CHAPTER 6: THE TRAP IS SET
1167 Words
CHARLES' POV
For the first time in years, I felt like I had finally won.
The feeling was not loud, no announcement that I had defeated the people who destroyed my family.
It was just a quiet satisfaction sitting inside my chest as I walked out of the station
.
Lisa Corris had agreed to marry me .She had looked at me with tired eyes, with fear and desperation written all over her face, and she had accepted my offer.
She didn’t know what she had truly agreed to.
And that was what made it perfect.
The city lights of Manhattan moved past the car window as I sat quietly in the back seat, but I barely noticed them.
My mind was somewhere else,back in that small interrogation room with Lisa.
Somewhere out there, Lisa was probably sitting alone, scared and wondering how her life had fallen apart so quickly.
And she probably believed I was the answer to her prayers.
The thought should have satisfied me.
Instead, for a moment, I wondered what would happen when she discovered the truth.
When she realized the man she trusted was the same man who destroyed her.
I pushed the thought away.
Because there was no going back.
The moment she looked at me with those tired eyes and agreed to marry me replayed over and over again.
“I’ll do it.” Those words were simple and genuine, to her.
But they meant something deeper for me.
She had walked into the trap herself. I didn't force her.
No need to chase her anymore.
She had chosen the very thing that would destroy her. I leaned back against the seat, allowing myself a small smile.
After years of waiting, planning, and carrying the weight of my mother’s death, I finally had control.
The Laurent family had taken everything from me.
And now, I was going to take everything from them. Starting with her.
The car stopped in front of my family’s mansion, and I stepped out.
The moment I entered the house, the familiar silence greeted me.
This place had once been filled with laughter. My mother’s voice, my father’s jokes, family dinners. And a whole lot of memories.
Until one night changed everything.
One night that turned my father into a sad man and turned me into someone I barely recognized.
My father was sitting in his study when I entered.
He looked up from the documents in his hands, and the moment he saw my face, he already knew.
“You did it,” he whispered.
His voice was calm, but there was satisfaction hidden beneath it.
I closed the door behind me. “Yes,” I said.
He let in a slow smile and dropped the book he was reading.
“Lisa Corris?” he asked.
I nodded.
My father leaned back in his chair, staring at me. “The Laurent girl,” he muttered.
Hearing those words still created a strange feeling inside me. It wasn't guilt exactly but something closer to discomfort.
But I pushed it away. “Yes,” I repeated.
For a few seconds, my father simply looked at me.Then he laughed and shook his head slowly
“I almost thought we would never find her,” he said.
I walked toward the bar and poured myself a drink. “We found her and now, she belongs to us,” I said.
“Not exactly what I expected from you, but I have to admit, Charles, this is much better than I imagined,” he said.
“You expected something else?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“I thought you would destroy her publicly. You could embarrass her, ruin her reputation, make her feel the same humiliation we felt,” he whispered, picking up his own glass.
He picked up his own glass.
He paused for a few seconds like he was in deep thoughts.
“But this… This is more personal,” he said slowly.
I said nothing because he was right. A public scandal or a quick punishment would have been easy. But marriage?
Marriage meant she would be close to me. She would trust me.
She would see me as the person who saved her.
And when the truth came out…that betrayal would hurt more than anything else.
My father noticed my silence. “You are thinking too much,” he grumbled.
I looked at him. “Am I?” I asked.
“Yes,” he admitted.
He placed his glass down. “You have spent years thinking about this moment. Do not allow emotions to distract you now,” he said.
Emotions? That was something I didn’t have time for. Lisa was a part of the plan, nothing more.
My phone vibrated, pulling me out of my thoughts. I checked the screen and it was my lawyer.
I answered immediately. “Tell me everything is ready,” I said.
My father watched as I walked toward the window.
“ I need the documents prepared tonight.The marriage agreement must include everything we discussed,” I said into the phone.
My father’s eyes followed me as the lawyer spoke again.
I nodded in agreement.
“And make sure all her charges are withdrawn before morning,” I ordered.
I ended the call and the room was quiet again. My father looked at me carefully, he looked surprised.
“You’re releasing her?” he asked with curiosity.
I turned toward him. “Of course, I'm releasing her.”
“You’re helping her?” he asked.
A small smile touched my lips.“That is the point,” I muttered.
He frowned slightly. “You need to explain what is going on here, this wasn't the plan,” he snapped. I could see the disappointment on his face.
I walked back toward him.“She needs to believe she is safe,” I spoke softly.
My father understood immediately. “And once she believes that?” he asked.
“She will never suspect what is coming,” I mumbled.
Both of us went silent for a while. My father looks impressed now.
“You truly thought this through,” he admitted.
“I had years to think about it,” I said, looking down at my glass.
That was the truth. Many years of anger, nightmares, and remembering my mother’s lifeless body and my father sitting beside her, broken.
People always said time healed pain but they were wrong. Time only taught you how to live with it and hide it better.
My father’s expression softened slightly.
“Your mother would be proud,” he said.
Those words hit a place inside me I didn’t expect. I held the glass firmly.
My mother. For a moment, I saw her smile and heard her voice. I felt the warmth of a person who no longer existed.
Then the memory of that night returned. The hospital scenes, the machines, and my father crying.
My anger returned immediately.
“She deserved justice.”
- Writer
