Delete My Love for You novel Chapter 61

Charlotte rose onto her toes, her warm breath skimming across his throat.

Darren’s icy gaze locked onto the audacious woman standing before him.

Her face, freckled and defiant, the glaring tattoo on her neck—everything about her grated on him. And yet, beneath the surface of his revulsion, something intangible and achingly familiar drifted into his senses, lingering in the air between them.

He let out a cold, mirthless chuckle. “Lottie, do you really think I’m that easy to fool?”

Before she could answer, he thrust out his hand and shoved her back, sending her stumbling.

Charlotte steadied herself, meeting the storm of disgust swirling in his eyes. She heaved a dramatic sigh, feigning disappointment. “Are you saying I’m too ugly for you, Mr. Harrington?”

Her fingers traced lazily along the collar of her nightgown, pausing at a button. Her voice was slow, almost teasing. “Actually, my figure isn’t bad at all. Mr. Nelson was crazy about it. Are you sure you don’t want to take a look?”

She undid one button. Then another. Then a third.

At last, Darren’s composure cracked.

“Shameless!” he spat, flinging the words at her as he stormed out and slammed the door.

Silence finally settled over the room.

Charlotte let out a long breath and fished out the paper crane Herbert had given her. She unfolded it, revealing lines upon lines of code scrawled inside.

It took her all of two seconds to decipher the message:

[Charlotte, the lab’s core data is being transferred. Estimated completion: five days.]

A perfect escape plan.

Once the core data was gone, even if Darren took over the research center, all he’d get was an empty shell.

That meant every bit of research would be safe.

Understanding flashed in Charlotte’s eyes. She struck a match and watched the folded paper vanish in a beautiful flicker of flame.

“Five more days,” she murmured. “As long as the data’s moved somewhere you can’t find, I’ll be done playing hostage in this place.”

“No one wins forever, Darren. This time, you’ll lose.”

—

At breakfast, Darren’s eyes fell on something that had no business being on the table—a box of pastries from *Pixel Sweetery*.

The taste was unmistakable—exactly like the Pixel Sweetery pastries Charlotte used to make.

And Noah’s goat’s milk…

Darren’s eyes narrowed as he scanned every corner of the dining room—the bodyguards, the staff, even the empty shadows in the corners. Nothing.

The light in his eyes faded, replaced by a bottomless, glacial darkness.

Breakfast ended in suffocating silence.

Afterward, Xena slipped her arm through Darren’s, her tone playfully affectionate. “You promised you’d come ring shopping with me today, remember?”

Darren only managed a curt “Mm.” But his gaze kept drifting, restless, searching the room as if for something—or someone—he couldn’t name.

Charlotte was long dead.

He didn’t know what he expected to find. In the end, he was left only with the cold curve of a bitter, self-mocking smile.

As they headed for the door, Charlotte instinctively moved to follow, only to be cut off by Xena’s sharp voice. “Mr. Harrington is coming with me today. You’re not needed.”