Chapter 20 Jealousy

Charles rolled back into Regal Retreat after ten, way past bedtime.

The whole place was pitch black, but as soon as it picked up on him, all the cozy lights flicked on.

He headed up to the second-floor bedroom and nudged the door open.

The room was dark, just a sliver of hallway light and a bit of moonlight sneaking in. Charles eyed the slightly raised blanket on the bed and was about to move closer when he caught a faint sob.

Then came a muffled whisper, "Michael, Michael."

Even though it was quiet, it was crystal clear in the dead of night.

Charles heard it loud and clear.

With the dim light, he moved forward. On the bed, Anna was curled up on her side, looking all kinds of vulnerable. Half her face was buried in the pillow, and she kept mumbling "Michael" in her sleep.

Charles gritted his teeth, his fists clenching without him even realizing it.

He couldn't stand hearing that name from her lips again. It was like nails on a chalkboard, driving him nuts. All the anger he'd been bottling up was about to explode.

He almost lost it as he stepped forward, grabbed her chin roughly, and kissed her hard.

He never wanted to hear the name Michael again.

During the day, she let Michael hold her like it was nothing, And at night, even in her dreams, she was still thinking about him! If she couldn't let him go, if she loved him so much, then why did she come to mess with him?

Right then, Anna was stuck in a nightmare of Michael trying to force himself on her at Starlight Pavilion. In her dream, she was desperately trying to escape Michael's grip.

Anna woke up with a dull pain in her wrist and opened her eyes to see Charles's furious face. For a second, she couldn't tell if she was still dreaming or if this was real.

She instinctively pushed against his chest. To Charles, it felt like she was rejecting him.

She'd only seen Michael once during the day, and now she couldn't even handle his touch? How long had it been since they got their marriage certificate? Was she planning to ditch him and run back to Michael?

No way!

The more Anna resisted, the more out of control Charles got.

Anna's head cleared a bit, and she tried to pull the blanket over herself. "Charles, not tonight..."

The room was dark, and Charles couldn't see her trembling eyelashes or the sadness in her eyes.

"But I want it tonight." He ripped away the blanket and tossed it aside.

With his hands on either side of her, his emotions were unreadable, but he whispered in her ear, trying to keep his jealousy in check. "Anna, I married you just to sleep with you."

Anna shut her eyes, trying to bargain with him. "How about tomorrow? I'm really tired today."

In the dark, Anna couldn't see his face. She could only feel him holding her tight.

He didn't give her another chance to refuse, kissing her with precision.

About half an hour later, Anna realized something was off with Charles's mood.

She wanted to speak, but he didn't give her a chance to open her mouth the whole time.

At three in the morning, Charles stormed out of Regal Retreat.

At three-thirty in the morning, Sawyer, Mark and their friends got woken up by a phone call and dragged themselves out of bed.

When they got to Neon Nights, they saw Charles pounding drinks at the counter, and they exchanged confused looks.

"Charles, why'd you drag us out here in the middle of the night?"

Charles shoved a bunch of drinks their way and said, "Drink."

This was nuts. It was so early in the morning, and instead of sleeping, he was getting wasted at a bar?

Mark walked over, watching Charles down one drink after another, and joked, "What's up? Marital problems? Got kicked out?"

Normally, Charles would've snapped back. But tonight, he just ignored Mark, silently downing drink after drink.

Mark and the others started to get worried.

Yesterday, when Tina came back, they had partied at the bar until almost midnight. But before nine, they noticed Charles kept checking his phone.

It was like he was waiting for a call or a message from someone.

By nine, with no messages on his phone, he grabbed his phone and car keys and left without a word.

Now, just a few hours later, he was here drinking.

Sawyer and the others could guess it had something to do with Anna.

Charles's vibe was so cold and intimidating that Mark and the others didn't dare to give him any advice. They just sat with him, drinking.

At four-thirty, Charles slammed down another empty bottle, stood up, grabbed his coat, and walked out.

Sawyer and the others were exhausted and sleepy, almost dozing off. Seeing him leave, they immediately woke up and quickly called out, "Charles, where are you going?"

"The boxing gym, to find someone to fight," Charles said.

Without thinking too much, Sawyer and the others quickly got up and followed him.

Regal Retreat.

Luckily, Anna had set several alarms before going to bed.

With the constant ringing of the alarms, Anna, covered in marks of their lovemaking from the last night, slowly woke up. She had just reached for her phone to turn off the alarm when a call came in.

Anna sat up and answered the call. The next second, Aurora's slightly anxious voice came through the phone.

"Anya, have you seen the news online?"

"What news?"

Anna's voice was a bit hoarse and heavy with nasal congestion.

Aurora immediately frowned, "Anya, what's wrong? Do you have a cold?"