After Xavier showed her the incriminating headline and left the house, Charlotte held back herself from searching online for further news. Her phone had been right there, staring at her and silently beckoning her to find out what the public had to say about her name. She had breakfast quietly alone in the dining area while her phone was tucked somewhere in her bedroom, where she wouldn’t be tempted to touch it. She didn’t put on the television for fear that the news would have been televised. It was extremely boring. The urge to find out was choking her. So, she did the next thing she could think of. She called Xavier. He was out of the house, probably rough handling the person who was responsible for circulating the false news. It was painful to think that someone could cook up lies about her to slander her name just because she was with Xavier. The thought of that no longer made her feel bad for herself like before. It filled her with so much rage she thought she would explode.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mia cried as Xavier trudged angrily toward them. “Aren’t we your family? What do you mean by you will make us pay for trying to come after your family? How can we be coming after ourselves?” Julia came forward but stopped when he turned to her. “Uncle Xavier, you haven’t visited or even spoken to us in years and now you’re threatening us? It’s not fair at all.” As they spoke, Xavier felt his anger leaving him slowly. What was he even doing? Charlotte was right. Coming here wasn’t going to change anything. They were both acting like they didn’t know what he was talking about, even though he knew that Mia was behind the posts. His only proof was Grant’s confession, but even before then, he already knew she was responsible. Mia took his silence to mean he was digesting what she said, and that gave her the confidence to continue. “We’ve missed you so much, brother,” she said in a way that sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Jonah m
Mia’s mouth hung open as she mumbled unintelligible words. Xavier was staring down at her with a look that showed he knew the truth from the start but had been waiting for her to talk herself into a corner and expose herself. “Julia, could you leave us for a moment dear?” She said sweetly to her daughter who hesitated. “Julia!” She snarled, before her daughter finally left reluctantly. “It wasn’t necessary for her to leave,” Xavier said. “I’m sure she already knows how much of a loser her mother is.” Mia swallowed, torn between being angry at his statement and making Xavier believe she was innocent. The man she had called to blackmail the owner of Grot had assured her nothing would traced back to her, however, she already had a history of doing this kind of stuff so she was easily the prime suspect in his list. “What do you want?” She asked, giving in. “Now you’re talking,” Xavier smiled and sat back down on the bed. “Where’s Jonah?” “He doesn’t live here.” “Oh, he lives with h
Xavier ran a hand through his hair as he tried to ignore the scary images his mind painted. He had to keep reminding himself that his wife was capable enough of taking care of herself but at this point, he couldn’t just remove the possibility of anything. “You said she left with someone with a car. Which way did they go?” He asked the gate keeper who had given him the news. “I don’t know which way they went because I went back inside but I’ll check the tire marks.” He left his post to check. “They went that way, to the left.” Xavier nodded. “What type of car was it? I want to know the color, everything.” He dialed a number on his phone as he spoke. “Did she seem comfortable around the person? Did she look like she was being forced to do something?” “It was a man in the car,” the gatekeeper answered, furrowing his brows to remember all the details. “It was a grey Audi. I couldn’t really see her face but she didn’t look excited to see the person. She was just neutral to me.” Xavier
The ride home was quiet but the tension in the car was sharp enough to cut through steel. Xavier was so angry because of how nonchalant Charlotte was being with the whole thing, that even the fear of her running away no longer made him watch his mouth when he threatened her. Charlotte on the other hand was angry, but her anger was more or less a mask to conceal her fear. No threats could pass the one she had just been given a few minutes ago by the driver of that Audi. From how Xavier had attacked her without trying to convince her to explain herself, it was obvious he wouldn’t believe her even if she told him the truth. When they finally reached the house and got down from the car, Xavier held her hand and pulled her to her side of the house. “Stop holding me like that. You’re hurting me,” She cried out because he was dragging her roughly, but he simply ignored her. He opened her door with one hand and pushed her in, while his curious guards watched everything unfold from a dista
It was a few days to the wedding, yet Xavier and Charlotte hadn’t seen each other since after their last fight. Just as the first rumor about Charlotte had been released, other worse ones had followed suit, spiraling out of control as if it was a contest to see which publishing company could release the most scandalous news about her. It was all Xavier saw whenever he opened his phone and it was all everyone who was close to him spoke about. It was tiring, it was draining, but there was nothing he could do about it. There was though, but for the first time in so long, Xavier was confused. After their last fight, he had acted true to his words and conducted a deeper research on Charlotte. He had found nothing seriously incriminating then, but soon, each of his detectives began bringing stories that were worse than the last all of a sudden. They all swore by their source, but it was easy to tell what was happening. Someone or rather, some people were still actively trying to ruin C
Charlotte lay down in her bed, staring up at the ceiling like he had been doing for the past four days. The only sound in the room was the sound of the TV showing a program she never bothered to glance up at. She left the TV on to leave some semblance of reality in the otherwise quiet house, to keep her from going insane in that cold and gloomy house. It had been four days since Xavier tugged on the strings of her heart and broke them to pieces, four days since she had been threatened by Matt and four days since she had spoken a word out loud. Matt’s threats no longer bothered her. In fact, she never answered his calls, just let them go to voicemail and never listened to them either. How could she be bothered about one person soiling her name when her reputation had already been soiled, ruined and damaged by the entire internet in less time than she thought possible. Charlotte neither felt sad nor heartbroken. There was just a numbness that settled below her chest. No matter what
Charlotte cleared her throat and looked away, trying to get her body and mind to cooperate. It wasn’t fair. Xavier didn’t give her ample time to prepare to meet him. He just showed up at her doorstep when he was ready and now he was demanding they talk. As she stood up and sat back on the bed, she frowned, promising herself to not embarrass herself any further in front of him. “That we do,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Instead of talking however, his eyes left her face and trailed down slowly to her chest, where her arms were crossed together. She swallowed. If she had known he would come today, she would have made herself look more presentable. Charlotte hadn’t showered that day and to say she looked a mess would be an understatement. She really hope the bath she had at night would keep her from looking too rough or smelling weird. “You said we had to talk,” she said, not liking the way he was checking her out. “Well talk.” Without a word, he got up and began to