“I don’t want this to be a test anymore, Charlotte. Not even an extended one,” he said. “What do you mean?” She asked with her heart beating, because she had an idea of what he meant. “I’m saying I don’t want us to call this a test anymore. Let’s just…we’re married. Let’s just say I want to make it official. This relationship thing. But we’re already married so I’m not sure how much more official it can get. But you know what I mean. You’re right, you’re not my ex-wife and I…fuck. I don’t know what I’m saying,” he rambled and pinched the space between his brow in frustration. “I understand you,” she said immediately, hoping he wouldn’t take back his words just because he wasn’t used to expressing himself in this way. “Continue, please.” He exhaled. “Ok. I’m ready to move on, and I want to move on with you. I promise there won’t be any secrets or doubts between us again, if you’ll have me.” Even though he hadn’t said the exact words she wanted to hear, she was still moved to tears
“That’s all for today,” the trainer, whose name Charlotte later got to find out was Mary said, ticking something off her list and giving her a dirty look. “Any questions?” Charlotte smirked because even though the woman remained rude, Charlotte had managed to assert her dominance and now the woman was very mindful of the things she said to her. “No questions,” she said. “Great then,” Mary said, giving her a once over. “We’ll continue again tomorrow.” “Sure,” Charlotte said with a forced smile. “I really enjoyed our lessons today.” “Hmm,” Mary said with pursed lips before walking off. Charlotte took the elevator to Xavier’s office and knocked on the door. When he didn’t open the door, she turned the door knob and opened it herself. “You won’t believe how…” Charlotte began before she realized there were four other men with Xavier, sitting down for a meeting and looking at her like she had lost her mind. “Oh, I apologize. I’ll leave now…”She stepped back and was just about to shu
“No, no. That’s not possible,” Charlotte whispered, shaking her head. “Who would care so much to do that? What would they have to gain?” Xavier’s grip tightened on her knee, trying to comfort her and keep her in place all at once. “She may have made a mistake,” Xavier said in a way that let her know he was only saying that to make her feel better. “You don’t believe that,” she caught him in his lie. He sighed. “Dr Anna is the best gynecologist in the whole state. There’s no reason why she would risk her job and reputation just to lie for no reason.” “So who do you think was purposely trying to keep me from getting pregnant?” She asked, still unable to come to terms with it. “Do you suspect Jonah?” “Of course,” Xavier agreed immediately. “I’ll start up an investigation…” “Jonah was broken when he found out I lost the baby,” she cut in. “Our relationship went downhill because I couldn’t get pregnant. How on earth could he be the one stopping me from giving him the one thing he ev
“Was that your uncle?” Mia asked her son after he ended the strange call he had just received while speaking with her. “Yes,” he said, still holding the phone in his hand in disbelief. “He said he wants to meet up and talk or something.” Mia’s eyes lit up. “What are you waiting for? Dress up and go!” She said. “What if it’s a trap?” Jonah asked, not sure about the whole thing. “Why would he want to meet me?” “Don’t be a fool,” his mother said, practically pushing him from the chair. Your uncle has finally come to his senses and wants to patch things up with us. The plan finally worked.” “But no one is talking about that anymore, mom,” Jonah protested, getting up even though he didn’t want to. “All anyone is saying about them is that picture they took together and how in love he is with his wife,” he said with deep rage. “I know, and that’s why he has to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said, rolling her eyes with impatience. “Ugh. Stop asking me stupid questions and go
A sly smile appeared on Xavier’s face but it was gone before Jonah could see it. “That’s good,” he said, using the back of his hand to cover his mouth. From Jonah’s end it would have looked like he was simply deep in thought. “Make sure you say everything exactly as it happened.” Jonah swallowed and thought back to the time when Charlotte announced her pregnancy to him. “She told me she was pregnant but…but I wasn’t ready. I didn’t even like her that much. I was just using her to make Valerie jealous but then one thing led to another and she fell pregnant,” Jonah said. “I asked her to get rid of it but she vehemently refused. Her mother threatened me to marry her so I did, because it would have affected our family name if she told people I had denied her pregnancy so I had to.” Xavier nodded as he listened to his nephew. This was going just like he had planned. His phone was on, recording every word that came out from his mouth. “I understand you,” Xavier said, urging him to spea
“What took you so long?” Charlotte asked Xavier when he returned by midnight. “I kept calling but my calls weren’t going through.” “I’m really sorry,” he apologized with a broken voice. He wasn’t apologizing for staying out late alone, he was apologizing for all she had gone through in the hands of his nephew. Charlotte’s expression softened when he apologized and looked at her like that. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” she said, hugging him and pressing her face into his chest. “I was just worried sick. You don’t have to feel bad. It’s okay. I missed you, that’s all.” Xavier hugged her back, holding her so close to him and shut his eyes. They stayed in that position for a while, and she maintained the hug even though she didn’t know what had triggered it. She had suffered so much, even more than she knew. She had been practically poisoned by Jonah whose selfishness had robbed her of her ability to ever carry a child. “Is everything okay?” She asked, breaking the hug a lit
Xavier woke up some time later and frowned when he realized Charlotte was not beside him. He couldn’t tell what time it was, so he tried to switch his phone on, but couldn’t find it anywhere. While he sleepily wondered where his phone was, he heard slight whimpering coming from the bathroom. Confused, he rushed in there and found Charlotte sitting on the closed toilet seat and sobbing. “What’s wrong?” He asked, crouching down and holding her shoulders. “Did you have another nightmare?” Charlotte wrestled out of his grasp and lifted his phone to show him. Her eyes were puffy and her face was swollen, a sign she had been crying for a while. “The only nightmare is coming across your family!” She tried to yell, but her voice only came out as a raspy whisper. “You’re all terrible people. Every last one of you.” When Xavier saw the recording he had made with his nephew playing under the texts he had sent to his detective, Xavier understood what was going on. “Shit,” he cursed, angry a
“I actually thought you’d be much different-looking in person,” Xavier said to his private detective while he swirled a glass of wine in his hand. “How so? You thought I’d be taller?” Private, as he was known asked with a smirk. That was usually the first thing people said whenever they found out about his job or saw him face to face for the first time. “Definitely. And i thought you’d be more mysterious generally,” Xavier completed. “I get that a lot,” he said with a chuckle. “Why did you ask to meet me in person?” Xavier shrugged. “I realized I’d never seen the man that knows almost all my secrets and knows where to find out the rest.”“I never said you couldn’t meet me. I’m not a hitman. People knowing my identity does not directly put me in danger,” Private said. Xavier downed his eighth glass of wine that night and began to pour another. “I suppose I just enjoyed the mystery,” Xavier slurred. “Oh just forget it. I know you already know what I look like. You ran a background