CHAPTER 450: CHAPTER 450: HE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM HER

After leaving the small town, they arrived at Charlotte Sheffield’s father’s tombstone.

She placed the bouquet she bought in front of the tombstone, staring at the black-and-white photo on it, saying nothing, just quietly watching.

Ronan Rhodes didn’t know what she was thinking at that moment, and perhaps all he could do was accompany her.

"Let’s go, let’s head back."

Ronan nodded, reaching out to embrace her: "Don’t be sad, you have me from now on."

Charlotte smiled, but he could tell she wasn’t very happy.

"Charlotte, I really regret not meeting you sooner, not being able to be by your side when you needed me the most."

Charlotte paused for a moment, her voice soft as if she were murmuring to herself: "Just meeting you is already very lucky."

"You are my luck, forget the past, from now on it’s just you and me. After the wedding tomorrow, let it be a brand new start."

This was his beautiful hope, and he wished she could walk away from the past soon.

Jasper Sutton returned home, cleared out a room, found people to decorate it, waiting for Charlotte to move in tomorrow.

He didn’t want to think about what his actions might push her into; he just wanted to use every means to keep her by his side.

"Sir, the things in the room have been tidied up, is there anything else that needs changing?"

Jasper walked into the room, mainly decorated in light purple, which was her favorite color.

On the head of the bed were various stuffed toys, of all shapes and sizes; he remembered she had always liked such things, and the first time he met her, she held a ragged teddy bear.

He also remembered it was he who personally tore her treasured teddy bear in half and threw it into the fire.

Later, he learned that it was a gift from her deceased father, which was why she kept it by her side no matter how old it got.

Thinking back now, it seemed like he took everything from her.

"Sir? Sir?"

Jasper snapped back to reality, nodded to the workers, and said, "Very good, thank you all."

"Alright, contact us if you need anything else, if not, we’ll take our leave."

Jasper stood in front of the room, imagining how she would look when she saw all this.

She should like it, right?

...

"Charlotte, is the food not to your liking?" During dinner, Ronan looked at the visibly disinterested Charlotte and asked.

Charlotte pressed her lips together: "... It’s delicious, I’m just not very hungry yet."

Ronan smiled and added more food to her bowl: "Eat more, tomorrow is going to be a tiring day."

Charlotte turned her head, looking at the wedding photo on the wall, opened her mouth, and softly said, "Thank you, Ronan."

Ronan’s action of picking up food paused, "Why thank me? Why all of a sudden?"

Charlotte pulled the corners of her mouth into a smile and shook her head: "Let’s eat."

Ronan could sense her strangeness; today’s events had caused her a grievance that she wouldn’t quickly shake off.

She spoke little today and appeared calm, intentionally making herself seem as normal as ever.

Ronan was careful not to touch her wounds, arranging for after the wedding tomorrow to get her passport done, then accompany her on a trip abroad.

In the future, he would strive to create beauty for her to forget all the past.

"Aren’t you dealing with work tonight?"

Ronan shook his head, lying down behind her, embracing her from behind: "We’re getting married tomorrow; there’s no work to handle. Sleep early, the makeup team will probably be here just after five."

Charlotte softly responded with "Alright."

Ronan raised his hand to turn off the bedside lamp.

In the darkness, neither spoke again.

Ronan couldn’t sleep, worried about her.

He felt as if a long time had passed, the person in his arms remained motionless; she must have fallen asleep.

Slowly, he withdrew his numb arm, sat up, and checked his phone; only an hour had passed.

He lit a cigarette, walked to the window, looking at the colorful city under the night sky.

What he didn’t know was that, at this moment, a pair of eyes was also watching him from behind.

When the cigarette finished, and after the wind had blown away the smell, he returned to the bed, lying carefully beside her, gently holding her in his arms.

The night didn’t promise peace, as it started drizzling outside.

The clock on the bedside relentlessly ticked, pointing the hour hand to "4".

He fell asleep, having been worn out from all the wedding preparations.

She didn’t know how she would ever repay him, maybe in another life...

She lifted the quilt, left his warm embrace, feeling a little cold.

Sitting at the bed’s edge, she looked at his face in the darkness.

She believed, that a good man like him would find happiness even without her.

Surely, he would meet a girl better than her.

She picked up her phone, left a passage on the screen, gently placing it beside the pillow.

Rising from the bed, she stepped barefoot onto the cold floor, silently exiting the room.

Standing in the living room, she could remember everything that had happened there, trying hard to hold onto the memories belonging only to her and Ronan, yet she couldn’t resist what that person had done to her.

She opened the glass door separating the living room from the balcony, placing a chair from the dining room beside the balcony’s edge.

She stood atop it.

The early winter night was bitterly cold.

In the night wind, dressed in a white gown, she resembled a snowflake.

After a brief hesitation in the air, she fell to the ground...

The night was deep, and the happiness she was on the brink of having by dawn was now forever out of reach.

Before dawn, the quiet night turned tumultuous.

Ronan awoke from the noise, hearing the sirens of an ambulance.

His arm moved slightly, but he didn’t find her there, furrowing his brows as he sat up in bed.

"Charlotte?"

He searched the entire room for her, but there was no trace of her.

The glass door to the balcony stood open, cold wind blowing in. He saw the chair near the railing.

The ambulance’s sound became closer, and he realized something, walking with disbelief to the railing, looking down...

He dashed downstairs like a madman.

She lay on the cold ground in her thin nightdress, drenched in rain.

The onlookers merely watched from afar, chatting among themselves, no one offering her an umbrella or checking her condition.

Ronan knelt to gather her in his arms, calling her name repeatedly.

And she would never answer, never wake again; nor could he ever warm her cold body...

The rain fell harder, washing away the bloodstains on the ground, diluting the metallic scent in the rain.

The ambulance arrived, medical staff checked her briefly and shook their heads at their colleagues nearby.

She was lifted onto a stretcher, covered with a white cloth...

Jasper Sutton hadn’t slept all night, sitting in the room prepared for her, waiting until dawn.

Seven in the morning.

She still hadn’t come to find him; he sent another message threatening to cancel the wedding and sent yesterday’s photos to her phone, demanding she come to him immediately.