Chapter 167: The Truth Behind the Crash

Back at the PentHouse in Viridian Heights, Charlotte paced back and forth inside the master bedroom of the

The expensive Persian rug muffled her footsteps, but it did nothing to quiet the chaos inside her head.

She stopped by the window, clutching the curtains so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Where does Kristoff’s coldness toward her come from? Did he learn something?

Kristoff couldn’t possibly know.

If he had discovered anything, he wouldn’t have left without confronting her.

...Would he?

She bit her lower lip.

When he called earlier, his expression had refused to leave her mind.

He looked not only angry. He had looked suspicious.

That frightened her far more. Anger could be manipulated.

But suspicion dug for answers.

She wrapped her arms around herself.

Stay calm.

You’ve hidden the truth for years.

No one knows.

Her breathing gradually steadied.

Almost no one had ever seen who she really was.

Everyone believed she was compassionate and kind.

Even now, countless people adored her as the nation’s sweetheart.

With Kristoff’s support, she had spent years building that image.

She couldn’t let it crumble.

Her thoughts drifted to the one event that had cemented Kristoff’s unwavering devotion to her.

The accident back then.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

What an absurd twist of fate.

Everyone believed she had sacrificed herself to save him. Even Kristoff believed it.

But that wasn’t what had happened.

The memory came rushing back with startling clarity.

Dark clouds had blanketed the sky that late afternoon, and it started to drizzle.

Kristoff had insisted on taking her out on a date despite the weather.

"A little rain won’t ruin our date," he said with that earnest smile of his.

Charlotte hadn’t argued.

Why would she?

A fancy dinner at one of the city’s finest restaurants... flowers, and another expensive gift before the night ended.

She had every reason to say yes.

The soft hum of the engine filled the car as rain tapped rhythmically against the windows.

Kristoff kept both hands on the steering wheel, occasionally glancing at her with a smile.

Charlotte, meanwhile, was more interested in touching up her makeup.

She twisted open her favorite lipstick and carefully traced the color across her lips.

Just as she was about to cap it—

It slipped from her fingers.

"Oh..."

The lipstick bounced off her lap and rolled beneath the dashboard.

With a small sigh of annoyance, she reached for the buckle at her waist.

Click.

The seatbelt released.

She leaned forward, stretching her hand toward the lipstick hidden beneath the passenger seat.

She was only inches away.

Then—

A deafening horn ripped through the rain.

Charlotte instinctively lifted her head.

Her pupils shrank.

Two blinding headlights burst through the curtain of rain.

A sedan was barreling toward them from the right, its tires skidding helplessly across the slick intersection.

Time seemed to fracture.

Kristoff’s eyes widened. He jerked the steering wheel.

Charlotte opened her mouth to scream—

But the collision came first.

"Kris!"

Charlotte cried out in fear.

The violent impact slammed into their car. Without the restraint of her seatbelt, the force hurled her body sideways.

Straight into Kristoff.

The momentum drove both of them toward his side of the vehicle just as twisted metal crushed the passenger side where she had been sitting seconds before.

Glass exploded around them.

Steel screamed.

Pain consumed everything.

Then...

Darkness.

When Charlotte regained consciousness in the hospital days later, the story had already been written.

The doctors praised her bravery. The nurses called her a hero.

The media painted her as a woman who had instinctively shielded the man she loved.

Her followers increased by hundreds of thousands.

Kristoff never questioned it.

And she never told the truth. Why would she?

The misunderstanding had given her exactly what she wanted.

His gratitude. His guilt. His unwavering loyalty and devotion.

She had simply...never corrected anyone.

...

The diagnosis shattered Kristoff.

The doctors explained that the impact had severely damaged Charlotte’s abdomen. The trauma to her reproductive organs was irreversible.

She would never be able to carry a child.

The words struck him like another collision.

If she hadn’t been thrown into him...

If she hadn’t taken the brunt of the impact...

She might never have suffered such a devastating injury.

The guilt settled deep in his heart, becoming a burden he carried for years.

That day, standing outside her hospital room, he made himself a silent promise.

Whether they had children or not...

He would marry Charlotte.

He would spend the rest of his life making up for what she had lost.

...

When Charlotte learned of his decision, she was alone in her hospital room.

For a long moment, she simply stared at the ceiling.

Then...

A slow smile spread across her lips.

"What incredible luck."

A soft chuckle escaped her.

Fate had handed her the perfect opportunity.

No one knew that years before the accident, she had already been diagnosed with Turner syndrome—a genetic condition that left her with nonfunctional streak ovaries.

She was born infertile.

There had never been any possibility of her conceiving a child.

The accident hadn’t taken that future away.

It had merely given everyone a believable reason to think it had.

And Kristoff...

He had willingly chained himself to her with nothing more than guilt.

Charlotte’s fingers lightly traced the edge of her blanket as satisfaction gleamed in her eyes.

She had never lied to him.

She had simply...

Allowed him to believe what everyone else already did.

Sometimes, the most powerful lies were the ones people told themselves.

...

The memories vanished like a mist.

Charlotte lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, staring at her trembling hands.

"If he ever learns the truth..."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"...will he still keep his promise?"

The silence that followed felt suffocating.

For the first time in years, Charlotte wasn’t worried about losing her reputation.

She was worried about losing the one lie that had kept Kristoff tied to her.

And if he had already begun digging into her past...

It wouldn’t be long before everything else surfaced as well.