Scarlett's POV:
I lay weakly in Charles's arms, barely breathing and surrounded by despair.
He gently laid me on the bed and held my hand.
"I'll arrange another physical therapy session for you later. Take a rest first."
For a moment, I felt like my heart was being pierced by a knife. I used to love the man in front of me
with all my heart. But now, all I wanted was to get away from him as far as I could.
"I slept with William," I said out of nowhere.
It was a lie. After years of entanglement with Charles, I knew very well how to break his heart.
To my surprise, he did not go hysterical. Rather, he just calmly stared at me with his deep, emotionless
eyes
"Didn't you hear what I said? I had sex with William!" I repeated with more conviction
When I spoke, my chin was raised, and I looked at him with defiance.
"Scarlett, don't lie to me," Charles warned through gritted teeth.
We were staring into each other's eyes when, suddenly, a sharp pain shot across my arm. He had
tightened his grip on my wrist, and I froze because of the pain.
"There's no point in hiding the truth anymore. The kids may be yours, but I indeed slept with William."
I endured the pain and continued to rub salt into his wound.
"Why do you have to do this?" Charles asked coldly.
"Do you want to hear more about it?" I looked into his eyes with a smirk and made a story up. "It was
raining heavily that night. I went to his room—"
"Enough!" Charles roared. His veins stood out on his forehead, and he clenched my shoulder tightly in
rage.
"I loathed you to the core. Just so you know, I slept with William because that was the fastest and the
most direct way to take revenge on you."
My mouth automatically uttered those words to spite him. I could not even feel pain in my shoulder at
all.
"Do you hate me that much? To think, you're even willing to use your body as a tool for revenge. I don't
believe you."
Charles's eyes said otherwise. Pain and disappointment were written all over his face. He looked as
though he was on the verge of breaking down.
"Trust me. I can do more than that. Do you really think we can get back together as long as you keep
me by your side? Charles, I don't know if you're too naive or just stupid. Can't you see that I'm trying to
make a clean break with you? I don't want to see your face again! You sicken me."
I could not control my surging emotions anymore.
Charles slowly loosened his grip on my shoulder and stood up. I thought that he had given up. Boy,
was I wrong. "Do you think I will believe you just because you say so? Sad to say, but if you really have
slept with William, then that's all the more reason why you can't leave me."
A sinking feeling emerged in the pit of my stomach. "What did you just say? Do you really believe that
we can just live together and pretend to be a happy couple for the rest of our lives?"
A sneer tugged at the corners of my mouth.
"Why not? You can do whatever you want. It's up to you if you want our children to be unhappy. But I
have to remind you. Even if you get discharged, you can't escape from my watch. Do you really think
you can leave me? Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the day I die."
Charles's words hit me like a hammer. Ever so slowly, my heart sank into the abyss of despair.
"Charles, you're out of your mind!"
Instead of being angry because of what I had said, he put on a smile.
"When our children grow up, will they find out that their parents' marriage, as they know it, is just a
show?" Why don't you explain to them by then that you cheated on me and gave your heart and body
to another man?"
Charles was being aggressive in spitting what he thought were facts. How could I show any weakness?
"How dare you threaten me?! Do you think you're any better? Should I tell James that you remained
indifferent when he had just died miserably in front of you? Or perhaps, should I tell him that you never
loved me and that you cared more about the person who tried to murder him?"
"Scarlett!"
Charles pushed me onto the bed and pinned me with his body. Then, with his one hand, he held my
hands above my head and pinched my chin with the other, rendering me unable to move.
"Listen to me carefully. Back then, Rita had no way of escaping. Killing her was easy, but what was the
point of that? Her death wouldn't bring James back to us. And at that very moment, you were in my
arms, dying. I wanted to save you. I had lost James. I couldn't lose you too!"
Charles stared into my eyes. As he spoke, his eyes were red, and his voice was choked with sobs. He
then eventually released his grip on my hands. Without another word, he cupped my chin and stroked
my cheeks over and over again.
"How could you say that I didn't love my son? Haven't you seen how much I loved him since the
moment he was born?"
With tears streaming down my face, I lay on the bed in despair, my heart numb in pain.
In all honesty, I knew that he loved James. But the thing was, he was entangled with the woman who
had almost killed my son. Of course, I could not pretend that that did not bother me.
"Scarlett, I'm begging you, don't let our relationship go to waste just because of one thing," Charles
pleaded.
I turned a deaf ear to his plea and murmured, "Let me go,"
I did not care about who was right and who was wrong anymore. All I wanted right now was to get
away from him.
"I won't. I will also make sure that you won't leave my side," Charles said in a matter-of-fact tone,
ignoring what I felt.
With a sneer, I turned to look at him and said, "Then I will die in front of you."
Charles had crossed the line. Unfortunately, it seemed that death was the only way out of this hell.
"Die in front of me? Huh! Don't you want to watch our kids grow up? And when they do, do you want
them to know that their mother had a mental breakdown because of a problem in marriage and then
committed suicide? Is that what you want them to see?"
My mind went blank all of a sudden.
"If that's what you want, go ahead. But from then on, I'm afraid that they won't believe in love anymore.
Do you want them to end up alone and lonely? I don't think so."
"You... You're impossible!"
Charles had struck me in the Achilles' heel. My children were the only ones I could never let go of. How
could I bear to make them suffer?
"I don't care if you're going to cuss me out for the rest of our lives. If being good means that I'll have to
let you leave and let our children grow up in a broken family, then I would rather be despicable."
"Get off your high horse. You're just 、manipulating me."
"You're right. I'm manipulating you to do the right thing for our children. You can't escape from me,
Scarlett."
I stared at Charles's face, hoping to see even a trace of pity. However, the only thing I saw was his
cold-heartedness and desperation.
"You..."
Before I could finish my sentence, my chest tightened, and my body convulsed. I also coughed
uncontrollably as I felt that something would come out of my throat.
Without wasting another second, Charles sat up, held me in his arms, and pressed the call bell.
"Scarlett, what's going on? What's wrong?"
"Get... get away from me! Get away..."
At this moment, a group of doctors and nurses rushed into my ward and went to my aid.
"Mr. Moore, your wife is emotionally unstable. Please go out for now," a nurse said.
Although reluctant, Charles let go of me and retreated to the door. One of the doctors injected
something in me, and I gradually calmed down.
"Mr. Moore, you'd better leave now," the nurse reminded him again.
"I have a few words to say to my wife."
A moment later, the doctors and nurses left the room. Once they were gone, Charles walked over to
me again.
"About what happened between you and William... don't say that again. I knew he had disguised
himself as a doctor and gave you a phone that night. Why else do you think he didn't send you any
message in the past two days?"
A feeling of dread washed over me. "Charles, what did you do to William?"
How the hell did he find out about it?
I felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured over me. I could not begin to imagine what crazy things
this man would do to assert his dominance.
"Don't expect William to come and save you. He could barely save his own ass. He did not only hide
my wife and son for a whole year, but he also tried to take you away from me. After everything he has
done, do you think I will let him off easily?" Charles whispered in my ear.
"I hope you die a horrible death!"
If I had not been sedated, I would have jumped up, strangled him, and brought him down with me.
"Scarlett, don't challenge my bottom line. You should know by now that I have no patience when it
comes to you."
A chill ran down my spine as Charles stared at me with affection and, at the same time, malice.
Truth be told, I was terrified.
For the first time in my life, I feared the man I once loved.
"Charles, you're evil."
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