Completed business plans handed over to her because *"Charlotte needs the recognition more than you."* The jade bracelet my mother left me on her deathbed—smashed by Charlotte. And Walter, blind to right and wrong, told me to be the *bigger person.*
During a company retreat, we were in a car accident. Walter had scrambled to protect Charlotte, who had barely scraped her skin.
He hadn't even glanced at me.
I'd sat there with blood streaming down my forehead, invisible.
A wave of dizziness washed over me.
*I've been wronged for so long.*
The love I thought existed was just a defense mechanism. My subconscious had been lying to me, whispering that as long as I didn't acknowledge the truth, I was still loved.
In that case, I really should thank Charlotte. She forced me to see reality. She gave me the courage to take this step.
Seeing my prolonged silence, Walter lost his patience.
He lunged forward. Fingers tangled in my hair. He dragged me toward the mirror.
"Everything you have was given to you by me!" he roared. "You haven't worked for three years. If you leave me, you won't survive a week."