Forest's Redemption

I recognised the smell of that perfume ... but from where?

Where have I smelled that perfume before?

I like the smell. I remember thinking that the few times I encountered this scent.

Where have I smelled that perfume before?

I got my phone out when it vibrated in my pocket. Anna had gotten back to me after I sent her Charlie's medical records earlier today.

Hey Christian

I had a look at those scans and medical records you sent ASAP like you asked.

My initial reaction was that the ultrasounds look exactly like the examples used in most hospitals of what a ruptured uterus looks like. I compared it with the scans from the free clinic I work at that we got as examples and the ultrasounds, as well as the details of the diagnosis in the medical records you sent, and these documents are all the same.

I asked my resident, attending and a few of my friends who work at other hospitals to also urgently take a look at the documents you sent. They all agree with me that the ultrasounds and medical records belong to Patient X, whose medical records are an identical match to the documents you sent.

Patient X's medical records are used in most hospitals and clinic as examples of uterus rupture.

It isn't possible for any two people to have the exact same condition that presents itself in precisely the same manner, down to the scar tissue. This means those medical records don't belong to your friend. They belong to Patient X. Whoever gave your friend all those records is lying to her.

I'm worried now and so are my colleagues. In light of all the scandals that have been unveiled in connection with the Mitchell Group, I advise you to get your friend as far away from their doctor/doctors as soon as you can.

You can even bring your friend to the free clinic I work at. I'll ask my resident to examine her.

Please get back to me ASAP. Don't let your friend undergo any surgery without me and my colleagues having a look first.

Call me right now so that I won't spend the day worrying about your friend.

Much love

Anna

**

I ran back to her hospital suite.

I could hear Nigel running behind me, asking where I was going, but I didn't answer him.

I remember where I've caught a whiff of that perfume. This is Angelique's perfume.

I have only met her a few times and the few times that I've met her, I found her to be too forward for my liking.

She was shameless about the fact that she wanted to be a Greyson and didn't bother trying to hide the fact that she didn't mind whether she got into our family by marrying me or Forest.

On the few occasions we've met, she always found a way to touch me or Forest, give unnecessarily long hugs that almost left an imprint on my body and she always found a way to be in a bikini.

Angelique could be at a skii resort in freezing temperature; if the Greyson brothers are there, she'll find a way to be in a bikini.

Forest was, of course, more than annoyed by the behaviour. He said he remembered her pulling these stunts when they started Highschool. So, the next time she laughed casually and tried resting her hand on his thigh, he told her if she touched him again, they'd have a serious problem.

She tried focusing more on me after that day, but she stopped when I made out with another girl infront of her.

I don't think that Lauren ever realised that her best friend was also trying to get my brother. I think she was too blinded by their friendship and, as a result, even when she clearly felt uncomfortable with how Angelique was acting, she chose to stay quiet because Angelique is her best friend.

Maybe she would have even been okay with them dating because she knew that my brother would never love any other woman except his then ex- girlfriend. Maybe she knew that Angelique would end up being a girlfriend who would be able to flaunt that she was dating a Greyson, without having any substance to that relationship.

At the end of the day, Forest would return to his home and Lauren would be there waiting for him, no matter who he was dating.

Maybe that thought made it easier for her when Angelique flirted with Forest.

Perhaps she needed to see Forest turn down Angelique and then downright threaten her. Perhaps that made her think that he was in love with her even though he made it clear he would never see her as anything but a friend.

With Charlie being back in the picture, she wouldn't be able to maintain that fantasy anymore. She wouldn't be able to pretend that Forest was dating other people, but still coming home to her.

Forest is unapologetically in love with Charlie so maintaining that fantasy would be impossible.

We'd hear them laughing in the kitchen while Charlie cooked. We'd hear him chasing her in whatever part of the house they were. We'd walk into a room and find them kissing.

I found these things to be a nuisance at best, but I saw it kill Lauren a little bit everyday.

She tried coming in between them. And although I hate to admit it, I also tried to help her do that.

She practically followed them around the house to stop them from having any kind of privacy. She wore the most skimpy outfits and even dropped her towel infront of Forest more than once. And of course, everytime they locked themselves in the home theatre, their suite or somewhere else in the house, she would start hyperventilating and passing out until Forest dropped what he was doing with Charlie and came to help her.

