I would die thousands of times for her.
She's my best friend, my partner in crime. She's the only person who is so in sync and so in tune with me and my every thought that at times I could have sworn she had actual mind reading abilities.
I never have to explain myself more than once when I'm sharing my dreams with her. I never have to convince her that what I see in my mind will in fact become a reality one day.
She dreams as big as I do and sees her own dreams as vividly as I see mine.
That woman and I taught one another how to bend the world to our will. We taught each other how to make the rest of the world see only what we want them to see and do what we need them to do.
When there was a potential coupe on the rise in Greyson Corporation, I didn't have to try and convince Charlie that even though I was only sixteen years old, I was going to take out every traitor.
I barely had to finish my sentence because, unlike mom who thought I was just an optimistic kid, Charlie knew that all the traitors were already as good as gone. I just had to figure out a way to do it.
When I explained how I planned to make those major shareholders fall, I didn't have to go into detail. Not only did she understand my plan, but she built on it, put flesh on it until we were both certain that it would work.
She and I have been protecting Greyson Corporation and pitting the company and my family's enemies against one another since we were only fifteen years old. She's been helping me protect my family since we were only fifteen years old. She's always been a Greyson. She's always been my wife even long before I married her.
I built her and she built me.
That's what she and I do. We build together and protect the ones we love.
So why didn't I protect her?
She's obsessed with me and I'm obsessed with her. I live to make that woman happy. A day without her feels like years and never, not even once, have I touched her and not felt like fire was erupting everywhere our skin touched.
I desire her, lust after her like a beast and if I had it my way, she and I would spend every day fucking each other senseless.
I love her games. I love her mischief and cunning. I love how she teases me. I love how kind she is. I love how she's a viper to the rest of the world, but turns into a kitten when she's with me. I love how we can easily go from discussing a business deal in my study to fucking on the table a few minutes later.
I love her wholeheartedly and unconditionally. I love her because she is Charlotte and I am her Forest. That alone is enough for me to love her without any restraint or caution.
She's my heart.
So why did I not go see her when she wouldn't answer any of my calls or messages for more than two months?
"David's boy." The man behind the gun smirked. "You look more like your father than he did. I hear you also have his ill temper when it comes to dealing with your enemies. Is this true?"
I didn't need any introductions.
Charlie's mother is quite short and yet Charlie is tall and so is this man. And their eyes - they have the same eyes. Charlie may have her mother's gold eyes, but the eye shape is his. It's slanted upwards, just like this man's and almost gives the impression of a cat that's about to pounce on its prey. And of course, his smile.
Charlie has his exact smile.
This is Brian Kim, the man who beat my wife with a crowbar.
I tried to search for whatever reasons I thought were justified back then, but none of them make any sense. Not a single reason explains why I abandoned her for months.
I was planning to propose. She and I were going to go house shopping together. She had even gotten off birth control because we were both about to graduate and we wanted a family.
So why the fuck did I let nearly three months go by without us talking when all I've ever been is obsessed with that woman?
What the hell was wrong with me and how could I expect things to be okay after not coming to see her for two and a half months?
She called me everyday before that. We spoke for at least an hour on the phone each day. If we couldn't speak, we would have a video call and study together. Not a single day went by without her talking to me and not a single day went by without her posting something about us on social media.
So what the hell was I doing for nearly three months when I couldn't reach her and when it became very clear to me that she wasn't posting anything anymore?
Why wasn't I there that day? It was a Saturday. Why didn't I go see her?
I always want to see her, hold her, kiss her, make love to her, put babies in her. So why wasn't I there?
She nearly died because I wasn't there. She would have died if it hadn't been for Jona and her mother.
Why the hell wasn't I there to protect her?
I looked up at the man holding a gun to my head.
I'm going to tear him apart limb from limb. Then I'll make Lauren eat his body parts until she pukes. I'm going to kill her.
I'm going to rip her skin off her body and burn it, but all that will have to wait because right now, I need to keep Lawrence, Liza and Brian's attention on me and not on my wife and unborn child.
"If you are holding a gun to my face then I guess my temper is not as bad as people have made it out to be." I smiled.
He ran his tongue across his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "Do you know who I am?" He asked with a smirk.
I nodded.
"So you know I'm your father-in law?" He cocked a brow curiously.
When I didn't answer, his grin widened and he started speaking as if I just responded.
