Even though Charles hated Sofia, she was still his wife. They hadn't taken a divorce yet, so hearing such filthy words from Raven’s mouth made him lose his temper pretty fast. Before he realized, his hand flew toward Raven’s cheek. However, someone caught his arm and stopped him before his hand reached Raven. To Charles’ surprise, it was Narika. “Control yourself, Mr. Charles,” she said in a low voice. “You don’t want to look arrogant and lose investors on such a crucial day.” She was right, and Charles realized what Raven’s game plan was. “I almost had you,” Raven smirked and then walked away to the nearest cluster of people and began chatting with them. Charles looked at Narika, wanting to thank her, but she also went to another section of the female crowd. Sofia’s sister of all people had helped him from making a mess out of this event. “Narika Myers… I owe you one,” he thought. Even though he wasn’t trying, he ended up overhearing the conversation of the women Narika was chatt
The event was a grand success. Charles pulled investments from seven companies, though not for free. Some asked to supply blood freely to the hospitals where their employees got treated. Some straight out said they were just gambling like Charles by investing in this blood bank and that they believed he’d bring them profits. He personally greeted everyone as they left. Well, to be exact, not everyone left. Caroline and Laurel stayed a bit longer to talk with Charles. He asked them how Max was doing, and they said Max’s appetite improved a lot recently, and he was able to play with younger dogs. It was like Max’s age went back three to four years. Caroline took Charles to the side and warned him. “Beware of Raven Bones. That man is the son of Butcher Bones who rules this country from the shadows. I’m telling you from my experience, don’t make yourself their enemy. It’s not worth it. You have so many years of a bright future ahead. Don’t spoil it.” “Thanks for your warning, ma’am,”
Narika’s POV: The event finished, but I found myself still drinking. There’s this unknown abyss inside me that’s pulling all the alcohol in. No matter how much I drank, my thirst wasn’t going away. My sanity was still pretty much there. This was a curse. The ability to not enjoy alcohol like the others. I was downright bored. The alcohol wasn’t doing the job it was supposed to. As I was tapping my finger on the desk, I heard footsteps. Moments later, Charles entered. I could hear him murmur something. However, I didn’t look in his direction. Before I knew it, I was acting like I was inebriated by the alcohol, and I think I know why. Why would a woman act like this before a man? Anyone with an IQ over 100 would be able to guess. I could easily understand my behavior as well, so I guess, my IQ was better than my family members thought. As I kept mumbling to myself, in Charles’ eyes, I probably ended up appearing as if fully under the influence of alcohol. “Let me drop you at your
There was this sense of anxiety as Charles drove to the same place where the worst memories of him lay, where he spent countless days and nights alone, where his heart turned to stone, and where he received wounds that would probably never heal. No matter how much he had stared at the moon, his troubles hadn’t faded away when he was living there. It was truly a nightmarish experience he wouldn’t wish even upon his enemies. Even now, the weary thoughts weren’t leaving his mind. His brows stayed furrowed as his foot kept pressing the gas pedal until the Myers mansion was in sight. It felt like the building was staring at him, as if it wanted him like no one else did. This was the same mansion that had made him lose sleep for many years. He stopped the car in front of the gate. The old guard saw him and Narika and then made a call to Victoria before opening the gate. He drove in without looking at the guard anymore, and he almost parked the car where he used to out of habit. Eventu
Gregory took Charles up to the door before leaving without saying another word. The door was ajar, so he knew Sofia was still awake. She wouldn’t lock her door most of the time just to scold anyone that would enter without knocking on the door. She wouldn’t yell at her parents, but she would scream at her siblings and maids and enjoy it. She had also slapped Carlos numerous times for entering her room without her permission. At present, Charles didn’t really want to enter the room. His thoughts reminded him how much she lied to him and cheated on him all the time, and yet he foolishly believed she would come to his side one day. He hated himself for not realizing sooner that she didn’t deserve him. Charles knocked twice. “Come in,” a soft voice came from the inside. He pushed the door open, and there she was, reading some book, which was surprising, to say the least. “Charles…” She sounded a little surprised, though she didn’t care enough to get off her bed. She was still seated
In the middle of the night, Carlos was at a hilltop, sitting on his car’s hood. Charles’ mask was right next to him. He was looking at the lights of the city all around him. Despite being surrounded by millions of sparkling lights, he still felt alone. His chest felt heavy yet empty. He looked like a broken soul, his expression barely changing even though minutes kept passing. It had been a few hours since he left the Myers’ mansion, but he still couldn’t forget the hug he, as Charles, received from Sofia. ‘Wife and husband should be each other’s most precious mirror of love.’ He had expected that before marriage, but what he received from Sofia was far from love. When she could so easily hug Charles, why couldn’t she hug Carlos who had been more loyal than a dog to her? No matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn’t understand it. Thinking about how utterly pathetic his married life was, tears welled up in his eyes. He squeezed the inner corners of his eyes with his fi
With one leap, he covered over forty feet and landed behind Carlos, startling him. Before Carlos could react, this person dug his fangs into Carlos’ neck and sucked greedily. A flood of blood washed into his mouth, but then it began to burn his tongue and throat. “AHH!” he screamed and fell back on the windshield. He spat all the blood. “What the…” he seemingly looked shocked as Carlos turned back, and the wound on his neck was healing at a rapid pace. “Y-You are also… a vampire? What ‘creed’ do you belong to?” Carlos grew fangs and claws immediately. “Woah, woah, take it easy,” he crawled back a little so that he now sat on top of the car. “I’m not going to harm you.” Carlos still slashed his claws at him, forcing him to defend himself. But the sheer impact of their claws caused the roof of the car to cave in. The glass windows shattered. He caught Carlos’ arm and hurled him over into the distance. Carlos got impaled on a branch that came out right through his navel. “I’m Helix,”
In the morning, the news channels barely covered the incident that destroyed the Sterling Blood Bank. Two-thirds of the building was destroyed. Not a single blood packet could be salvaged. Only some of the metal cots and some other tools were eventually recovered from the rubble. It wasn’t a big building, but Charles had built it for himself as well as for the citizens, so seeing it go down in flames left a bitter taste in his mouth. Charles kept receiving many calls from different investors and even the Myers family, but he just wasn’t in the mood to answer. Hours passed, but he just sat on a bench by a footpath and was staring aimlessly all around. His clothes were torn and covered in blood, so people avoided him, thinking he was either a beggar or someone carrying some sort of disease. Some called the police, but after the police learned about his identity as Charles, they left him to his devices. Charles again kept staring at the fallen building. He had no idea if it was coinc