Scarlett's POV:
The following morning, when I woke up, Charles was working on some files right beside the bed.
Gently, I called his attention.
"Charles."
He immediately stopped working, rushed to my side, and took care of me.He was so cautious in taking
care of me that it made me think I was paralyzed or something.
At noon, I heard a knock on the door.It was Nina.She came in with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
"Hi, Scarlett," she muttered.
"Nina," I greeted her with a smile.
Nina approached the bedside.Her eyes were filled with tears, and she could barely speak, for she was
on the brink of sobbing.
"How are you feeling now? Yesterday, you were covered in blood.I was so scared!" cried Nina.
"There's no need to worry anymore.I'm fine." I held her hand, gently patting it in an attempt to comfort
her.
"I was really scared that you might never wake up, and that you…"
My heart sank when she said that.I held Nina's hand tightly, and shook my head at her.
"Stop it, Nina."
I glanced over at Charles and saw him sitting on the sofa.
He was still reading through some documents, but he looked awfully gloomy.
Nina looked at Charles as well and spoke in a hushed voice.
"You don't want him to worry about you?" she asked.
I winked at her, flashing an innocent smile.
Nina sighed at my non-verbal response.
"When I opened that door, I was so scared to see Charles first that I almost turned around and just left,"
she said.
"Why are you so afraid of him?" I asked, visibly confused.
With guilt written on her face, Nina whispered to my ear, "Yesterday, after you got stabbed, I was so
agitated that I almost had a fight with Charles."
Her words warmed my heart and it put a smile on my face.
"Oh, Nina… It's okay.I'm sure he knows you're just worried about me like he is," I responded.
Nina breathed a sigh of relief and decided to change the topic.
"I saw your bodyguards catch Linda yesterday, but before long, Charles let her go.He's probably
worried that his actions might affect your career in the TV station.But I do wonder… how did Charles
know that Linda had no prior knowledge of what happened yesterday?"
Upon hearing Nina's question, I was lost in thought.
"Considering how Linda got to where she is right now, I'm sure she's not an idiot.Had she known that
Lucia wanted to murder me, she wouldn't have allowed her to commit the crime inside the TV station," I
answered.
Nina nodded in agreement.
"Hmm… that does make sense." I couldn't help but glance over at Charles again.
He was still focused on reading his documents.
‘'He looks so serious.He has a charm that's enough to make people fall in love with him at first sight.To
top it off, he's so considerate of me.He's always thinking of what's best for me,’' I thought to myself.
There was no denying that he once hurt me deeply in the past, but it was also true that once he had
fallen in love with someone, he would make sure that the woman he fell in love with would be the
happiest woman on earth.
"You are so smitten by him!" Nina teased.
Shyly, I looked away and did my best to maintain my composure.
"No, I'm not! Don't spout nonsense, Nina."
"Oh, shut it! Nobody's going to buy that act,"
Nina snorted in a catty voice.
To be honest, her tone amused me.
She told me that she still had work to do, so after chatting with me for a while, she left.
At this time, Charles put down the documents he was reading, closed his eyes, and rubbed between
his brows before walking towards me.
"How is it? Is the problem at work too difficult to deal with?" I asked.
It was rare for me to see him so spent Charles shook his head, sat on the edge of the bed, and
embraced me.
"I heard you already caught Linda, but you let her go right away.Why'd you do that?" I asked again.
"I did it for my sake," he said.
His words left me confused.
Charles smiled and kissed me on the cheek.
"Linda failed to educate Lucia well, and that was her fault.I initially wanted her to experience all the pain
you've suffered, but I was worried that you'd think I was being too ruthless," he answered.
The unexpected answer stunned me.
"However, Linda did promise to resign from the TV station.From now on, she'll never trouble you
again," Charles continued as he gently brushed my hair.
"She agreed to resign?"
"I've got some dirt on her.Whether she likes it or not, she has to agree," he said.
I nodded and leaned against Charles' chest in silence.
All of a sudden, my phone rang.
The second I answered the phone, I heard William's worried voice, "Scarlett, I heard that something
happened to you.Are you feeling better now?"
I glanced at Charles and said, "Much better, actually.Don't worry, Charles is here to take care of me."
"Charles? I don't think he wants to see me right now.I'll visit you after you get discharged from the
hospital.Anyway, call me if you need anything!"
"Okay, thank you, William."
After my phone call, Charles stared at me and asked, "Do you have some sort of personal relationship
with William? Why is he always contacting you whenever it's outside of working hours?"
After a moment of pondering, I answered, "We don't really contact each other that much.He just called
me because he heard I was injured, and he wanted to express his concern.That's all."
"There's one thing I haven't told you yet, but I think you should know," said Charles.
"What is it?"
"It's true that you look a lot like William's sister.However, his sister donated her organs after her death,
and her heart was transplanted to Rita."
