The Day Our Promise Breaks (Charles and Evelyn) novel Chapter 382

At that moment, her tears, once her most powerful weapon, went unnoticed by Charles. He was focused squarely on Wesley, his doubts clear as day. He was listening to Wesley instead of her. Dahlia lowered her gaze, trying to hide the panic and unease in her eyes. What was she going to do now?

“She’s not the sweet, innocent person you believe her to be. From the start, she couldn’t stand your daughter with Evelyn. She pretended to like Charlie just to pull the wool over your eyes,” Wesley declared.

“She brought up Charlie to me so many times, and it was always with disdain,” he continued. “When she came back, she suggested that Sandy and Charlie bond, but it was just to turn you against Charlie. Everything she did was calculated. You’re the only one who thought she’d treat Charlie like her own.”

“She’s the reason Charlie died. John threatened her, and, terrified you’d find out, she hired someone to kill him to keep it under wraps.”

Charles's throat tightened. The mention of Charlie brought a pain to his eyes he couldn’t hide. He had urged Evelyn to move forward, but he himself was stuck in the past, unable to let go of Charlie’s death. He fought to keep his emotions in check and said, “Words aren’t enough. Where’s your proof?”

He stepped forward, inwardly rejecting Wesley’s claims. Without solid evidence, he couldn’t reconcile this version of Dahlia with the one he knew. But people do change.

“I have proof,” Wesley finally managed, the words heavy on his tongue. He couldn’t even look at Dahlia, fearful his resolve might crumble. Between protecting the woman he loved and his daughter, he chose the latter, a decision he’d never regret.

Hearing there was proof, Charles felt a storm of emotions but didn’t dodge the issue. “Show it to me,” he demanded.

“The proof isn’t with me right now…” Wesley admitted. He had anticipated needing to protect it when he met with Dahlia, so he’d hidden it away safely. Today, he only planned to expose his connection with Dahlia to Charles, which was why he’d tricked Evelyn into bringing Charles here, falsely claiming he’d show the proof.

He thought a man like Charles, who loved Dahlia deeply, wouldn’t be able to handle the betrayal and would surely leave her. Without Charles, Dahlia would lose her support. She didn’t love Sandy and would let him have her. But Charles’s reaction was nothing like he expected.

For a moment, Wesley couldn’t tell if Charles loved Dahlia too much or not at all, and these words gave Dahlia a glimmer of hope amidst her panic. Seizing the moment, she raised her head and, with tears in her eyes, looked at Evelyn, who was visibly surprised, and cried out, “Evelyn, you and Wesley set me up, accusing me without any evidence, claiming I maliciously caused Charlie’s death and covered it up with murder!”

Charles’s eyes widened in shock, and his face drained of color as he rushed to her side, catching her before she hit the ground. “Dahlia!” he shouted, pressing on her wound to stem the bleeding.

“Call an ambulance!” he barked at Evelyn, who didn’t move, her face turning cold at the unexpected turn of events. She hadn’t anticipated Wesley’s deceit or that Dahlia would go to such lengths to win Charles’s trust.

So close to avenging Charlie, yet Dahlia managed to slip through her fingers for now. Evelyn seethed with anger, so much so that she couldn’t bring herself to call for help.

It was Wesley, shaken to his core, who finally fumbled for his phone and dialed 911. When he hung up, he was trembling all over. Despite his resentment, seeing Dahlia on the brink of death pained him.

Dahlia’s face was ghostly pale, the cut too severe to stop the bleeding. As she continued to lose blood, her eyes on Charles were filled with sorrow, and she murmured weakly, “Charles, I didn’t…”