CHAPTER 5
1043 Words
Henry was providing a solution.
What other choices was she left with?
disappear and adopt a new persona? Make a report of the loan shark's harassment to the police.
Yes, as if either of those possibilities would be viable!
Furthermore, she did not tend to flee anything.
Get married to a billionaire, lead a luxurious life, and have a child or two with him.
Why not risk it all and make it a thousand instead of just one hundred? The chance would be seized by women.
So what was all the fuss about?
Just a tiny emotional engagement issue—hers.
Like no other man she had encountered, Henry Anderson had an impact on her.
She had melted at their first meeting when she was seventeen because she was so startled by how demonstrated emanated almost fell apart over a long-lasting teenage crush.
She had grown up, moved on, and enjoyed one or two quick relationships. However, nobody could compare to Henry or the emotions he sparked.
It's over; we're done.
Charlotte returned to the present when she heard Harper's voice. She turned off the vacuum cleaner, put it away in a cabinet, and then changed into her outdoor attire.
"I have to make a call," she said.
The phone here, a phone booth, or the phone in the corridor of her boarding house were her three options.
Harper took off her earbuds and said, "I'll plug in some music and wait."
No female staff member was ever left alone this late at night, according to their unbending regulations.
I'll be there shortly. Charlotte took out Henry's card and walked over to the phone, all too conscious that her stomach's nerves had twisted into an agonizing knot.
Later, as she had to start over after entering an erroneous digit, she muttered an expletive under her breath.
On the third ring, Henry responded, intoning "Alexander" in a voice that through the phone sounded deep and significantly more accented.
‘Charlotte.’ She immediately self-identified.
You've made a decision, right?
A small conversation was scarcely appropriate at the moment or in the situation, so she did not attempt. ‘Yes.’
‘And?’
God bless her. She tightened her hold on the phone. ‘Yes.’ Charlotte wasn't certain of her expectations for his response.
I'll get back to you tomorrow with any pertinent information. After a click, the line abruptly disconnected.
She didn't notice he had severed the connection for a moment or two, and her fingers briefly became tense before she replaced the handset.
He could have at least acknowledged her consent!
Oh, come on, a lone voice warned. What did you anticipate?
Forget sentiment; it didn't exist.
What did she care about, then?
Her pulse quickened, and her equilibrium started acting strangely just after seeing Henry as her husband.
Oh, for goodness' sake, move on! Like any other male, he is just a man. She was aware that she had lied.
Even after ten years, she could still clearly remember his sultry kiss. What was worse was how the oral foreplay he had administered to her as a stern warning had affected her.
What kind of lover would he make?
Avoid going there. not yet, at least not right now.
She wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding if she allowed herself to go down that road.
It's best to keep active and avoid thinking too deeply.
It was time to shut up, check the windows and exterior doors, set the alarm, and pull down and padlock the security grill.
They went through a pattern every night, heading briskly to the nearest railway station.
Charlotte inhaled deeply, turned, and grabbed her luggage before indicating to Harper that she was ready to go.
It wasn't until they were on the train that she realized she had forgotten to call the loan shark and ask for an additional twenty-four hours of grace and to promise that the full amount would be paid in cash.
As she checked the time, something twisted painfully in her stomach area, and her heart started to race.
The loan extension for the week expired at midnight.
She had to make that call immediately. Explain Henry's name as proof that the money will be paid.
As the train sped toward their station, she begged them to hurry, and when they got off, she had to control herself from sprinting to the boarding house.
There were several bedsits and boarding houses in ancient converted residences on some less-than-salubrious streets in the inner-city neighbourhood of Stockholm.
Their daytime grime and general state of neglect were hidden by the darkness of night and the dim street lighting.
It's not a place to spend much time in, and it's as far away from Charlotte's previous apartment as chalk is from cheese.
With a sigh of relief, Charlotte entered the home through the front door and took the necessary cash out of her handbag to use the pay phone.
She recalled the phone after it rang out a short while later, hoping and praying for a response. However, there were none.
A split second later, a man appeared out of nowhere, angled a hard hand beneath her jaw, lifted her off the ground, and slammed her against the wall.
The man's face was only a few inches away from hers, and the stark, dreadful fear nearly knocked her out.
"Pay by tomorrow at midnight. If not, his hold grew firmer. "Blink if you got the message," was said.
Charlotte immediately complied, nearly suffocating under his firm hold, before he released her and vanished out the front door as she collapsed to the floor in a state of shock.
‘Hey. You OK?'
She tried to speak, but nothing came out of her mouth. She looked up in frightened confusion and recognized a male renter.
You need support, right?
You won't believe how much!
Do you want me to make a call?
The only person who could manage this situation was Henry, so Charlotte dug into her purse, took out his card, and showed him the phone number on the back.
She vaguely recalls hearing a brief, one-sided conversation before the renter escorted her to her room, seated her, and covered her throat with a damp cloth.
- Writer
