Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 243

The psychiatrist drew a circle with her pen on the paper, writing “upheaval” and “marital crisis” inside it.

“Dr. Hale, is my situation serious?” Charlotte clutched her purse, clearly uneasy. “After all, I really did have a moment when I wanted to kill someone.”

It’s true what they say: even healers can’t cure themselves. When it came to this, Charlotte was at a loss.

Dr. Hale clicked her pen closed. “Your overall psychological assessment is still within the normal range,” she reassured her. “But you do have a tendency toward hostility, and there are some signs of mild depression. Charlotte, you’ve been bottling things up for far too long—when people repress themselves like that, it’s no wonder they end up sick at heart.”

Charlotte stayed silent.

“You’ve only had the impulse to hurt someone that one time, right?”

She nodded.

“And it was directed at a specific person?”

“Yes.”

“A targeted stress reaction,” Dr. Hale mused, propping her chin on her hand. “It’s a response triggered by a particular person and situation—usually brought on by external factors.”

Charlotte’s lips pressed into a thin line.

It was true. If Tricia hadn’t deliberately provoked her that day, she never would have felt such a violent urge.

Dr. Hale scribbled a prescription. “I’ll recommend some calming meds—any pharmacy or hospital can fill this. And here, let me give you my WhatsApp. If you need anything later, just message me.”

“Thank you,” Charlotte said quietly.

She added Dr. Hale’s contact.

After leaving the clinic, Charlotte stopped by the hospital. Noreen helped her fill the prescription, but as soon as she got back to her office, she was called out again, leaving the meds on her desk.

Judd came by looking for Dr. Gentry, but found only Dr. Marlene in the office.

“Looking for Gentry? He took a half day off,” Marlene guessed his reason for dropping in.

Judd nodded, about to leave, when something on Charlotte’s desk caught his eye.

A bag of medicine—some herbal, some standard pills.

For nerves, for calming, for restoring the mind.

He glanced once, didn’t linger, and headed out.

What did he mean by that?

“Charlotte, I just want to know—did you ever really love me?” Evander turned her to face him, his dark eyes searching desperately for an answer. “Why did you marry me in the first place?”

She avoided his gaze. “Why I married you—you know that already, don’t you?”

“If it was just for the Howard name, for the status and power, you wouldn’t have asked for a divorce, would you?”

She said nothing.

Evander’s hand brushed her cheek, his thumb pausing at the tiny beauty mark near her eye. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t thinking about you back then. Being told to marry a stranger out of the blue—who could accept that? But Charlotte, I never ignored you. The first night we met, I knew I couldn’t look past you. But I couldn’t handle the idea that Tricia was gone, and I thought my heart still belonged to her. I was afraid that caring about you would be a betrayal.”

Charlotte’s eyes stung, but she held back her tears. “Yes. I forced you to marry me. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“I don’t blame you for that, Evander. The pain I went through was my own doing. I have no one to blame but myself.”

“But ever since Tricia came back, you’ve put everything she’s done on me. I’ve had to bear all of it, and you yourself said that since I took her place, I should just accept it, didn’t you?”

A heavy silence settled between them, pressing hard on his chest.