His Sweet Menace novel

---- Chapter 36 Under the overhead light of the car, I stared at Charles where he lay unconscious, completely stunned. I was kept prisoner, stripped of my freedom. Charles' heart had slowly grown stable over the past four years with me by his side. But now, because of me, it had slipped back into danger. Even while receiving emergency care, the moment he was half-awake, he ordered his men to lock me inside his private mansion. For half a month, I wasn't allowed to step out of my room.

During the last few days, I almost believed Charles had died on the operating table. It wasn't until Freya visited , sitting across from me, that I knew. I knew she despised me. I braced for her mocking. I even thought of what I might say to help her separate me from Charles. But she removed her dark glasses , showing me her puffy red eyes. "Shayla, I do look down on you. You know that. But Charles is my only son. Without you, he will die. "As a mother, all I can do is compromise .

I'll allow ---- you to marry into the Bowman family." She made it sound like a grand favor. Iassumed she had misunderstood, so I tried to clarify, Mrs. Bowman, I never planned on marrying into your family..." "No, you did," she cut me off, her gaze weary yet sharp. "I don't care about your past or what you really think. Charles can't take another shock right now. "Back then, when the heart transplant surgery began, the doctors realized Charles was unsuitable for the procedure and had to stop.

"From a young age, he's been tormented by his weak heart and never felt much attachment to life. Long ago, Lilith gave him some comfort, but she ran off and left him. "So I lied, telling him the transplant succeeded, so he wouldn't lose hope. Then, you appeared. With you around, he got better. "Shayla , I'm only a mother. I'll do anything for my son! Your dead husband's heart is in my possession . Asa trade, you must keep my son alive. Otherwise, I'll destroy that heart!" It was no surprise.

She and Charles both used threats in the same way. "Mrs. Bowman , you know how bad his condition is. ---- You're making this really hard for me," I said indifferently. She blinked back tears but stayed firm. "Just keep him alive. Maybe a miracle will happen." She delivered that last line softly, clearly deceiving herself. "Shayla, I've said my piece. Think it over." With that, Freya left as quickly as she came.

I stood by the window, letting the winter sunlight fall over me, feeling empty and numb inside. The next day, Charles was discharged. He came back while I was dozing off. 1 vaguely sensed him near the bed. He tucked the blanket around me, then whispered , " Shay, I have no choice but to keep you here." He could keep me here, but he could never win my heart. Could someone as proud and arrogant as him really accept that? Love could drive people mad, turning affection into obsession.

No one could really be blamed-except the one who didn't love back. In the days that followed, within the limits of his weak heart, I acted out in every way. Lilith apparently went insane in prison and was sent ---- toa mental hospital. Patrick and Andrea were tormented behind bars, living worse than death. It was no doubt Charles who arranged all of that while forcing me to stay, trying to win me over. Some people whispered that he was too cruel to his ex -fiancée.

Others wondered how long his new passion for me would last. Maybe I'd end up worse than Lilith once he got bored. After all, Lilith had exposed my past. I was an orphan who'd already been married -hardly the right match for the Bowman family. Such talk didn't bother me. But it bothered Charles. At a grand event, he went down on one knee again to propose. By then, he had taken full control of the family business, standing at a new height of power. Onlookers gasped.

I simply picked up the ring and threw it in his face, cold enough to break his heart. "Charles, it was just for fun. Why are you taking it seriously?"