SWNOVELS Chapter 6
Chapter 6 The Baby Looked Like You
After Gordon dropped Charlotte back at the Maple Estates, he left her alone in the vast villa. A restless night made her feel drained by morning. She prepared a quick breakfast and headed out soon after.
Driving in the rain, her phone buzzed—it was Gordon. She picked up the call. “Hello, Gordon?”
“Have you checked the news today?”
“No. Why?”
“I think you really should—” Before Gordon could complete his sentence, a loud crash interrupted him. Charlotte had just rear-ended a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The seatbelt tightened around her, thankfully preventing any injury. Given the slow speed she was driving at, she was surprisingly unscathed, although her phone had slipped off her hand and fallen on the gear stick.
Gordon, on the other end of the call, was startled by the abrupt noise. Distressed, he asked, “Charlotte! Are you okay?”
Shaking off the initial shock, Charlotte felt irritated at the driver of the Phantom. As she looked up, she spotted Leo stepping out of the car, bowing respectfully at her.
Dazed, she didn’t immediately react. Before she got a grip on the situation, Leo was by her side, opening her car door. “Mrs. Sullivan, Mr. Sullivan wishes to speak with you.”
At the sound of her old title, Charlotte’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Glancing through her windshield, she saw Zachary in his car, his face a mask of ice.
She shot back, “Mr. Howard, have you forgotten that I severed ties with Mr. Sullivan three years ago? I don’t believe ‘Mrs. Sullivan’ is an appropriate address for me.”
Stunned for a moment, Leo didn’t respond to her rebuke, but rather insisted, “Please come out.”
Feeling slightly cornered, she muttered, “Are they planning to pressure me? So typical of Zachary. Domineering and deceitful.”
“And what if I refuse?” she challenged. In response, Leo handed over his tablet. “Please, have a look at this, Mrs. Sullivan.”
Intrigued yet apprehensive, her eyes skimmed the screen, her face turning stony.
“Shall we proceed now, Mrs. Sullivan?” Leo asked, maintaining his respectful demeanor.
“Fine!” she huffed in agreement, gritting her teeth.
Leo courteously held open the door to Zachary’s car for her. Seeing Zachary inside sparked a fresh wave of fury, but her options were limited, and reluctantly, she climbed in.
The car drove off, leaving behind her dented Passat and her phone—Gordon’s anxious voice still calling out for her from the dropped call.
The confined space of the car was filled with silent tension. Before Charlotte could get her bearings, Zachary pulled her onto his lap, riling her up. “What do you think you’re doing?” she snapped.
Charlotte felt Zachary firmly grasp her chin, causing her to wince. Quickly, she returned his hold with a fiery glare. “Zachary, you…” But her protest was abruptly swallowed by Zachary’s forceful kiss.
Taken by surprise, Charlotte tried pushing him away, but found herself being overpowered and pushed against the car seat. In her anger, she managed to slap Zachary. Temporarily taken aback, he quickly recovered, meeting her slap with a more insistent kiss.
Angry and defiant, Charlotte fought against Zachary’s hold, but he effortlessly kept her in control. As her eyes started to well up with tears, she closed them, enduring the uncomfortable situation. Then, with a sudden headbutt, she caught Zachary off guard.
The impact caused Charlotte to scream out in pain, coupled with Zachary’s shocked gasp. Wincing, he saw Charlotte’s tear-filled eyes and felt a pang of regret. He found himself wondering, “Does she hate me so much that she would hurt herself, too?”
Finally, he held her close, letting his head rest against her neck, and the intensity of the kiss waned. After an awkward silence, Zachary brought up the question. “When you disappeared, you were nine months pregnant. Is our child okay?”
Charlotte froze. Then she plainly replied, “He’s dead.”
Zachary’s reaction was slow, the silence deafening in the car. His keen eyes studied Charlotte for any signs of deception. Sensing Charlotte’s discomfort, he tried to ease her by pulling her into another demanding kiss. He whispered, “No… You’re lying.”
In the midst of her twinge, Charlotte pushed back, “Lying? Do you want to know how he died, Mr. Sullivan?” The venomous resentment in her words and the hatred reflecting in her eyes startled Zachary—he was taken aback by the venomous emotions replacing the love she once harbored for him.
He tried to soothe her, carefully tracing his fingers over her tear-streaked cheeks, but she harshly turned away. The tension simmered.
“He looked just like you when he died,” Charlotte finally croaked, a hollow laugh following her words, “Remember when you wanted the doctor to abort our baby, Mr. Sullivan? Are you happy now?”
His breath hitched, her words cutting through the tension in the car, leaving him visibly shaken. But within moments, he regained his composure, moving back to his own side of the car.