Chapter 458 A Waiver
Charles' POV:
Once the kids had fallen asleep, I called everyone to the living room to have a family meeting.
"Why did you call all of us here, Charles? Is something wrong?" my mother asked worriedly. I smiled to alleviate her worries. "Tomorrow is Caroline's birthday. I called you all here, because there's something I need to discuss with you." "Have you prepared a gift for her, Charles?" Grandma chimed in.
"That's precisely why I gathered you all today."
I took out a document and let everyone read it.
Upon reading the document, my mother exclaimed, "What? You're giving up custody of the kids?"
Everyone else was also surprised. They wore stern expressions and were in disbelief of what they had just read.
Caroline was starting to warm up to me, I could tell.
And I figured that the best way to show her my sincerity was to do something this drastic.
"I will not allow this, Charles! I don't agree to this!" My mother's eyes were filled with indignation.
"I'm not going to give up on the kids. I just want to show Caroline how sincere I am, Mom," I replied.
From the bottom of my heart, I firmly believed that Caroline still loved me.
Otherwise, she never would've given birth to three beautiful kids for me.
I had hurt her so much because I took her for granted in the past.
I wanted to change for the better.
And I hoped that by some miracle, Caroline would give me one more chance to start over with her.
"But she left the kids behind a year ago, which proves she doesn't love them at all," my mother retorted.
"She must've been left with no other choice but to leave. If there's one thing I can guarantee, it's that nobody loves the kids more than she does." I truly believed that Caroline wouldn't have left without a good
reason.
As for what happened last year, I planned to conduct an investigation on it.
Moreover, I wanted to put more faith in Caroline. "Charles, I support you in whatever decision you make. I hope Caroline will see just how sincere you are." My grandmother was so supportive of my decision. I must say, it felt nice to hear her words of encouragement.
"Thank you, Grandma."
"This is the birthday gift that I prepared for Caroline. Tell her that I wish her a happy birthday."
Grandma took out a pair of earrings and handed them to me.
"I'll bring your gift along. I'm sure that if she finds out that this came from you, it will make her really happy." I accepted the earrings and smiled at my grandmother.
"Since you've made up your mind, just do it, boy. We will not object," my father said abruptly.
"Dad, are you crazy? How can you just let Charles do whatever he wants?" my mother asked, visibly surprised.
"Do you want your son to be alone for the rest of his life, Alice?" my father argued.
"Caroline isn't the only woman in the world. I can find someone much better for him!"
Even mentioning Caroline's name left a bitter taste in my mother's mouth.
"Unfortunately, that's not up to us. Charles only has eyes for Caroline. Besides, aren't you worried that he might end up meeting a terrible woman like Raina again?" my father replied. This time, my mother was rendered speechless.
The others just exchanged glances and said nothing.
After the family meeting, I went back to my room.
As I stared at the waiver in my hand, I felt conflicted.
Recently, fragments of my memories had been troubling my thoughts.
These days, Caroline was so lukewarm to me.
Sometimes, I felt as though she belonged to me, but on other times, she felt so far away from me.
Each day that passed, I felt more and more anxious.
My migraines were getting worse every day.
The only thing I could do now was to do my best to protect the woman I loved.
I promised myself that I would never let her suffer again.
Every time I remembered the moment Caroline was being attacked by all those people, my heart would ache.
At night, I would toss and turn in the bed, unable to fall asleep.
While staring at the waiver, I became hopeful.
'She's going to like this gift very much, won't she?'
Raina's POV:
As time passed by, the two awful men finally stopped raping me.
I lay on the ground, powerless, desperate, and miserable.
Just when I thought that my suffering had ended, they dragged me up from the ground and stuffed me into a black car without mercy.
The only thing I wore was my underwear.
Two thin articles of clothing could hardly cover anything.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, my eyes widening in horror.
The men didn't answer, and their faces remained cold.
They drove the car to a bustling road where many people were coming and going. All of a sudden, they pushed me out of the car.
I screamed in pain.
My screaming attracted the attention of the passersby, especially the men.
Based on the look on their faces, I could tell that they lusted after me.
I curled up on the ground, feeling so humiliated that I'd rather disappear from existence.
I had hatched a plan to secure my future for a long time. And when I finally saw a ray of hope, it was suddenly destroyed.
Only pain, hatred, and fear resided in my heart now; slowly suffocating me.
'I can't go on like this! I have to go to Charles. He's the only one who can help me now.'Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
I sprang to my feet, casting every ounce of doubt and shame I felt. The only thing I wanted to do now was to leave.
But just as I walked on, a group of men surrounded me.
Astonishment was written on their faces.
"Wait... you're Raina Hill, right? The movie star? How'd you end up like that?"
"She used to act so prim and proper. I didn't expect her to be an exhibitionist!"
