Chapter four: Building a life together

After a week James Experience with Charlotte He make a decision to Divorce his five wives just for Charlotte with James's other wives gone, the mansion, once filled with cold luxury and distant relationships, transformed into something new. It wasn't immediate, and it wasn't perfect, but for the first time, Charlotte and James had the space to truly understand one another.

At first, their relationship remained unspoken. James, accustomed to women who sought his wealth and influence, wasn't sure how to handle a wife who wanted neither. And Charlotte, after years of emotional distance, wasn't used to the idea of someone genuinely choosing her.

But small moments turned into something deeper.

Charlotte found James waiting for her at breakfast instead of rushing off to business. She noticed how he started asking about her interests, how he listened when she spoke. In return, she softened toward him, allowing herself to trust him with her thoughts, her past, her fears.

One evening, as they sat in the grand living room, a fire crackling in the hearth, Charlotte played the piano—a skill she had abandoned in her teenage years. The melody was soft, hesitant, but James sat nearby, listening.

"I didn't know you played," he said after she finished.

Charlotte smiled. "I stopped when my father died. It didn't feel right anymore."

James reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers. "Then maybe it's time to start again."

She looked at him, surprised by his sincerity.

They began spending more time together—dinners without distractions, late-night talks on the balcony, quiet moments in his office where she'd read while he worked. It was subtle, but undeniable.

One day, as James returned from a long business trip, he found Charlotte in the garden, her hands covered in soil as she helped the staff tend to the roses. She looked up at him, smiling, and something in his chest tightened.

"I missed you," he admitted, the words feeling foreign on his tongue.

Charlotte wiped her hands on a cloth and walked toward him. "I missed you too."

James cupped her face, his thumb brushing against her cheek. "I never thought I'd want this. A real marriage."

Charlotte leaned into his touch. "Neither did I."

And just like that, without grand declarations or dramatic gestures, they began to truly belong to one another.

Not as a forced couple.

Not as strangers.

But as partners.