Chapter 220
Chapter 220
"It's me." The person on the phone only said two words.
"Shane..." Charlotte's voice quivered.
Shane glanced at the little fellow who was playing in the ball pit at the playground. His eyes softened at the sight of that. "Let's have dinner together and tell me about the content of today's meeting."
Charlotte sniffed and said, "I don't want to see you."
"What's wrong?" He frowned slightly, sensing that something was wrong with her.
"I'm fine."
"How can you say that you're fine when you're crying? Give me your address."
Charlotte shook her head. Only after a while did she remember that they were on the phone, and he couldn't see her shaking her head.
She said, "I'm really fine."
"Come have dinner with me then."
"I'm really not in the mood for dinner today. How about tomorrow?" Charlotte's voice was hoarse, making her sound rather pathetic.
"Stay where you are."
Before Charlotte understood the meaning of this sentence, she heard Shane walking into the crowd, followed by Sheryl's voice.Content © NôvelDrama.Org 2024.
After a short while, Shane hung up the phone.
It wasn't until then did Charlotte realize that the reason Shane didn't attend the partnership meeting today was that he was taking care of Sheryl?
He was absent because of Sheryl?
For some reason, Charlotte felt a shiver run down her spine.
Shane was already so devoted to Sheryl even before knowing that she was her daughter?
Charlotte decided to wait for Shane to come because she genuinely had no idea where she should go. After buying a cup of coffee, she just stayed in her car. In less than 20 minutes, a Maybach stopped in front of her car and honked at her.
She looked up.
Cole got out of the car to open the door of the backseat. Shane stepped out of the car with his slender and sturdy legs. His muscular and relaxed figure slowly emerged. A small and chubby girl who seemed to be asleep was lying on his shoulders.
Charlotte stared blankly at him as he walked closer and closer towards herself. It wasn't until he knocked on her glass window with his slender fingers that she came back to her senses and pressed a button to lower her window.
"Open the door."
"It's open."
Shane signaled Cole to open the door.
Cole respectfully opened the door of the driver's seat and bent over politely to open the door of the backseat for Charlotte and Shane. He then sat down on the driver's seat.
Before Charlotte could react, she was already sitting beside Shane.
"Your car..." she couldn't help but ask.
"Miss Charlotte, I'll come back and drive my car home," Cole explained.
Charlotte bit her lower lip and said, "Okay."
"Tell me, what happened?" Shane's gaze landed on Charlotte.
Her eyes were a little red, her hair was messy too, and her lips, bloodless.
This little woman definitely cried.
Charlotte shook her head. "It's not a big deal, just something personal."
"I don't think you want me to force you to confess in front of your daughter, do you?"
"You..." Charlotte glared at him. But the moment she made eye contact with him, she immediately gave in. She lowered her head and softly said, "Rick doesn't want me anymore."
There was a dead silence.
Cole didn't even dare to make a sound with his breathing.
"That's normal."
After a long time, Shane's voice finally rang out in the car.
Charlotte's eyes well up once again. "I'm embarrassed to blame you too because clearly, you have good intentions. It's just that I'm not really good at dealing with this kind of problem. It's all my fault. I'll apologize and make it up to him in a few days."
"He won't forgive you."
"Impossible. Rick loves me a lot. He..."
"That's only what you think."
Charlotte didn't look at him and just clenched her fists.
Halfway on the road, Sheryl woke up from her sleep. When she saw Charlotte, she immediately hugged her by her neck and talked about how Shane had spent the whole day with her. They went to the zoo and the megamall after returning to the city, where they played with softballs in the kid's playground.
Sheryl said that she had already told Shane a week ago that she wanted to go out and play today, and Shane promised her at that time. He even took her to buy some clothes yesterday.
"Mommy, I think you're the only one missing from our home," the little fellow said in a low and muffled voice.
"Don't talk nonsense."
"I wasn't talking nonsense. I just think that it's very pitiful for daddy to be alone. He came to pick me up at school once and even fell asleep in the car."
Charlotte was shocked. She looked at Shane and lowered her head, saying, "Thank you."
"I didn't do it for you."
"Sheryl is my daughter," she immediately said.
"So, does that mean I can't like her?"
Charlotte was rendered speechless. Besides, she already felt that she had been wronged, so her tears fell inexplicably.
Shane glanced at her lightly, then took out a black handkerchief and handed it to her. "Wipe your tears."
She took it and wiped it carelessly. Even her snot was smeared on his handkerchief.
He certainly wouldn't want that handkerchief anymore.
Shane instantly threw it into the ashtray.
Charlotte ignored him and Sheryl as she stared outside the window.
"Mommy is in a bad mood today," Sheryl whispered in Shane's ear.
The little fellow's voice was very soft. Her warm breath from her words traveled to his ear, making it itchy.
Shane took the little fellow back into his arms and murmured to her ears, "Does Sheryl have any solutions?"
"After dinner, I will follow Uncle Cole to his car and let him send me home. You can spend some time outside with mommy alone!" the little fellow suggested thoughtfully.
"That's daddy's good girl."
"This is all for my mommy's happiness," the little fellow said seriously.
Shane laughed at her silly behavior and said with a smirk, "You're smart."
Sheryl was very proud of herself.
At dinner time, Charlotte was quiet as well. She couldn't stop thinking about things with Rick, so she didn't eat much.
When they were almost finished, Sheryl left with Cole. After Charlotte blandly bid Sheryl goodbye, she was lost in her thoughts again.
When there was no food left on the table, her gaze was still dull and numb.
She suddenly regained her senses when she unintentionally caught a glimpse of the clock and said urgently, "It's already 11 o'clock. Sheryl should go home and sleep. You guys..."
Where was Sheryl?
"Where's Sheryl?" Charlotte asked Shane.
The man picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip slowly. "Your daughter was hugging you and saying that she'll see you in her dreams. How could you forget about that so soon?"
Charlotte gave a bitter smile. "I...maybe I was distracted."
"Because of Rick?"
"Yeah." She didn't try to evade the question.
"I'll take you to a place."
The beach.
The beach at nightfall.
Based on Charlotte's rough judgment, the temperature of the seawater would probably be under zero. Not only would it be bone-chilling, but some parts of the water would have frozen into a thin layer of ice too.
"Why did you bring me here so late at night?" Charlotte hid in the car and placed her hand above the heater. She had no intention of getting out of the car at all.
"This is the main route for the ships of the partnership. Come and have a look."
That piqued Charlotte's interest. Even though she was cold, she was still able to endure it by clenching her teeth. After all, she was wearing a down jacket.
The frigid sea breeze and piercing seawater caused Charlotte to shiver as she was walking forward. The muscles all over her body were trembling crazily.
Finally, the two of them walked through a long stone path and arrived in front of a lighthouse.
While the dim light was emitting from the lighthouse, Charlotte could vaguely see a ship parked on the sea in the distance. On the ship, many people were going to and fro, with their necks exposed. It seemed like they were carrying goods.
"Aren't they cold?" Charlotte couldn't help but pull her jacket tightly. Let's not talk about exposing her shoulders, taking off a down jacket was enough to suffocate her.
"Cold, of course," Shane replied lightly. "But to survive, they have no other option."
All of a sudden, Charlotte felt that those words were unusually heavy and hurtful.
Those people only managed to move a single box after working for half a day.
Once again, Shane opened his thin lips and said, "The shipping fee for one box costs 80 dollars. They have a total of seven people, so one person can only claim 11 dollars."
Don't even mention that it was 11 dollars, given if it was 110 dollars, or even 1100 dollars, Charlotte wouldn't want to touch a box in such cold weather either.