Delete My Love for You novel Chapter 73

Darren’s knuckles whitened around his phone, his face hard as stone.

If Charlotte was still alive…

Why hadn’t she shown up when he’d arranged her funeral?

Last year, when Noah was so sick he nearly died and ended up in the ICU, why hadn’t she appeared then either?

Could she really have faked her own death and abandoned even her own son?

The suspicion gnawed at Darren, growing darker the longer he thought. His jaw clenched, his expression growing colder by the second.

Whatever the truth was, he was going to find out.

He stubbed out his cigarette, turned, and strode over to the bed. Sitting on the edge, he let out a cold, mirthless laugh. “Lottie, you just made vacation plans with Mr. Nelson, and now you’re back here clinging to me. Having fun playing your games?”

Charlotte’s face and neck were swathed in thick bandages.

She sighed softly. “If you, Mr. Harrington, could call off your wedding to Mrs. Harrington in seven days, give me your name—make me your wife—I’d choose you without hesitation.”

“But unfortunately, men like you can’t give a woman like me the stability and commitment I want. What else can a woman do except waver between choices?”

Darren heard the words for what they were—another attempt to throw him off balance. This time, he wasn’t in the mood for her games.

He reached out, long fingers gripping her chin through the layers of gauze. His voice came out icy. “Charlotte isn’t dead. She taught you how to bake at Pixel Sweetery, taught you her mannerisms so you could get close to me. That’s what’s really going on, isn’t it?”

His gaze was frigid and sharp, and for a moment, Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat.

But she quickly regained her composure. “Mr. Harrington, we had an agreement. Once my face is healed, I’ll give you your answer.”

He gave a short, bitter laugh.

His voice dropped even lower. “You’d better pray your answer is worth something. In all of Astra, people who play me for a fool never last long.”

The threat rang clear in the air.

Just then, Charlotte noticed a pair of eyes peeking through the crack in the door—probably one of Xena’s maids sent to spy.

She smiled to herself, then lifted her unrestrained hand and gently pressed her fingertip to the back of Darren’s hand.

A subtle jolt of electricity passed between them.

Now, hearing Darren drag it all back up, it struck her as both ridiculous and heartbreaking.

Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “So do you like it?”

He said nothing. Instead, he abruptly pulled away, his expression turning cold and distant. “Be ready. I want your answer tomorrow.”

With that, he left her alone and walked out of the room.

He kept his promise—he didn’t leave the house. Instead, he headed upstairs to his study.

Listening to his footsteps fade, Charlotte’s gaze grew complicated. She murmured under her breath, “Darren, you never liked it.”

Every time she’d tried to get close to him like this in the past, all she’d gotten in return was his scorn: “Charlotte, you’re pathetic.”

Those words were carved into her memory.

Now, all hope she’d once had for him was gone. This back-and-forth between them was nothing more than the final dance between hunter and prey.

And soon, even that would come to an end.