Chapter 22: Don't Get Any Ideas, I'm Married

The whole mess between Charles and Tina blew up big time after three days of nonstop gossip. Now, everyone online was betting on when Charles and Anna were gonna split.

Things got so wild that even Alice freaked out. She jumped online to dig up all the dirt on Charles and Tina. Then, she called up Charles.

The second he picked up, she went off:

"Charles, are you trying to make me lose my mind? What the hell are you doing?"

Before Charles could get a word in, Alice kept going, "Shut down all these rumors right now! If you scare off my daughter-in-law, you can pack your bags and leave too!"

Charles just shrugged off Alice's rant. When she finally stopped, he lazily replied, "Mom, chill. We got this."

Alice wanted to keep going, but Charles hung up on her.

Meanwhile, in the swanky presidential suite of a hotel.

Charles was lounging on the sofa, and Tina, the woman on everyone's tongue, was chilling in a wicker chair by the window.

After hearing Alice's angry voice, Charles hung up, and Tina, busying herself with her phone, lazily said, "Mr. Percy, now your mom hates me even more, thanks to you. Awesome."

Charles, still scrolling through Anna's Facebook, glanced up and said, "Don't sweat it, my mom won't really hate you."

Tina couldn't care less. She turned to Charles and said, "I'm just worried your mom will spill the beans to my mom."

If that happened, her mom would drag her to more blind dates!

Charles smirked, "If it comes to that, I'll hook you up with some top-notch guys."

"Yeah, right." Tina rolled her eyes. "If I don't even like you, what better options are there in Crystal City?"

Scrolling through the endless Instagram posts, Tina frowned and said, "Charles, I busted my butt on set, and now that I'm finally back, I still have to deal with your drama. Why is your marriage such a mess?"

Without looking up, Charles asked, "What do you want for this?"

Tina flicked her hair and stared out at the neon-lit night. "Fall's coming. Maybe some new clothes."

Charles didn't miss a beat, "Whatever you want, hit up Henry tomorrow."

Tina turned to him and said, "I've been stuck in this rumor mill with you for days, and I even came here to this hotel. Shopping with me could be another hot topic. You really gonna pass that up?"

Charles closed Anna's Facebook page, "Tomorrow at nine."

Satisfied, Tina checked the time, "We got here at five, and now it's almost nine. Can we bounce?"

Charles looked at the video of him and Tina entering the hotel, which had blown up with over eighty million views in just four hours. The internet was buzzing with the latest rumors.

But Anna hadn't called or texted once.

If it weren't for the photo of their marriage certificate in his phone's album, Charles would have thought his wedding to Anna a few days ago was just a dream.

His face darkened. He snapped his phone shut and told Tina, "We're not going back tonight. We're staying here."

Tina checked his expression, and seeing he wasn't joking, she grabbed her phone and texted her driver not to pick her up tonight.

She tossed her phone aside, stretched out in the wicker chair, and said, "If I were your wife and saw these rumors, I'd drag you home and make you grovel!"

Charles snorted.

Looking up, he said, "I wish she had your fire."

Hearing this, a mischievous glint flashed in Tina's eyes. Just as she was about to say something, Charles stood up and headed to a nearby bedroom.

Holding his phone, he didn't look back and just threw over his shoulder, "Don't get any ideas, I'm married."

Tina angrily grabbed a pillow and chucked it at him!

"Get lost! I'm more worried about you trying something!"

The door slammed shut, and the pillow hit it, then dropped to the floor.

"Serves you right that your wife doesn't want you!" Tina muttered, trying to calm herself down. Anger gives you wrinkles, after all.

She rubbed her cheeks, strutted into another bedroom in her high heels, took off her makeup, and went to sleep.

In the hotel, the man and woman each crashed in separate rooms, sleeping soundly and comfortably. Outside the hotel, a bunch of reporters were glued to the revolving door, waiting for Charles and Tina to come out.

They waited all night. Too tired to stay awake, a few of them dozed off against the wall. When they woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.

Seeing the sun, the reporters jolted awake. They quickly looked at the hotel entrance, regretting wasting the whole night, when they saw Charles and Tina walking out together.

Instantly, they perked up and snapped photos of them leaving the hotel.

In the parking lot, before getting into the car, Charles glanced at the reporters. With a tired smirk, he opened the car door and got in.

In the back seat, Tina was also eyeing the reporters who had gotten the first-hand photos. She pulled out a makeup mirror from her bag, applied some lipstick, and commented, "Reporters these days are getting more and more dedicated."

Charles said nothing, turned on the stereo, and drove to Crystal City's biggest mall.

A few days ago, after learning that Anna had the day off today, Aurora had adjusted her own schedule. At seven-thirty this morning, Aurora bombarded Anna with phone calls.

After a quick breakfast, they arrived at the mall, and it wasn't even nine o'clock yet.

Compared to Aurora's energetic vibe, Anna looked totally drained.

Seeing Anna's tired face, Aurora said, "What did you do last night? Charles didn't come home, so why do you look so exhausted?"