Chapter 31
Xavier gave a half-smile, the kind that hovered somewhere between amusement and mockery.
“When Sharon was surrounded just now, you weren’t exactly in a rush to rescue her. And now you want to steal the credit?”
Carter’s gaze darkened. He had no reply.
Kelly, standing beside him, quickly spoke up in his defense. “Carter only just arrived. He didn’t mean to ignore Sharon…”
Xavier’s lips curled slightly. “When the reporters went to interview you, Mr. Biggs had no problem scolding them. But when those same reporters were throwing filth at Sharon, not a single word from him. Not one.”
Kelly frowned. “Some of those things were admitted by Sharon herself. It wasn’t all slander. If you don’t believe me, Mr. Cooper, feel free to ask her.”
Xavier didn’t even glance her way. His eyes stayed on Carter. “Is that how you see it too?”
Carter didn’t respond. His gaze, heavy and unreadable, fell on Sharon instead. “Aren’t you getting down yet?”
It was clear Xavier’s words had made no difference. Speaking to a wall might’ve had the same effect. (1)
Sharon’s voice was calm as she said to Xavier, “Can you take me to the hospital?”
Xavier gave a soft laugh. “Always at your service.”
Still holding her, he walked past Carter. The breeze stirred slightly in his wake.
At the hospital, the doctor examined Sharon’s foot.
Luckily, it was just a surface injury, no broken bones.
While Xavier stepped outside to take a call, Sharon leaned back in her chair. Somehow, without meaning to, she drifted off.
Her dreams were fragmented and surreal.
One moment, it was Kelly’s venomous smile. The next, it was Carter and Theo pushing her into some bottomless pit.
She jolted awake, gasping for air, cold sweat clinging to her forehead.
“Nightmare?” came a low voice.
A clean tissue appeared in front of her.
She took it, almost on instinct.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, she turned-and froze.
A tall, familiar figure stood nearby.
She stared for a moment, then frowned. “What are you doing here?”
Carter looked at her, catching the shift in her expression. He let out a quiet, joyless chuckle. “What, not the person you were hoping to see? Disappointed?”
Sharon’s voice was cold. “Not seeing the one I hoped for, that’s fine. But seeing the one I least wanted to-now that’s just unpleasant.”
Chapter 31S
He didn’t flinch. “If you’re willing to apologize, I’ll make a public statement. Say it was all a misunderstanding”
Apologize?
Sharon almost laughed.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?”
Carter hadn’t expected that. After all this time, she was still this stubborn. His voice dropped, sharp and cold. “Sharon, even now, you still think you’ve done nothing wrong? (1)
Her fists clenched in her lap. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure.
Everything online had been driving her to the edge. And here he was, still waiting for her to admit guilt?
Absurd
Her voice was like ice. “The biggest mistake of my life was marrying you. *
Carter’s face darkened. “Sharon, that’s enough.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “It is enough. You can keep being blind for Kelly’s sake, but I won’t keep playing the fool who tolerates everything”
His gaze grew colder. “You’re asking for too much.”
