SWNOVELS Chapter 38: You're overstepping
After work, Charlotte found herself at the gates of Liam's secluded mansion.
It had only been three days since the rainy night when she was stopped at the same gates, yet the security guard greeted her with a familiar nod, "Miss Perry, welcome back." Surprised, she quizzed, "How do you know my last name is Perry?"
The guard seemed embarrassed, "That night you fainted in the rain, Mr. Parker carried you and rushed to the hospital, calling you Charlotte Perry. That's your name, right?" "Yes," she blinked, her mind racing.
Liam had personally taken her to the hospital.
"Not Daniel?" she questioned.
The guard shook his head, "Daniel had gone to get the car. No one else was allowed to touch you. I tried to help but Mr. Parker reprimanded me."
"Really?" Dazed by this revelation, Charlotte walked through the gates, her thoughts in a whirlwind, all the way to the mansion's grand entrance.
On that rainy night, Liam refused to meet her, and right in front of her, he said he was going ahead with his engagement to Chloe.
But then, he ditched Chloe and personally took her to the hospital.
Charlotte was feeling all over the place, listlessly packing Liam's suitcase for his business trip, making sure to prepare enough clothes for him to change into for the number of days he'd be away. When her hands found a white shirt that, compared to the others, felt noticeably rougher, she stopped in her tracks.
It was a very plain shirt, even cheap for someone like Liam.
But it was also a gift she bought for him with her first paycheck.
She didn't expect he'd still have it.
"What are you doing?" came a displeased voice from behind.
Charlotte spun around quickly, hiding the shirt behind her back, "Mr. Parker, I was just getting things ready for your trip tomorrow."
Liam's gaze was glued to her hands behind her back, "What's that you've got there?"
"It's nothing..." Before Charlotte could finish, Liam strode over, reached over her shoulder, and snatched the shirt from her grasp.
"What's this trash?" he muttered, rubbing the shirt disdainfully before tossing it onto Charlotte's head, "Cheap stuff like this has no place in my closet. Get rid of it!"
At that moment, Charlotte felt a chill run through her veins.
She tried to salvage the situation, "The fabric might not be as nice as your other shirts, but it's well-tailored, Mr. Parker. There's no need to throw it away."
"Are you telling me what to do?" Liam frowned at her, "Charlotte, you're overstepping."
Charlotte turned even paler, clutching the shirt as she hurried downstairs.
But standing in front of the trash can, she hesitated.
This shirt was the only gift she'd ever given to Liam, probably the last one too, and it meant something to her.
Her feelings didn't deserve to end up in the trash.
After a moment, Charlotte snuck the shirt into her own bag instead.
Liam was going to be gone for a week, and there was still a bunch of his stuff that needed packing.
Charlotte went back upstairs to keep on with his toiletries but got stumped by the clutter of bottles and containers all over the shelf.
She hadn't even seen some of these things before.
"Do you plan on taking everything with you? What, are you moving out?" Liam had snuck up behind her at some point and was visibly getting irritated at the sight of the huge toiletry bag she'd put together. "Charlotte, after all this time, you still don't know what I use regularly?"
The question seemed absurd; before the two-bedroom had turned into a dog's den, Liam often spent the night, handling everything himself without ever complaining about the ordinary toiletries she bought. He used whatever was available, just like any regular guy.
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Charlotte was hit by a strange illusion in those moments at the two-bedroom flat, where their interactions mirrored those of a married couple, and it was there that the glaring disparities between her and Liam seemed to vanish. Yet, he was supposed to be someone so refined that even his hair required meticulous care.
"I'm not sure," Charlotte confessed honestly. "You have so many things; I've not seen most of them."
"Hmph."
Liam scoffed and, right in front of her, called Chloe to come and sort things out.
"I don't need an incompetent assistant. This is your one chance, either learn quickly or resign!" he declared after hanging up the phone, issuing an ultimatum to Charlotte. Charlotte closed her eyes and slowly nodded, "I'll take this seriously and memorize the items you frequently use."
After all, it was her duty to do so, and it was only normal to be reprimanded by the boss if she fell short.
Therefore, when Chloe arrived, Charlotte greeted her with an unusual humility.
"Check it out, Liam, pigs must be flying because your assistant is actually giving me a smile."
Since Liam had openly acknowledged his relationship with Charlotte, Chloe made no attempt to hide it either.
She clung to Liam's arm, cooing, "You realize my importance now, don't you, Liam? No one knows your preferences better than I do."
Liam subtly withdrew his arm from her embrace, "Teach this foolish woman."
"Sure," Chloe replied with a hearty laugh, beckoning Charlotte upstairs, "Come with me."
"This is nail care cream Liam uses after trimming his nails, this is auricle oil for after his baths, and this is..."
Chloe suddenly halted her introduction, casting a mocking glance at Charlotte, "I bet you haven't heard of these, have you?"
Charlotte nodded again in honesty, "Indeed, I haven't."
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"Heh, different worlds, different horizons. Just as I've never heard of a nobleman marrying a gambler's daughter, you couldn't possibly understand our way of life," Chloe snidely remarked, caressing the bottle in her hand. "You slapped me and ruined my face, Charlotte. Don't think I'll let that go."
"I never assumed you would," Charlotte responded evenly.
Chloe's arrogance boiled over as she hurled the bottle of oil at Charlotte, declaring, "You must have heard how I once called off my engagement with Liam. Someone as proud as him, yet he chose to continue it for me. Don't you get it, Charlotte?"
"It's the affection that makes one willingly stoop low."
"I'm not only his favorite, but also the woman who can help his career the most. What do you have to compete with me?"
"Just your pretty face and those tacky seduction tricks?"
"Liam's interest in you is fleeting at best."
"Just like these precious bottles and jars, after using cheap shampoo in that cramped two-bedroom, he'll always come back to these."
Charlotte listened impassively, not that she didn't want to argue, but she had no grounds to.
Liam's actions all but confirmed the truth in Chloe's words.
"Charlotte," Chloe said, looking at Charlotte's defeated demeanor with a sense of triumph, "you and your foolish sister always covet what isn't yours!"
"Shut up!" Charlotte wouldn't allow Chloe to insult Annie like that, "You have no right to speak about her."
"And you, an assistant, think you have the right to criticize your boss's fiancée?"
Chloe, unfazed and unconcerned with finishing the packing, strutted downstairs to find Liam.
Charlotte followed and stood at the top of the stairs, watching Chloe and Liam getting cozy on the same couch, looking all happy and chummy.
Right then, Charlotte remembered something Thomas had once told her.
If you don't fight for it, others will come and try to take what's yours.