“What do you say?” Xavier asked her, inching even closer to her. She swallowed. How could she just suddenly change her mind and tell him what she really felt when some moments ago she had been so adamantly against it. “I…” she began, but bit her lip halfway through the sentence. “What, Char,” he prodded. Why did everything that came out of his mouth turn her on, even her name. “I agree,” she whispered. “You agree to what, Char?” He asked. “When and where?” Here! Now! Everything! “We’ll see how it goes,” she said. When he saw the expression on her face, he smiled and relaxed back in his chair. “Go through the rest and tell me what you don’t like before signing,” he said. She did as he asked, but soon she discovered she couldn’t concentrate on any other thing about from item fifty-two. “Must I sign them all now?” She asked. “You need more time to think about them?” “Yeah.” He shrugged. “Sure. Take your time. Our wedding is in two weeks, so just make sure you do it anytime
The fashion show was everything Charlotte thought it would be. It was beautiful and she had so much fun simply watching the models strut down the aisle in the most ridiculous outfits. When her eyes weren’t focused on the super thin models, she found a few people staring at them, or rather at Xavier. He didn’t look like he noticed, with his entire attention focused on his phone during the show. At some point when she was talking to him, she felt a few flashes at the side of her face and groaned when she realized someone had just taken a picture of them. “Let’s get out of here,” she said, standing up and taking his hand. He smiled as he followed her lead, obviously not impressed by the place from the start. As they left, more shutters clicked violently now, trying take as many photos as they could sneak since they were leaving. Charlotte couldn’t begin to imagine the several captions they were attaching to the unsolicited photos. She had to get a phone, soon. “Where do we go now?
“Uh, sorry?” Charlotte responded, fighting back a chuckle. “What else did you want to say?” “You find this funny?” He asked in disbelief, but his voice sounded just as amused. “Did you have anything else to say or not?” Pause. “Never mind. You ruined it now,” he said and she rolled her eyes. He was just being a baby. He probably had nothing to say and was just talking because he didn’t like the fact that she had dismissed him. Did he really want her to beg him? “Alright then. May I end the call now?” She asked cheekily. There was no smart response to her question. All she could hear was muffled breathing and then out of nowhere, the high-pitched voice of a woman laughing. Right after she heard the woman’s voice, he ended the call. Charlotte still held the phone to her ear, frozen and unable to put it down. A part of her had initially thought he was flirting with her but then immediately the other woman spoke he ended the call. What was that about? And why did the thought that
One thing Charlotte hated about her bathroom was the full length mirror in the middle. She had to be very aware of her body while she showered and seeing her own body made her imagine how Xavier would react if he could see her right then. She hated the mirror because she couldn’t stop staring at it each time she was in there. Her body had filled up pretty nicely over the past two years. Her breasts and hips were full, and somehow her waist had managed to stay almost the same. She was thick. Was that the kind of body he liked? She wondered. Obviously, Xavier was attracted to her because he always wanted to see her in dresses that would show off her curves. But would he like what was underneath? To distract herself, she put on the shower to the hottest level and watched from a distance as the steam made the mirror too foggy for her to see anything. Eventually, she toned the water down and showered with her eyes closed so she wouldn’t be tempted to look at her naked body and start i
What the hell was she doing? Xavier had just confessed to getting personal information about her from her gynecologist without her consent and she was breathing under him, desperately waiting for him to touch her and relieve the ache between her legs. He had sneaked into her room somehow without wanting to tell her how. He had returned from god knows where only because she had sent him a text implying she would let him do anything to her. The bad signs were there, yet her brain managed to minimize all of them. “You had no right to do that,” she whispered, hoping that maybe hearing her own voice would knock some sense back into her. At the same time, she wanted him to somehow turn her own words into something sexual like he always did, and make her forget about the things she was so afraid of. “I’m sorry,” he said instead, surprising her. “I shouldn’t have done that.” Why did he have to apologize…? Now she felt bad for accusing him. A simple apology had changed how he was in her
Everything was going so well until something began to vibrate close to her knee. Xavier groaned in her mouth, but it wasn’t a groan of pleasure. His phone was ringing at the worst possible time and neither of them were happy about it. He kept kissing her though, so she completely ignored the vibration of the phone until it stopped ringing. Unfortunately, it started to ring again and then again. Frustrated, Xavier grunted and reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers. He angrily pulled the phone out from his pocket and she simply watched him since he still had her around his waist and pinned to the wall. She waited patiently, sure he was going to end the call and switch off his phone so that they could continue what they started. Since they were so close to each other, she was able to see the caller ID. The name ‘Samantha’ was written boldly on the screen of his phone. He saw the name at the same time she did, and to her horror, he quickly released her. Her legs were not steady on t
Charlotte’s mouth hung open when she saw the first news headline: Laura Roman sues billionaire husband Xavier, over physical abuse allegations. Xavier was an abuser? But why would he ask her to search him up online when he knew that news like this about him existed? Was it his way of warning her about what she was getting herself into? Maybe he had hoped that she wouldn’t scroll past the first few articles about his life in general, the ones that made him appear to be nothing but a trouble free hardworking billionaire. There was a video underneath the article. It was a video of Laura, Xavier’s ex-wife crying and relaying her story about the things she went through in Xavier’s hands. It was a video from the court during their divorce and it seemed quite serious. The woman’s eyes were filled with tears as she recounted the several times he had hit her, brought women over, abused her and turned her into a jobless, controlled trophy wife. She even went further to show the court the
“What do you mean the articles cannot be published?” Valerie White blared at her husband in the car after he just told her that the plan to tarnish Charlotte’s image had failed yet again. “Each time my journalists try to publish anything about her, somehow it gets deleted before it goes mainstream and a warning sent to them,” Jonah explained. “I’m also confused about it myself.” “Do I have to do everything myself?” Valerie attacked him, crossing her arms in disgust. “What kind of silly excuse is that? You had just one simple job that anyone could have done, yet these people just told you an obvious lie and you swallowed it whole. Is this how gullible you are?” Jonah’s hand tightened on the steering wheel. He wanted her to stop talking. They had only been engaged for a few days yet all Valerie ever did was nag him morning and night. This was not how he thought being with her would look like. Unfortunately, all he could do was sit back and let her speak to him however she wanted. He
“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