Chapter 233

"Wh—what?"

The tears clinging to Michelle's lashes froze in place. She stared at Charles in disbelief. "Charles, I'm saying this for your own good! How can you talk to me like that? How can you throw my kindness back in my face..."

Her voice grew more pitiful with every word. She lowered her gaze, eyes red-rimmed, the picture of wounded innocence.

Once upon a time, Charles would have melted at the sight.

But things were different now.

He swept a cold glance over her and scoffed. "If it weren't for you, Victoria never would have divorced me."

"I—"

Michelle hadn't expected him to pin that on her.

She pressed her lips together, scrambling for a response, but Charles was already speaking. "Leave. You're not welcome here."

He struggled upright in the hospital bed.

He didn't look at Michelle. His eyes were fixed on his phone, scrolling through the sparse chat history between him and Victoria.

Victoria had blocked him long ago. Every message he'd sent showed a single gray checkmark—delivered but never read.

Charles didn't seem to care. He kept sending more.

Michelle could see everything clearly from where she stood.

Charles was sending Victoria love confessions—telling her he missed her, that he'd do anything if she'd just come back.

Jealousy and resentment churned violently in her chest.

Michelle clenched her fists. Her voice came out tight, carrying an eagerness she didn't even recognize in herself. "Charles, you're already divorced. Staring at old messages won't change anything. Why not look forward? Victoria isn't the only woman in the world who cares about you."

Charles finally turned his gaze on her.

It was laced with contempt and cold scrutiny.

Michelle's pulse quickened. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

If she could attach herself to the Smith family, she'd never be beaten again.

The Soto family was hell.

She refused to go back. If she went back, her life was truly over.

Charles's eyes traveled over her slowly, top to bottom. His lips twisted into a mocking smirk. "Are you suggesting that someone is you, Mrs. Soto?"

The name 'Mrs. Soto' detonated in Michelle's mind like a thunderclap.

Her brain went blank for a heartbeat. Then her eyes reddened instinctively, and she spoke in a small, pitiful voice. "Charles, please don't call me that. I didn't want to marry him—my family forced me. They said if I refused, they'd beat me to death..."

By the end, she was sobbing into her hands as though she'd suffered the cruelest injustice imaginable.

Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, her voice trembling. "Charles, you're the only one who can help me now. Eldon is terrible to me—he'll really beat me to death. Please help me divorce him. Please, I'm begging you..."

Her desperation escalated until she dropped to her knees beside his bed, gazing up at him with red, helpless eyes.

She had nowhere left to turn.

The Johnson family didn't claim her. The Spencer family treated her as nothing more than a bargaining chip. Only Charles... maybe Charles would remember what they'd once shared and throw her a lifeline.

But Charles only stared at her, calm and detached, his face expressionless. "That's the Soto family's private matter. I won't get involved."

Michelle's tearful expression froze solid.

She tried to force an ingratiating smile, but paired with her tear-streaked face, it looked grotesque.

"Charles..."

She opened her mouth to say more, but Charles had already lost all patience.

He pressed the nurse call button. "Someone is harassing me. I need a quiet environment to rest."

A minute later, a nurse hurried in. Seeing Michelle, she sighed with weary resignation. "You've snuck out again? Didn't the doctor tell you that you need bed rest right now?"

Michelle didn't hear a single word. She just stared blankly at Charles.

She didn't understand.

Where exactly had she gone wrong?

How had everything ended up like this?

Charles didn't look at her. His eyes remained stubbornly fixed on his chat window with Victoria.

He'd been staring at it for a long time now.

In the beginning, Victoria used to message him constantly. Then her messages grew fewer and further between. Then he started reaching out to her—and got nothing back.

Charles was drowning in regret.

Victoria had loved him once. She truly had.

The nurse sensed the strange tension in the room.

She frowned, stepped forward, and reached for Michelle's arm. "Come on, let's get you back. You're still injured. Doctor's orders—bed rest."

"Charles, do you really hate me that much now?"

Michelle stood rooted to the spot, peering at him through tear-blurred eyes.

The nurse gave her an odd look.

She remembered Michelle was Mrs. Soto. What was she doing clinging to Mr. Smith?

"Yeah. You should go."

Charles's voice was flat and indifferent, as though addressing a stranger.

Michelle's tears fell instantly. She let the nurse pull her out without resistance.

Back in her own room, before Michelle had a chance to collect herself, Eldon burst through the door in a fury.

The moment he laid eyes on her, he stormed over and backhanded her across the face.

"You slut! No wonder you were so reluctant in bed—turns out you've been thinking about another man this whole time!"

Eldon was livid. Several more slaps followed in rapid succession. "What? Marrying me is that beneath you? Let me make one thing clear—you married me, so you damn well behave. If I ever catch you making eyes at another man again, I'll kill you!"

The blows left Michelle reeling, her ears ringing. She clutched her face, tears streaming.

"I... I didn't..."

"Half the hospital saw you today. You think I'm stupid?"

The sight of her crying only made Eldon angrier.

He'd been out having a grand time—drinks, women draped on both arms—when a buddy called to report that his wife was throwing herself at another man.

He'd come straight over.

Walking in to find Michelle looking like a weepy mess had ignited his rage on the spot.

Being married to him was really that miserable, huh?

Michelle held her face—swollen nearly beyond feeling—as tears poured down. "I really wasn't thinking anything like that. Please stop hitting me. I know I was wrong. I won't do it again."

Eldon exhaled a rough breath, shook out his stinging hand, and dragged a chair over. He dropped into it, one ankle crossed over his knee.

He studied Michelle through half-lidded eyes.

She was beautiful, he'd give her that. Great figure too—curves in all the right places.

If she'd just loosen up a little, cooperate more in bed, he wouldn't be opposed to letting her carry his child.

"Fine. I'm a generous man. I'll let it slide this once."

Eldon waved his hand, his tone softening a fraction. "Focus on getting better. Once you're out of here, we're getting you pregnant. Soon."

Michelle's entire body went rigid for an instant. Then she lowered her eyes and answered softly, "Okay. I understand."

At least with a child, she'd have a foothold in the Soto family.

---

Meanwhile, in Charles's room.

Rhea sat at his bedside, her face drawn and haggard.

Watching her son stare unblinkingly at his phone made her heart ache.

Her voice shook. "Charles, what do you want? Talk to me. Please."