If my brother were a lesser man, he would have betrayed the woman he loves. He would have slept with Lauren a dozen times and Lauren would have been prepared to keep it a secret for some time.

Lauren wouldn't have cared that he didn't love her. She wants him regardless of the fact that he made it clear in no uncertain terms that he loves someone else.

However, my brother is not a lesser man.

He saw Lauren's actions for what they truly were and increased his and Charlotte's PDA around the house at least tenfold.

The two of them were always making out no matter where they were in the house. He would constantly tell Charlie that she's the only woman he's ever wanted to have kids with and that he couldn't wait until she was pregnant. Charlie would be seated in his lap every time they were in the same room and one time, when they left the house and Lauren asked them where they were going, he told her they were going to one of his apartments so they could make love all over the place.

He told her that with a straight face and then shut the door in her face.

I thought he was going overboard with hurting Lauren just to placate Charlotte.

Lauren's hair started falling out because of the stress of seeing those two together all the time. She lost some weight, started biting her nails and she kept having panic attacks on top of panic attacks.

I thought my brother was being cruel, but I see now that if he didn't do all those things, he would have lost Charlie. If he hadn't kept pushing Lauren away like that, he would have lost the woman he loves.

There were suddenly security guards infront of her suite - security guards who weren't there a few minutes ago.

They tried stopping us. I guess they thought me and Nigel would try to have a conversation with them first, but no words were exchanged with them.

I kneed one of the two men in the stomach before he could say a word and Nigel had the other guy pinned on the floor within a second.

The hospital's security guards charged at us as we barged through her suite ...

*******************************************

Lauren's POV

He burst inside the operating room too late.

He's too late.

He's too fucking late. She's already dead and there's nothing anyone can do to save her.

There's no Jona to taunt me and chip away at my confidence everyday. There's no Joshua to make sure no harm comes her way, and most importantly, there's no Lucas to shield Charlotte against the world.

She died alone and I bet in her subconscious mind she was begging, crying and screaming for Lucas to come save her this time. But I made sure she was alone, just like back then.

Charlotte Ericsson will always be alone.

She died know just how true that is.

I was standing over her dead body on the operating table as the heart monitor gave a flat line. Her hair that's usually all sprawled out like she's trying to show it off was bundled up in a surgical cap. She had so many tubes covering her face and body that it was hard to tell where one tube started and the other ended.

I couldn't help but look at the bump that was covered by her hospital gown.

Her evil spawn is also dead.

I can tell Christian thinks he still has time to save her. He doesn't know that the second Charlotte was wheeled inside this room, Dr Shetland handed me an injection containing a serum that gave Charlotte a heart attack before she was even cut. Her death certificate will say she died of natural causes.

I killed this woman myself and Dr Shetland even called her time of death. As of 5:06pm, the once amazing Charlotte Ericsson is officially deceased.

"Mr Greyson!" Dr Shetland screamed at him, but he seemed unmoved.

His eyes were not on the doctor who was threatening to call security if he didn't leave her OR.

No.

Christian Greyson's eyes were solely on me.

"I'm going to call security right this second!" Dr Shetland threatened him, but he still remained unbothered by her.

"Do it." He said calmly. "You're all about to commit murder so I definitely think you should call security."

I stifled a laugh.

We've already committed the murder.

Dr Shetland and her team all turned their heads simultaneously to look at me. They knew the risks of going through with this plan, so I don't know why they're looking at me like I can help them right now.

I have no money. I have no food. I have no servants and as of last week, I have no lights.

The house smells moldy. There's dirty laundry and dishes everywhere and the kitchen and living room are filled with fruit flies. People who claimed to be our friends and allies refuse to talk to us and last Saturday, I buried my niece in the tiniest coffin I've ever seen in my life.

I have nothing and Charlotte and the Greysons are to blame for all of it.

So she deserves to die.

Dr Shetland understood that. Her handpicked team of six people also understood that.

Charlotte is burning this entire country to the ground just to punish me and my family. Because of her, the entire country's medical industry is about to get overhauled. Because of her, people have to answer for things that they did years ago, things that they've been doing ever since they decided to accept the favours granted by the Mitchell Group.

