Chapter 17
“You’re awake.” Irene’s voice was calm and detached, as if speaking to a complete stranger she’d just bumped into on the street.
But Charles trembled all over with emotion.
It had been a full month since he’d last seen her. The torment of missing her had gnawed at him day and night, like teeth on bone, nearly driving him insane.
And now, here she was again–her voice, her presence–everything he had longed for came flooding back in an instant.
His eyes reddened. In a sudden burst of desperation, he sat up and pulled Irene into a tight embrace.
“Irene… it’s really you. God, I missed you so much.”
His voice was hoarse and low, trembling with longing and heartbreak.
Irene froze for a second, then forcefully shoved him away. “Charles, we’re divorced‘
His armis fell empty. Pain flickered across his face like a knife to the heart
“Irene, I don’t accept the divorce,” he said, panicked, trying to claw something back. “I was drunk that night–1 didn’t even know I was signing divorce papers!”
There was panic and pleading in his voice, like a child about to lose the only thing that mattered.
But Irene only looked at him coldly. Not a flicker of hesitation crossed her eyes.
“Charles, you should’ve known this day would come the moment you got involved with Elise six
years ago.
She scoffed, her voice dripping with scorn.
The color drained from Charles’s face. He shook his brad helplessly. “Irene… please… I had no choice. Everything I did I was forced
H
His voice cracked with desperation, grasping at straws.
“There had to be an heir to the Whitmore name. I had to take control of the company to protect you better. I didn’t mean to “Enough!” Irene cut him off, her voice like a blade of ice. She couldn’t stomach another second of his pathetic excuses. “When did I ever need your protection to survive, Charles?”
“I risked everything for you once- even my life. Your so–called protection was just a cherry on top.”
Her words landed like needles, each one stabbing straight into Charles’s heart, leaving him reeling in pain.
“You knew I could face anything by your side.” Her gaze dimmed with disappointment. Even if you lost the entire Whitmore empire, we could’ve built something new together. That was never your excuse to cheat.”
Charles sat frozen in bed. His heart felt like it had been slashed open, raw and bleeding. His eyes were rimmed with red,
She was right. Irene had never been some delicate songbird he kept in a cage–she was his hawk, his protector, the one who would’ve bled for him if she had to,
But he’d been blinded by power. He knew it–he knew all of it and still, he chose to hurt her.
What the hell had he done?
His vision blurred. He couldn’t even remember the last time he cried.
Tears slid from the corners of his eyes, soaking into the pristine bedsheets, leaving behind dark, regret and despair.
er stains or
Clenching his fists, he choked out, “Irene, I was wrong I know I was wrong. Please please give me one more chance. I can’t live without you.”
Jucher 17
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MoboReels–Short
His eyes were pleading like a drowning man, clawing for something to keep him afloat.
“Elise is gone. I’ve already sent her away. I’ll leave Aiden to the Whitmores. From now on, I want nothing to do with them. I’ll give it all up–I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth if I have to.”
That kind of confession, had it come earlier, would’ve shattered Irene completely.
But now? She was no longer that woman.
“It’s too late, Charles,” she said, gripping Noah’s hand tightly. “You’re filthy.”
Her eyes were cold, and she added flatly, “Oh, right. I almost forgot–something happened back home.”
“Aiden snuck into the psychiatric hospital and broke Elise out. But instead of thanking him, she turned around and held her own son hostage–just to force you to come back.”
“Go home, Charles. He’s your son, after all. As for us… we’re done.”
Her words cut clean through the last string of hope Charles had been clinging to.
As he watched her turn and walk away, it felt like someone had crushed his heart in their fist. He couldn’t even summon the strength to follow her.
He knew, this time he had truly, completely lost her.
