Chapter 295: Charles, You Are Truly Despicable
Seraphine had known Vivian for years, but she'd never seen her like this.
Her hair was a tangled mess, her clothes torn to shreds. Every inch of exposed skin was covered in bruises and cuts.
And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the vacant look in Vivian's eyes—like she was teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown.
Seraphine sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Charles like he was some kind of monster.
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing much. Just made sure she got what she deserved."
Charles smiled faintly, his tone detached and cold.
"She sent her fans to beat you up, so I had someone return the favor. She wanted Mason to have his men assault you, so I let her experience what it feels like to be pinned down by several men."
"Seraphine, how do you want to punish her? Just say the word, and I'll make it happen."
---
He'd completely lost it.
Seraphine opened her mouth, tried several times to find the right words to curse him out, but came up empty.
But Charles's voice seemed to pull Vivian back from wherever she'd gone. She glanced around, taking in her surroundings, then used the last bit of strength she had left to crawl toward Seraphine.
"Help me, Seraphine, please. Tell Charles to let me go. I know I was wrong. If he'll just let me go, I'll leave the country immediately. I'll disappear from your life forever."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to Charles. The truth is, I never had cancer. I came back to break up your marriage."
"I'm disgusting. I deserve to die."
Now that disaster had struck, she was scared. Didn't she realize how pathetic that was?
Seraphine looked down at Vivian. She thought what Charles had done—imprisoning and torturing someone—was way over the line, but she didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for Vivian.
Vivian had brought this on herself.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to forgive you, and I'm not going to help you. If you want to survive, the person you should be begging isn't me. It's Charles."
After a moment of silence, Seraphine's expression turned cold as she stepped back, putting distance between them.
"You won't forgive me? I already apologized. Why won't you forgive me?"
Hearing that, Vivian's face twisted with rage. She scrambled to her feet and stumbled toward Seraphine, lunging at her.
"Stop!"
"Seraphine, watch out!"
Jason and Charles both reacted instantly, their faces flashing with murderous intent.
They moved in unison, flanking Seraphine protectively, and kicked Vivian back.
Already injured, Vivian took the hit hard. She let out a muffled groan and collapsed unconscious on the floor.
---
Eli, who'd been standing off to the side, flinched at the scene. He hurried over to Charles and spoke quietly.
"Mr. Stuart, since Ms. Brooks has passed out, I'll take her away. Today is important for Ms. Lavien—there are plenty of media at the exhibit. If something happens to Ms. Brooks here, it could cause problems for Ms. Lavien."
"Fine. Take her."
Charles glanced at Vivian with an expressionless face, disgust written all over it.
"Send her straight to the police station. And hand over all the evidence of her crimes while you're at it. Seraphine's already seen her, so she's no use to me anymore. It's time she faced the law."
"Understood."
Eli nodded and immediately called over Charles's security team. They stuffed Vivian into a black bag and dragged her out of sight.
Charles didn't spare another thought for what Eli was doing. The second Vivian was gone, he took a few steps toward Seraphine, his tone suddenly warm and eager.
"Seraphine, you saw it, right? I punished Vivian for you. I really don't care about her anymore. Now you can come back to me without any worries."
"We'll remarry first thing tomorrow morning. This time I'll give you a grand wedding. I'll take you to every party and event. I won't keep you locked up at home anymore. I want everyone to know you're Mrs. Stuart."
---
What made Charles think she'd leave Jason and go back to the Stuart family?
Seraphine stared at him blankly, almost laughing at the absurdity.
"We can talk about remarrying later, Charles. Right now, I want to discuss something else. So it turns out that when you actually wanted to, uncovering Vivian's true colors wasn't hard for you at all. So what were you doing before?"
"I told you so many times—Vivian's acting wasn't even that good. Why didn't you ever see through her lies?"
---
Charles froze, his breath catching. He didn't dare say another word.
But Seraphine wasn't about to let him off the hook.
She smirked, her eyes full of mockery.
"After we met last time, I went back and thought through everything that happened before our divorce. And you know what I realized? You suspected Vivian a long time ago. But you never sent anyone to investigate her."
"Why not? Because back then, your heart was with Vivian. Wasn't it?"
"Don't bother lying. You kept saying you and Vivian were innocent, but the truth is, after she came back, you had an emotional affair."
"You refused to divorce me because you thought Vivian only had a year left to live. You figured you'd spend some thrilling, romantic time with her, and then you could come back to your family like nothing ever happened."
"But why should I?"
"Why should I make way for your feelings for Vivian? Why should I wait around for you?"
"Charles, listen carefully. I hate Vivian, but I hate you just as much. Punishing Vivian alone isn't enough to make me feel better. If you want me to forgive you, then go ahead and die."
---
Charles staggered back, his eyes reddening uncontrollably.
"Yes, Seraphine, I admit it. I didn't see your talent or your worth back then. When Vivian came back, I stood by and let her undermine you, replace you."
"But I already promised you—it won't happen again. So why won't you forgive me?"
"You think being with Jason will give you the happiness you want? I've already been through all this. I won't cheat again."
"But Jason's different. He got you too easily. If someone better than you comes along, he could turn into the same person I used to be."