Upon hearing what Charles said, 1 froze.
"Is that true?"
"Absolutely.Don't you think it's strange? So many TV stations have contacted William, but why did he
choose to work with you of all people? He's aware that you're acquainted with Rita, but he's keeping
you in the dark about the heart transplant."
Charles' voice was frigid, and it made my body tremble.
As I recalled all the details of my interactions with William, I realized how creepy they were.
"You shouldn't think about him anymore."
Charles held my face with his warm hands.
Once I had gathered my composure, I saw his face inches away from my.
Then, his lips formed a frown.
"It makes me jealous," he added.
I was amused by that statement.
It was then that Charles stood up, picked up the food and fed me a spoonful of soup.
"Since you're a patient right now, you should behave yourself and eat more," he said.
I obliged to his command.
For a whole week, Charles almost never left my ward.
He would work beside me in the daytime, and he'd sleep on the sofa at night.
According to the weather forecast, it would rain heavily tonight.
Thus, I asked the nurse to bring over a thick blanket and put it on the sofa.
"You are so sweet, Scarlett," Charles said, appearing to be touched by my gesture.
Slowly, I closed my eyes and smiled as I shrank into my comforter.
"Turn off the light, Charles. Good night."
With a flick of the switch, the light was turned off.
Now, only the sound of pouring rain outside the window could be heard.
Suddenly, a part of the bed sank.
I soon realized that Charles had lay beside me on the bed with his arms around me.
"Charles?"
I didn't anticipate that he'd suddenly get on the bed and hold me in his arms.I didn't know what to do
about it.
Charles didn't respond to my call.
I could hear his steady heartbeat from this distance.
"Charles, what are you doing? I'm a patient, remember?"
I said, sounding quite nervous.
The sound of Charles' hushed laughter made me feel uneasy.
"I know, Scarlett.I'm not going to do anything to you.What are you even thinking about?"
He was always teasing me with such words, and they never failed to make me blush.
Subconsciously, I looked at his face.
"I wasn't thinking of anything! Go back to the sofa! I've already prepared a thick blanket for you!"
Gradually, my eyes adapted to the darkness.
Charles' countenance was a bit blurry, but I could see him staring right at me with fascinated eyes in
the pitch black room.
"Please, just once."
Charles' words were vague, but it didn't fail to make me fantasize of obscene things
"No," I replied.
"Scarlett, I don't want to lose you."
Charles inched even closer towards me.
We were so close to each other that I could feel his breath on me.
Neither of us spoke for a few moments.
Charles was the first one to break his silence, as though he could no longer stifle his lust.
Soon, I felt him kissing me.
But shortly afterwards, he restrained himself and just gently rubbed his lips with mine.
His voice was hoarse and tantalizing.
"I've been taking care of you for so many days, but you won't even allow me to sleep on the same bed
with you.You're so cruel!"
I bit his lower lip and took the opportunity to move away.
"Go ahead and ask the hospital staff to replace the sofa with a bed," I argued.
Obviously, my answer didn't satisfy Charles.
He clicked his tongue, pinched my chin and kissed me once more.
Suddenly, he plunged his tongue into my mouth and intertwined it with mine.
Within the blink of an eye, I became so immersed in our passionate kiss that I almost felt like the faint
sound of pouring rain had disappeared.
Instinctively, my body clung to him as if I was longing for more.
His lips moved down to my collarbone, sending a tingle down my spine.
The darkness of the room heightened my senses.
I suppressed my moan, tightening my grip on Charles' neck.
I could feel his lips and tongue traveling down my body.
The following moment, he suddenly stopped what he was doing.
Charles tidied up my clothes and embraced me once more.
The sound of his voice was particularly enchanting this time.
"I think it's time for you to sleep," he said.
I creased my eyebrows at him and pinched his waist as hard as I could.
Effortlessly, Charles restrained my hand and kissed it.
"Good night, my dear Scarlett," he muttered.
I scoffed at him and replied, "Good night."
As I leaned against Charles' chest, listening to his heartbeat, I didn't feel sleepy at all.I thought of
Lucia's psychotic face that day, and soon, my mind wandered.
Her behavior was so irrational and extreme.And I would even say it was abnormal.
Or maybe it was just because I didn't Lucia that well.
Just like I didn't know my parents well.
Our family used to be warm and harmonious, but it turned out that my life was beautiful, just because
my parents were protecting me.
They used themselves as shields to protect me from the darkness of reality.
I loved them with all my heart, but I didn't know them very well.
I still couldn't understand why my father chose to jump off the building when Nate blackmailed him with
some nude photos.
There were still many other solutions, but my dad used his tragic death to protect us for one last time.
And after that, my family was torn apart.
My mother soon passed away, leaving me all alone in this cold, cruel world.
Even until now, I still couldn't figure out the reason all of this was happening to me.
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