Charles went quiet. Whenever his big brother used that tone, it meant business.
If he kept pushing his luck, he''d probably be banned from the Chester family
estate for good.
A strange heaviness settled in his chest. It felt foreign. He never cared if everyone
over there hated him; honestly, he''d never given them a second thought. He could
have killed them all if he''d wanted-if anything, they should be grateful he hadn''t.
Snide remarks, insults, gossip-none of it ever touched him. A butcher doesn''t
care what the pigs in the pen are squealing about. He couldn''t remember ever
feeling truly angry or hurt because of what someone said.
But right now? He actually felt terrible. Even the flower crown sitting on his head
felt like it weighed a ton.
"Hey, bro, you-"
He didn''t get to finish. Suddenly, there was a hugemotion outside.
The manor gates copsed, ttened under the weight of a dozen cars roaring
onto the property.
The cars screeched to a stop just beyond the garden, and Charles instinctively
tried to put himself between ra and the chaos.
Then a man stepped out of one of the ck cars-Dn.
Dn looked pale, almost sickly. The moment he spotted ra, he lifted his hand
and waved her over.
"Come here."
ra peeked out, looked at Dn for a second, then back at Charles. "Bro, who''s
that?"
Being called "bro" in front of everyone gave Charles a weird mix of
embarrassment and pride.
Dn nced at ra and immediately noticed something was off. He paused,
took a breath, then looked up with a gentle smile. "ra,e here. Technically,
you should be calling me ''husband."
ra''s eyes were pure and clear. She turned to Charles and asked in a whisper,
"Is that true?"
Charles pressed his lips together, not saying a word.
Richard, leaning against a car, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "So you
Chesters ready to give up your Antic shipping line? Didn''t your brother warn
you?"
Everyone knew talking sense into Charles was pointless-he was a wildcard.
Only the two eldest Chesters could keep him in check.
If someone hadn''t posted those night market photos online, Dn and Richard
probably wouldn''t have shown up this fast.
A sh of murderous intent flickered
in Charles''s eyes, but just then,
someone pped him on the
shoulder. "Bro, are these the people
you wanted to see?"
Charles didn''t answer. His anger was simmering, but then his phone started
ringing again-another overseas call.
The doctor saw his chance and hurried over to ra. "Ms. ra, he really is your
husband. You should go to him."
ra took a hesitant step forward, then turned back to look at Charles.
Charles just stared at his phone, frustrated. For the first time ever, he didn''t want
to pick up Mitch''s call.
ra waited, but when he said nothing, she walked forward another ten meters,
then stopped and looked back at him again.
Charles rushed forward, trying to catch up and stop her.
But all of a sudden, dozens of guns aimed right at him. The whole ce was
tense, every second stretched thin.
Dn reached out and closed his fingers tightly around ra''s hand.
ra didn''t pull away. She watched his face for a long moment, hesitated, then
finally called out softly, "Husband."
Richard, standing off to the side, nearly lost his footing.
Dn''s eyes narrowed sharply. He turned away for a second, clearly wrestling
with something inside, then looked back at her and said calmly, "Yeah."
Watching all of this, Charles was a
wreck. He couldn''t care less about
the guns pointed at him; what really
mattered was ra. He spoke up,
careful and serious, "She was
injected with something. It''ll take
about a month for her to get better.
She needs to rest, no exceptions."
"She''s got wounds on her neck and
wrists-you''ll need to change her
bandages often. Oh, and she''s
gotten really into ying cards. y
with her if you can."
"There''s a night market in the Capital, right? Take her there, let her y the w
machines. She loves those."
The more Charles rambled on, the darker Dn''s face got.