Charlotte felt ridiculous wearing her sister’s clothes, but she knew that the real reason she kept tugging at it was because she was nervous. Charlotte had told Kate everything, well everything except that Xavier had driven her home after she assaulted his sister at his company and tried to get her to open up to him, but she refused. If she did tell her, she would never hear the end of it. After several confusing turns and exchange of borderline unpleasant words, Kate finally announced, “we’re here!” “Come on,” Kate said as she opened her side door. “Or do you want me to open the door for you?” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You literally just stopped the car. Can you just chill?” Before they walked down to the gate, it opened for them and the guard in charge for the day greeted her with a smile like he had been expecting her. Charlotte squinted at him. He had never been this excited to see her. “Welcome, Mrs Roman,” he said, making way for her to enter the premises. “J

“Charlotte,” Xavier called out, catching up to her just before she started going up the stairs and holding her hand. “What?” She snapped, making Xavier take a step back, even though he didn’t let her go. “You just got here,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you would want to talk to me.” Charlotte chuckled drily and slapped his hand away. “Did you do something wrong?” She mimicked. “I think the correct question here should be ‘when have you ever done something right?” Xavier’s jaw tensed as he let her go and put his hands in his pockets. He was silent. “You won’t say anything now? Do you think that just because I’m back, we can just carry on from where we stopped and pretend like this whole thing didn’t happen? You have a child. A child with a psychopath. No matter how hard you try to act like that’s not a problem, it is.” “He’s not my child,” Xavier said with a frown. Charlotte scoffed. “Well he’s currently living in your house and

“Do you want more milk with your cereal?” Charlotte asked Caleb, using the highest pitched voice she could muster. The boy didn’t even look up at her. He just kept turning his dry cereal, until she gave up and poured the milk for him. He had started therapy, but so far, nothing had changed. The only person he was comfortable being around was Kate, and that even hurt more than any other thing. Kate had asked her not to sweat it because her mother had probably convinced him she was a bad person even before they met. She wondered how things would be between them since Kate would soon return back to London to be with her family. That morning, she was the only person left to take care of him. Kate had gone out ti meet friends she hadn’t seen in years, while Xavier had gone out to work. It was boring staying home with someone who wouldn’t even regard her existence. It was weird that she felt even more lonely now than when she had been in her apartment. Marcella walked into the dining

Charlotte saw the flicker of fear pass the secretary’s face as she turned once again to her coworkers who stood at a safe distance to egg her on. Emboldened, she crossed her arms and faced Charlotte squarely. “What trap?” She asked with a snicker. “Aren’t you tired of showing up here and making a fool of yourself each time? You may have had some level of respect if you stayed home as a trophy wife, but no you just have to keep coming here and giving people more reasons to mock you. It’s not even like you could do your job right.” Charlotte’s eye twitched, but she managed to maintain her smile. She had heard all of this before, so it didn’t bother her as much it once did. It was obvious she was only trying to get a rise out of her, but she was prepared. A few people gathered around the hallway, pretending to be busy when it was obvious they just wanted to watch the drama unfold. Charlotte would never let herself become a part of something like this again, but she couldn’t just l

“Is there anyone he talks to?” The therapist asked Xavier after Caleb’s session. “Is there anyone he’s comfortable around? His mother for example?” It had been almost two weeks of therapy and yet, Caleb was showing no signs of recovery. He was still as scared and quiet as he had been the first day Xavier brought him to the house and now, even the therapist was giving up hope. “There’s this woman at my house, Kate,” Xavier said, hoping they would take the lead from there and not have to invite Laura. The therapist nodded. “His mother?” “No. She’s not in the picture. We’re divorced and she does not have custody,” Xavier lied. He looked right at the woman who he suspected must have run her research about him and definitely knew all about Laura, but his gaze did not waver because he knew she wouldn’t dare to cross him by involving Laura. “Tell me more about this Kate,” she urged finally, going back to scribbling on her notepad. “She’s my wife’s sister. She has kids of her own and wh