Chapter 4
"Make sure the sleeping pills don't cause any trouble. Vivian needs me right now."
The room fell silent. Charlotte kept her eyes shut tight, but tears still streamed down her face, unstoppable.
No wonder, no matter how hard she tried these past three years, she never even got close to having a child.
He went out of his way, cruelly taking away any chance she had to be a mother.
Even if there was just a one in ten thousand shot, he made sure it was gone.
This time, the sleeping pills wore off way too soon.
She yanked out the IV and, with her whole body aching and weak, forced herself to stumble out of the room.
Each headline and breaking news alert on her phone felt like a punch to the gut, leaving her gasping for air.
James would rather knock her out with sleeping pills than let anything happen to Vivian. That's how far he'd go for her.
She just couldn't accept it.
Charlotte, her body weak and aching, tracked the location through the live stream and made her way there.
On stage, Vivian looked glamorous as she held the microphone. When a reporter asked a pointed question, she gave James, seated with the organizers, a bashful glance.
"I came back not just to chase my dreams, but also to apologize to the most important person for the mistakes I made when I was young and reckless," she said.
The crowd was so hyped it felt like the roof might blow off. With the host leading the way, James took the stage as the organizer's rep.
He was all charm, she was stunning. Standing side by side, they looked like the perfect match.
Charlotte hid among the crowd, forcing herself to watch every moment between them, even though it felt like torture.
Even with James keeping a stone-cold face up there, Charlotte could still catch the tenderness and indulgence in his eyes. He just couldn't hide it from her.
The event was winding down in a wave of excitement when, out of nowhere, something unexpected happened.
A man, looking a bit disheveled, suddenly rushed onto the stage, heading straight for Vivian.
"Babe, why'd you come back without me?" he shouted.
The staff and security were thrown into a panic, and Vivian's face went ghostly pale with fear.
James was the only one who reacted fast enough. He pulled Vivian into his arms, then kicked the guy away with a fierce, almost savage look in his eyes.
The place was a total mess. The venue was small, but the crowd was packed in like sardines.
Someone shoved Charlotte from behind, and with her legs already weak, she went down hard.
Heels and dress shoes stomped all over her already injured knees and legs, the chaos of the crowd making it impossible for her to get up.
Vivian, sharp-eyed, pointed at Charlotte lying on the floor. "Someone just fell. Should we go check?"
James took off his jacket, covered Charlotte's head with it, then bent down and lifted her into his arms, shielding her as he carried her away.
"What do I care about anyone else?" he said coldly.
Charlotte's voice, growing weaker, got lost in the noise of the crowd, but it was enough to make James, who was already walking away, pause.
"James, help me!" she cried out.
James instinctively looked over at her, but Vivian suddenly cried out, "I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts so bad!"
The bodyguards cleared a path, and James cradled Vivian in his arms, never once glancing back as he walked out.
Half an hour later, after the police had finally cleared the crowd, Charlotte was rushed to the hospital in an emergency.
Meanwhile, the city's trending news was blowing up.
The story about three people getting seriously hurt at Vivian's welcome event shot straight to the top of the trending list.
After Charlotte's surgery, she was moved to a regular hospital room. Meanwhile, online, every post about Vivian was glowing, nothing but praise and positive spin.
The other two who got hurt with her had already signed agreements and taken their compensation money.
Charlotte was the one who got hurt the worst, so she was still in the hospital when Vivian showed up to visit her, with James right by her side.
When Vivian and James realized it was Charlotte in the room, they both froze.
Vivian's eyes went red, and a few tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Oh, it's Miss Rivers I should've kept my fans under control. You got hurt so badly because of me. It's all my fault," Vivian said, her voice shaky with guilt.
James walked over to the bed, his brows furrowed, his gaze turning icy.
"The housekeeper said you yanked out your IV yourself. Since when did you start learning those manipulative moves from other women, following me around like some crazy fangirl?" he sneered.
His arrogant questioning made Charlotte's heart tighten painfully.