Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 197

When Charlotte woke again, she found herself in a hospital room. Evander stood nearby, speaking quietly with the doctor, but she had no interest in their conversation.

She yanked the IV needle from her hand. Evander was the first to notice; he rushed over and pressed a wad of gauze against the bleeding puncture. "Charlotte, are you out of your mind?"

"I need to pick up my mom... she must have been waiting forever..."

She stumbled forward, her mind foggy, but Evander caught her around the waist and hauled her back, pinning her gently but firmly against his chest. "Charlotte! Look at me."

He cupped her face in his hands, making her raise her head.

Her skin was ghostly pale, her beautiful eyes vacant, as if all the light had gone out of them. Evander brushed a lock of hair from her forehead and spoke in a low, steady voice. "She’s gone, Charlotte. You have to accept that."

"You're lying!" Charlotte’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared at him. "Let me go, I have to find her!"

"And what if I don’t let you?"

She bared her teeth and bit down hard on his arm. He grunted in pain but didn’t pull away.

"Mr. Howard!" The doctor’s voice trembled—Charlotte had bitten so hard she’d drawn blood.

Charlotte tasted the salt and iron in her mouth and finally let go.

Evander ignored the wound, eyes fixed on her. "Charlotte, you have to face the truth."

The doctor couldn’t watch any longer. "Mr. Howard, please—it’s best not to agitate her in her current state."

"So I should just let her keep denying reality?"

The doctor hesitated. "Sometimes it’s better for her initial recovery, physically and mentally."

Evander looked down at Charlotte’s numb, unseeing face, his brow furrowed with worry. "And if she can’t handle it now, what makes you think she’ll be able to handle it later? You can’t run from this forever."

He gripped her shoulders. "If your mother were still here, would she want you to go without eating or sleeping, destroying your health for her sake? Charlotte, she cared about you more than anything. But now, you need to take care of yourself—for her. Let me handle everything for your mom, alright?"

"Trust you?" For a moment, Charlotte’s eyes cleared, her voice bitter with scorn. "What about my brother? My father? There’s still no closure there. Why should I trust you with anything?"

"Her son’s in a coma, her husband’s dead… and her mother-in-law keeps showing up, fighting over her husband’s house. Today, I brought up how her son once kidnapped me, and she just—she lost it." Tricia’s voice broke into sobs.

A nearby officer confirmed to the detective that the kidnapping had indeed happened; Tricia was the victim. The suspect was in another jurisdiction, gravely injured, and now comatose.

After thirty minutes of questioning, both statements matched.

They agreed that bringing up Rachel’s son sent her over the edge; in her agitation, Rachel even grabbed Tricia by the throat, and the nurse had to intervene.

It was still unclear whether Rachel had jumped intentionally, but both women insisted they’d tried to hold her back and called for help.

But with two women’s limited strength, Rachel hung there too long—they simply couldn’t pull her up.

The police compiled their statements and passed them to the chief.

Evander sat on a leather sofa, one leg crossed over the other, idly flicking a metal lighter as he waited for the chief to review the reports.

Finally, the chief approached him. "Mr. Howard, here are the statements. There’s nothing especially suspicious in them."