"Where I'm from," his voice got really low and cold, "you're meant to show me respect, young Greyson. You must bow to your wife's parents and thank them for raising your wife so well. You wouldn't have married her if we didn't do such a good job of raising her, right?"
He's trying to escalate the situation.
He's the one holding the gun. If anything happens, we'll be the ones who get hurt.
I bet Jona is wondering where my security people are, but I'm certain that even with this thought swirling around in his mind, he too understands that what's happening right now is a good thing.
He and I both know that Lawrence and his wife followed us to London. They've been following our every move, but we let them because if their attention is on us, it means it is not on Charlie.
Brian, Lawrence and Liza being in London and not in New York is a very good thing. So, I'll keep this gun pointed at me for as long as I need to.
Christian and Joshua will keep her safe. I am certain of that. Christian knows that above all, family comes first and Charlie has always been family. He won't fail me.
"You tried to kill your daughter." I reminded him. "I'll only bow to you when I'm putting you in a coffin, Brian."
He started laughing. It sounded like a low and deep rumbling that came from the depths of his chest.
"You sound just like your father." He kept laughing. "You don't even look scared." He added. "That means you've got something up your sleeve. Your father was known for always having something up his sleeve."
And yet you were able to kill him. I thought to myself.
Maybe that's why I failed her back then.
Mom had a friend who always hated seeing me and Charlie together. She pulled me to the side numerous times and told me that Brian Kim, my best friend's dad, is the one who killed her husband and my dad.
I could tell she wanted me to hate her, but that made no sense to me because even if it were true, Charlie had nothing to do with it.
The last time that woman tried pulling that stunt again, I was thirteen years old. She pulled me to the side when she saw me with Charlie. I went to her, but started walking away when I realised where the conversation was headed.
She grabbed my hand to stop me, but I pushed her and she fell to the ground.
She looked at me with shock and disbelief and some expectation that I'd apologise to her. Instead, I told her if that happened again, I'd do more than push her. After that, she never pulled me to the side ever again.
What she told me never mattered to me, but I think it started mattering in the last year of my undergraduate degree when I was preparing to take over as the CEO of Greyson Corporation.
I had to investigate what truly happened to dad and when I found out Charlie's dad really did play a part in it, I immideiately stopped the investigation.
Maybe I resented her? Maybe I subconsciously started pulling away from her even though I knew she wasn't to blame?
No.
That can't be it.
I stopped that investigation because I wanted to avoid having to go after my girlfriend's father when I knew just how much she wanted her parents to love her.
Despite everything they've done to her, she still loved them and held out hope that one day they would love her back.
I didn't resent her.
So why did I do that? Why did I abandon her?
"I am not my father." I replied calmly.
"I agree." He nodded. "You're much more ambitious than David. You're doing things he dreamt about and you", his laugh faltered, "have an equally ambitious wife. Doesn't he, Jona?" Anger pulsed in his eyes before he shifted them to Jona who was standing behind me.
"Whatever are you talking about Brian?" Jona taunted.
"You've already lost, Brian." I heard Charlie's mom from behind.
Her voice was all timid and submissive when I got here. It sounded similar to my wife's, but my wife would never speak with anything but the usual cunning, mischief and charm in her voice.
However, there was none of that meekness in her voice as she spoke to this man. She sounded just like her daughter; like my wife.
"No." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Now that I know that girl is the reason for my torment for the past three years, I won't be losing anything else, Charlene. I still have one remaining son. He will help me revive the Kim Group."
"No, he won't." Jona said lazily. "You will bury him, Brian; just like you buried your two youngest sons last year and the year before that. Kim Group will never be revived. You will keep bleeding money and your enemies will keep having the upper hand and laughing in your face. Your wife will remain a cripple and every day she will lose a little more of her mind until she no longer resembles a person. Charlotte and I have barely begun with you, Brian. Things are about to get much worse."
I barely had time to think when multiple shots got fired before everything went dark.
This isn't how I die. This can't be how I die.
I will die in bed with my wife after spending hours making love. I will not die at the young age of twenty seven when dad died when he was only thirty years old. I will die at the age of ninety five like I promised her.
I will be there when our first child is born in a few months. I will hold her hand as she gives birth and I will kiss her over and over again for making me a dad.
I will live so I can tell her how sorry I am for failing to protect her. I will spend the rest of my life apologising for what I've done to her and making it up to her.
I will live. We will both live.