Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 203

When Evander lifted Charlotte into the car and softly closed the door behind them, the outside world faded away. All that remained in view was Abigail Sterling throwing a tantrum on the pavement and her aunt standing frozen in shock.

The rest of the onlookers whispered and gossiped about the Sterling family duo, but their words were now just a silent backdrop—Charlotte couldn’t hear any of it anymore.

Evander gently traced his fingers over her slightly swollen cheek. Instinctively, she flinched away, but as if expecting it, he pulled her firmly into his arms. “Why didn’t you come home?” he asked.

She looked exhausted. “Do I even have a home to go back to?”

“Tranquility Manor is your home,” he said, plucking the cheap hair clip from her hair and tossing it out the window. “Even their pearls are plastic. I have to wonder—just how much money did it take for Abigail to sell her own granddaughter?”

Charlotte clenched her hands tightly in her lap, saying nothing.

Evander caught her chin between his fingers, turning her face to look directly at him. “You’re making it harder and harder for me to stop worrying about you.”

“I never asked you to worry, Mr. Howard.”

He frowned. “If I’m not supposed to worry about you, then who is? Jonathan Pembroke?”

Charlotte tried to pull away from his embrace, but his arms only tightened, holding her close. Even beneath the gaudy, second-rate wedding dress, her beauty was impossible to hide; today’s makeup made her look both innocent and beguiling.

The thought of her being handed over to a fool made his expression darken.

Just shutting down that steel factory wasn’t enough.

When they arrived at Tranquility Manor, Evander took her straight to the bathroom. Without a word, he started to help her out of her clothes.

She collapsed into the bathtub, wrapping her arms around herself, her body trembling. “Don’t touch me!”

Evander pressed his lips into a thin line. After a moment, he averted his gaze. “Just change your clothes. I won’t touch you.”

He left the bathroom, and only then did Charlotte begin to calm down. Even if Evander had saved her, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him.

She couldn’t trust anyone anymore.

…

Two days later, the steel factory was shut down. Her aunt’s family lost millions. When her father learned it was because his daughter had crossed the Howard family, he personally made three trips to Howard Enterprises, but was turned away each time.

Back at Tranquility Manor, Evander got another business call and told Charlotte to head upstairs without him.

She hadn’t planned on waiting for him anyway, so she took the elevator alone.

As soon as the doors slid open on her floor, she saw someone waiting outside her apartment—Tricia.

Hearing the elevator, Tricia Winthrop glanced over her shoulder with a smile, but when she saw it was Charlotte, the warmth faded from her expression. “Oh, it’s you…”

“If you’re looking for Evander, he’s downstairs,” Charlotte said, brushing past her and entering the code at her door.

Just as she was about to step inside, Tricia suddenly spoke. “Charlotte, I’m really sorry about your mother. I did everything I could.”

Charlotte paused, turning back to her with a frown. “What do you mean?”

Tricia faltered—Evander hadn’t told her?

Something flickered in Tricia’s eyes as she smiled, feigning innocence but unable to hide a trace of satisfaction. “It’s just… I never expected you’d lose your father, and now your mother, too. Honestly, I never meant to bring up your brother in front of your mother. But she came at me first.”