Chapter 3
Alexander didn't even flinch. Instead, he took a small step back, as if her touch repulsed him.
"Charlotte," he said calmly, as if he were discussing the weather. "Vivian's wrist is broken."
Charlotte froze in shock, and then a strangled laugh escaped her.
For that?
For a broken wrist, he was going to destroy her entire family?
Her whisper was barely audible over the storm. "Alexander, I've been your wife for five years. Five years! Was there ever a moment you cared about me?"
His gaze dropped to her with no ripple of feeling at all.
"It doesn't matter."
The moment he finished speaking, a sudden bang shattered the silence.
A dull thud rang out, followed by a wave of screams.
Charlotte froze, her whole body going rigid as she slowly turned around.
So much blood pooled on the wet pavement.
Her father lay in the cold rain, never to open his eyes again.
"Dad!" Charlotte screamed.
Charlotte jerked awake, her heart hammering against her ribs.
A servant's careful voice filtered through the door. "Mrs. Blackwood, are you alright?"
Charlotte dug her nails into her palm, trying to force her violently trembling heart to calm. "I'm fine."
She wouldn't live that nightmare again. She wouldn't stand by and watch Vivian destroy her family.
Three days later, the gala arrived.
The banquet hall glittered under crystal chandeliers, flooding the space with dazzling light.
Charlotte watched as Alexander leaned down, helping Vivian adjust her gown. This man who never attended social events broke his rule just for her.
He looked like a king bowing to the only woman who could bring him to his knees.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, his legal wife, could only stand aside, feeling like an outsider.
The moment Alexander appeared, every guest fell silent, too intimidated to make a sound.
After all, this ruthless man had a reputation for tossing anyone who angered him straight into underground gambling dens. No one wanted to draw his eye.
"Charlotte!" Lily Evans exclaimed clearly. Charlotte turned to see her sister's smiling face and felt tears sting her eyes.
Lily blinked at Charlotte in surprise, looping her arm through hers. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Lily then glanced toward Vivian and wrinkled her nose. "Seriously? Do people just flaunt their mistresses in public now?"
Charlotte gripped her wrist. "Lily! What did I tell you? Do not talk about her. If you see her, you walk the other way."
Lily pouted but nodded.
Throughout the evening, Charlotte kept a paranoid watch on Vivian.
But when Vivian suddenly made a beeline straight toward Lily, Charlotte went rigid.
In her last life, Vivian had overheard Lily calling her a homewrecker. Vivian had twisted the story and made it seem like the entire Evans family was bullying her.
In the end, Alexander had bankrupted their company. After their father's suicide, Lily had gone after Vivian for revenge, only to be beaten to death by Vivian's thugs.
Charlotte's hand started to tremble so badly that the reflection of her white-knuckled grip shimmered on the surface of her champagne.
Vivian strode through the crowd, her stiletto heels tapping out a dangerous rhythm on the marble, each click sending a jolt straight through Charlotte's frayed nerves.
"Charlotte, you should leave him," Lily whispered, leaning close to her ear. "Divorce Alexander."
The words were barely audible, but Vivian, several feet away, paused.
She slowly lifted her gaze with languid indifference, her red lips curling into an amused smile, as if she were considering a very tempting offer.
Charlotte's breath hitched.
That was the look. In her last life, three seconds after Vivian made that exact face, she had grabbed Lily's wrist and launched herself backward into the champagne tower.
Shards of glass had sliced open her skin in a dozen bloody lines.
The room had erupted in chaos. Charlotte still remembered the terrifying rage in Alexander's eyes as he scooped Vivian into his arms.
Then he had turned and, in front of everyone, ordered his men to rip Lily's gown from her body and throw her like a piece of trash into the freezing winter fountain.
Charlotte fell to her knees, desperately pleading with Alexander to spare Lily, but he coldly had her locked away in a room, ignoring her cries.
Now, with Vivian standing right before them, Charlotte was so tense that she could barely breathe, haunted by the fear that Vivian would throw herself to the ground at any moment.
But in the next second, something different happened. Vivian gave Lily a vicious shove.
"Lily!"
The scream was trapped in Charlotte's throat. She could only watch in silent horror as Lily stumbled backward, crashing into the champagne tower.
Crash!
A waterfall of crystal and champagne collapsed. Lily fell amidst the glittering wreckage. Blood bloomed on her white dress, seeping from a gash on her pale arm.