The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(85)

One moment he was there, pleading with her, and the next he was gone, leaving Charlotte alone with the crushing sense that she had trapped her husband in a situation he'd been forthcoming from the start that he never wanted to be in. She couldn't take it. She couldn't just sit there and wait alone.

She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. She could hear the din of the crowd growing fainter as they quieted down for Jack's speech.

The TV in the suite was already tuned to a news channel broadcasting a live feed of the podium where Jack was about to give his speech. Charlotte couldn't watch him smiling for the cameras. She clicked the TV off and hung her head. Through her fingers, all she could see were Jack's keys on the table.

She had to get out. She had to get away from the crowds and the press. Most of all, she had to get away from Jack. She didn't want to hear what he had to say. She knew it already. He had asked her to marry him because he didn't want something permanent, but she fell in love with him anyway, and he fell in love with her, and now she was breaking his heart. She didn't want to see that look of betrayal again. She couldn't bear to think of what he thought of her. She just had to get away.

Charlotte scooped Jack's keys off the table and walked down the fire escape to a back exit. She peeled out of the parking lot and headed off into the night. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care. She just got on the nearest highway and headed west. She didn't know whether to cry or scream or pound her fists against the steering wheel.

If she had just told Jack as soon as she had found out, everything would have been fine. She'd be standing next to him on the stage. Or maybe it wouldn't have. Maybe he would have freaked out anyway. Charlotte's head spun as she tried to think it through.

Mile after mile zipped by as Charlotte sped through the night. Every sign she passed on the highway reminded her of campaign stops she'd made with Jack, smiling on his arm as his happy wife. She couldn't handle remembering the romantic dinner they'd had outside Worcester or sneaking in a kiss behind a barn in Old Sturbridge Village. She knew she was already too far away to make it back to Boston in time to save face. Jack's speech would be over by now, and her absence would be very apparent. Charlotte wanted to ride on until she was out of the world she and Jack had started to build together.

Her phone kept buzzing over and over again until finally the battery died. It wasn't until she entered Connecticut that she knew where she was heading. Home. Not Jack's home, not her apartment in DC. Home.

When she got off the highway hours later, Charlotte wondered if she should just find somewhere else to stay for the night. After all, it was well past 2 AM on a weeknight. Her parents would be asleep. She wondered if she should pull over, plug in her phone and call Jack. Then again, she had stolen his car and driven several states away. For all she knew, he could have reported her missing. Charlotte pulled over and stopped the car on the side of the road a few blocks from her parents' house. She dug her phone out of her purse and stared at the dead screen. She tried to think of what she'd say to him. She didn't even know how she felt or if she could muster any words at all.

She grabbed the rearview mirror and tilted it toward herself. She looked at her reflection. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her eyelids were swollen from crying. As she tried to form some sound to tell herself it was going to be ok, she burst into tears again. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the wheel as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She pressed her hand over her stomach, and thought of how much simpler things would have been if she hadn't gotten pregnant, if she had simply said no to the whole idea of marriage from the start.


Charlotte had been drifting without purpose, and now that she was back in her childhood neighborhood, her purpose finally came to her. She'd be the best mother she could be. She didn't care if Jack was scared or if he didn't want to be in her child's life. She was going to raise her baby in a loving home. After all, love was the only thing that mattered, and it was the one thing no amount of money or power or prestige could buy. She would love this child with all her heart.

She'd call Jack in the morning and let him know where she had gone. She'd let him know that it was ok for him to be unsure about what this meant for the two of them and that she wouldn't hold it against him. She'd find a way to get the car back up to Boston, and she'd stay with her parents for a while.

Charlotte reached forward and turned the key in the ignition. She was almost home.

"Home," she said to herself, smiling for the first time in too long a drive.

She was going to raise her child in a loving home. She was going to provide stability and support and love. Even if Jack Coburn never wanted to be a father, Charlotte would make sure his child grew up knowing the blessing of a loving parent.

When she got to her parents' house, she parked the car on the street and walked as quietly as she could up the stairs. The Crowleys hadn't changed their locks since Charlotte was in high school, and she still kept a spare. The floorboards in the house were as creaky as ever, but Charlotte's parents had always been heavy sleepers.

She crawled into her twin bed and her body finally felt able to relax. The springs in the old mattress dug into her back, and the frame creaked as she rolled over and wrapped the blankets around herself, but it was a familiar feeling, like she belonged here.

Charlotte looked out the window into the night. Jack was out there somewhere. Was he mad at her? Was he relieved she had left? She was sure he had been one of the people trying to call her all night. She shouldn't have ignored the phone for so long, she knew, but she couldn't handle talking to him just yet. She had let herself think that he was the man she dreamt of, the one who could give her everything, even though he had told her from the start how wrong she would be. She needed a someone who wanted to start a family with her. She wanted someone who believed in love.