Doctors who were supposed to retire are now facing criminal charges. Doctors and nurses are getting sued left and right and licenses are getting revoked. People whose careers have barely started are even getting punished.

The country is a mess and even people who had nothing to do with me and my family are suffering because of what Charlotte has started; people like Dr Shetland.

She has countless friends who have either lost everything or are about to lose everything because of Charlotte. One of her friends even tried taking her own life because of Charlotte.

Every bad thing that's happening in this country is happening because of Charlotte, but she still refuses to fucking stop.

So I stopped her.

And now she's dead.

She's finally dead.

"We are in the middle of performing a medical procedure, Mr Greyson." Dr Shetland feigned calmness. "Please leave."

"You know he'd never forgive you if you go through with this, right?" He ignored her and smirked my way. "I mean, he was never going to forgive you, but now, we're going to put the hounds on you, Lauren. Up until this point, Forest has only told everyone to stay away from the Mitchells and not help them, but now", he chuckled in a venomous tone, "now he's going to tell everyone to do their worst."

I guess there's no use keeping my surgical mask on. He already knows it's me behind the mask.

I saw him when he brought Charlotte to the hospital. I saw him walking with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. The people in their security detail that my dad paid off with his last bot of money all confirmed that Christian and Charlotte were suddenly on good terms.

I thought they were mistaken until I saw them today.

I thought the sight of him holding her and trying to keep her calm would break me, but all I felt was disgust.

I am disgusted by the Greysons and I have reached a point where I no longer care about any of them. All I care about is helping my family get out of this mess and hurting them the way they hurt me.

Angelique was proud of me when she noticed I didn't cry. She told me that's good because I should never shed a tear over Charlotte Ericsson ever again.

She thought I was hurt by the scene, but I was secretly grateful for it. It strengthened my resolve to take my revenge against the Greysons.

And now that revenge is done and Christian hasn't realised it.

Lucas will spiral out of control after hearing of Charlotte's death. The man might actually kill himself. This realisation - that he might kill himself over Charlotte - broke me in ways I didn't know I could break.

However, now I hope he kills himself.

I hope he goes to join that woman and their bastard child who will never take a single breath.

"I doubt that." I took off my surgical mask and plastered a smirk on my face. "I don't think he'll have time to think about not forgiving me or hurting me while mourning his precious Charlotte. I think he'll be too busy falling apart, Christian and this time I won't be there to help him pick up the pieces!"

He laughed while maintaining the most bone chilling eye contact with me.

I hate that laugh. I've heard Lisa laugh that way whenever I didn't understand something she thought was simple.

"You really do overestimate the role you played in helping him, don't you?" He cocked his head to the side. "You can't cook. You can't clean. You can't drive. You don't know how to keep a schedule or to prioritise tasks. You can barely read and yet you think YOU'RE the reason MY brother got his fucking engineering degree from MIT?"

"Are you really that delusional, Lauren?" His laughter filled the room some more.

He was saying all of this in a room full of people who were all observing our exchange and who seemed too to scared to move or talk or tell him that he was being cruel to another human being.

He's trying to embarass me infront of these people and I won't let him.

I'm the reason Lucas Greyson is who he is today. He doesn't get to say such things about me.

"You're a fucking liar." I spat at him. "Without me, your brother would have turned into a fucking dropout and you know that!"

"No." He shook his head mockingly. "Mom made sure Forest was fed and that his room and person were clean. Me and Belle forced him to go running and hiking with us and do all kinds of things to get him out of the house. Belle fucking followed us to Massachusettes to keep him on schedule. Mom is the one who explained things to his lecturers so that he could retake a few of his tests. And you", that malicious smirk appeared on his face again, "you were just glued to him, hoping that he would stay like that so that you would feel like he needed you! You didn't drag him to his classes. Belle did that and you tagged along. You didn't stop him from drinking. I did that. I'm the one who dragged him out of bars and kept him away from alcohol. You, again, just tagged along. "And you", he pointed a finger at me angrily, "you didn't even want him to get out of the house. You wanted him to sulk all day because you're a lazy piece of shit. But again, everytime me and Belle made him get out of the house, you fucking tagged along."

