Chapter7
“Come on. If he could so easily abandon his childhood sweetheart, imagine what kind of misery your granddaughter would face if she married into that family.”
“Those are old wounds…”
Their whispered chatter drifted faintly into Charlotte Wynn’s ears.
She tried to lift the corner of her lips in a smile, but it was hopeless.
Then, all at once, the hum of conversation vanished.
The room went silent, so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
Bianca Sterling stepped into the banquet hall in a couture gown, every inch of her adorned in jewelry expensive enough to buy out several estates.
Her radiant smile dazzled the crowd.
She walked gracefully toward the center of the hall, pausing at the end of the grand staircase, all eyes on her.
Julian Lancaster stood at her side, his gaze full of such tenderness it nearly overflowed.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he cleared his throat, his voice stripped of its usual carelessness, calm and noble, “please allow me to formally introduce,
))
Before he could finish, the lights flickered twice… then went completely out.
In the sudden darkness, chairs scraped, glass clattered, and screams pierced the air.
The room dissolved into chaos.
Charlotte instinctively stepped back into a corner, but just as she did, someone grabbed her wrist. A cloth soaked in something sharp and acrid was shoved against her nose and mouth.
The world spun.
She fought back hard, but as the scent overwhelmed her, her strength gave out.
The last thing she heard before slipping into unconsciousness was the deafening sound of people screaming.
Chapter7
She had no idea how much time had passed when a familiar, furious voice yanked her back from the
void:
“Damn it! Who told you to do this during the engagement party?”
“I said to kidnap me and pin it on Charlotte, who the hell told you to bring her along too?”
“Idiots! No matter how real it looks now, you’re not getting a cent from me! You ruined everything!”
Charlotte’s senses sharpened in an instant.
It was Bianca again, another one of her schemes.
But this time, it had spiraled out of her control.
“She’s got to be in shock or something,” one of the henchmen said, scratching his head. “Who bargains with their kidnapper?”
The gang leader let out a curse and kicked a metal barrel beside him.
The crash rang out through the cabin, making the walls tremble.
“Knock her out! She’s giving me a damn headache!”
A thud followed, and Bianca’s voice fell silent.
Charlotte kept pretending to be unconscious, but her fingers curled slightly.
When she had struggled earlier, she’d felt the hard outline of a holstered gun on one of them. These weren’t some thugs Bianca hired off the street.
The steady rumble of a ferry engine buzzed beneath them.
Waves slapped against the hull. Salty sea air leaked in through cracks, sending chills down her spine.
But what truly made her blood run cold… was how familiar the gang leader’s voice sounded.
She’d heard it before.
Not long ago, during a business standoff where Julian had pushed a major rival into a corner.
This wasn’t about Bianca’s petty drama anymore.
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These men weren’t playing.
The ferry had been moving for a while when one of the kidnappers finally placed a video call.
“Hey, Julian Lancaster. I’ve got both your old flame and your new one. I’ll give you one shot, pick
one.”
The camera zoomed in on two women lying side by side.
Their gowns were wrinkled, their faces deathly pale, eyes shut tight.
“One is your childhood love of twenty years. The other, the woman you fell for after losing your memory. So… who’s it gonna be?”
Several Lancaster security yachts were already closing in from behind.
Julian kept his expression calm as his eyes flicked toward the divers waiting beneath the water’s
surface.
But when he saw the bruises on Bianca’s shoulder, his composure cracked.
“If you touch even one hair on Bianca’s head, I swear, I’ll bury the entire Monroe family with you.
Charlotte kept her eyes closed, but her chest ached.
She should’ve known. She shouldn’t have hoped. His choice was always obvious.
The gang leader burst into laughter.
“You really thought I was gonna let you choose?”
And with that, Charlotte was yanked up and shoved into a Glass Chamber, her body pressed tight
against Bianca’s.
The sealed container holding both women was hurled into the sea with a violent splash. Weighted
by stones, it sank fast.
Thank God she’d kept pretending to be unconscious, she still had strength left to fight.
Kicking off her heels, Charlotte smashed the glass with the sharp metal edge of one.
Shards cut into her arms and legs as water surged inside.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the unconscious Bianca and dragged her through the opening,
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swimming upward with everything she had.
They finally broke the surface.
Charlotte could barely keep her head above water, but she didn’t stop. She pushed Bianca onto a floating piece of debris and gently tapped her cheek.
“You have to survive.”
Because as long as she lived, Julian’s obsession would have somewhere to rest.
Charlotte clung to the wood, paddling toward shore.
Then, damn it, her body betrayed her.
The early symptoms of her degenerative illness hit hard.
Her arms went numb all at once.
She barely managed to release her grip on the plank before her body slipped under the waves.
She stared up through the water, watching the ripples scatter the moonlight.
So this was it.
This was where it ended.
And yet, just before her consciousness slipped away, she thought she saw a hand reaching for her, desperate, familiar.
A hallucination?
When she woke up, all she could see was the sterile white ceiling of a hospital room.
A nurse rushed to her side, eyes wide.
“Oh, thank God! You’re finally awake! You’ve been unconscious for two days!”
“If you hadn’t woken up soon, the hospital was going to pull your antibiotics. No ID, no treatment. And with a lung infection, going off meds could’ve been fatal!”
Charlotte rasped, her voice barely a whisper.
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“Did anyone come to see me while I was out?”
“Nope.” The nurse sighed. “You poor thing. That girl they brought in with you, just swallowed a little water. Her boyfriend instantly had her transferred to a VIP Private Suite. Hasn’t left her side
since.”
Charlotte froze, then let out a quiet laugh.
Right then, a soft knock landed on the door.
And a familiar voice called from outside:
“Charlotte.”
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She shot up, eyes wide. The moment she saw the tall figure step inside, her tears broke free.
“I couldn’t reach you,” Logan Westwood said, crossing the room. “So I came to find you.”
He gathered her into his arms, one hand cradling her head.
“Let’s go. Come home with me.“.
The dam broke.
Charlotte sobbed so hard she couldn’t breathe.
〃
She just kept nodding, over and over.
When she tried to get up, her legs gave out.
Logan Westwood caught her, holding her steady.
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The nurse rushed forward too. “Careful, careful, she just woke up. Her body’s still weak.”
The three of them moved slowly toward the elevator.
“Where are you taking her?” the nurse asked, half–joking.
“The rooftop,” he said gently. “The helipad jet is waiting.”
She blinked, stunned, and quickly helped steady Charlotte’s arm.
The private aircraft pierced through the clouds, flying away from Northbridge. Far away.
Charlotte wiped the last of her tears and stared out the aircraft window.
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In her heart, she said her final goodbye:
Julian Lancaster, I’m giving you and Bianca your happiness.
From now on, you’ll never see me again.
Chapter7
