From Desk to Altar: The CEO's Irresistible Bargain

"What's that supposed to mean? Charlotte, spit it out, what were you trying to say?!"

Charlotte dropped a bombshell that completely threw Liam off his composed act, and you could see the panic in his eyes. "Explain yourself, Charlotte. You can't just drop hints and make me guess what's going on.

"It's nothing," Charlotte said, turning to look at Chloe and the kid she was holding.

She figured no one's heart is big enough to forgive the person who killed their loved one.

It's either the love wasn't real, or they loved the killer too much.

For Charlotte, it didn't matter which one Liam was.

She was over it.

"You're calling me Charlotte, so you must've found out the truth about me, huh?"

Charlotte's eyes were burning with a kind of mocking fire, "Well? Are you glad to see me alive?"

"Charlotte!"

Liam's eyes were stinging, and so was his heart.

He had secretly compared 'Serena's' DNA with Robert's a few days back, and it turned out they were related, father and daughter.

He didn't need any more proof. He was sure Serena was actually Charlotte.

He was ecstatic when he found out, dying to tell Charlotte everything - the years of hurt and love.

But when it came time to act, he chickened out.

He couldn't face it.

Charlotte had come back with a fake name.

Liam had a hunch about what she was up to.

Even though he knew who she really was, and she was right there in front of him, he had to pretend he didn't and play along with her fake identity.

"I didn't think you'd own up to it," Liam said, his voice rough with unshed tears.

"You came back with a fake identity....is this some kind of revenge on me? Charlotte, are you done getting back at me?"

Done?

That's a laugh.

"You call it revenge - did I actually hurt Mr. Parker in any way?"

In a place crowded with people, Charlotte gave Vincent a nod and motioned for Liam to follow her, "Come with me."

Liam followed her like a well-trained puppy, his shoulders down, looking like the weight of the world was on his back, unable to stand tall in front of Charlotte.

When they got somewhere quiet, Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself and said nonchalantly, "You know how Ethan is, he got bullied and shoved into the pool by that kid, and you wouldn't lift a finger to punish him..." "He'll get what's coming to him," Liam said, his expression tight. He was desperately trying to keep his cool, "You tell me what punishment you want, okay?"

Charlotte couldn't help but laugh coldly inside at his ready surrender.

"Let me do whatever I want? Liam, you're aware I can't stand Chloe. If you really hand me that kid, it won't be pretty."

"Okay, I know." but nothing breaks his heart more than losing her, "You can do whatever you want."

Charlotte actually cracked up, "Really? He is your kid, you know that?"

"I told you, I don't accept him as mine..."

"Ethan's your kid too, you know that?"

"What?" This truth bomb had Liam spacing out for ages.

Ethan looked so much like Charlotte, and he seemed to be only three or four years old.

Liam had his suspicions about Ethan, but with Charlotte's fertility issues and the car crash she barely survived...

Liam knew he was just making excuses.

He just couldn't stomach the truth that Ethan was his.

"How's Ethan even my kid?" Liam's voice cracked, and he was fighting back tears.

"When I had that crash, I was already expecting. Got super lucky - a tree broke the fall off that cliff and I didn't lose the baby." "But..." Liam was still reeling, "Is Ethan really mine?"

"Yeah."

Charlotte's smile didn't reach her eyes, "He's yours, but he'll only ever call Vincent 'Dad.""

"He's done with you, Liam."

Ethan's got this intense personality, right? He's got this natural bond with Liam because they're related.

But that's also why Ethan's got sky-high standards for Liam.

Ethan's the type to blow up over Liam hugging Benjamin or when Liam defends someone who's picked on him, Ethan just pulls away.

"You did this on purpose... You wanted this!"

Once Liam put it all together, he just broke down.

"You've been setting me up to let Ethan down, you never wanted him to see me as his dad! Charlotte, you can't be this heartless, you can't torture me like this!"

"I'm not carrying that guilt, Liam. Ethan's just being himself, and I warned you about his personality. You just didn't listen! So don't get mad when he can't stand you!"

"If you had just told me Ethan was my son from the start..."

"Didn't you ever have a hunch?!" Charlotte laughed coldly. "How many lookalikes do you think there are in the world? What are the odds Vincent just happens to find him? You really bought that love-at-first-sight story hook, line, and sinker?"

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He just didn't care enough.

"You should've known who I was the second you saw my face, should've known why I came back!"

"But what about you? Liam, you let my killer walk free, you let her waltz back into my life!"

"Chloe, and her kid, they're your real priority."

"That's not it... I..." Liam was teetering on the edge, his excuses dying on his lips.

Charlotte eyed him with a bit of a sneer. "So, Liam, you actually glad I'm still kicking?"

Liam was lost, staring at her. He couldn't handle her in-your-face attitude or the fact she seemed to want nothing to do with him.

"Look, for four whole years, every single day, I've been hoping against hope that you were still out there."

"I've been drowning in guilt, swimming in memories of you, clinging to the hope that one day you'd turn up again."

"But I never lived a day like it could be the day you'd actually come back."

"I've played the scene of your return in my head a thousand times, but never once did I imagine you'd come back hating my guts." "Charlotte"

"Whatever you want, whatever you need me to do, just say it - I'm there."

"But you can't keep ripping my heart out."

"You can't let me find you, get my hopes up, and then say it's all been a pipe dream."

"You can't do me dirty like that."

"Finding you was the thing that kept me sane every day."

"But now, Charlotte, now that you're here, part of me wishes I was the one who never made it."

"I wish I was the one who didn't survive that crash."