From Desk to Altar: The CEO's Irresistible Bargain

When Charlotte got home, she told Vincent about her conversation with Liam. She thought Vincent would be relieved, but instead, he seemed more worried. "Charlotte, don't you think he's... a bit too calm about all this?" Vincent said.

After four years apart, longing day and night, was Liam really okay with her just walking out of his life again?

"I've been out of the country for years, but I've still caught wind of news about Liam getting more paranoid. And they're pretty reasonable assumptions. I think you should take a look," Vincent suggested.

Charlotte shook her head, "But I know Liam better than those critics. I don't need to hear about him from others."

"But when you look at Liam, you're emotional," Vincent gently pressed. "When you first came back, you were angry, you blew your cover, and when he was in pain for you, it satisfied your need for revenge, and you calmed down. But that kind of calm isn't normal."

After all the emotional highs and lows, now Charlotte saw Liam like a patch of wild grass by the roadside.

But Liam wasn't just wild grass; he was a living, breathing person with feelings.

In other words, Charlotte might think Liam was harmless, but in reality, he was capable of anything.

Right now, both Liam and Charlotte were like unexploded bombs - calm on the surface, but could go off at any moment.

"There's still time, Charlotte. Maybe you should deal with your issues with him more thoroughly," Vincent advised with a heavy sigh.

"I don't want to be harassed by him endlessly after we leave the country. Ethan is growing up day by day, and I'm afraid of what he might find out."

It was all for the child.

Vincent made sense, no doubt about it.

Although Charlotte didn't agree with his point about 'Liam's paranoia', she decided to resolve any issues with Liam before leaving.

For this, Vincent had a suggestion.

"While Liam's away, check out his living situation. If you can spot his paranoia, it means we might not leave smoothly."

So the next morning, Charlotte went straight to Liam's place.

She was once stopped at the gate, looking towards the mansion through the rain.

Back then, she was as desperate as a stray dog, begging Liam to let her in.

But today? The bodyguard spotted her from a distance and came over to open the gate for her.

Charlotte couldn't help but feel surprised, "Can just anyone walk into Liam's place now?"

The bodyguard shook his head, "We've all seen what you look like, and Mr. Parker said if it was you, we're not to stop you."

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't know," the bodyguard said, because how could he know what the boss was thinking? But then he added, "I overheard Mr. Parker once. He mentioned you wouldn't 'enter his dreams,' wondering if you blame him for turning you away at the gate before, refusing to come in."

"Ever since then, the big boss's assistant sent us your picture, telling us to remember it and to let you in if we saw you."

Charlotte was speechless for a moment, then quickly walked away from the guard booth.

The place still looked the same as it did four years ago. Surprisingly, as she walked from the garden to the living room, she didn't see a single servant.

That was odd for someone like Liam.

After wandering upstairs and downstairs, she didn't notice anything unusual.

There was no sign of the 'paranoia' Liam was supposed to have.

Just as Charlotte thought Vincent might be overreacting, she caught a glimpse of a keychain on the console table out of the corner of her eye.

It had a cheap purple pendant hanging from it - her pendant.

To be precise, it was the one she used to have on her two-bedroom apartment keys.

But then Liam took that apartment back to use as a dog house for Chloe's dog, and of course, the keys were taken back too.

She didn't expect Liam to have kept it.

The paint on the little plastic dog was mostly chipped off, making it look fierce and ugly.

But the key beneath the pendant was as shiny as new.

Charlotte picked it up and rubbed it between her fingers, feeling a surge of anger.

It was the key to that two-bedroom apartment.

She had lived there for so long, thinking it could be a fresh start, only to be told it was a place she couldn't even compete with a dog for.

And Liam actually went there often.

Who was he keeping it for?

Was it for Chloe's dog?

An unclear rage overpowered Charlotte's reason, and she snatched up the key and stormed out.

The bodyguard at the door quickly tried to stop her, "Miss Perry, Mr. Parker will be back any minute, just wait another five minutes for him." "No need."

