No, no, no.
"It's true then."
Charlotte's heart broke at the hollowness of Sano's tone.
"I kept hoping that this could be the one time that Oscar had fucked up, and the contract he had found was fake."
"Sano—-"
"But it isn't, is it? You signed that contract with Lukas," Sano said tonelessly, "and that's why you now find it impossible to tell me you love me."
Chapter Ten
Charlotte remembered how it had nearly killed her when she received a call about Landon...being gone, and that pain was almost the exact same kind of pain that was now making her chest hurt so, so bad. The bleakness in Sano's gaze was unbearable, and she had never ever imagined such a day would come that the man she loved would look at her like she had broken his heart.
She tried to take a step towards him but stopped when she saw him stiffen. "I know it looks bad," she said in a rush, "but it's really not what you think. We might have been engaged on paper, but it was just that. It doesn't mean anything at all. We were never in a relationship, and it was just so Lukas could—-"
Sano cut her off, asking flatly, "If it was truly nothing like you said, then why did you choose to keep it from me?"
Her lips parted, but her mind drew a blank, and all she could do was gaze at him in mute despair. If she had told him about the engagement contract she had signed with Lukas, they would have wasted precious time talking about something that didn't matter, and how could she let that happen when they only had less than a day to be together?
"Do you think I haven't noticed how strange you've been acting?"
The rawness of Sano's tone had Charlotte's chest hurting more and more. "Sano, please—-"
"Today should have only been the beginning of a new future for both of us, but instead you were acting like this is the last time we can be together. There can only be one reason for that—-"
"But you're wrong," she broke in desperately. "I can understand why you'd think that, but you're wrong—-"
"Am I, really?"
"Yes!"
"Or are you only unable to admit that you've moved on because you can't bear hurting me?"
That he could even think such a thing was just too much, and Charlotte could no longer hold back her tears. If she had known that refusing to say she loved him would have them end up here—-
"I love you," she finally managed to choke out, but it was simply too late, and the words only made Sano's handsome face whiten.
"You don't have to lie, Charles—-"
She shook her head wildly. "I'm not lying!"
"You had every right to move on," Sano said in a tightly controlled voice. "I was the selfish one who made you hide your fear and suffer every time you'd watch me walk out of the door. It's only right that you've moved on—-"
"But I didn't," Charlotte sobbed out. "I never did—-"
"Things obviously haven't worked between you and Lukas—-"
The pain in Sano's voice as he mentioned the other man's name had Charlotte running to him.
"And I know you might not believe me, but I am sorry for that—-" Sano broke off as she finally reached him, and Charlotte clung to him even as she felt his body turn rigid. He was the man she loved, and he was hurting. How could she not do anything when he was so obviously hurting?
"We need to know—-"
"No!"
Sano stared at her, stunned. "You're scared."
The words literally made her laugh and cry. That was an understatement if she ever heard one, and it almost had her hysterical. "I'm not just scared, Sano. I'm terrified—-"
"Of what, Charles? Tell me so I can help—-"