Shane's smile was appealing which was completely different from his usual visage.
Charlotte liked his smile very much, but he didn't laugh often. It's rare for his lips to curve upwards. She looked at him unblinkingly, not wanting to miss a second of his smile, until it faded.
"What are you laughing at?" Only then did she avert her gaze.
"You went out for a breather without taking your phone and instead of going to your friends, you chose to camp out in a coffee shop?"
"It's not camping if it was in a coffee shop," she argued. As soon as she realized what she said, she broke out in laughter.
Shane bent and kissed her between her brows. "You're not an orphan anymore. You have me."
Now I had him.
Charlotte's heart quavered and she leaned into his arms. She always felt that she would not get over the hurdle in her heart, but she seemed to be able to get over it easily.
It appeared to be in the past.
Rick's residence.
Anne put her suitcase down and took in her surroundings. "Rick, you should redecorate your house."
Before she left, the interior was European-styled, now it became gothic. The wallpaper was jet black and it looked very reclusive. Anne knew Rick didn't prefer this style because it felt particularly repressive.
What's going on?
"Well, I think this style isn't bad," Rick said. "You can head on upstairs."
"Rick, aren't you going to ask me?"
"Am I still your brother?" Rick smiled. "You can tell Charlotte about this. All I can do is to provide accommodations and money for you. Anything else doesn't concern me."
Anne bit her lip and grabbed Rick's arm. "You're angry at me, aren't you?"
Rick didn't break free. Instead, he patted her head. "I'm your brother. I won't be angry with you no matter what. But you don't have to tell me everything in your life. Nothing good will come out of it."
Nothing good would come out of it?
Anne didn't understand what he meant, but Braden
already had his arms around her. He bowed his head and said, "Anne, we can talk about this later. Now respect your brother's wishes and respect yourself."
He knew Anne didn't understand why Rick refused to ask her, but she would never tell him the truth.
Once Rick had asked, it was very likely she would reply, "It's none of your business."
Anne had always been insolent.
Rick returned to his study, turned on his computer, and saw the photos of him, Anne, and Charlotte together on the desk. When he gave Charlotte up, he knew that this day would come. His sister didn't acknowledge him, and she had nothing to say to him after returning home.
But he still made up his mind.
He wasn't sad about this decision, rather if it was right or wrong. He didn't have the slightest bit of confidence in himself.
He knew that Charlotte was willing to be tied to his side for the rest of her life in matrimony. She was kind and docile, so he had thought of tethering her this way.
But when she pushed Kendall to him without hesitating, he knew that it was useless.
A series of beeps alerted him to an incoming call.
A notification appeared on his phone.
Rick accepted it and Kendall's innocent face appeared. "Rick!"
Somewhere behind that angelic face hid a malicious disposition. Rick couldn't help but touch the screen. "Kendall, when are you coming back?"
"I want to attend Anne's wedding too, but I don't know if I can get there on time." Kendall frowned wistfully.
"Stop frowning. It doesn't look good on you."
"Then I won't frown anymore. By the way, it's really fun here."
After dating him, Kendall became more amenable and lovely, just like when she was a child. It wasn't that Rick didn't like her present self, but the fact that she could do that to Sheryl and hypnotize Christopher, he just couldn't let it go.
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