Charlotte

Oskar collapsed into his chair, head in hand. Hours since the news broke, and the responses were already unbearable. Had he done right? They'd planned to frame him for embezzlement—had evidence fabricated, witnesses bought. Going public with the affair was the only way to expose their blackmail before they destroyed him completely. But now, with everything public, it wouldn't be long before—

"Oskar?"

Shit. Charlotte stood in the doorway.

"Char… I—"

"Shut up." Her glare silenced him. "I planned what I'm going to say, and if I don't say it now, I won't say it at all. I'm so fucking angry. You slept with another woman and told the papers before telling me? Is that what our marriage has become?"

"Char—"

"I'm not done." She paced, furious. "Who was she? Someone we know? A stranger?" She stopped. "No. That doesn't matter. Was I not enough?"

"We were both drunk. If anything, she started it."

"Don't play that card! She's not the one in this marriage." Charlotte's voice trembled.

"I'm sorry. But they had me cornered—"

"So you saved yourself by airing our dirty laundry? When I left the gym, those vultures swarmed me asking how it felt that you fucked another woman. You didn't think to warn me? Glad to know where I stand—clearly below your fucking survival instincts."

She stopped in front of him.

"I'm leaving."

"Charlotte, please. Let me fix this."

"You've done enough." She yanked off her wedding ring and slammed it on his desk.

"Char, you're all I have left. Don't walk away from us."

She was already gone.