Charlotte walked past without looking at him, but after a few steps, she turned back and said to the guard, "Tell him he's really disgusting." Ignoring the stunned guard, Charlotte got in her car and drove straight to the two-bedroom apartment.

It had only been four years, and this corner of the city hadn't changed much. The only difference seemed to be that the unit where the two-bedroom was located was eerily empty, even the usually crowded parking spots were deserted. As Charlotte was wondering what was going on, an auntie walking by saw her and warned, "Young lady, this whole building was bought by some rich boss. He really hates it when people come around here; you'd better not stay too long." Rich boss?

Liam?

Hates people coming here?

Was he crazy?

This behavior really didn't match Liam's previous character.

He used to be domineering, but that was mostly with people close to him; he was usually polite and mild-mannered with others.

After thanking the auntie for the heads-up, Charlotte went to open the door to the unit and was surprised to find that it had been replaced with a new one, and there was no key for this door on her keychain.

Just as she thought she had made a wasted trip, she looked up by chance, and 'click', the door opened.

Facial recognition unlock.

But why on earth would Liam have her face recorded in the door's lock system?

Did he somehow know she'd come today?

No... he probably just figured she'd come back here someday.

This realization just made Charlotte's anger boil over even more.

When he kicked her out and cleared her carefully arranged room to make a doghouse, what was Liam thinking?

And now, playing these sick games, what was he thinking?

Biting back her rage, Charlotte went upstairs and pushed open the door-

The doghouse she imagined wasn't there.

Instead, it was the most beautiful place in her memory.

It was the home she'd put together piece by piece.

The place she used to call 'home' without a second thought.

Liam had put the apartment back to how it was.

Everything was just as she had left it, down to the smallest detail.

Charlotte couldn't put her finger on her feelings, just walked through numbly, room by room.

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Everything was exactly how she remembered.

Even the cheap shampoo and soap in the bathroom were her go-to brands, and they were partly used-someone had been living here.

The glass on the table, half-filled with water, showed someone stayed over last night.

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Was it Liam?

With that question nagging at her, she headed for the bedroom.

She pushed the door open and got hit with that familiar laundry smell, so strong it made her shut her eyes and scrunch up her face.

She was kicking herself now.

She shouldn't have taken Vincent's bait, coming here to see if 'Liam was paranoid.'

She had already walked away from all this. Why did she have to come back and get all riled up for nothing?

She couldn't bring herself to step forward and slammed the bedroom door shut, gasping for air.

Just a few days back, Liam had asked her if she was planning to ditch him, to leave him all alone to haunt the same spots she did, to live off the memories of her, drowning in his longing.

Back then, she thought it was a joke hearing all that from Liam.

She figured Liam was just messing around, never really thought he'd actually do any of it.

Even without seeing it, she had a pretty good guess about what was in the bedroom.

Her chosen bed, the sheets and duvet she bought, the pillows she sewed by hand, and all her stuff-clothes, skincare products, slippers, her desk...

All of it, her things.

During the six months they were together, Liam barely stayed over, so like ninety percent of that two-bedrooms vibe was all Charlotte.

But what was Liam's deal?

Was it nostalgia?

Did living in a place that reeked of her help settle his heart a bit?

Her eyes swept over the furniture in the house. When he cleared out space for the dog, he tossed out all her stuff. She grabbed just a few clothes and left, the rest piled up in the hallway, no clue what he did with it. But now, she was sure everything in the house was just like before. The hidden stitches in the sofa's seams were her handiwork-no one else's.

Where on earth did Liam find all this stuff?

Leaving the apartment in a rush, Charlotte's mind was in turmoil for a long time.

She felt sick, she was furious.

How were Liam's actions any different from humiliation?

He thought he was being sentimental?

After hurting her so badly, that kind of sentiment made her want to puke!

