something she suspec
Xavier could only relax comfortably when they were back on the jet and on their way back to California. He could finally let himself be convinced that his dream had been nothing more than that. It hadn’t been a sign of anything, because it had gone on perfectly with no dramatic appearances from anyone. Unfortunately, the thought of one day running into Laura again came often to him and disoriented him. However, he always pushed that possibility away to the back of his mind. He had run a background check on the psych ward Don had placed her and from his research, it was a very exclusive place, so her chances of leaving were lower than zero. It was like a madhouse for wealthy people to drop off their family members who had lost it through drug use of whatever means. Their security was so prioritized that it was practically impossible to get in or get out unless the very owner of the establishment permitted. There was also no possible way Laura could bribe anyone there. It was afte
“Xavier, wake up! Wake up!” The sound of the female voice calling out to him sounded so distant at first, but the hand violently shaking his shoulders brought him back to consciousness. He was breathing fast, as his eyes got accustomed to the light around him, his chest heaving rapidly. “Are you okay?” Charlotte asked him, peering into his eyes as she touched the sides of his face. He could see the fear in her eyes as she studied him. “Charlotte,” he whispered, holding her arms and wrapping her in a tight hug. She was alive, here in front of him. “You’re alive.” “Yeah,” she said uncertainly, hugging him back. “Did anyone kill me?” She asked with a chuckle. He finally pulled out of the hug and glanced around. They were still in the jet, on their way to Orlando. He had just had a bad dream. “Where’s Caleb?” He asked. “Right here,” she said, pointing at a part of the jet where a small makeshift bed had been made for Caleb to lie on. “Is everything okay?” “Yeah,
After bidding Kate and her family goodbye, Xavier and Kate had to take the journey back, while consoling Caleb, who couldn’t understand why the twins had to leave without him. It was a Saturday, and for the first time in such a long time, Xavier had a free day. They all decided to spend the day together, to make up for Caleb’s friends leaving. Charlotte was extremely happy. She chatted and laughed all the way to the four seasons Orlando, where they decided to spend the day with their son, since he had seen a video about it online and wouldn’t shut up about going there. She held Caleb’s shoulders during takeoff in Xavier’s private jet, more to distract herself than him. No matter how often she rode in the jet, she still got jittery when they had to go anywhere in it. She had made an appointment with Dr Anna that morning and she couldn’t wait to finally carry out the surgery the week after. “Are we really going to Orlando?” Caleb asked, peering out of the window of the jet.
The ride home was mostly silent, with Xavier at the backseat, pondering on all that had happened that day while Carlos drove them home, shooting glances at his boss from time to time. “How was your break?” Xavier asked all of a sudden and Carlos cleared his throat. “Great. Thanks again for it. I really needed it,” he said with a smile. “How did it feel to have an actual conversation with her after so long?” Carlos sighed. “Not as bad as I thought. I actually feel better. Thanks for advising me to do it. We cleared some things out. She was mature about it and that’s that.” Xavier nodded and looked out the window at the trees that were zooming past. He remembered when Carlos had come to him for help when having to see Kate after the history they had was threatening to drive him insane. He had advised him to take a break, and then discuss with her when he was ready. It seemed to have worked. Carlos looked like himself again. It had been weird to find out that there had been a
“When will you come back, daddy?” Caleb’s little voice came over the phone and Xavier smiled. He could picture his son standing next to Charlotte and holding the phone to his ear with both his hands. “I’ll be there this night, I promise,” he replied. From the corner of his eye, he saw Private trying to get his attention. “Take care of mom for me, okay? I’ll see you soon.” “Bye daddy,” Caleb said and Xavier nodded before he ended the call. “What’s up?” He asked Private. “She’s causing a scene, boss. She’s yelling at everyone and she even pushed her brother and broke a glass on the doctor’s head when he tried to sedate her,” Private told him. There was an urgency in his private investigator’s voice as he reported to him, but there was also a hint of amusement in his tone. Xavier rolled his eyes and walked past him toward the ward he had left to answer his wife’s call. “Why was there glass next to her in the first place?” He asked no one in particular when he enterrés t
“My daddy used to beat my mommy before that woman took me and told she’s my real mommy,” Caleb explained the best way he could. “He told me he’s not my real daddy and that my mommy sold me to him.” “Wait, wait,” Charlotte told him. She had no idea what he was talking about and the more he spoke, the more confused she became. None of what he was saying made any sense. At this point, he was just throwing the words ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’ around. “Laura, the woman that brought you to us, she’s your mommy, isn’t she?” She asked him slowly, hoping his answers would make sense to her this time. He shook his head. “That’s what she told me and then she brought me here after,” he said. “So you had other parents before she came?” She asked and he nodded. When Charlotte realized he wouldn’t give her an understandable answer, she decided to stop asking him so that he wouldn’t confuse her more. Since Xavier had gone out to find answers, this one might be one of them. She would ask him wh
“Mommy!” Caleb squealed when he saw Charlotte and ran up to her. She carried him up and enveloped him in a tight hug. She was still not used to him calling her ‘mommy’, but hearing it was so natural and calming. Whenever she was with him, she secretly hoped something would happen to Laura or that she would say she didn’t want him again. She didn’t think she would be able to move on if he had to leave to go back to his real mother. “Did you miss me?” She asked, tickling his tummy. “Uh huh,” he replied, laughing and trying to get her hand away from him. Charlotte kissed him on the forehead and carefully set him back on his feet. She held his small hand and allowed him to lead her into the house. She had been in a sour mood after the meeting with her parents, but just a few minutes with Caleb had softened her up. Kate looked at her and smiled. With a playful frown, she nudged Caleb and asked him why he didn’t notice her. He started to laugh. “What did you do today while we were g