Chapter 4
Jasper's expression shifted in an instant. He stared at Charlotte, his gaze sharp with suspicion and doubt. "You really expect me to buy that?"
"Believe what you want," Charlotte replied with a careless shrug. "It makes no difference to me now."
She turned and grabbed her suitcase. "Jasper, handle your woman.
"Until the divorce goes through, this is still my house. Tell her to leave."
With those words, she walked out the door without a backward glance. She left behind the place where she had loved and suffered for three years.
The door slammed shut behind her.
Jasper stood frozen. He stared at the closed door, then looked down at Emily, trembling in his arms. His thoughts were a tangled mess.
He couldn't believe everything had been a lie. He had been so certain of his beliefs all this time.
"Jasper." Emily's voice was barely above a whisper. "Am I causing trouble for you? I think your wife hates me more than ever now."
Jasper snapped out of his daze. He looked at her pale face, and his irritation grew. "She won't be my wife soon. I'm taking you to the hospital."
He helped Emily out, moving quickly. He did not bother to look back at the shattered crystal scattered across the floor.
He did not see the small, satisfied smile that curled at the corner of Emily's lips.
Emily was certain that Charlotte had lost.
Jasper's car soon vanished at the end of the road.
Meanwhile, Charlotte stood by the curb with her suitcase. She raised her hand and flagged down a cab. "Breeze Lane, please."
The car pulled away. The scenery outside the window rushed by in a blur.
The shape of the villa grew smaller and smaller in the distance until it shrank to a tiny dot and disappeared.
Charlotte leaned her head against the window. She stared out at the passing streets as silent tears slipped down her cheeks. She said goodbye to Jasper in her heart.
*****
Jasper brought Emily to the hospital. After a round of tests, the doctor said she was a bit shaken up, but nothing serious.
The doctor gave her something to calm her nerves. Emily lay on the bed and looked up at Jasper with helpless eyes. "Jasper, it's my fault again. I keep making things harder for you.
"Charlotte must be furious with me."
Jasper sat beside her bed. His mind was elsewhere, and he only answered with a vague "Yeah."
Charlotte's final words echoed in his head. That vase was a fake.
He couldn't believe it could be true. He found it hard to accept.
It was easier to believe Charlotte had made it up on the spot to save herself.
But the way she had looked at him was calm and steady. It did not seem like a lie.
And he knew her well enough to know she would never joke about something like that. Not about something that belonged to his mother.
'But if the vase was a fake, why had she done it? To keep the real one safe? And if so, why hide it from me?' he wondered. The questions swirled in his mind and gave him no peace.
"Jasper, what are you thinking about?" Emily's voice pulled him back.
He looked up and met her worried gaze.
"Nothing," he replied, brushing her off.
"Are you still thinking about the vase?" Emily asked, her voice careful. "Was Charlotte telling the truth?"
"I don't know," Jasper replied. His tone was sharper than he intended.
He stood up. "Get some rest. I have work to do at the office."
Right now, he could not stand to look at Emily. And he did not want to hear her say Charlotte's name again.
"Jasper!" Emily called out, her voice tight. "Are you going to see Charlotte?"
Jasper stopped mid-step. He couldn't figure out why he would see her. He didn't know whether he should demand answers about the vase. He didn't know if there was something else he wanted from her.
He did not know the answer himself.
"I'm leaving," he said. He did not answer her question. He opened the door and walked out without looking back.
Emily watched his cold, rigid back disappear. Her fists clenched at her sides, her nails digging sharply into her palms.
It had always been Charlotte. Emily didn't know why Charlotte still lived in Jasper's head now that she had been thrown out of the house.