Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 156029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
“Make him go away,” I cry.
“They’re taking him now. Dad is at the police station taking out a restraining order against him as we speak. He won’t be able to come here at all without being arrested soon.”
The thought that he can’t legally come here anymore breaks my heart even further, and I cry uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry I let this happen,” Edward whispers against my hair. “This is all my fault.”
“Charlotte!” Spencer screams again, and I slap my hands over my ears.
“Make it stop, Edward, make it stop.”
“Charlotte, please… I love you,” Spencer yells, his voice breaking. “I love you.”
The guards begin to shout, and then there’s a commotion. I know that Spencer is struggling with them to try to get to me.
I pull out of Edward’s arms and roll into a ball on my bed, holding my hands over my ears as I cry hysterically.
Make.
The.
Pain.
Stop.
Spencer
I stare at my computer, looking at pictures of myself outside the restaurant.
But all I see is Charlotte’s hurt face.
Every tabloid, every magazine, everyone knows I slept with Penelope—Charlotte’s brother’s wife. Her damn sister-in-law.
To make it worse, someone even filmed what Penelope was saying in the restaurant. It’s been played over and over and over.
Everywhere.
It’s not even true.
Did I sleep with her? Yes.
Did I know she was married? No.
I had no idea what her real name was. I hooked up with her a few times and she told me she was divorced. I saw her at a club one night and we went back to her house.
What I thought was her house, anyway.
Then a crazed husband burst in on us midway through sex, and he completely lost his shit. I picked up my clothes and ran. I never saw her again.
I still remember the devastation on his face when he caught us. It’s something I have thought of often over the years.
It’s the kind of thing you never forget.
There was no way in hell I would have been there if I’d have known the truth. I wouldn’t knowingly sleep with a married woman unless she was in an open relationship. I know what Seb went through. I would never inflict that pain on someone else.
My chest constricts as I remember the only person that matters in this story.
Charlotte. My beautiful Charlotte.
I’ve lost her.
She won’t answer my calls, she’s not opening my texts. She won’t see me.
She’s heartbroken, and who can blame her?
I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say. How do I salvage this?
A little voice from deep inside my mind tells me that it’s impossible.
I click out of the story on my screen and run my hands through my hair in disgust.
I’m sick to my stomach.
This is God punishing me. I’m being punished for being promiscuous before I met her.
My love… gone.
I hear my office door open and I look up and see a familiar face. Unable to help it, tears of relief fill my eyes and I stand quickly.
“Spence,” Sheridan whispers, taking me in her arms.
I cling to her as if my life depends on it. After a long time, she pulls back to look at my face, holding it in her hands.
“Are you okay, darling?” she asks softly, her eyes searching mine.
“No,” I whisper. “I am not.”
She takes me in her arms again and holds me tight. “It’s okay. I’m here now, baby. I’ll look after you. We’ll get through this together.”
Charlotte
I wake from my groggy sleep and lie in the darkness.
It’s Christmas Day—the day I was dreading spending without my family. That pain pales into insignificance now. I get a vision of my Spencer waking up alone in his apartment and my bottom lip quivers.
Is he okay?
I will not cry today. I will not cry today, I chant in my head.
Penelope and William had a huge argument and she left the estate last night.
She took Harrison with her… it’s Christmas.
It’s been ten days since I saw Spencer. Ten days without his love…. his touch.
I feel like a part of me has died and I’m trying to learn how to live without a limb.
I’ll get through this, I know I will.
I need to talk to Spencer, but I feel too weak to do so at the moment. I know if I see him now, he will somehow talk me around. I don’t have the strength to say what I need to say without crying and begging for him to turn back time.
To be honest, I don’t know if I ever will.
His love was perfect. It was something I feel I was meant to experience.
But that was before.
We were supposed to be leaving for Santorini in three days. I get a vision of us laughing and driving around on motorbikes the last time we were there, and I close my eyes, hating the way my chest constricts.
How do people do this? How do they bounce back?