Blazing mad, she arrived at the Parker Group headquarters. Charlotte had the good sense not to storm in but went to the reception desk to ask them to call someone from the president's office to come down. But before she even got to the desk, the receptionist stood up, greeted her with respect, and then said, "Mr. Parker isn't here right now, but I'll take you up to his office. Would you mind waiting there for a bit?" Back when she didn't have an employee card and couldn't get through the turnstiles, the receptionist wasn't nearly this nice.

With a puzzled frown, Charlotte made it to the 24th floor.

The president's office, where she used to work.

Because she was just an errand assistant, she wasn't really tight with the rest of the staff. But now, as soon as she stepped out of the elevator, the looks and whispers started up and didn't stop. Charlotte was led straight into the president's office and met by Sophia, the head of the secretarial office.

"Miss Perry." Seeing Charlotte's face, which looked just like hers, Sophia was feeling all sorts of things.

Just a heads up: is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey! Charlotte didn't bother with her and looked around, noticing that even Liam's office was just like she left it.

That was weird.

Because she liked to keep the plants under the blinds by the floor-to-ceiling windows and move them back in before leaving at night.

Liam thought this habit was a hassle. If she wasn't there, the plants would just stay put and the leaves would start to yellow.

But now, those plants were neatly placed under the blinds.

Catching her gaze, Sophia explained, "They get more sunlight this way, but it's a hassle, have to move them around so they don't get too much sun."

"Being his assistant must be tough," Charlotte said sarcastically.

"You've got it wrong," the office head replied. "Mr. Parker does all this himself, and, Mr. Parker's office doesn't have an assistant."

"What?" No assistant? Charlotte couldn't believe her ears.

"You heard right. Mr. Parker takes care of everything here himself. He hates other people coming in and out of his office all the time."

Charlotte felt more and more that something was off.

Her mind was telling her to leave now, to stop looking around.

But her feet just wouldn't move.

Finally, she sat down on the sofa and motioned for Sophia to bring in some tea or coffee.

"Sorry, Miss Perry, we don't have a coffee machine on the 24th floor."

"Liam doesn't drink coffee?" What a joke. If Liam didn't drink coffee, then what was she doing there as the errand assistant who made coffee?

The office head said sadly, "He used to but after that... Mr. Parker hasn't had coffee in a long time."

Charlotte felt the anger in her chest surge again.

And it didn't go away, even when Liam came back.

"You came looking for me?" Liam asked as he walked in, looking uneasy.

Charlotte asked with a chill in her voice, "You living in that two-bedroom now?"

"Yeah." Liam was caught off guard that she knew about the place, and he suddenly didn't know what to say.

He stayed there because it still felt like her - her scent was there, reminders of her everywhere, sparking his memories.

On countless sleepless nights, he'd sit in the living room with all the lights on, have a drink, and in his slightly tipsy state, he'd see her.

"Why?" Charlotte asked.

Liam closed his eyes and said softly, "It's only there that I can feel like you're still with me."

"I can't accept that you died in front of me, so I surround myself with your things, trying to fill the void."

"I just... miss you too much."

Charlotte was getting more and more irritated with Liam's response.

She pointed at the plants under the blinds, "Liam, everything you're doing now, either you wouldn't allow it before, or you destroyed it yourself. Do you find it amusing?"

"People are complex, you have to allow for differences between individuals," Liam said, eyes downcast. "Back then, I didn't know you loved me, I didn't realize you'd do anything for me. You never told me, so I doubted and suspected that you had an angle in getting close to me."

Liam eased into a seat, dissecting his own thoughts, "It wasn't until you moved into the Parker family's place, that I dared to believe you liked me. Charlotte, people are different, you have to forgive my emotional clumsiness."

"When you loved me, I felt you didn't."

"When I loved you, you felt I didn't."

"Maybe that's the punishment."

Liam gave a self-deprecating laugh, "Everything you see, it all started from love. The things I didn't allow, the things I destroyed, they're all coming back because of love."

"Charlotte, please don't say harsh things, at least not now. Don't deny my love for you in this moment."