Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 237

“But Tricia isn’t Mrs. Howard,” Natalie sighed, her tone pleading. “I know you resent him, and now, while he’s lying in surgery, the Howard family doesn’t even know he came to Riverspire City looking for you. Whatever’s happened between you, could you go see him—for his grandmother’s sake, if nothing else?”

“Are you finished?” Charlotte took a steady breath, her voice as calm as still water. “Then let me say my piece. First, I’m grateful to his grandmother, and I won’t forget her kindness. But she’s her own person, and Evander is his own man. If I visit him today because of her, it’ll just open the door for this to happen again and again.”

“You’ll keep using her kindness to manipulate me, but these past six years, I haven’t owed the Howard family a thing. She was good to me, and I appreciate that, but I don’t have to repay her this way.”

“Tell Evander that even if he dies, I won’t go see him. Not even for a second.”

With that, Charlotte hung up.

Listening to the cold dial tone, Natalie turned to look at the man sitting on the bench nearby, his injuries nothing more than a few scrapes.

She’d put the call on speaker, so Evander had heard every word.

Evander closed his eyes, keeping his emotions tightly in check. No one could tell if he was angry or just exhausted.

She wouldn’t even see him if he died?

She really was ruthless.

Natalie tucked her phone away, her face burning with embarrassment. She’d pulled out every ounce of dramatic flair she possessed.

She’d done her best.

“Mr. Howard.” Chairman Lennox, head of the Lennox family and a man of obvious authority, had rushed to the ER as soon as he’d heard what happened. His rolled-up sleeves revealed a minor scrape, but nothing serious. “What happened? How did you end up in the hospital?”

Evander calmly rolled his sleeve back down. “Just an accident.”

“A child darted out into the street. The driver hit the brakes, and the car slid into the curb. Mr. Howard just got a bit banged up,” Natalie explained.

Chairman Lennox let out a breath of relief. “As long as you’re all right, that’s what matters.” He paused thoughtfully, then added, “I have a country house with a lovely view—why not come stay and recover for a few days?”

Natalie shot him a sidelong glance. All this fuss over a couple of scrapes? Was there something else behind the offer?

Evander didn’t call him out, simply going along with the suggestion. “Thank you, Chairman Lennox. That sounds good.”

When they reached the ground floor, Charlotte stepped out first, Judd following at a comfortable distance.

“Heard your ex-husband’s been bothering you?” His voice came from behind, quiet enough for only her to catch.

She tossed her trash and looked back. “Dr. Moore told you?”

Judd slipped his hands into his pockets and strode ahead. “You really think he can keep a secret?”

Charlotte said nothing. Since they worked at the same hospital, there was no avoiding him—they were headed the same way.

Her apartment was close to the subway, just one stop from the hospital. That’s why she’d bought the place and hadn’t bothered with a car; she took the subway every day.

The train was packed, and as Charlotte was jostled by the crowd, a firm hand suddenly gripped her arm, pulling her back to someone’s side.

“Watch yourself,” Judd murmured.