My Ex-Husband Fell for Me Again, Not Knowing Who I Was

"Charlotte!"

Mrs. Hawthorne's shrill scream was accompanied by the loud crash of the bowl of hot soup onto the marble floor.

Crash!

Broken porcelene scattered boiling broth splashed onto the hem of Charlotte's dress. She winced in pain as the hot broth hit her foot, but she didn't dare to back down. She remained standing by the dining table, tightly gripping the hem of her apron as she tried to suppress the trembling of her body. She had only been carrying her baby for six months, but at that moment, what she feared more was not the pain in her body but the anger of the woman in front of her.

"Is this what you want to feed my family?"

Charlotte bowed her head and immediately bowed in apology.

"I-I'm sorry, Mother. The soup hasn't completely boiled yet. I was just going to put some..."

"Shut up!" 

Charlotte flinched at the loudness of Mrs. Hawthorne's voice.

"Do you have the nerve to answer? If I haven't tasted it yet, you'll serve us your tasteless food?"

Charlotte shook her head quickly.

"That's not what I meant..."

"Then what do you mean?"

Charlotte fell silent. She opened her mouth several times, but no words came out. She knew that any explanation she offered would not be listened to.

From the top of the table, Mr. Hawthorne gently put down his coffee cup and looked at Charlotte coldly.

"You've lived in this house for six months, and you still don't know how to cook a simple soup?"

"I'm sorry, Father..."

"Don't call me 'Father'."

The entire room fell silent.

"I don't recognize you as my daughter-in-law. And I never will."

It was as if something heavy had hit Charlotte's chest. Even though she had heard those words over and over again, she still couldn't get used to them. Every time the Hawthorne family denied her identity, it felt like a new wound was being added to her heart.

From the other end of the table, Ethan's younger sister laughed.

"Dad, why are you still making her cook? Don't our chefs cook better?"

Mrs. Hawthorne grinned.

"That's what I want to make this woman understand. She thought that because she became Ethan's wife, she would be the queen of this house."

Charlotte shook her head slowly.

"I never thought of that."

"Really?"

Mrs. Hawthorne slowly approached until their faces were almost face to face.

"Otherwise, why do you think of yourself that way?"

Charlotte was confused.

"Mother?"

 "Do you think that because you're bringing my granddaughter, you have the right to call yourself Mrs. Hawthorne?"

Charlotte didn't answer right away. She automatically grabbed her stomach, as if the simple caress there was the only thing that gave her the strength to stay standing.

"I love Ethan."

Almost at the same time as Charlotte uttered her husband's name, she heard Mrs. Hawthorne's hearty laughter.

"Love?"

The old lady shook her head.

"Charlotte, don't make me laugh."

"Your love ruined my son's future."

Charlotte's eyes widened.

"That's not true."

"No?" Mr. Hawthorne interjected. "If you hadn't gotten pregnant, Vanessa Caldwell would be our son's wife now. The Hawthorne Group would have grown even stronger with the merger of the two families."

Charlotte bowed silently.

She knew that the Hawthorne family had long wanted Vanessa to be Ethan's wife. To this day, that's what they still believe—that she's just an obstacle in the life of the man she loved with all her heart.

"But instead..." Mrs. Hawthorne added as she stared at Charlotte with contempt, "...you're the one who ended up here. A woman with no name, no wealth, and nothing to be proud of but the child in your womb."

Charlotte clenched her hands tightly. She could feel the pain of the wound on her palm from the broken porcelain, but every word thrown at her hurt more.

"Mother... I'm going to make another soup."

"That's not what I want."

Charlotte was surprised.

"M-Mom?"

"Kneel down."

She didn't move for a moment.

"Mother..."

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

Charlotte looked at the scattered glass on the floor. She slowly knelt down on the cold marble even though her knees were shaking.

"Pick all of that up."

Charlotte hesitated.

"Mother... maybe..."

Her gaze fell to her stomach.

She couldn't finish what she was saying.

Mrs. Hawthorne's gaze sharpened even more.

"What if you're pregnant?"

"Pregnancy is no excuse for being lazy."

"If you want to stay in this house, learn to obey."

Charlotte silently bowed her head. She reached for the sharp pieces of porcelain one by one with her shaking hands, trying to forget the pain in her back and the fear that something might happen to the child she was carrying.

