They met at a party during their time studying at Oxford University when they were 19 years old, and started their highly intense romance. Charlotte’s previous boyfriend, Jago Ross, was from an aristocratic Scottish family, but at the end of their relationship, Charlotte saw Strike as the perfect antidote to Jago. They bonded over many things – including their similarly dysfunctional families, and their unwillingness to have children – but disagreed on so many more. Charlotte’s jealousy, insecurity, and controlling nature didn’t endear her to Strike’s family and friends; and likewise, the superiority and snobbishness didn’t endear Strike to Charlotte’s circle of friends. But sometimes that just didn’t matter to the two of them, in the throes of their romance. Strike proposed just after being discharged from hospital for his amputation, and Charlotte is the only woman that Strike has said ‘I love you’ to…