Chapter 78- Cruel
Every time August’s name was mentioned, Charles couldn’t help but explode with anger. Janet had seen him lose his temper before, but this time, seeing the murderous rage burning in his eyes, her heart ached deeply.
"Charles, please don’t do this," Janet pleaded, standing protectively in front of August, never taking her eyes off Charles. Right now, Charles needed her comfort more than anyone—but she was focused entirely on August. Was this really the woman he loved?
Charles looked at Janet, shielding August with such care, and felt his heart shatter. He had promised never to hurt her, so he forced himself to hold back the urge to strike August. Instead, he roughly grabbed Janet and dragged her out of the suffocating tea room.
August didn’t say a word. He just watched coldly as Janet was pulled away. Anger boiled inside him—he wanted to fight back. For the first time, he wasn’t just wearing his usual cold expression or looking down on Charles with contempt. No one looked down on him—except for the Elwin family. And Charles was the worst of them all.
"You’re in love with him? Why are you always on his side?" Charles shoved Janet against his desk. Her waist accidentally hit the sharp edge, and pain flashed across her face, but Charles didn’t notice.
"How can you say that to me?" Janet choked back the pain—whether it was physical or from his words, her eyes reddened with hurt and confusion.
"Then how am I supposed to take it? You married me, Philip. You’re mine. So when did you start favoring an outsider?" Charles’s mind replayed the image of them holding each other earlier, and his heart felt like it had been run over by a truck.
"Outsider? You don’t even treat him like family. Do you know how miserable August is?" Janet’s voice was filled with righteous anger. Derrick’s cruelty, Charles’s coldness—even Philip, usually so indifferent, had never once mentioned his cousin August.
"Miserable? Do you think August is more miserable than me, Philip?" Charles suddenly lunged at Janet, gripping her frail body tightly. Yet despite his rage, he looked at her with something softer and simply pulled her into a fierce embrace—he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her.