Chapter 7
"If I was really that cunning, would I have nearly died because of your and Vivian's threats?" she shot back.
Charlotte pointed at the burn on her forehead, then touched the angry red welts still scattered across her face.
"Wasn't she the one who made me eat all that?" Charlotte shot back.
She fixed James with a piercing stare.
The love and caution that used to fill her eyes were gone. Now there was only defiance and a fierce edge.
A sharp pain stabbed through his chest. He hated seeing her like this.
"You still won't admit you were wrong, and you're still smearing Vivian. If you won't change, then just stay in the hospital and think it over," James snapped.
The door to the hospital room slammed shut, and the bodyguards took away every device she could possibly use to contact the outside world.
All that was left in the room was that blinding legal notice.
She was basically a prisoner in her hospital room.
No one came to see her except the doctors and nurses doing their rounds, not even James bothered to show up.
Three days passed. Just as she was about to lose it and was desperately trying to figure out how to contact her brother, she suddenly noticed a new nurse.
When the nurse came in to change her IV, Charlotte grabbed her arm and whispered, "Can I borrow your phone? I need to call my brother."
Her voice was barely audible as she pleaded, hoping the nurse would understand.
The young nurse nervously handed over her phone, then stood guard outside to cover for Charlotte.
Once she got through to her brother, it wasn't long before she overheard the bodyguards getting a call and rushing out. Taking advantage of the chaos, Charlotte quietly snuck out of the hospital.
She melted into the crowd and hopped into a cab, disappearing without a trace.
She didn't have a single dollar to her name, stuck between being kicked out of the cab or dragged back into confinement.
Without a second thought, she slipped off her diamond-studded wedding ring and handed it over as payment.
As soon as the cab stopped, she glanced around, then hurried toward the villa's front gate.
Just as her hand touched the fingerprint scanner, someone yanked her by the hair.
A mob of people swarmed her, grabbing and hitting her from all sides.
"That's her!" someone yelled.
"She's that clingy mistress who just won't let go of Vivian and James! Look at her. Does she really think she can seduce a guy? Gross!" another voice sneered.
"Vivian apologized to her, and she still spread rumors? Let's teach her a lesson today!" someone else shouted.
Charlotte collapsed to the ground, curling up in a miserable heap as the crazed fans rained down curses and punches on her.
Not long after, the villa's front gate slowly opened from inside, and the bodyguards stormed out to pull the attackers off her.
Charlotte's vision was blurred by blood as she gasped for air.
Her face was swollen and busted, stinging like hell, and her clothes were a mess, dirty and torn from being stomped on.
Right then, Vivian walked out in the latest designer dress, dripping with the jewelry James had given her, heels clicking on the floor. She glanced down at Charlotte with obvious disgust.
She pinched her nose, looking dead serious.
"Even if they're my fans, anyone who pulls this kind of stunt is gonna pay for it," Vivian said coldly.
"Vivian, it was her." one of the fans started to explain.
Vivian cut them off, her face stern.
"Apologize to her, now," she ordered.
Under Vivian's fake-serious stare, the group of fans, who'd just beaten Charlotte half to death and tried to mess up her face, mumbled reluctant apologies, clearly not meaning a word of it.
All the pain she'd suffered was just swept under the rug, like it didn't even matter.
Charlotte pushed herself up against the wall, a cold, mocking smile on her lips.
"I'm calling the police. This is assault. Hell, it's attempted murder," she snapped.
Hearing her words, James, who'd been standing silently behind Vivian the whole time, finally moved.
He strode over, his gaze icy and piercing as he fixed his eyes on her.
But when he saw the dress she was wearing, he froze.
It was the dress he'd given Charlotte after they reconciled.
The one she loved most.
In the few seconds he hesitated, Charlotte was already pinned to the ground.
Her bare right hand made it painfully clear. She was nothing but a stranger to him now.
James finally let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, his expression relaxing just a bit.
Guess I've just been too wound up lately.
Charlotte should be recovering in the hospital. How could she possibly be here?
He waved his hand, signaling the bodyguards to drag her inside.
Charlotte was tossed to the floor like trash.
The bodyguards shoved the settlement agreement in her face, forcing her to sign with her broken, twisted hand.