I just wanted to protect you from more
Charlotte's POV
I did not feel like going to class the next day after we returned from Utah. I could not focus at all because my mind was overwhelmed. I should have felt happy after getting the marriage certificate from Sanders, but I could not even smile. Just thinking about my own mother hiring someone to kill me made me feel sick.
"What should I do?" I muttered, staring at my mum's number on my phone screen, unsure whether to call her. Even though she had shown that money mattered more to her, a small part of me still wished she would reach out.
"There you are. I just finished work. Sorry I took so long," Luther said as he opened the sliding doors to the pool area. I was lying on a lounge chair, trying to enjoy the view. I forced a smile when he came closer, using the sight of his toned chest as a weak distraction.
"Have you been looking for me?" I asked, barely recognising my own voice. Instead of answering, Luther frowned slightly while studying my face. He had gone to the home office after breakfast to handle some work before spending the rest of the day with me.
"Is there something on my face?" I asked, stopping halfway when I felt wetness on my cheeks. My fingertips came away damp, and that was when I realised I had been crying. Everything felt too much. I was barely holding on.
"The injunction order has already been released, so your mum will not be able to sell the house. I thought that would make you happy," he said as I sat up and placed my feet on the ground.
"Does it even matter?" I asked, my voice cracking as a heavy wave of emotion pressed on my chest.
"Of course it matters. It is what you wanted, remember?" he said gently while sitting next to me.
"How can I be happy when my own mother wants me dead, probably because of property?" I shut my eyes, feeling my throat tighten.
"You are just overthinking it, babe."
I turned to look at him, letting out a small laugh and shaking my head.
"Overthinking?" I opened my eyes and squinted at him.
"Yes, babe."
I held back the urge to hit him, pressing my lips together.
"Are you seriously saying that right now?" I snapped, watching him rub his eyebrow. Before I could say more, his phone started ringing. I caught a glimpse of Mateo's name before he answered.
"Sir, madam, brunch is ready. Should I bring it out here?" one of the cooks said, stepping into the space.
"Leave it on the kitchen counter. I will come and get it. You can take the rest of the day off. Also, inform the others," Luther replied.
He was clearly trying to make me feel comfortable around the house without having to run into his staff constantly. But that did not change how upset I felt. His calm attitude about the whole thing with my mum made my chest feel even tighter.
"I am not hungry," I said sharply.
"You barely ate your breakfast. You need all the energy you can get," Luther said as he stood up after that staff member left. I stayed behind, lost in thought again. I glanced at my phone once more and knew the only way to stop myself from calling my mum was to put the phone as far away from me as possible.
I got up and followed Luther inside through the backdoor that opened into a quiet hallway. At the far end, I suddenly heard his voice, low but tense. The words made me pause.
"I already told you, Mateo, she cannot know."
His voice had a sharp edge. He was clearly angry. I remembered him saying something similar during a call in the kitchen. This time, instead of interrupting, I stayed hidden and leaned gently against the wall, listening closely.
"She already suspects Sophie is trying to kill her. It is weighing heavily on her, especially after finding out the truth about her past. What do you think will happen if she learns for sure that Matthew has been stalking her, and that he was sent to kill her that night?"
My heart felt like it stopped for a moment. The words hit me like a slap. Then my lungs fought for air, my chest rising and falling too quickly.
"No means no, Mateo. I do not want her living in fear. Loveth knows, and he is keeping watch. Daren has been doing a good job so far too."
My head was spinning. My hands turned clammy. I could barely stand, even though the wall was behind me. My legs were struggling to hold me up.
"I will talk to you later. And make sure Daren updates me on anything new," Luther said before I heard the beep of the call ending, followed by a low curse from him.
I pushed myself off the wall and walked around the corner. My vision was slightly blurred, but I could still see the look on his face when he spotted me.
"Oh…hi, babe," he said with an awkward laugh. He looked nervous, almost caught off guard.
"I was on a work call with Mateo," he added quickly, avoiding my eyes.
"How long?" I asked, my voice low but steady. At that moment, Matthew’s words at the party came rushing back to me, about the shadows and watching out.
"It was just a short call," he replied.
"Stop pretending you do not know what I am asking about!" I snapped. My hands had already balled into tight fists. "How long have you known I was being followed?"
"Being followed? No one’s…"
"Cut it out. I heard everything," I said through clenched teeth. "How long?"
"You need to calm down first, babe."
He reached out, but I stepped forward and poked his chest, keeping my voice sharp.
"How can I calm down when you have been hiding this from me?"
"It was for your own good," he said softly.
I let out a bitter laugh and wiped the sweat from my forehead. "I thought we agreed, no secrets between us."
My voice dropped. The pain in my chest was too much. "It is sad. My mum was not the only one lying to me. Seems like my boyfriend and even my best friends are in on it too."
The weight of it all felt like broken glass pressing into my heart.
"If you had known, you would have been looking over your shoulder every second," he said. "I just wanted you to feel safe until we figured things out. At first, we did not even know Matthew was linked to your mother. We tracked his car’s number plate, which was registered under your mum’s original name."
He did not need to finish the sentence. I already understood. That was how they ended up at Sanders’ place. That was how they started putting the pieces together, without me.
"I asked you if everything was okay, Luther. I begged you to tell me, but what did you do?" I closed my eyes and swallowed the bitter taste rising in my throat.
"I swear, I was only trying to protect you." He tried to touch me, but I slapped his hand away.
"You had no right to keep that from me, especially when it was about my life," I said, my voice low and shaking as I wiped the tears that were already streaming down my face.
"Would you really have believed me if I told you someone was following you? You would have said I was making it up to get your attention. Or have you forgotten how you reacted when I warned you about Mr. Hugh? Even after that man broke into your house, you still pushed me away."
He was not wrong, but it still hurt. That did not give him the right to hide the truth.
"Of course, bring up my past mistakes to cover your own," I said with a hollow laugh, nodding to myself as I pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to hold myself together.
"You even told me I was overthinking, when you already knew I was right," I whispered, staring down at the floor. My voice was tired, my chest heavy with pain.
"You are already going through too much, Charlotte. I just wanted to protect you from more. I swear, I did it for you."
I dropped my face into my hands. My heart was hurting in ways I could not even put into words. The pain felt deep and sharp, cutting through every part of me.
Without saying anything else, I turned and walked away. I could not bear to look at him for another second. I went straight to the guestroom and shut the door behind me, locking it before he could follow.
Inside, I sank to the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest and let go of everything I had been holding in.
The pressure, the fear, the betrayal, it all poured out at once, and I cried until my chest ached and my throat burned. I felt like I was falling apart.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
