Chapter 128: The Slap

Charlotte was trembling with anger, fear, and desperation all tangled together. Her reaction was so extreme that it made Catherine pause for a moment.

What exactly had Maximilian shown her?

Maximilian leaned back slightly and smirked.

“Dorian has been in the news quite a lot lately,” he said lightly.

Charlotte’s eyes widened in pure panic.

She shook her head frantically, both hands raised as if trying to push the accusation away.

“No. Maximilian… no. I didn’t contact him,” she said hurriedly. “You can check my phone. Here.”

She fumbled with it and shoved the phone across the table toward him.

“You can see everything. I didn’t call him.”

Catherine’s curiosity sharpened.

What was on Maximilian’s screen that scared Charlotte this much?

She leaned closer and quietly took the phone from his hand. A live CCTV feed was playing. Two figures were talking in a dim corner somewhere.

Catherine narrowed her eyes and leaned in closer. Then recognition struck.

“That’s Crawley,” she said, her eyes widening.

For a moment, she simply stared at the screen, her mind racing as the meaning settled in.

Maximilian had shown this footage to Charlotte as a threat. And Charlotte’s reaction made one thing very clear… She was worried about the man in that video.

“You’re with Crawley?” Catherine asked slowly.

Crawley.

The man who had killed her son. In her previous life, she had already taken revenge on him for that crime. But in this life…

He was alive again. And Charlotte, who had memories of their past life, was connected to him.

The realization snapped something inside her. Catherine’s vision blurred red for a second.

Before anyone could react, Catherine suddenly stood up. Her hand shot forward and grabbed a fistful of Charlotte’s blonde hair.

“Let’s take this outside, bitch!”

Charlotte screamed as Catherine dragged her out of the café, across the floor and toward the parking lot.

Maximilian let out a long breath and rose from his chair.

“Excuse me,” he told the stunned onlookers politely as he followed after them.

Inside the café, the owner rushed out of the kitchen when she heard the commotion.

“What happened?” she asked the waiter.

The young man hurriedly explained. The owner blinked in disbelief.

“The Preston Princess did what?”

As far as she knew, Catherine Preston was the model of elegance—calm, composed, mature beyond her years. No one had ever seen her lose control.

A catfight? With her? It was unthinkable.

Still, the owner immediately called the Preston family. When someone suggested calling the police, she stopped them.

“If someone managed to make Miss Catherine lose her mind,” she muttered, “that woman probably deserved it.”

Outside in the parking lot, Catherine finally released Charlotte’s hair and shoved her to the ground.

Maximilian glanced around quickly and positioned himself near a blind spot between the cameras.

He leaned casually against the wall, acting like a lookout. The last thing Catherine needed right now was strangers filming this.

“Speak,” Catherine snapped, glaring down at Charlotte. “Or your own mother won’t recognize you when she sees what’s left of your face.”

Charlotte pushed herself up slightly, glaring back.

“You cheated on him?” Catherine demanded, pointing toward Maximilian. “Was that child even his, or—”

She stopped mid-sentence, unable to finish the thought. The very idea disgusted her.

Charlotte’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “What’s that to you?”

*Slap*

Catherine’s hand cracked sharply across Charlotte’s face. The sound echoed through the parking lot.

Catherine winced slightly and shook her hand. In this life, she had never been violent. These hands were soft—used to typing on keyboards and cooking, not hitting people.

Her anger didn’t fade. Instead, it spread.

“Her son was mine,” Maximilian said.

Catherine turned and looked at him, her mouth agape, as words refused to leave her mouth. “You knew she was cheating on you?” she asked.

Maximilian shrugged, as if it were nothing.

Catherine’s anger flared.

“And you called her the bastion of elegance and grace!” she snapped, turning toward Maximilian.

Even after everything Catherine had endured in her previous life, the misunderstandings and the humiliation, the thought of cheating on Dorian had never once crossed her mind.

Yet she had been called shameless.

While Charlotte… Charlotte had been praised as the perfect lady with flawless manners.

All because of this… brainless fool!

Maximilian stiffened slightly and cleared his throat. “I never said that.”

“You did!” Catherine shot back immediately. “You said it right in front of my face!”

Maximilian shook his head calmly. “No.”

A pause.

“I only said that to my friends.”

Catherine’s eyes narrowed.

“And you knew I was listening.”

Maximilian tried to answer her. His hand lifted slightly, the gesture coming before the words. But Charlotte’s laughter cut through the moment.

A low, bitter chuckle.

“Look at you two,” she said, her voice dripping with mockery. “Lovebirds… soulmates…”

Then her expression hardened. The laughter vanished as if someone had wiped it away. Her eyes burned.

“Why shouldn’t I cheat on him?” Charlotte snapped. “He destroyed my life!”

Catherine let out a short, disbelieving scoff. “Oh really?” she shot back. “How exactly?”

She stepped closer, her voice sharpening.

“I’ve heard the stories about how he treated you as an equal and how much power you held in his court. You were supposed to marry a count’s useless son. Instead, you became queen. And you call that ruined?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“So tell me,” Catherine said coldly, “how exactly did he destroy your life?”

She didn’t even realize the strange irony of the moment.

In their previous life, she had hated Maximilian. Now she was standing here, defending him, angry on his behalf.

But she couldn’t help it.

The pain she had buried deep inside… the life she should have lived beside him, the place that should have been hers… still lingered like a bruise that never faded.

And if he had at least been happy… If his life had been peaceful… Maybe she could have accepted it.

But he hadn’t been happy. He had suffered too.

Why? Why had everything turned out like that? Who was truly to blame?

Charlotte scoffed, wiping angrily at her tears.

“That’s all you can think about, isn’t it, Katerina?” she said bitterly. “Titles. Status.” Her voice trembled with fury. “What if the count’s son was the man I loved? The one I actually wanted to spend my life with?”

Catherine scoffed. As if Charlotte didn’t care about titles.

“At least I loved the man I gave my body to,” Charlotte sneered. “Tell me, Katerina… can you say the same about the man whose child you carried?”

Catherine fisted her hands. This… was a slap… an emotional slap.

Charlotte laughed weakly. “I had my life. My perfectly planned life.” Her finger shot toward Maximilian. “And it was ruined by his lie.”

Charlotte’s voice cracked.

“His one lie…”

The anger drained from her face, replaced by trembling grief as she started to sob.

Catherine took an unconscious step back.

Behind her, Maximilian slowly lowered his head.

Yes.

One lie.

He knew it well.

That single lie had destroyed the lives of two women.

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