Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 615

“Loretta, Miss Rayburn is here to see you,” the nurse called softly from the bedside.

Loretta didn’t respond.

Charlotte didn’t approach right away, instead dismissing the nurse first.

She walked to the bed and stopped about a foot away, choosing her words carefully. “Loretta, I know you’re heartbroken. To be honest, I don’t want to believe any of this either.”

Loretta clutched the corner of her blanket, and a muffled sob could be heard from underneath.

“The truth is, your Uncle Shane isn’t really your uncle. If she were a Rayburn, you would have called her aunt,” Charlotte said, her voice gentle as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Loretta slowly lowered the blanket, revealing tear-filled eyes clouded with confusion. “What do you mean, aunt…”

“She’s a woman.”

Loretta finally sat up, tears streaming down her face. “You’re saying… Uncle Shane is a woman? So that photo I saw in her closet… it was real. It wasn’t just that she liked to wear women’s clothes.”

Charlotte nodded.

“She was… misled. She hated the wrong person, and that’s what led to this tragedy. I don’t think she ever truly meant to kill your mother, which is why she tried to hide it from you,” Charlotte said, trying to offer some comfort and prevent the idealized image Loretta had of Shane from shattering completely.

Loretta buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with violent, soundless sobs.

Charlotte sat with her in silence until she had cried herself out and found some semblance of clarity.

…

That evening, Charlotte ran into Evander as she returned to Midvale Estates. He was just leaving the house, and the housekeeper seemed to be seeing him out.

“Miss Rayburn,” the housekeeper said, acknowledging Charlotte before tactfully excusing herself.

Evander’s gaze landed on Charlotte, seemingly calm but with an undeniable heat beneath the surface.

“Are you still angry?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” Charlotte replied, meeting his eyes without flinching. “Besides, why would I argue with a drunk?”

“I came to find you…” He pulled his hand back, stuffing it into his coat pocket as his voice dropped. “…to apologize.”

Suddenly, it wasn’t so cold anymore. All she could feel was his warmth, just inches away.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, her own voice turning hoarse.

Yes, what happened to the Sterling family was a wound she couldn’t seem to heal.

It was as if every time she admitted she loved Evander, every time she felt close to forgetting the past, that old guilt would resurface like a thorn in her side.

“Charlotte.”