Evander’s words hit her like a bucket of ice water, dousing thest flicker of hope and affection in her chest. She stared at him, disbelief and humiliation warring with a cold, unnatural calmness. Anger seethed beneath the surface, but she held herself together.

So it was true–when your heart hurt the most, sometimes you couldn’t even cry.

Now, she could only find itughable.

“You me me for taking her ce for six years? Fine. I’ll give it back to her. Problem solved, right?”

Charlotte shrugged off Evander’s hand, ready to leave, but his grip tightened suddenly around her arm. His eyes were dark and chilling. “What did you just say?” “I said I’ll give her ce back. I’m giving you the chance to make it up to her.”

She jerked her arm free and strode out the door.

Evander stood frozen, his expression growing stormier by the second, as if something precious was slipping from his grasp, something he could no longer

control.

She thinks she can just leave whenever she wants?

Evander snatched up his phone and dialed.

Charlotte made her way to the hospital.

She lingered outside the room for a long moment, her gaze fixed on the sight of her mother, Rachel, sitting by Hiram’s bedside. Since Hiram had been hospitalized,

Rachel had practically moved in, tending to him day and night.

Maybe this was the kind of motherly love she’d always longed for…

Would her birth mother have done the same?

Charlotte pressed her lips together, swallowed down the tangled emotions, and turned the doorknob.

Rachel nced over her shoulder, her face marked by exhaustion and worry. “Lottie?”

years of

07:57

Chapter b107 /b

“Mom, why don’t you take a break? Let me look after him for a whileb./bb” /b

Rachel managed a tired smile, gently massaging Hiram’s arm to keep the blood circting. “I’m fine, sweetheart. It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

Charlotte sat down by the bed.

“Oh, by the way, didn’t you have work today? I stopped by your department to bring you breakfast, but you weren’t there.”

A faint warmth flickered in Charlotte’s chest–something almost forgotten. In the Sterling family, genuine care for her had always been scarce, most of it extended only because of Hiram.

But this time was different.

She smiled softly. “I took some time off. I wanted to be here with you and Hiram for a while.”

Rachel looked startled, guilt shing in her eyes. “Lottie, you… you don’t me me, do you? I know I haven’t always been there for you.”

Rachel was painfully aware of the Sterling family’s favoritism. Hiram was the only son, the heir, while Charlotte was the daughter she’d adopted after losing her own child–a symbol of hope, but never truly protected.

With so little authority in her husband’s house, Rachel had no real say, and her husband never sided with her. She did what she could, but there was so little she

could offer Charlotte.

She’d always thought, if she could just keep Charlotte fed and safe, that would be enough. Maybe once Charlotte married and left the Sterling family, she’d finally find happiness.

She never imagined Charlotte would end up married to Evander.

Her husband had been so desperate for the Sterling family to climb the socialdder that he’d schemed and pushed Charlotte into the Howard family, always looking for some way to benefit…

Rachel had seen it all. And when it came down to choosing between her son’s future and her adopted daughter’s feelings, she had chosen her son.

So if Charlotte med her, or resented her, she deserved it.

But Charlotte shook her head. “If you hadn’t taken me in, I don’t know where I’d be. Maybe on the streets… maybe taken by strangers, maybe even dead.”

213

b07:57 /b

Her quiet maturity pierced Rachel’s heart.

Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but just then, the door swung open.

Three or four security men appeared outside.

One stepped forward. “Ma’am, Mr. Howard sent us ito /icollect Mr. Sterling.”

“Why does he want my son?” Rachel’s heart thudded in her chest. Was this about Hiram kidnapping Evander’s mistress? Was Evander here for revenge?

07.57