Chapter 39: I Don&##x27;t Hate You

Scarlett's POV:

I wanted to turn around, but Charles put his arm around my shoulders and did not let me look back.

"Forget it."

"I feel that someone has been following me lately."

"Don't worry.As long as you're with me, everything will be fine."

"Does it have anything to do with our marriage? How about you get your assistant on it to find out?" I
felt a little uneasy, so I wanted to shed light on things.

"Let's talk about it after visiting Grandma."

Charles did not seem to want to take it seriously.

"We can't stall any longer, Charles.Everything will only get more complicated once Rita sees the news."

I knew Rita well enough to believe that she was going to come after me again.I was exhausted of being
caught up in the mess.

I just wanted it to be over.

Charles suddenly stopped walking and turned me to face him.

He stared at me deeply with his dark eyes.

I had no idea what set him off again.

He stepped forward, and I retreated until I was backed against a wall.



"Charles..."

I muttered, but he did not say anything.

He just looked into my eyes as if he was trying to find something there.

As I swallowed and my cheeks burned, he braced one hand against the wall beside my head and
brushed my hair off my face with the other.

"Scarlett, didn't I tell you not to mention her in front of me?"

My heart started racing.

I leaned against the wall to avoid his touch.

When he got close enough for us to share breath, I panicked and ran toward the direction of Christine's
ward.

"Do you really want a divorce?" Charles screamed after me.

I stopped, took a deep breath, and squared my shoulders.

I turned on my heel and flashed him a determined look.

"Yes! I do! I want it!"

The affectionate look on his face quickly melted away like snow in the noonday sun.

I stood my ground as he started shooting daggers at me with his eyes.

"It's you who have been making excuses since the beginning.



I don't want to do this anymore, okay? Both Rita and I want the divorce to happen, so let's just get it
over with."

As a lump lodged itself in my throat, I turned around.

Then, I ran to Christine's ward.

As I entered the ward, I overheard Christine and Alice's discussion about announcing Charles and I's
marriage to the public.

"We should just tell the world that Charles and Scarlett are married.I think that's the only way to shut
down the rumor mill."

"I think that's a great idea."

My chest tightened, and I protested immediately.

"No!"

"Why?"

Alice flashed me a confused look.

Before I could reply, Charles walked in.

I looked at him and silently begged him for help, hoping he would explain.

But he just stood there, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the wall.

"Scarlett, dear, why do you still want a divorce? You and Charles have already slept together.What if..."

Alice did not finish her sentence, but everyone present understood what she meant to say.



Christine turned her head toward me and looked at me as if Alice had just announced that I really was
pregnant.

I sighed helplessly and started explaining again.

"Mon, Grandma, we just slept in the same couch, but nothing happened.Besides, Charles has
someone he loves, someone that he wants to marry..."

"Ouch! Oh, my head! It hurts!"

Before I could finish my explanation, Christine held her head with both hands and whimpered.

Alice rushed over, helped her lie down, and then looked at me with reproachful eyes.

"Scarlett, Grandma is not feeling well.She can't stand hearing about that awful woman.If you want her
to live for much longer, stop bringing up Rita."

I stood by Christine's bed, looked at her, and sighed.

She, Michael, Lawrence, and Alice had agreed to let me and Charles get a divorce, but now they were
all working together to keep us from going through the formalities.

Once again, my hands were tied.

I stood there and watched Christine close her eyes.

Then, Charles walked over, grabbed my hand, and towed me out of the ward.

Next thing I knew, we were sitting at the backseat of his car parked at the hospital's gates.

"We're never getting divorced now, are we?"



I turned to Charles and spoke to him in an accusatory tone.

I did not bother to rein in my emotions anymore.

"Grandma and Grandpa are not in good health.I can't upset them."

Charles frowned and looked out the window.

"But what about us? We had the perfect opportunity to end it when Grandpa folded and gave me our
marriage certificate.Why didn't you pull the plug with me then? We talked about this properly,
Charles.We agreed on a clean break, but you stalled at every turn, and now here we are going in the
opposite direction and growing more hateful of each other with each passing day.We should be at
peace with our own different paths by now, but we're only getting more and more entangled.Aren't you
tired of all of it?"

"I don't hate you, Scarlett." Charles turned to me and looked straight into my eyes.

"Well, it's not reason enough to drag this out, Charles.Rita doesn't have all the time in the world.The
longer you stay married to me, the shorter the time you'll ever have with her.Do you really have it in you
to break a dying woman's heart?"

"Wow, I really underestimated your ability to piss me off."

Charles gnashed his teeth together in anger.

"What? I was just telling the truth,"

I backfired.

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, and then he screamed in a voice that I had never
heard before.



"Get out!"

As the driver and I struggled to calm down after being so startled by Charles's sudden outburst, the
lock on the doors clicked.

I got out of the car, and Charles snapped at the driver to leave immediately.I stood there until the car
disappeared from my view.

My heart was still pounding against my ribcage.

I really, really infuriated Charles this time.

And it was all for nothing.

We were still not getting divorced.

Charles's POV:

As the car lurched forward, I watched Scarlett's figure shrink and shrink through the rearview mirror.

I was so angry at what she said that I seriously considered shattering one of my car windows with my
fist.

The more I thought about it, the more irked and depressed I became.

Scarlett always put things I did not want to face in front of me and forced me to confront them.

I picked up my phone, called David, and invited him to drink with me.

Half an hour later, David finally arrived at the bar.

I had already finished an entire bottle of wine, and the waiter was helping me open a second one.



"What's up? Are you unhappy because your marriage has been exposed?"

David casually asked as soon as he sat down.

"No, I am not."

"Then why are you drinking like a fish again?"

I tapped my fingers on the table and shot him a death glare.

"I don't want a divorce."

"What? What about Rita? You promised to marry her and give her the happily ever after of her life."

David looked at me in shock.

"She will have her own future."

I lowered my eyes and looked at my glass as the waiter refilled it.


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