The passersby began to laugh at me.
Not a moment later, some of them tried to get their hands on me, staring at me obscenely.
Hastily, I took a step back and roared, "Fuck off! All of you! Don't touch me."
"You're not the Hill family's daughter anymore. Stop pretending. You're out here in the middle of the night wearing nothing but underwear, which means you want us to touch you, yes?"
I shook my head desperately as tears streamed down from my face uncontrollably.
"No, please! Don't do this to me. I'm begging you!"
Sadly, nobody heard my plea.
Their eyes were filled with madness and they were molesting me like I was a sex slave.
I struggled to break free from these perverts.
All of a sudden, someone pulled me out of the crowd of creeps.
Then, she draped a coat over me.
With difficulty, I opened my eyes and saw a woman I'd never seen before, standing in front of me.
"Who are you?" I asked curiously.
"My name is Samantha Hoffman. I'm a psychotherapist. I'm actually Caroline's therapist."
Samantha handed me a business card.
"Why did you save me?"
Upon hearing Caroline's name, I became vigilant.
"This isn't a good place to talk. Get in the car first. I've already arranged a temporary residence for you." Having said that, Samantha got in a car nearby wearing a stoic O expression.
After a moment of hesitation, I ended up following her.
Samantha's POV:
The moment Raina got in the car, she huddled in the corner, seemingly wary of me.
"Did Caroline send you here?"
"She didn't. I just figured you'd need my help." A faint smile appeared on my face.
Ever since Raina moved into the Moore mansion, I had been sleepless each night.
I kept on thinking how she would try to seduce Charles all the time, and it made me feel angry yet powerless to stop her.
Fortunately, he saw through Raina's facade and kicked her out of the Moore mansion.
Once she was kicked out of the mansion, I sent some people to follow her around.
This woman loathed Caroline, so I was certain that she had a lot of things that I could use as a leverage against Caroline.
And I really needed any leverage I could find.
Charles was still wary of me. I could tell that he didn't completely trust me yet.
I figured that if I could offer something useful, he would see just how valuable I was to have around.
And then, I'd have a reason to stay by his side.
I lowered my head to hide the passion and madness in my eyes.
Slowly, the car pulled over in front of a hotel. "Where am I?" asked Raina.
I took her into the hotel and gave her
a key card. "This upscale hotel
values privacy above all els nét
be able to stay here in the meantime. You're safe here, I promise you that much." Raina hesitant at first, but she took the key
card from my hand in the end.
was
"Why did you take me here?" she inquired.
"Raina, if it weren't for Caroline, you would've been able to marry Charles like you wished for by now, isn't that right?" I asked with a smile.
Suddenly, she turned her head. I could see the hatred in Raina's eyes.
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"You don't have any other choice now, do you? Don't you at least want to give it another shot?" I asked, slowly approaching her.
"Of course, I do! That bitch, Caroline, is the reason how I ended up in this situation. I'm never going to forgive her!" Raina roared through gritted teeth.
"In that case, let's work together.
However, you have to give me
something of value in exchange for
my help. ll give you three minutes
to think about my offer. Hurry up,
because your time is limited,
stared at my watch, waiting for her response.
"Why are you helping me?"
"I have a personal grudge against Caroline just like you. Helping you will benefit me as well," I answered.
"Can I trust you?" Raina asked warily.
"Do you have any other choice?" I asked back.
Raina gritted her teeth and replied, "Fine. Let's do this. As long as I can destroy Caroline's life, I'll do anything!"
"It's a deal." I smiled with satisfaction.
"What can you even do?" Raina asked.
"You need not concern yourself with that. All I need from you are leverages that I can use against Caroline," I replied.
After pondering for a moment, Raina opened her bag and took out a stack of photos.
"Are these enough?" she asked nervously. "Everyone already knows about my scandal by now. I'm not afraid of anything anymore."
I stared at the photos she passed to me and chuckled.
Despite knowing that Raina wasn't a good person, her shamelessness still shocked me.
In the photos, all she was wearing was see-through underwear and she was lying beside Charles while making all sorts of sexy poses.
She even made it look like she was kissing him.
It took a lot of willpower to stop myself from tearing the photos apart. I even managed to force a smile.
"Is there anything else?" I asked.
Raina hesitated for a moment before taking out a ring from her bag.
"This is Caroline's wedding ring," she said.
I took the ring and examined it.
"I'll be taking these for the time being. If there's anything you need, just give me a call. My number's on the business card I gave you."
"Got it. I'm willing to pay any price as long as you can force Caroline to leave Charles alone for good!" Raina grunted.
I nodded along and smiled. "Were you the one involved Caroline in that murder case? How did you make that happen?" I asked tentatively. She was hesitant to tell me about it at first, but she still told me how she manipulated the public's opinion to damage Caroline's reputation.