Charlene shoved Mrs. Engel with all her might, only for Mrs. Engel to block her arm steadily. Even though Mrs. Engel was a middle-aged woman, she spent her days performing heavy labor, so her body was strong. Charlene was a woman who refused to perform any chores, so she was no match for Mrs. Engel. Charlene’s expression turned unpleasant at once. She was glaring at Mrs. Engel with a malicious gaze.Mrs. Engel was expressionless and repeated herself, “Miss McKinney, you can’t enter the study room in view of the situation. It would be best for you to return to your room and rest.”Charlene gnashed her teeth and said threateningly, “Mrs. Engel, you should be well aware of Brendan’s attitude toward me. When he marries me, I will be the family’s matriarch. Do you think Brendan will mind if I do something to you by then?”Mrs. Engel smiled and said, “I don’t know if Mr. Brighthall will mind it, but I’m aware that I’ll be safe for one more day as long as Miss McKinnon is here. I will

Brendan did not speak but looked at her with his icy cold eyes. There was no telling what was on his mind. Charlene could not help feeling guilty. “Brendan…”“Charlene, don’t think that I’m a fool,” said Brendan. The coldness exuded from his body, and his eyes that could see through her were all meant to warn her. “I don’t want what happened last night to happen again, do you understand?”“Brendan…” Charlene was scared out of her wits, and tears streamed down her face instantly. She had no choice but to acknowledge her guilt at this point. “I didn’t do that on purpose. I love you too much, and I fell for a doctor’s advice. I thought that doing this would reconcile our relationship, I—”“It seems that you don’t understand my words.” Brendan interrupted her coldly. “I want you to answer that you won’t let this happen again.”He leaned over with narrowed eyes and a cold demeanor. "I despise being a pawn in someone's plan. Ophelia's survival is of lesser importance to me than being m

‘Behaving abnormally?’Brendan kept quiet for a moment before he answered calmly, “No. I’ve been in company meetings all day, and I haven’t left yet.”‘Haven’t left yet?’Deirdre was convinced, and Brendan asked, “Why? Is she stirring up trouble with you again?”“I’m used to her stirring up trouble because she is all talk and no action at most. I will just ignore her, but today, she…” Deirdre was having trouble putting it into words. Was she supposed to tell Brendan personally that Charlene was cheating on him because she could possibly be sleeping with other men?If she were to say that, she would hurt the man’s sense of pride easily.“Forget it, it’s fine.”“It’s not like you to stop yourself from saying something you want to say.” Brendan took a glance at Sam standing at the door and said, “I’ll just consider it as you keeping me in suspense, and I’ll be back tonight to recover it.”He ended the call, and Deirdre’s ears blushed with shyness. She came to understand what the

“What do you think Charlene is thinking, Deirdre?” Deirdre’s heart sank. There was no way around it—Charlene had been screwing another man. She raised her head and met his gaze with pity. “Oh-kay. Why are you looking at me like that?” Deirdre churned her thoughts a while longer before deciding to tell it as it was. “This is going to come off as painful to you, but I think you deserve to know at least something. I think… Charlene has another man.”“What gave you that idea?” Brendan replied. The emotion in his tone was unreadable. “I called you this afternoon, right? A few minutes before that, I smelled… well, a man’s sweat. And then Mrs. Engel told me the way Charlene walked was off. When you square all of those together, the conclusion, well, wrote itself… you know?”It took her a lot of courage just to hesitantly express her suspicion. She even mentally steeled herself to watch Brendan break down in shock. And yet, to her surprise, the man simply chuckled.“I see, I see!”

The timescale matched. Brendan’s handsome features remained apathetic throughout the process. As they entered the car, Charlene asked sheepishly, “You… don’t want this kid, do you?”Her eyes turned misty. “If you don’t want them, just say it. I’m not going to force you into taking care of a child you don’t want. The last thing I want is to bring a fatherless kid to the world.” Brendan snapped out of his trance. “What are you saying? I said I was going to marry you, didn’t I?”As he turned the car engine on, Charlene laughed self-deprecatingly. “Yes, you did, but only because you needed news about Ophelia McKinnon’s whereabouts. It wasn’t out of real love. If it wasn’t for Ophelia, you wouldn’t even spare me a glance, would you?”Mentioning Ophelia brought a mocking sneer to Brendan’s face. “You really think I’d marry a woman I don’t love for Ophelia’s sake?”Charlene froze. Then, her eyes gleamed in anticipation. “What did you say, Bren?”Brendan was reluctant to repeat himsel