Chapter 36: Chapter 36

(A/n: “This is the story of Scarlett's parents. I put them so you can also know about them.”)

THIRD POV

*** FLASHBACK

28 years ago…

Scarlett’s parents’ history.

“N-negative,” said Sharlene while crying. She was depressed as she sat on the bed, holding the pregnancy test.

“Damn it!”

Sharlene kept her mouth shut because she and her husband have yet to have a child. They’ve been married for a few years and tried to have a child, but it’s still not been granted to them.

She might never become pregnant, and Vernon might end up leaving her if she cannot conceive. Sharlene, it seems to lose hope.

She loves her husband and worries that he will abandon her.

“Sharlene?”

She wiped away her tears and turned to face their mother.

“Lady Josephine,”

Josephine sat next to Sharlene while smiling.

“It’s negative,” said Sharlene. Josephine came to a halt because of what she had heard, but she only smiled at Sharlene.

“Perhaps now isn’t the time for you and Vernon to have a child,” said Josephine. Sharlene bowed because it still scared her.

“W-what if… I-I can’t give him a child? I-I’m afraid he’ll leave me. I love Vernon so much…”

Sharlene covered her mouth and sobbed in front of Josephine, fearing that she and her husband would never have a child.

Josephine sighed and took Sharlene’s stomach in her hands.

“Believe it or not, it will give you a child to give birth to, and I want her to be the fourth generation of our family to replace my husband.”

Sharlene looked up at Josephine after she stopped crying. “L-Lady, I mean, mother…”

When Sharlene called her, Josephine smiled. She would rather not be addressed as a ‘Lady,’ especially since Sharlene was a member of their family.

“Don’t be worried; my Vernon loves you, so just trust him.”

Sharlene nodded, encouraged by what the lady said, but it crushed all that hope instantly because of a mistake.

“Why are you drinking, brother? Sharlene will be worried about you,” Carlito, the youngest of the siblings, said.

Vernon glared at his younger brother.

“TSK. Just get out of my face in case my mood will be better,” said Vernon. Carlito let out a sigh.

Carlito was also the first of the siblings to have a child, and his son Carter was now three years old.

“I’m leaving. You might do something wrong and Dad will punish you,” said Carlito, patting his older brother on the shoulder as he walked away.

Vernon drank instead of comforting his wife because it fed him up with himself for not doing anything right for his wife. It also bothers him that despite being the firstborn, he has no child.

He loves his wife and hoped that they will have a child.

“Vernon?”

Vernon turned to face the person who had called him and frowned when he realized it was his ex-girlfriend.

“Soledad…”

He hasn’t seen his ex-girlfriend in a long time, having graduated from high school together. When they were in college, he met Sharlene. Sharlene is a transfer student from a province in which one of Sharlene’s families owns large tracts of land.

“How are you doing, and where is Sharlene?”

Vernon blinked and just stared at Soledad, whose cheeks it flushed from Vernon’s attractive gaze on her.

Soledad admitted she still loves Vernon, but that if it hadn’t been for Sharlene, Vernon would have married her.

Vernon replied, “She’s fine,” and continued drinking.

“Oh, easy. You seem to have a problem, huh? Are you and Sharlene divorced?”

They both came to a halt because of the question. Soledad hit her mouth with her mumbling in case Vernon knew she still liked the young man.

“Are we divorcing? No, never. I love Sharlene; we just had a minor fight,” said Vernon, shaking his head and sipping his liquor.

“You can tell me, and maybe I can help you.”

Vernon clenched his fists and smirked. “Sharlene is having difficulty getting pregnant, TSK. I’m the eldest, but I’m the one behind my siblings,” said Vernon as he messed up his hair and drank his liquor.

Soledad chuckled and stroked Vernon’s hair.

“If you only chose me, I hope we both have a child now, TSK,” Soledad mumbled, knowing Vernon couldn’t hear her because he was too busy getting drunk.

She had always wanted to be Vernon’s mistress, but couldn’t get the timing right because Sharlene was always following Vernon.

