His Sweet Menace novel

---- Chapter 37 In the past, I did consider marrying Charles, only because I thought Carl's heart was beating in his chest. Being his wife was my way to claim it forever. But all I wanted now was to remain Carl's wife. In this lifetime, I would belong to him and him alone. "My goodness ! That's Charles Bowman ! How dare she say that to him!" "One becomes fearless when she's doted on." "Look at him. He's not even angry." Sure enough, Charles didn't show anger.

He lowered himself further, picking up the ring in silence. Then, he grabbed my hand and forced the ring onto my finger. "Stop messing around, Shay. We already got the marriage certificate." What? How could I not know? With everyone around us offering congratulations, he led me outside. I was about to lash out, but he explained softly, "We didn't really get a marriage certificate. It's just a lie to everyone else. Shay, you've stayed with me all this time.

Let me at least pretend you're really mine." ---- If he had used threats, maybe I would have fought him harder. Instead, he showed such humble devotion that I couldn't bring myself to say anything cruel. Spring had come, and the night air no longer bit with cold. I tossed and turned alone in bed, unable to sleep. Since returning from the hospital, Charles hadn't forced anything on me and slept in another room. At midnight, I was still wide awake.

I could hear him coughing through the walls, the sound growing louder each time. Frustrated, I went to his door. The coughing grew clearer, each spasm tearing at him. In the end, I stormed in. I found him clutching his chest, his thin body trembling. When it finally stopped, I saw bloody stains on his tissue. I hurried to his bedside and asked coldly, "Why haven't you been taking your meds?" Charles looked surprised I'd come. Then, he smiled.

" Shay, do you care about me?" I spotted the medication on the table. I poured him water, set out the pills, and shoved them into his hand. "Take them!" ---- He obediently swallowed , then stared at me with a gaze resembling a pitiful puppy's. When he spoke, I could hear a trace of hurt. "Shay, if I died sooner, you'd be free..." "Charles , shut up! Don't think I don't know you're skipping the pills so I'd notice." He was slowly harming himself day by day.

If he couldn't die in one go, he'd kill himself little by little. At first, I tried to ignore it, but the blood on that tissue was too jarring. I looked him straight in the eye. "Charles, you know I can't love you." He nodded once. "I know." Sensing I'd softened my stance, he pushed further , sliding his fingers between mine until we were intertwined. "Shay, I won't ask you to love me anymore. I just ask that you don't leave." Somewhere along the line, he'd learned to bow so low for my sake.

He wanted my genuine acceptance. And on that quiet night, I gave in to fate. "Alright. If you stay alive, I won't leave." Hearing that, he pulled me onto his lap, and I sensed ---- he was crying again. Over and over, he whispered his unwavering devotion , as if his feelings had been with him since before time began. "Shay, I love you until the end." Later on, a rumor began to spread in Grouchester. The Bowman heir loved his wife deeply. He treasured her like the moon in the sky.

But that moon was distant and cold-she didn't love him. Some said he had wronged her, causing her to distance herself. Others said she had already been married and still loved her late husband. No one knew the truth but the two of them. Time passed, and when Charles died, his wife stood at his funeral with a calm face, not shedding a tear. Only in the dead of night did she reach out to his coffin , trembling.

At that moment, she spoke softly, letting sorrow fill the room, "Charles Bowman, I never loved you. In all the time you were alive, I never once loved you."