Chapter 22
He caught up to her in a few quick strides and grabbed Vivian’s wrist again. His grip was so tight his knuckles had turned
white.
“You loved me for six years! And now you expect me to believe you just… let it go? Vivian, you can fool the whole damn
world-but not me!”
Vivian yanked her hand free. The flash of disgust in her eyes cut through Charles like a blade honed on every mistake he’d
ever made.
Her chest heaved as she snapped, “Charles Foster, haven’t you had enough?”
“What makes you think I could still love you as if nothing ever happened, even after you sided with Diana Schuyler? Have you forgotten what you did to me for her?”
His breath hitched. His lips trembled, but he couldn’t force out a single word.
Vivian’s voice was calm-unnervingly calm.
To protect that murderer, Diana, you let my parents die for nothing. You knocked me out cold just to buy her time to destroy the evidence.”
To keep me quiet, you tossed me the things she didn’t want and said trash belongs in the trash.”
“You made me serve your beloved and her precious son, while I stood there watching the two of them humiliate me-and
you turned a blind eye.”
“When she falsely accused me, you didn’t question her, didn’t investigate-just locked me up. I was bitten by a snake and
lost partial vision, and you still forced me to sew a charm for your son…”
Charles closed his eyes. “Stop…”
Vivian sneered. “What? You can’t even bear to hear it?”
“What about me? I lived through every second of it. Have you ever wondered how I managed to survive it all?”
“This is your so-called love?” Her voice cracked like ice.
“All I ever saw was your devotion to Diana Schuyler. Truly magnificent.”
Charles struggled to breathe. His voice came out rough and raw. “It was my own delusion that hurt you. Vivian, break up
with him. Give me a chance.”
Vivian’s patience had run dry. “Was I not clear enough? I don’t love you anymore. We’re over.”
Their eyes locked. Charles frowned. “I don’t believe you.”
Vivian gave a soft laugh. “Then how about this-what if I told you the video that ruined Diana-the one splashed all over the internet-was my handiwork from start to finish?”
“Foster Group’s stock took a nosedive overnight. Billions gone in market value. Your empire crumbling… all thanks to me.
Do you believe me now?”
But the curve of Charles’s lips held something like… affection.
“If you’re spending my money, it means I still matter to you. Ten billion? Cheap-if it buys you even a smile.”
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Vivian stared at him wordlessly. “Believe what you want.”
With that, she climbed into the car, arm still linked with Northon Shea’s, not bothering to say another word to Charles.
Even through the glass and the heavy curtain of rain, she could still see the sorrow carved deep into his eyes-like it had
been there for years.
She quietly looked away.
“Drive,” she said.
It wasn’t until they’d passed the second traffic light that Vivian turned to Northon, her voice soft with guilt.
“Sorry… I pulled you into this whole boyfriend act on the spur of the moment. Hope it didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
A hint of affection flickered in Northon’s eyes, but he just shrugged with a grin.
“No big deal. We’re comrades, after all.”
He paused. “It’s just… your ex-husband seems really into you. Are you sure you don’t love him anymore?”
Vivian looked at him and said, without hesitation,
“I don’t love him. And I don’t have the courage to ever love him again.”
Northon visibly relaxed.
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