"Am I just anyone to you?"
His voice was sharp, a challenge thrown to pry open the gates of her heart and reveal its secrets.
Charlotte remained silent, a serpent of silence, but her actions spoke volumes as she leaned in, teeth playfully grazing his lips in a defiant caress.
Just as his anger was about to boil over, she shifted tactics, her lips finding the vulnerable hollow of his throat, her kisses soft, her tongue teasing his skin with the lightest of touches.
"There's no one else, only you," she whispered against him.
Unable to contain himself, Liam became a storm, laying siege to her senses.
In the heat of passion, Liam showed a gentleness seldom seen, moving with deliberate slowness as if fearing to break the spell too quickly.
Charlotte, overcome with a shyness that stole her words, could only respond by drawing his finger into her mouth, her teeth nibbling softly, her breath a chorus of stifled moans.
His eyes softened with warmth. "Charlotte, let me deal with Robert for you, alright?"
Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden chill in his words, and she was momentarily adrift in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Liam's gaze was intense as he kissed the corners of her lips. "Don't you despise him? His gambling debts will bleed you dry, repeatedly clawing at your finances until there's nothing left. He'll be the ruin of your life."
She trembled, barely able to speak. "I know... but he is still my father..."
Charlotte resolved to deal with Robert herself. She wouldn't let her father taint Liam's hands.
"Fool!"
Liam's frustration erupted, hands pinning her against the wall, his voice a growl of exasperation. "Why!"
She struggled free, gasping for air. "But..."
"Meeting you, that can't be called a ruined life."
It was because of him that she hadn't crumbled under the scandal that could have been her downfall.
…
Silence followed the storm.
Liam couldn't spare her another glance as he got up to shower. When he emerged dressed and authoritative, he tossed a bank card onto her bare back.
"Is money all you're good for?"
He sneered before slamming the door behind him.
Liam was gone.
The early hours were silent save for the moonlight that crept through the curtains, casting a soft glow on Charlotte as she lay on her side, tears falling silently onto the chaotic sheets.
She checked her mobile bank account, wondering if her performance the night before had been lacking, for Liam had only transferred two hundred thousand.
It wasn't enough.
Gathering her strength, Charlotte prepared to settle her debts quickly to avoid further complications.
But fate had other plans as she encountered Robert at her doorstep.
His appearance was disheveled, fatigue etched into his wrinkled face, but his eyes lit up with a predatory gleam at the sight of Charlotte.
"Lottie, my dear daughter, you're back."
His smile was corrupt. "You've come to save your dear old dad, right? I knew my good girl wouldn't let me suffer. Just lost a few thousand, darling. Go pay it off for me, will you?"
"In your dreams," Charlotte retorted with a furrowed brow.
"Refuse to pay? Ha! It's the natural order of things for children to clear their parents' debts. I'm an old man with one foot in the grave, but I'll be damned if I don't enjoy my last days! And don't you dare blame me for leaving you with too much debt when I'm gone!"
He glanced at his daughter and went on with a twisted smile, "But with your... special skills, just spread your legs, and some sap will cover your debts. A few bucks are nothing to you!"
"Then why don't you drop dead already!" Charlotte snapped back, her voice icy.
"You think you can talk to me like that, you little punk? "
Robert snarled as he grabbed a broom to swing at Charlotte!
But Charlotte stood fearless, and as the broom struck her shoulder, she pulled a brick from her bag and slammed it onto Robert's head with all her might!
Dropping out to work had netted her six hundred bucks, and she had immediately invested it in learning Muay Thai. She was no longer the pushover Robert could beat down at will.
"Agh!" Robert's cry of agony echoed as he crashed to the ground.
"Robert!" Maria burst in, her voice laced with panic, as she knelt beside Robert.
"He hit me..." Charlotte began.
Maria stopped her with a sharp hit to the leg, saying, "You ungrateful kid! That's your dad! No matter what he's done, he's still your dad! How can you be so cold-hearted?"
Charlotte clenched her fists and took a deep breath, "He's no father of mine!"
"You lousy mutt!" Robert yelled, holding his head. "I set you up with a great catch, and you can't even spare a penny for your old man! If I'd known, I should've sold you off to the slaughterhouse in the western suburbs!"
The slaughterhouse owner's son, a convicted felon for the rape and murder of a streetwalker as a juvenile, had just been released from the reformatory. His father was desperately looking for a girl to marry him off to.
"Hmph."
Charlotte laughed quietly, a chill in her voice, "You better be glad I end up with Liam, or you'd be in pieces by now!"
With those final words, Charlotte turned and walked away.
Maria wept and beat Robert, "What kind of father are you? Lottie is your own flesh and blood!"
Robert slapped her across the face, "Worthless, all of you! What are you standing around for? Get me to the hospital!"
Maria was left crying even harder after the slap.
"Worthless, all of them! Should've sold her off with the second one!"
As Charlotte walked away, the bitter curses of Robert were still audible in the distance.
Robert's spiteful reference to "the second one" was to Charlotte's younger sister.
Charlotte had been the original choice for the adopting family, valued for her age and ability to work. They had plans to eventually offer her less as a daughter and more as a bride to their son, thus saving a fortune on wedding expenses.
They dressed it up as adoption, but in reality, it was a trade of the darkest kind.
But Charlotte had foiled their plan by trying to escape with her sister the night before the deal was to be sealed. When Robert discovered them, he nearly drowned Charlotte in a barrel of water.
The next morning, feverish and too weak to even walk.
Charlotte was passed over by the family, who feared she might die under their roof. Instead, they took her much younger sister.
By the time Charlotte's fever broke and she came to, her sister was gone. Even as she contemplated going to the police, her mother stopped her.
Her sister was then reported missing and vanished without a trace.
This betrayal was a blade that twisted in Charlotte's heart, a constant torment.
As an adult, Charlotte tracked down the degenerate gambler who had adopted her sister, only to find her sister was no longer with him. He claimed she had been passed on to someone else, and the price to learn her whereabouts? Two million.
Charlotte was close to that sum now.
Wiping away her tears, Charlotte steeled herself and returned to her job.
Stepping into the break room, she overheard some gossip.
"Did you hear? Mr. Parker's ex-fiancée is back. They say she broke off their engagement because he didn't support her during a power struggle. Poor Mr. Parker was heartbroken for ages!"
"Mr. Parker, with his pride? Take her back? Unlikely."
"Love is a mysterious thing. He was so smitten with her; it's no wonder he's considering marrying her again."
The whispers faded as Charlotte blinked away her thoughts and focused on preparing coffee.
From day one at Parker Group, people were whispering that she looked like Liam's ex-fiancée, and that's probably why she got the job there.
But Liam never gave her any special treatment at work, and when the gossip faded, the small-time hassles from her coworkers started up.
If Liam had given her even a little bit of attention, her days at the company might not have been so full of trouble.
But what right did she have to expect anything from Liam?
A wry smile crossed Charlotte's lips as she prepared to deliver the coffee just as the elevator by the CEO's office dinged open.
Henry, the CEO's assistant, stepped out with a respectful bow, gesturing for someone to follow, " Miss Beaumont, the boss is waiting for you, please."
With his words, a fancy foot in a high heel with a red bottom stepped out of the lift.