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)
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Fucking hell.” I think for a moment. “Does your family know any of this?”
“Yes.” He rolls his eyes. “But Edward has his own agenda. He doesn’t give a fuck about my feelings. When she first slept with you, I thought it was a one off. I blamed myself for being a workaholic and leaving her alone all the time. We went to marriage counselling and I tried… for the sake of my son. But Edward wouldn’t give up. He was sure she was staying with me for the money and he became nasty and abusive towards her. It caused a great rift between him and me. If I wanted to try and repair my marriage, it was none of his business.”
I exhale. I know what a fucking cock Edward can be.
“He hated her so much and made it unbearable for her to be around my family. Her and I would fight about it, and it made things so much worse. So, in the end, I just stayed away. We moved to Switzerland to try and make a new start.”
“I’m sorry.” I sigh.
His eyes meet mine. “Me, too.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Divorce her. Now… where’s Charlotte?” he asks.
“I’ll tell you on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to go to her yourself.”
He frowns. “Why?”
“Because she needs you, and only you.”
His eyes hold mine.
“She told me that she’s closest to you.”
His eyes drop to the floor. “I haven’t been around for her lately.”
“You had your own shit going on. She understands.”
He thinks for a moment. “Okay. I’ll go.”
“Thank you.” I force a smile. “She’s at the Four Seasons in Maui.”
“If you know where she is, why didn’t you go to her yourself?”
“Because it was her decision to leave.” I pause for a moment. “She needs to come back to me of her own free will. I would never force her into something that she doesn’t want. I love her too much to try and control her. She’s been controlled enough in her life already.”
He exhales heavily. “You know, under different circumstances, I’d probably think you weren’t a bad bloke.” He shakes his head. “This is fucked up.”
“I know.” I smirk.
He turns to me. “So, will you help me?”
“I’ll lose Charlotte if I do. She won’t deal with that kind of publicity.”
His eyes hold mine. “I hate to tell you this, Spencer, but you’ve already lost her. She’s gone, man.”
I drop my head and stare at the floor.…what if he’s right?
“I’m sorry, I really am.” He sighs. “But I can’t stay married to this woman, and I can’t lose my son.” His eyes search mine. “Say you’ll help me.”
* * *
Charlotte
The eagle hovers over the water watching her prey. What must it be like to be a bird? To have no responsibilities, no expectations.
No heartbreak.
I’m on the deckchair under the big umbrella, staring out at the ocean. It’s nearing 4:00 p.m. and the sun is still warm on my skin. I have a cocktail beside me and have just been for a swim. Maui is beautiful—the perfect place to escape.
If only he were here with me.
I close my eyes, stop it, stop thinking about him.
It’s over.
It’s been a long few days. I bought my ticket with cash at the Heathrow airport so that they couldn’t track me. I had a lot of time, and stupidly, I bought all of the magazines, just to see what they were saying about us. I don’t know why but I needed to know.
I shouldn’t have. I should have listened to Spencer and stayed away. It resulted in me crying silent tears for most of the trip, London to LA with a four hour wait for a connecting flight to Maui. Headline after headline about Spencer sleeping his way through the Prescott family assaulted me. Images of him have surfaced with every woman on Earth, and I know that they are old pictures but it just adds to the insult.
The footage of the horrific moment has been played on TMZ, too. It was uploaded by a person who was eating in the restaurant at the time. William’s anger, my horror, and then my hysterical tears as Edward went ballistic…
I’ve never been more ashamed.
A sinking feeling of regret sits deep inside my stomach. Disappointment and sadness all rolled into one heavy lead ball rest there. I let myself fall in love with him. I knew he had earned his reputation and I didn’t care. I jumped in head first, ignoring every warning that was given to me. I never thought his past could hurt me the way that it has. Never in a million years did I see this coming.
My boyfriend slept with my brother’s wife….it doesn’t get more headline worthy than that.
I miss him, still. I miss him so much, it physically hurts my chest. How am I supposed to live without his love?