“I don’t blame her, Peter, else I won’t ask them to save her,” Charlotte replied, “But I need to know what happened. When did Sharon get you?”
“You arranged to meet Olivia and Mr. Judd, but you didn’t turn out in the end. Mr. Judd waited at the hotel for days before he finally went back to his factory in Yaleview while Olivia stayed back to wait for you,” Peter said, “I told her to go back first, but she refused to listen to me. She said you must’ve something important to want to see her. She said something must’ve come up and delayed you.”
Charlotte finally started to connect the dots as she listened to Peter.
“She said if she went back, it would take time for her to get from Yaleview to meet you again when you reach, so she waited for half a month at the hotel. One day, I walked in on someone trying to kidnap her when I visited her at the hotel. I tried to fight them off but to no avail. I bet they’re professional assassins. I tried to buy time for Olivia so she could flee and inform you, but they ended up catching me and blackmailing her.”
“I think Sharon initially wanted to kidnap Olivia to threaten you.” Zachary finally broke the silence.
“But Peter intervened and they lost Olivia, so they realized both of them must be really close. They decided to make the best out of the situation and used Peter to blackmail her.”
“Yes. That’s what they wanted. They video called Olivia when they were beating me up… That’s why I said it’s all my fault. I failed to protect her.”
Charlotte was thrown into a quandary.
She knew Peter was Olivia’s only support throughout the two years she went missing. They had grown closer over time.
When they used Peter as bait to coerce Olivia, Olivia was caught in a dilemma. She refused to budge at first, but she could not bring herself to watch Peter being beaten over and over again, so she decided to approach Charlotte and help the other side abduct Ellie in order to save Peter.
Charlotte could understand how much she loved Peter. Olivia had a difficult childhood. Her mother fell ill just when she got to H City.
She thought they could have a good life together, but she ended up spending all her money to cure her mother’s sickness.
This cultivated her independence and grit, but this also made her vulnerable. She was someone who would put her whole heart into a relationship when someone showed her kindness because she lacked love growing up.
This was the case between her and Charlotte too. Charlotte only helped her once, but Olivia remembered her kindness and did everything she could to reciprocate that kindness.
When she found out what happened to Charlotte, she refused to receive a single penny from the Nacht family and even severed all ties with them. She would rather live a frugal life than betray their friendship.
Peter was like a godsend to her. He brought warmth and love to her life and had become a part of her.
With her mother passing and Charlotte missing, Peter was her only pillar of support.
This was why all she could think about was saving him when danger arose.
She would even turn her back against Charlotte just to save him.
Charlotte hated Olivia after Ellie was kidnapped, but when she arrived at the spot and saw from the car how Olivia put her life at stake just to protect the child, she was moved.
Olivia was ultimately still a gentle soul. She may have made a mistake, but her heart was kind.
Besides, they managed to save Ellie.
Charlotte had already moved on from this little hiccup in their relationship. All she wanted now was for them to survive this.
“Stop it, Peter,” Zachary said, helping him up, “That’s all in the past now. All we can do now is to pray for their recovery.”
Peter got on his feet and heaved a sigh of relief, but he quickly directed his worried gaze at Charlotte.
“I don’t blame her, but I want you to be a man and protect her with your life in the future.”
“Rest assured I will do that,” Peter promised.
