Charles never believed in signs, but that night, the silence in the house felt... wrong.He glanced at the clock on the nightstand.12:13 a.m. She should’ve been asleep by now. He padded to the sitting room. The TV was still humming. He expected to find her curled up with a throw blanket, phone in hand.But the couch was empty. Her wine glass was there. Her phone, too.“Emmy?” he called softly.No answer.He checked the back door. Locked. Kitchen? Empty. The lights upstairs were off—except one.Then he heard it. A sharp gasp.“Faster!”His heart stopped.That wasn’t the TV.It was coming from the guest room. His breath caught. His legs moved on instinct. The closer he got, the louder it became. Moans. Skin slapping. Her voice. The door was ajar.He pushed it open—slowly.And froze.His wife. Naked. On top of a man he had never seen before. Muscles like a regular gym hitter, a Rolex gleaming on his wrist as he grabbed her hips.Her eyes met Charles’. She gasped, mid-moan. Froze.T

_____Bar_____Charles lit another cigarette. He took a long drag as he stared at the picture on his phone. A man on his wife. What hurt him the most? No. He's not hurt. He shook his head. Only weak people get hurt. He's just mad. He's mad at this woman—mad at her for making him waste his two years vacation on her and her damn family. And he would never forgive her. The same woman that had never allowed him to have sex with her since they got married. It was either she complained of him being too hungry for sex like a dog or made some sarcastic statement about being tired. “Hey, what are you staring at?” A voice across his table called him out of his thoughts. He raised his head to see a woman—she didn't exactly look like a woman. Too young. Her hair was packed in a ponytail. She flashed him a seductive smile. “I have been sitting here for the past five minutes.” “What do you want?” She looked around as if checking to see if anyone was watching them. “Sleep with me. I'm a virg

Charles laughed, bitter and low. "Business partner? That's what you're calling it now?”“Wasn't it a business meeting? Didn’t you see the laptop and documents when you came in?” Emmy fired, eyes flashing with anger at Charles’s shocked expression.“Mom, you should’ve seen how Charles embarrassed me last night,” she continued, voice dripping with bitterness. “Mr. Roger stormed out in anger. It was humiliating, hearing that he had… other intentions. You know Mr. Roger, right? Mom?”“How could you?” Charles’s mother-in-law shouted, fists clenched. “After everything my daughter has sacrificed for you, this is how you repay her? I won’t let this slide. You will pay for this.”“I managed to apologize to Mr. Roger yesterday,” Emmy said, her voice now low and defeated, “but I’m not sure he’ll want to continue the partnership.”Roger couldn’t help but smile quietly. This was turning out to be more entertaining than he expected. “I’ll start the divorce papers and have them ready before the day

“Does that mean I can have her?” Charles further twisted Lainey's boyfriend's hand. If he twisted it a inch further, the man would end up with a broken arm. “You can! You can!” Charles let it go. “Thanks.” He walked back to Lainey like nothing just happened. He held out his hand to her. “Shall we go on our first date?” Still not believing all that was happening, Lainey reached out her hand to Charles. For the first time in her life, she was seeing someone who could deal with her boyfriend without making an effort. As they left, Lainey's boyfriend swore under his breath to deal with Charles at all costs. Outside, Charles smiled at the woman. He wanted to continue flirting with her but seeing no need for that, he shut his mouth. He wasn't ready to get into any relationship and he didn't plan to in the future.“Thank you so much, sir,” Lainey's father said, getting out of the car. Lainey snapped her head toward the voice. “Dad?” Her father looked at her with a sigh. “If you don'

“Later,” Charles quickly said. “Alright. I'll call you later.” Charles let out a breath of relief after ending the call. For now, he was covered. But really, he'd never understand why his godfather wanted him to have a kid. He was not even ready to be a father. The thought of it scared the shit out of him. “Sir?” A man in a suit bowed in front of Charles. “Miss Sadie said to tell you that the car is waiting over there.” He pointed at a tinted black BMW. Charles strode to the car. Time to know what the woman wanted from him. She seemed too sensible for the way she was behaving last night. He entered the car and the driver soon started driving. “Thanks to you I had to sign seventy autographs on my feet.” She drank from a bottle of water. “I wasn't the one who asked you to follow me all around.” She darted a glare at him. “So, what do you want from me? I'm more busy than this.” She accessed him. “What do you do for a living?” “Is that any of your business?”“Compared to the w