The Broken Benefactor

~2~ (3rd HARD EDIT 06/05/2023)

(CHARLOTTE)

"Look... I did my part. You got that black gal in there, and she's willing to do anything you tell her. Let your caregiver babysit you and do all of that other crap I have no desire to put up with any freaking longer," The distorted face screeched at the disabled veteran.

Continuing her tirade, the manic being slammed clothes in any bag she found. From time to time she cut her eyes back to the man with a look of disgust ingrained in her brows.

"If you weren't such a dick all the freaking time, you would have more help. Why should anyone stay around your grumpy complaining ass? Did it ever once occur to you that maybe just maybe you were taking your frustrations out on the wrong person? For fuck's sake, you know I can barely cook without burning water. Hell, if you hadn't swooped in like captain save-a-hoe, I wouldn't have been able to take care of myself. How in the hell would I possibly have what it takes to care for you now that your body is all messed up?" Charlotte rambled on as she let the words sizzle from her lips like a popped balloon loses air.

The frustrations fused in every word was so heavy, no one could get a peep in otherwise.

Without taking a pause, she decided to add insult to injury by giving him a good piece of her mind.

"For someone who prides himself in being smart, you sure are dumb as a doorknob. Who do you think took care of you when you were in that damn coma? You're so busy rolling around here feeling sorry for yourself with your head shoved so far up your own ass. You refuse to see the truth even though it was right in front of you the whole time."

She cackled as she let her former lover in on her dirty deeds and as usual as Ethan battled to get a word in while Charlotte was raging. 

"That black bitch saved your life."

His eyes were locked on her unnaturally plump bubble gum pink lips as she came clean about everything.

"So, what else have you lied about?" The question was barely audible.

Based on her attitude, Charlotte had every intention of emotionally and mentally wrecking him as she grabbed her things. The weight of her confession squeezed the oxygen out of the room with a paralyzing effect that reinforced her efforts to confirm that he has already become her ex based on the hate she spewed.

Ethan's soul filled with remorse as it finally hit him that Valerie had been the only person to nurse him back to health. The realization simultaneously washed across his face as he considered the many times he had previously insulted her for wrongs she had never committed. To make matters worse, he witnessed a little glimmer of satisfaction color Charlotte's cheeks when she identified the exact moment the truth hit him.

"When you were in that stupid coma, we were getting an extra stipend for your... well, you know."

She waved her hand up and down to point out his limited state. The cruel witch continued her tirade with no more concern for his emotions than she had for a homeless person who was starving to death.

"I brought Valerie in as your personal assistant, so to speak. She's been here dang near every day since you came back and you better thank God Almighty I brought her in because you would already be dead and gone if she had turned my offer down."

To hear her admit to such bile and disgusting things, the man was rendered speechless. It never once occurred to him that his life was in danger until the toxic poison flowed effortlessly from those lips.

"I tried to care for you for about the first week, But honestly, I nearly killed you and myself a couple of times. I don't have the slightest idea of how to change a grown man's diaper or clean anyone's ass but my own. If she hadn't answered my ad for a healthcare worker when she did, I probably would have smothered you with a pillow."