Soon, Charlie was escorted to Easton’s villa.
The entire place was eerily silent, not a sound could be heard. A sudden unease crept into Charlie’s chest, as though something terrible was about to happen.
But she quickly shook her head, dismissing the feeling.
She was here to see Easton and the others.
They hadn’t answered her calls in days, and she planned to use that against them. Maybe she could even walk away with something valuable this time.
Her thoughts drifted to the expensive jewelry they had given her before, and those priceless treasures she had seen at their auctions. A glint of greed flickered in her eyes.
Turning a corner, she spotted Easton standing at a distance, waiting for her.
With a coquettish laugh, Charlie threw herself toward him.
“Easton, I’ve missed you so much. Did you miss me too? Why haven’t you contacted me for sc long? I was worried sick about you all.”
“By the way, didn’t you say Connor, Kenji, and Hayden were here too? Why don’t I see them? Ar they still on the way?”
She chatted endlessly.
Easton simply stood there, listening in silence, not giving her the slightest response.
Gradually, Charlie sensed that something was off.
Her words trailed off, and her eyes instinctively searched his expression. That was when she finally realized something was wrong.
The absence of the other three was already suspicious enough, but Easton had never ignored he for this long.
The thought struck her–was it because of Debbie interfering again?
Her gaze dimmed instantly.
When she lifted her head again, her demeanor shifted completely. Tears welled in her eyes a she said in a trembling voice, “Is it because the young miss has been stopping you from seeing me? I knew it. Someone like me was never meant to be with you all. I’ll leave now, so she won‘ cause you more trouble.”
With that, Charlie turned as if to leave.
But then she froze–because she finally saw the others standing behind her.
Connor, Kenji, and Hayden had appeared without a word, blocking her path completely.
Panic flared in her eyes.
Easton and Connor, as usual, were impossible to read, their emotions carefully masked.
But Kenji and Hayden were a different matter.
Kenji’s temper had always been volatile. The moment he discovered Charlie’s lies, he had wanted to tear her apart. Now that she stood before him, the enemy in the flesh, his fury was barely
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contained.
As for Hayden, his change was even more chilling. Because of Charlie’s lies, he had turned his back on the one he loved, coldly watching Debbie suffer. Worse still, because of Charlie, he might have lost her forever.
The thought alone filled him with a bitter, simmering hatred. Even someone as calm as Hayden could no longer hide his hostility.
Not one of the four men present looked at Charlie with kindness.
She opened her mouth, about to say something more–but in the next moment, Connor wordlessly raised a hand.
Charlie collapsed where she stood, unconscious, without even the strength to resist.
