Chapter 7 Dad looked absolutely stunned , but he snapped into action fast - SMACK - he slapped Charlotte across the face , hard . Charlotte stared at him in complete shock . " Dad ... you hit me ? You've never hit me before ! " Dad looked at her with pure disappointment . " Security ! Take her to her room and lock the door . She doesn't come out until I say so ! " " No ... no , please ! Dad , I'm sorry ! Don't do this to me ! " When Dad didn't budge , Charlotte then turned to Mom for help . But Mom just turned away , completely done with her too . " Charlotte , you need to cool off and think about what you've done . " At that point , Charlotte gave up fighting and let the security guards drag her away , I looked back and sure enough saw her staring at me with this creepy , vengeful look in her eyes . Everyone slowly recovered from the shock . Mr. Blackwood spoke first . " Let's set a date for the engagement . " " Ethan , why don't you take Sophia out for a bit ? Get some fresh air . " Ethan nodded and took my hand . " You okay ? " His voice was so gentle . I nodded . I really had been scared for a second there . But thankfully she didn't actually touch me . What shocked me was that none of this happened in my past life . It seemed like my actions in this life were already changing things . But I was still worried . Charlotte's reaction was so extreme - who knows what crazy stuff she might try next . I needed to stay on guard. When I snapped back to reality , Ethan was still holding my hand . I quickly pulled it back . He looked a bit surprised , then smiled . " Feeling better now ? " I nodded shyly . Even in my past life , I'd barely spent any time with him . We ended up walking around downtown for a while . 66.7 % Dloring Victim to Victory Chapter 7 Weirdly enough , he seemed to know exactly what I liked . We set the wedding date for mid - next month . And Charlotte got locked up for a full week . The first three days , she was completely hysterical - screaming , crying , refusing to eat . Then she started begging for forgiveness , apologizing to everyone including me like a maniac . The last two days , she went totally quiet but finally started eating again . Mom felt bad for her . " Charlotte's already apologized , and she's been locked up for a week . She's probably learned her lesson . If we keep her in there much longer , we might really mess her up . " Dad nodded . " Yeah , that's probably enough . " Only Marcus was still cold toward her . " Honestly ? It's been pretty peaceful around here these past few days . " Ever since Charlotte's stunt at the party , Marcus had been giving her the cold shoulder and being way nicer to me . Dad shot him a look , then went to let Charlotte out . The second the door opened , Mom rushed forward and hugged Charlotte tight . " Oh , sweetheart , you've been through so much . " Despite everything Charlotte had done , Mom still had years of maternal love for her and was willing to give her another chance . " I'm so sorry , Mom . " Charlotte sobbed in Mom's arms . " Dad , Marcus , Sophia ... I was so wrong . I'll never do anything like this again . Please forgive me . " She was crying so hard she could barely get the words out , but the family totally fell for it . Dad caved first . " We're family , honey . As long as you recognize your mistakes , we'll always forgive you . " Even Marcus just rolled his eyes and didn't say anything harsh . " Sophia ... I'm so sorry ... " I looked at her pathetic act with the same neutral expression . " If you screw up , you face the consequences . Just try to use your brain next time . " She nodded eagerly and wiped her tears . " I will , Sophia . Please believe me . " I didn't have time for her performance , so I left to start planning next month's wedding . Over the next few days , she actually seemed to behave herself . She'd say hi when she saw me and even helped out with little things . I started thinking maybe I really had changed the timeline enough that she'd actually learned her lesson . I let my guard down . Right up until the wedding day . Chapter 8