Scarlett's POV:
Charles had just taken a shower, and his fresh, minty fragrance enveloped me. The pleasant smell coming off his skin was rendering my mind in shambles.
He rubbed his nose against my neck. Every time he touched me, I felt like my bloodstream turned into white water. The excitement was getting more and more difficult for me to hide. He suckled on my neck and then ran his teeth gently on it. As I heaved a nervous breath, he buried his face on my shoulder, and I felt him smile.
"What the hell are you doing, Charles? Why are you treating me like this? We shouldn't be playing these kinds of games." I covered my face to hide my shame.
It was so typical of him to treat me like some plaything. When we were younger, he used to pull pranks on me and make me cry on Halloween and April Fools' Day, and then he would laugh in a low voice as he did now. What on earth was so damn funny? I did not get it at all.
"All right. I'm sorry. I won't make fun of you anymore. Please stop crying. Your aggrieved look is already driving me insane." Charles wiped away the tears from my eyes and then lowered his head to kiss my chin and cheek.
'Oh, please, stop,' I begged in my heart. I covered my face again. I wanted to start sobbing, but I held it in. Why was he being like this? Did he not know that he was just leading me on with such sweet and gentle actions?
Seeing that I was about to start crying again, Charles stopped kissing me and then leaned against the door with me in his arms. He twirled my hair in his finger like he was so fascinated by it.
"If you really want to have sex, then just go to Rita and stop pestering me." I wiped my tears and tried to get rid of Charles.
"Rita is not in good health. It's not appropriate," Charles replied seriously and kissed my hair.
"But it's okay to do it with me? You're really lowering my opinion of you. Have you no shame? Sleeping with two people at the same time is disgusting." I cast a cold glance at Charles. I felt so wronged.
He was really making me feel cheap. Did I not have some self-respect? Did he think that I was a streetwalker who would take off my clothes and open my legs for 20 dollars?
Charles did not say anything more. He just hugged me in silence. After a long time, I heard him sigh.
"You win, Scarlett. Now, you can either go to bed upstairs alone or stay here with me." He loosened his grip.
I immediately pushed him away, ran to the bedroom without looking back, and locked the door. I leaned against the door and took many deep breaths. My heart was racing like crazy.
While I was in his arms earlier, giving in crossed my mind many times. A small part of me wanted to be with him, but it was not strong enough to overpower the part of me that desperately wanted to break away. After finally calming down and sorting out my thoughts, I went to bed. I had made up my mind. As soon as we finalized our divorce, I would leave here and cut off all my connections to the city.
The next day, I woke up to the morning sunshine on my face. I slid out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Charles did not bother me the entire night. He slept on the sofa in the living room like a real gentleman. The sun shone on his handsome face. It would have been a perfect, dreamy scene if not for the cigarette butts that were scattered all over the coffee table and the floor.
When did he become so reliant on cigarettes? When we were in high school, he was a model student who kept his grades up and played sports.
I was a little stunned. I seemed to have missed a lot of things in the three years that we were apart. I supposed he was upset because he could not stay with his beloved Rita, or maybe he regretted marrying me and wasting three years of his life.
I lowered my eyes and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Charles. After cleaning up, I left. I had to go home and get some work done on my program's script.
As soon as I got home, I received a call from Charles.
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