From Desk to Altar: The CEO's Irresistible Bargain

Love's weird, you know? Get too much of it and you stop giving a damn.

Charlotte felt bad for Liam, pitying that he still hadn't figured out that getting too much love made you blind to your own screw-ups. But she felt even worse for herself.

She never really got much love to speak of, yet somehow, she got the picture loud and clear.

"The scar on your shoulder? That's from the crash when you played superhero and kept me from getting even a scratch."

She laid it out for him, "You lost a lot of blood, were barely hanging on, and I had to make the calls."

"The car was gonna blow, and only one of us was gonna make it out."

"With all the evidence Thomas and Vincent had, it was enough to nail Chloe. I thought, with you saving me like that, you must've cared a little."

"I thought even if you wanted to ease your grandpa's mind, you wouldn't let the woman who tried to kill me get off easy."

"I thought I was finally gonna see my revenge."

"That's why I didn't think twice about saving you."

"But Liam, my dying didn't change anything."

"You let me die for nothing."

"When I heard Chloe had a boy, I was trying to deal with the agony of a busted rib."

"Do you have any clue how much I wanted to go back to the crash, to choke you out myself?"

"You betrayed me. Once, twice, three times... over and over!"

Charlotte was getting worked up, getting in Liam's face, making him look her in the eye.

"You ask me how I can stand to see you in pain? What about you? How can you stand to see me hurting over and over?"

"I..." Liam was pale, lips colorless.

After the crash, he was out for two months, and even when he woke up, he was lost in his memories. Couldn't deal with Chloe, and could barely handle basic stuff. Watching the person he loved die nearly destroyed him.

By the time he dug himself out of that hole, Chloe had her kid.

He had promised Kenneth that the kid would live.

More than once, he had thought about ending Chloe, even the kid.

But after thinking it over, he always backed down.

He had to keep Chloe alive.

"There was no sign you were alive, but I still trying to find you. Everyone thought I was crazy."

"I had no reason to keep going, Charlotte. I just believe...maybe you weren't dead."

"Chloe was alive, and your vendetta wasn't settled. You'd come back to get even."

"That's all I had left to cling to."

"If I had dealt with Chloe early on, would you have come back to see me even for a second?"

"You really hate me that much."

A tear trickled down Liam's cheek. "But what's the point of coming back? When you showed up pretending to be someone else, I wasn't even sure if it was really you."

Serena and Charlotte are like night and day. They treat him completely differently.

"How am I supposed to deal with this?"

"Charlottell"

Liam looked up, his eyes brimming with tears, "Is this my punishment starting?"

"What?" Charlotte didn't get it.

Liam repeated himself, insisting on an answer, "Is your punishment to torture me, or to leave me?"

He thought he had an idea of Charlotte's next move, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting confirmation.

"Leaving me here to pine for the love I've lost forever, to walk alone where you walked, eat what you ate, smell the flowers you did... In a world without you, I'll be missing you for eternity." "Charlotte, is this the ending you were after?"

Is it?

Charlotte wasn't sure.

She didn't even see it as a real punishment.

People's guilt fades fast. Give it a decade or two, and Liam won't remember he ever loved a woman, let alone the details.

He'll get on with his life, and find new love.

And then, he'll live out his days in wealth and contentment.

"Charlotte, just stay."

Liam's words, full of vulnerability, snapped Charlotte out of her daze.

"Stay, do with me what you will."

"1

Liam looked at Charlotte intensely, not blinking. "You hate me, so you want payback, right?"

"You can't just leave. If you do, you won't see how much I'm hurting for you, how much I regret what I've done. You won't see any of it."

"Only if you stay, then you can watch me swallow my pride for you."

"Charlotte, you're after revenge, aren't you?"

Charlotte was on the verge of being ensnared by his words, but in the final moment, she remembered Ethan.

Her child, who could never live here, who could never be by Liam's side.

So she wouldn't stay.

"I don't hate you anymore."

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"Whether I leave or stay, it's not about you."

Chloe's shrill screams were still in her ears, but Charlotte's heart was unexpectedly calm.

"I was once consumed by your indifference. I couldn't fathom why my all-encompassing love was met with nothing from you."

"Later, when I moved into the Parker family, I tried to please you, I pressured you to compromise for me, Liam. Those rare moments, I could feel your love."

But by then, she no longer believed in Liam's love.

"Ultimately, love or the lack thereof isn't central anymore. My love for you has been wavering, settling into an acceptance that you don't love me, devoid of any expectations." This period had been excruciating for Liam, every word a torment.

Yet as she watched Liam's agony, she found no pleasure in it.

"I brought Ethan back just to show you I'm still here."

Charlotte gently wiped away the tears on Liam's face, "Remember, there was once someone who loved you dearly and gave birth to a child who looks a lot like you." "That person will go on to be loved by many, and to love in return."

"That child may resemble you, but he will be properly educated and will eventually erase all the undesirable parts of your genes, becoming someone unlike you." "They both have brighter futures."

"Futures without you."

Charlotte's words were like a sharp knife plunging into Liam's heart, pushing him to the brink of despair, "You still won't give me a chance to make it right." "I've given you countless chances."

"I'm asking for one last one." He couldn't bear the thought of Charlotte reappearing in his life after more than a thousand days of agony, only to have to watch her leave again. He wouldn't let her leave.