At midnight, lightning sliced through the sky above H City, thunder rumbling as heavy rain lashed down with screaming wind.
The room was dark. Fat raindrops slammed against the windows, carried by the howling wind.
Charlotte Hayes sat stiff on the couch, a slimming menthol cigarette clutched between her slender fingers, taking deep, hard drags one after another.
In that pitch-black room, a recording played on loop—the voices of a man and woman in a heated, utterly revolting exchange. The air thickened with erotic and drunken tones.
"Daniel, when are you dumping Charlotte and marrying me? I’ve waited long enough," Emma Thompson said, her breathy voice dripping with seduction.
"Just a little longer, babe," Daniel Saunders replied casually, "The old man just died. Some people are still questioning whether I should inherit Hayes Corporation. Once things settle, I’ll marry you for sure."
"Tell me the truth, Daniel—have you really never touched Charlotte?"
"Tch, how many times do I have to say this? I swear to God, I’ve never laid a finger on her. That uptight princess? Just thinking about her makes me sick. You’ve seen her—always so proud and cold. She’s nothing like you, babe. You’re irresistible."
Charlotte didn’t even know how she managed to sit through such filth, especially knowing it was all real.
By the tenth time, she couldn’t ignore the truth anymore. The man she’d loved with all her heart was cheating on her.
And the woman in the recording? Emma Thompson. Her best friend back in college.
Charlotte never thought something this cliché and disgusting would ever happen to her. She once believed she was the luckiest woman in the world.
All those promises—forever, always, till death do us part—were absolute crap.
One thing Daniel hadn’t lied about, though—he really hadn’t touched her.
Charlotte might act bold and sexy on the outside, but deep inside, she held onto old-school beliefs. She always thought the most precious part of herself should be saved for her wedding night.
But before the wedding could happen, her parents died in a sudden car crash.
Right after that, a lawyer showed up with what he claimed was her father’s will, declaring that Daniel would temporarily take over Hayes Corporation as her fiancé.
From then on, Daniel started changing. His attitude toward her completely shifted.
And Charlotte’s gut feeling had been spot on. Relying on her instincts, she secretly hired a private detective to dig into Daniel’s movements.
When that same recording played again from the beginning, Charlotte finally reached out and stopped it, then picked up her phone and called Daniel.
"Where are you?"
As soon as the call connected, without waiting for him to speak, she slammed the question out, barely holding back her simmering fury.
"At the office, of course. Didn’t I tell you? That big project’s been keeping me crazy busy—"
Before he could finish, Charlotte hurled the phone to the ground. The screen shattered, shards flying, just like her feelings after all these years of carefully holding on.
So this so-called ‘important project’ was just a scheme with another woman to play her for a fool?
She wanted nothing more than to storm into his face and ask if he had any bit of shame left.
But she held back. Going now would only humiliate her more.
Alone in a dark and empty house, she felt like she was going nuts.
She yanked on her leather jacket, ignored the storm outside, and drove straight to the bar district. Neon lights pierced the rain, bass-heavy music pounded through the walls—it was like the whole place was designed to make you forget everything.