Delete My Love for You novel Chapter 12

“Noah, I haven’t abandoned you… I haven’t…”

Charlotte fought back the burn in her nose and the ache in her chest, her voice hoarse as she choked out, “I love you, sweetheart. There are reasons—reasons I couldn’t be there, reasons I couldn’t tell you who I am.”

“I don’t want you! I don’t want a lousy nanny like you for my mom!”

Noah spun around and looked up at Darren. “Dad, you promised today was my day to decide—it’s Children’s Day. Can you make her leave? What if Xena gets upset and leaves because of her? I’ll never, ever forgive her!”

Every word stabbed into Charlotte’s heart like an icicle.

She could barely breathe as she turned desperately toward Darren. He sat perfectly straight, his expression as cold and detached as ever.

“Now you see the result?” His tone was flat, almost clinical. “I spent two hours last night telling Noah about you. He doesn’t want you, Charlotte. Sometimes you have to know your place.”

Know your place.

Charlotte clung to the edge of the table, determined not to collapse. She bit her lip, her voice trembling with accusation. “And how did you tell him? Did you poison his mind against his own mother just to get back at me? Darren, you—”

Shameless bastard. Coward.

The words almost burst from her mouth. But when she saw that face—the same one that had once saved her all those years ago—her fury caught in her throat. Tears spilled over, unstoppable.

Darren calmly pushed the birthday cake in front of Noah, his voice suddenly gentle. “Noah, just pretend people you don’t like aren’t even there. Go ahead, blow out your candles and make your wish.”

Noah nodded eagerly and turned to Xena with a grin. “Mom, will you blow them out with me?”

Xena flashed a dazzling smile. “Of course, sweetheart.”

Right in front of Charlotte, Xena scooped Noah into her arms, beaming. The pair—one big, one small—leaned over and blew out the candles, laughter echoing through the room. As the soft notes of “Happy Children’s Day” floated from the record player, every breath Charlotte took felt like swallowing glass.

“Why?”

At the table, Darren wiped his hands with a napkin. Then he rose and walked toward Charlotte, each step glacial and deliberate, his face stripped of any warmth—just an endless, biting cold.

“You want to die? Let me help you.”

Before she could react, his hand seized her, yanking her close. His fingers tore open her nightgown with brutal indifference.

Before, it had always been her chasing him, her trying to please him. Darren would lose his temper, curse her, but still give in to her touch.

But this—this was different. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t give her a chance to brace herself. His anger was wild, his movements rough and unrestrained.

He pinned her against the staircase, his grip merciless.

Pain shot through Charlotte’s back, her body trembling. She felt as if he might snap her in two, her broken pleas echoing through the empty house.

“Darren… it hurts…”