"You tagged along so much that along the way, I convinced myself that you actually helped and then I also convinced my brother of that fucking lie because I felt sorry for you!"

These are all lies.

The Greysons are such liars. They are so ungrateful.

I built that man. He is who he is because of me. Charlotte was nowhere to be found, but I was there all the fucking time. For all we know, she was busy whoring around. That dead baby might not even be his.

I am the reason he was able to pull off that merger. Me. Even Christian is who he is today because of me.

And now he has the gull to say this bullshit to me.

My eyes started to swell up with tears.

Now now. Please. I can't cry right now.

"You were just there." He continued in that same venomous tone. "That's all you did, Lauren. You were the girl that was around so much that I started believing you were actually doing something, but you weren't because you can't do anything. There is absolutely nothing you can do and that fact eats away at you every single day because you will always be the girl who gets a participation prize, but Charlie will always be the girl who wins all the awards."

I stumbled backwards.

My whole body started to itch and burn.

How could he say that?

I have been nothing but good to him. Why is he doing this to me?

I looked at each person in the room. Their eyes were filled with shock and pity.

Why is he doing this to me?

"Classic, Lauren." His taunting laughter echoed in the room again. "Of course you're crying."

I burst out in sobs.

I'm going to kill him.

It's one thing for Lucas to side with Charlotte, but Christian was always on my side. He hated her more than I did at times. He wasn't supposed to ever want to put an arm around her shoulders. He was never supposed to stop calling me, answering my calls or ignoring my texts.

He was never supposed to block my number and yet he did.

He was never supposed to start working for Charlotte. He was never supposed to blame me for the death of some girl who killed herself after she poured milk all over me.

Why should I feel guilty for the death of a bully?

That girl was a bully and so is Charlotte. Everything that's happened since she came back is because she was bullying me and my family. The entire world is okay watching her do this to me and yet when I stand up for myself, Christian wants to say such hurtful things to me.

He was supposed to make Charlotte's life miserable.

He was supposed to make Lucas choose to either be with Charlotte and lose his brother and cut ties with Charlotte so that he could keep his family.

I'll hurt him too. I can hurt him too.

"I'm not crying because of what you said, Christian." I lied through my tears. "I'm crying because I'm here wasting my time talking to the lesser Greyson brother. I'm here with the Greyson brother that no one cares about and that will NEVER live up to his family's name and reputation. I'm crying because even your own family knows how worthless and useless you are, Christian and you and I both know that if your family had to choose between you and Charlotte, they'd choose her every single damn time! YOU are as fucking useless as I am! You are as lazy and as distracted and unmotivated as me, Christian. You're a fucking grown man who needs to be pestered before you start living your own life and I have seen first hand how much your family hates you for being so lazy. And you know something else?" I spat. "I think it's fucking strange how suddenly you became Mr Accomplishments when Charlotte came back into the picture. It's almost like you're trying to impress your brother's girlfriend and -"

"Wife", he interjected with a smirk. "If you're going to insult me get your facts straight, Lauren. Charlotte is Forest's wife."

Forest. Forest's wife.

What a fucking ridiculous name.

When the fuck did he start calling him by that ridiculous name?

She doesn't deserve to be a Greyson. She will never be a Greyson. That fucking marriage was a fluke, a sham. Lucas doesn't have a wife.

I fumbled at my pockets, took out my phone and dialed a number.

I'm going to hurt him.

I'm going to show him how little his own brother thinks of him. I'll show him that Charlotte has taken his place and he let her.

"Hello." Dad's voice came through.

"It's done." I said calmly. "I did it."

Christian's eyes became darker, but the moron still didn't know what I was talking about. If I'm known as the dumb Mitchell sister, then Christian Greyson is the dumb Greyson brother.

Dad sighed with so much relief after hearing what I said. I wished I were there to hold his hand and reassure him that this nightmare is over.

"Can I speak to Lucas?" I asked while glaring at Christian.

Dad groaned, but he agreed to my request.

I'll give Lucas some false hope today. I'll make him think his girlfriend is still alive. It will be the last kindness I ever give this man. It will be the last thing I ever give the Greysons.

"Lucas", I tried to steady my voice as I put the phone on loud speaker, "Lucas choose. It's either Christian or Charlotte. Who should get to live?"

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