Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 135

After Charlotte finished the paperwork for Xavier’s passing, she got ready to take Rachel home. As they stepped out of the hospital, they ran into Jonathan.

He climbed out of his car and walked toward them, his expression somber. “I heard about what happened in your family,” he said quietly.

Charlotte froze, unable to find any words.

Jonathan gave Rachel a respectful nod. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Sterling.”

Rachel simply nodded, her face vacant and hollow, as if she were just a shell.

“Jonathan,” Charlotte rasped, “I need to take my mom home first.”

“I’m not comfortable letting you drive in your state. Let me get you both home.” Jonathan’s voice was gentle but firm.

Charlotte looked at him, then nodded. “Thank you.”

Jonathan drove them to the Sterling house. As they pulled up, a neighbor across the street spotted them. Unaware of the tragedy that had struck the Sterlings, she called out, “Oh, Rachel, is that your son-in-law coming to see you?”

Jonathan paused, mid-motion as he helped Rachel out of the car, the word “son-in-law” catching him off guard.

But Rachel was lost in her own world, unable to process anything around her, and didn’t respond.

Charlotte, focused on getting her mother inside, barely registered the comment.

Watching the two women pass by without so much as a wave, the neighbor muttered under her breath, “Such long faces, you’d think someone had died!”

Inside, Charlotte guided Rachel into the house, with Jonathan lending a hand. Once Rachel was back in her bedroom, she finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper. “I’d like to be alone for a while.”

Charlotte hesitated, worried, but she knew her mother needed space after everything that had happened. “Mom, I’ll be right outside. Call me if you need anything.”

She closed the bedroom door quietly.

In the living room, Jonathan watched her anxiously. “How’s your mom doing?”

Charlotte shook her head. “She’ll be alright.”

Charlotte stepped into the hall. “That’s enough!”

Everyone turned to look at her.

“When my father was alive, did any of you ever lend him a hand? Now that he’s gone, you think the house and the business are suddenly yours? He hasn’t even been gone a week—do you even hear yourselves?”

No one answered. Alistair’s wife, Adelaide, gave a tight little smile. “Didn’t Xavier split off from the family? He was still a Sterling, wasn’t he? Besides, I’m only thinking of your best interests. With Xavier gone, it’s just the two of you now. You ought to move back in with the family, don’t you think?”

Charlotte gave a cold laugh. “Move back in? So my mother can wait on you hand and foot? You all know perfectly well why my father left in the first place.”

Xavier had separated from the family to escape their constant exploitation.

He wanted nothing more than to see the Sterling name restored, for his son to succeed, to finally break free from the unfairness his own family had inflicted on him.

Charlotte fixed Abigail with a scathing look. “You always favored my uncle just because he married someone with a bit of status, so you could use her as the family’s trophy daughter-in-law. If it weren’t for my father giving you your only grandson, you’d have cut us off years ago. If he hadn’t been your last hope for the Sterling name, you wouldn’t even be here today, would you?”