"Youre an adultwhats the point of picking a fight with a child?"

Charlotte froze. Shed known he wouldnt believe her, but the sheer brazenness of his partiality still felt like a blade to the chest.

Her eyes burned with unshed tears, bitter and stinging. "I didnt push him!"

Julian scoffed, the sound sharp and dismissive. "So what youre saying is that a kidwhat, six years old?just threw himself to the ground to frame you?"

Her chest tightened at his words.

Why even try to explain, when she already knew it was futile? What was it about him that could reduce her to this?

Lowering her gaze, she steadied her breathing and forced her voice even. "I must have been unlucky to cross paths with you two. Happy now?"

She turned abruptly, her heels clicking against the pavement as she started to walk away.

"Stop."

Her footsteps stilled, though she didnt turn back.

"Xaviers just a child. You dont need to stoop to his level." Julians tone softened slightly, though the condescension lingered. "Apologize to Xavier."

"Julian, maybe just let it go," Claire interjected, her voice a soothing balm designed to disguise the barbs beneath it.

His eyes sharpened, piercing her with cold precision. "Right is right, wrong is wrong. She needs to apologize."

Charlottes nails dug into her palm, the pain sharp but distant, as if her senses had numbed to everything but her fury.

She turned around slowly, her eyes locking onto Julian with a calm that belied the storm rising within her. She pointed toward the streetlight in the distance, its silver frame enclosing a blinking security camera. "There are cameras everywhere in Tranquilstead Court. You couldn't even bother to check the footage before rushing to prove what a knight in shining armor you are?"

Her voice dropped, frigid and cutting. "If those tapes show Im in the wrong, Ill apologize. But if not? Dont you dare expect me to bow my head for something I didnt do."

She didnt wait for a response, didnt grant him another glance. She walked away, her back straight, her steps unyielding.

Julian watched her retreat, something dark and unnameable churning in his chest. His expression dimmed, his jaw tightening as the air grew heavier around him.

Claire, watching it all unfold, felt a flash of panic the moment the word "cameras" had escaped Charlotte's lips. If Julian checked them

No, she couldnt let that happen.

She stepped closer, clutching his arm, her voice honeyed urgency. "Julian, dont worry about it. Xaviers fine, really. And I know Dr. Sheridan didnt mean anything by it."

Her tactic shifted seamlessly, clawing for a distraction. "Its getting lateXavier might be late to school. Lets not make too much of this, okay?"

Julian pulled his arm free from her grip with deliberate care. "Ive already notified the principal. You take Xavier. Shell see to everything on-site. I have a meeting to get to."

He strode toward his car without another word, leaving her scrambling for purchasable calm.

As he drove away, she pressed her nails into her palms, so focused on suppressing her anger that she barely noticed Xavier tugging on her hand.

"Mom, youre hurting me," the boy murmured, wincing.

Claire blinked, yanked back into the moment. She knelt down in front of him, her hands resting on his small shoulders, her eyes dark and clouded with a predatory gleam. Yet, her lips curved into something passably tender. "Xavier, you did so well today. You were perfect."

His face lit up, bewildered but eager to receive her praise. "Really?"

He didnt understand, of course. He never did.

But the delighted glint in his mothers eyes, the approval in her voicethose were the rewards he craved, the certainties he cherished.

Claire stroked his cheek with an almost maternal gentleness. "Xavier, you want Uncle Julian to be your daddy, dont you?"

His face broke into a childlike, unguarded grin. "Yes!"

Her smile turned colder, her touch more calculateda serpents caress. "Then you must work hard to make him like you even more. Do you understand, my sweet boy?"

He nodded, ecstatic. "I will!"

At Hawthorne Enterprises, Julian had barely stepped into the building when his assistant, Natalie Ward, approached him briskly. "Mr. Hawthorne, your grandmother is waiting for you in your office."

He gave a curt nod, his long strides carrying him forward.

Inside, Grandma Hawthorne was seated gracefully on the plush sofa, her usual regal composure accentuated by the porcelain teacup in her hand. As her grandson entered, she met his glance with measured disapproval. "I heard you've arranged for that Claire woman to work at Charlottes hospital."

Julian loosened his tie and sank into the seat opposite her, his expression unreadable. "Did Charlotte complain to you?"

The delicate clink of porcelain on marble echoed as she set the cup down with deliberate sharpness. Her voice lashed out, steady as iron. "Mind your tongue, Julian. As if Charlotte would stoop to something as petty as tattling."

A scoff curled on the edge of his lips, the shadow of a smirk. "And why wouldnt she?"

The old matriarchs face darkened, her gaze sharpening with disdain. "Have you so easily forgotten how Charlotte came to be your wife? Or perhaps you forget the role I played, driving you to marry her?"

Julians face tightened, his voice dipping low, edged with something unspoken and dangerous. "I havent forgotten."

Her smile twisted, bitter as oversteeped tea. "If Charlotte wanted to complain to me, do you think Claire would have even made it back to this country?"

He held her gaze, silence stretching between themthe storm churning behind his eyes barely contained. "Stay out of it."

Grandma Hawthorne laughed, a short, cold sound that scraped at the air. "That woman took a million dollars from me to leave you. Did you think I'd applaud her return with open arms?"

His jaw worked beneath his skin, tension rippling. "If you hadnt interfered, would she have left at all?"

Her laughter stopped abruptly. Something dark flickered in her eyes before she rose, shaking her head. "Julian, Julian. Mistaking glass for diamondsone day, youll regret this. I wont meddle in your marriage anymore. Divorce her if you like. Its your decision now."

She left, her parting words hanging in the air like the ringing aftermath of a cruel joke.

Left alone, Julians fists curled over his knees, muscles coiled and taut. His only companion was the oppressiveness of his own thoughts, heavy as ink, dark as pitch.

Regret?

How could he ever regret this?

Charlotte had everything she wantedluxury, status. She would never leave him.

No. She couldnt leave him.