It didn’t matter to her if he knew that she was cold and heartless.
Ethan was surprised. Although he was aware that she wasn’t on the best of terms with the Wolands, he hadn’t
thought that it was this bad. So, he kept his eyes on Charles, who was walking into the room slowly, and asked,
“What about Old Mr. Woland?”
Now, the closest kin to Alice was Charles, and she paused, hesitating for a second before explaining, “I suppose I do
trust him for now, but I won’t count on him, forget depending on him to fend the others off.”
Until now, Charles hadn’t done anything to harm her, and he was her father’s closest kin, after all. Therefore, she
still decided to place her trust in him. Nonetheless, she had no other sentiments to spare for that old man, and
neither did she dare to do so.
After the death of her parents, she had witnessed how cruel reality could be, especially when it came to personal
interests. Human nature was the thing that couldn’t withstand any tests, and she wouldn’t put the so-called human
nature to the test, let alone place herself in the way of danger.
All Ethan felt was a sharp prick in his heart, as though something had stung him and he felt a numbing pain. Seven
years ago, she had just turned eighteen. That year, her parents passed away and the life and death of her brother
remained unknown. Ever since that day, she was placed in a tough situation where she could neither move forward
nor retreat. It was evident that she had no one to trust or rely on. Those so-called family members probably set her
up as though she was just a stranger, or maybe, they were even crueler than that, which disappointed her so
terribly, and resulted in her sudden maturity almost overnight.
He had never known regret, but he felt such an emotion right now. He regretted not putting more people and effort
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtinto finding out the truth of what happened that night. If he had been more thorough, maybe he would have found
her, and she wouldn’t have been so lonely and helpless in the past seven years.
Suddenly, Charles called out to Alice, “Come here, Alice. Come next to me.”
“Okay,” Alice answered, snapping back to her senses and walking toward Charles.
Ethan kept Alice’s words in his mind, so he remained in the same spot and didn’t move a muscle.
“Alice, since your previous engagement didn’t go so well, so I’m planning to find someone suitable for you at this
party. This time, I’ll personally choose someone for you.”
Charles smiled warmly at her, and she was taken aback by this sudden news. Even though her farce of an
engagement with the Yeager Family was all part of Elijah’s plan, Charles and Sophia also played a huge part in this
matter. Strictly speaking, Bruce was hand-picked by Charles himself.
Still, she knew she couldn’t say anything that would come off as insolent in such a situation because there was no
reason to embarrass Charles in front of everyone.
Ethan narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze over Charles before fixing them on Alice. He wanted to find out how
she would answer Charles. Just a minute ago, she had especially reminded him not to mention their marriage to the
Wolands, including Charles, so he wasn’t expecting her to bring it up now.
“Huh? So, it’s true that Old Mr. Woland wants to get Alice a husband!” It was clear that Irvin was having a fun time
watching this on the sidelines as he started gloating. “Oh, no. What should be done now?”
“Alice, do you—” Charles seemed highly interested in this matter and wanted to pick a husband for her right there
on the spot.
“It’s okay. Currently, I have… no plans to remarry.” Alice made a small pause in between her sentence before
deciding to use the word ‘remarry’. After all, she already registered her marriage with Ethan and thought that using
this word was more appropriate.
Even though the others were startled to hear her use that word, they thought she meant her wedding with Bruce
that was held previously. That time, the wedding had already begun, so to claim that she was going to remarry
sounded fitting, somehow.
Meanwhile, a look of delight flashed past Ethan’s eyes, which had started to turn icy. There was no doubt that he
was satisfied with her answer.
“Oh, wow! Alice says that she has no plans to remarry. So, is she planning to spend the rest of her life with you,
Ethan?” Irvin whispered into Ethan’s ears in a dramatic tone.
Whenever the topic of Ethan and Alice’s marriage was mentioned, their other friends were sure that Ethan would
definitely end up divorcing Alice. On the other hand, Irvin didn’t really pay any attention to that because Ethan’s
marriage was his personal affair that had nothing to do with him. As for whether the marriage was worth it or
whether they were compatible, it was not up to them, outsiders, to be the judge. All he knew was, as long as Ethan
was still married to Alice, he would regard her as his sister-in-law.
Ethan’s satisfaction grew after hearing Irvin’s words. Since he married her, he already planned to live with her for
the rest of his life. When he heard Alice using the word ‘remarry’, it was obvious that she was firm in her decision
despite her expressionless face.
The smile on Charles’ face froze slightly, but it was only for a split second and almost unnoticeable. The next
second, his face appeared perfectly genial again. “Since you’re unwilling, then we’ll do as you wish. I’m sorry that I
can stay longer because I don’t feel so well, but I’ll cut the cake and thank everyone for your attendance.” Judging
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmby his late appearance, it wasn’t hard to deduce that he was still frail in health. “Alice, help me to cut the cake,” he
called out to Alice intimately and asked her to come in front of the cake. Then, he took the knife from the server
and passed it to her. “Here, cut it for me.”
The way Charles treated Alice surprised everyone. Rumor had it that she was unfavored and had no social standing
in the Woland Family. Why was Charles placing her first in everything, then?
All these displays of affection and placing her first in everything didn’t touch Alice, and neither did they make her
emotional. As she had said before, she trusted Charles only for the moment and had no other positive feelings
toward him, and she didn’t dare to invest in him, either. Although Charles hadn’t harmed her yet, that didn’t mean
that he wouldn’t do it the instant his interests were threatened.
Even if he was in the dark about Elijah setting her up, he was the one who helped him to snatch the Glenn Group
away. Furthermore, he had always turned a blind eye and didn’t speak a single word of justice on her behalf when
the other Wolands took the assets her parents left for her back then. So, how could one expect her to have even a
sliver of affection for him?
Still, she didn’t turn him down when he wanted her to cut the cake and took the fruit knife from him. The knife was
rather long and sharp, and she cut the cake into a few slices with it. After that, he took the knife away from her
personally.
Somehow, Ethan thought that their interaction didn’t seem so harmonious and frowned. According to Alice’s words
earlier, she wasn’t close to Charles. Given Alice’s character, she wouldn’t be so distant from Charles if he had
always treated her this way, he thought, and his phone started ringing suddenly.
He sneaked a glance at his phone, and he saw that it was a call from Caleb. When he saw the name, he suddenly
recalled that today was the day he sent Caleb to check on the results of Alice’s DNA tests.