So now that she has the opportunity, she won’t waste it.

“Oh, be careful when walking!”

“I’m so sorry, Sharlene!”

Soledad irritated Vernon by mentioning his wife's name.

“I’m with you, so please mention my name! Your wife can’t even give you a child!” She mumbled, annoyed that she had to carry the drunk Vernon.

She laid Vernon on the bed and winced as she looked at him.

She brought Vernon to the apartment because she would rather not bring him back to the mansion because Vernon was only her.

Soledad blushed as she looked at Vernon, the eldest Knight, still looking good after all these years.

She unbuttoned his clothes, and it surprised her when Vernon touched her wrist. So, Soledad looked at the young man, and her eyes widened when she saw Vernon staring at her seriously, causing Soledad’s cheeks to turn red.

Even more shocking, Vernon kissed her and addressed her as Sharlene.

“Sharlene, I love you…”

Soledad stopped, but she still sent in the heat, so she doesn’t care what name Vernon calls her as long as she can claim Vernon tonight.

She will be his mistress as long as Vernon is only interested in her and will do everything in her desire to get Vernon to divorce Sharlene.

THE NEXT DAY, Vernon woke up to find something heavy on his arm; at first, he assumed it was his wife, but it surprised him to see another woman next to him, both naked.

“Damn it!”

Vernon stood up and hurriedly put on his pants and polo shirt, which were scattered on the floor because his wife might look for him.

“V-Vernon?”

Vernon looked at the woman next to the bed and was even more surprised to see that she was his ex-girlfriend.

Vernon was holding his head because if his wife found out, she might divorce him, which he would not allow.

“How was it?”

He glared at Soledad. “You took advantage of my drunkenness.”

Soledad laughed at him. “You were the first to kiss me, and you even confessed your love for me.”

“That’s not true! Stop lying!”

Soledad smirked and raised an eyebrow. “You should have chosen me; that’s how you’ll have a child; instead of Sharlene, who is barren, I can give you a child.”

Vernon had lost his emotions and was staring at Soledad blankly.

“My wife is not barren,” Vernon stated, glaring at her. “This is the last time we’ll meet,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I thought you’d changed, but you haven’t; stay away from me if you would rather not be involved with what the Knights have.”

Vernon took his wallet and placed money on the bed before leaving the woman to return home, but he didn’t know what to say to his wife.

When he arrived home, the mansion was quiet, and he assumed there was no one there until he saw his wife greet him.

“S-Sharlene…”

Sharlene smiled and kissed his cheek, but she paused when she smelled her husband’s clothes; she knew it wasn’t Vernon's perfume, but she shook her head in case there was another perfume stuck to her husband’s shirt.

“Did you do a lot of office work?”

Vernon nodded, hugged his wife, and kissed Sharlene on the cheek.

He felt too bad about what he did because he made a mistake.

“Let’s eat; I know you’re hungry, so I cooked for you,” she said, leading Vernon to the dining room.

Vernon inhaled and clenched his fists, unable to imagine making a mistake behind his wife’s back.

“Oh, brother!”

Vernon came to a halt when he noticed his youngest brother, Carlito, carrying the child.

Vernon widened his eyes at Carlito, who frowned and looked at Sharlene before shaking his head.

“Looks like something happened last night, brother,” Carlito whispered, patting him on the shoulder as he walked away.

Vernon shook his head and joined his wife in the dining room, where it served him food.

He doesn’t know, but he wants to apologize to his wife for what he did because he would rather not hurt her.

‘You’re an asshole, Vernon. To hurt your wife. Damn it!’

Sharlene noticed a problem with her husband a few months later, and it started when Vernon came home in the morning, knowing it wasn’t his husband’s business.

She also noticed that when her husband came home from work, the perfume on his polo shirt smelled feminine. Sharlene didn’t mind because she knew Vernon couldn't betray her because she believed Vernon loved her.

Not only that, but she did not suspect her husband because it is against the Knights’ law to have another woman.