Charlotte silently picked up each piece of broken porcelain. Her fingers trembled as she placed the pieces of glass one by one on the small tray. Every time she bent down, it felt like someone was tugging at her lower abdomen. She couldn't help but feel a tug there from time to time, but every time Mrs. Hawthorne noticed it, the old man's expression only hardened.

"Don't touch your stomach. You won't die from a little work."

Charlotte swallowed before bending down again.

"Yes, Mother."

Mrs. Hawthorne laughed again.

"'Yes, Mother.' Is that all you know how to say?"

Charlotte didn't answer. She knew that no matter what she said, it would still be wrong in the eyes of her mother-in-law.

While picking up the last piece of porcelain, her finger accidentally slipped. A sharp shard of glass sank into her palm.

Charlotte gasped.

Fresh blood immediately dripped onto the white marble.

Mr. Hawthorne frowned as he saw the blood spread across the floor.

"Look at what you've done."

 Charlotte quickly wiped the blood away with the hem of her apron.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry again?" Mrs. Hawthorne said coldly. "Don't you know anything else?"

Charlotte clenched her wounded palm tightly to stop the bleeding.

"I didn't mean to."

"You didn't mean to." Mrs. Hawthorne shook her head. "You didn't mean to get pregnant. You didn't mean to ruin breakfast. You didn't mean to bleed on the floor. Tell me, Charlotte... is there anything in your life that you've intentionally done right?"

Something seemed to be blocking Charlotte's throat.

She wanted to say that she had done everything for this family. She had woken herself up before dawn. She had been the one to shop, cook, clean, and take care of the entire mansion even though there were maids.

But she said nothing.

Not because she had nothing to answer.

But because she knew no one would listen.

 Seeing that Charlotte had finished picking up the bottles, Mrs. Hawthorne sat down again and calmly drank her coffee.

"What are you waiting for?"

Charlotte looked up.

"Mother?"

"Change the tablecloth. Mop the floor. Make some more soup."

Charlotte nodded.

"Yes."

Before she could leave, her mother-in-law's cold voice stopped her again.

"And after that..."

Charlotte stopped.

"You'll wash all the dishes we've used."

Mrs. Hawthorne paused for a moment before speaking again.

"After that, you'll clean the entire second floor."

Charlotte felt her knees go weak.

She knew it would be noon.

And she hadn't eaten anything yet.

She mustered up her courage.

"Mother... could you..."

She couldn't finish what she was saying.

"What?"

 Charlotte bowed weakly.

"Can I eat for a moment? I haven't eaten since last night."

The entire Hawthorne family looked at each other in silence.

After a few seconds, Mrs. Hawthorne laughed softly.

"Did you hear that?"

Ethan's youngest brother grinned.

"Ate Charlotte seems very hungry."

Even Mr. Hawthorne shook his head.

"Shouldn't you be used to it by now?"

Charlotte looked at her in surprise.

"What?"

"When you weren't Hawthorne, weren't you often hungry?"

Tears gradually formed in Charlotte's eyes.

She didn't expect that even her family's poverty would be used against her.

"Mother... Father..."

Her voice was weak.

"I'm not forcing myself on this family."

Mrs. Hawthorne grinned.

"Really?"

She slowly stood up and approached Charlotte.

"If you're not forcing yourself, why are you still here?"

Charlotte was silent.

"Because I'm Ethan's wife."

For the first time, Mrs. Hawthorne laughed out loud.

A laugh full of mockery.

"Wife?"

She shook her head.

"Charlotte, don't kid yourself."

"Ethan only married you because you got pregnant."

"You're a responsibility."

"You were never a choice."

Charlotte felt like she had stopped breathing.

Every word Mrs. Hawthorne uttered seemed to slowly crush the remaining hope she had.

Ethan loved her.

She kept telling herself that.

 But why... didn't her husband defend her to her family at least once?

Charlotte quietly bowed her head to hide the tears that were starting to fall.

She didn't notice that outside the dining room there was a pair of eyes quietly watching what was happening.

And just a few seconds later, the main door of the mansion opened.

A familiar voice greeted happily.

"Good morning, Auntie. Good morning, Uncle."

Charlotte slowly turned around.

As soon as the woman entered, the expressions of the entire Hawthorne family changed.

Vanessa Caldwell arrived.