Chapter 352: Love Rival
Kate sat up straight like someone had flipped a switch. "Charles is actually really wonderful! Don't let his serious expression fool you—he wasn't like that as a child at all."
Emily's hand paused as she looked up. "As a child?"
Kate nodded earnestly. "Really. When Charles was little, he was shy, quiet, and... and he cried pretty easily."
Emily blinked. "What?"
She tried to picture Charles's stern face and connect it with "cried easily"—the image simply wouldn't form.
"Go on," she said, her tone casual but clearly interested. "You can elaborate."
Seeing Emily was willing to listen, Kate grew bolder. "Like... if someone pushed him, took his things, or said mean things to him, his eyes would get red, and he'd bite his lip without saying anything. He was so good-looking back then that it actually made him more of a target."
Emily's brow furrowed slightly. "Who bullied him?"
Kate spread her hands. "Tons of kids. Back then, we children had no concept of his status—we just liked picking on the quiet, introverted ones. Charles wouldn't tattle or ask for help; he'd just bottle it all up inside."
Emily was silent for a moment. "What about all of you? Didn't you say you were supposed to protect him?"
Kate quickly backtracked. "I was a little too! I didn't know better and wasn't much of a fighter. Plus, I was always playing around—there were times I couldn't watch out for him. To be honest, when we were kids, the one who really protected Charles was—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Emily looked up, waiting quietly. "Who?"
Kate swallowed hard. "Kismet."
The air seemed to tighten slightly.
Emily didn't press, just waited for her to continue.
Kate cleared her throat. "When we were kids, Kismet was like the leader of our group. She was actually pretty gentle back then. If anyone bullied Charles, she'd stand up for him—scolding people, scaring them off. She was fierce about it. Charles really did... receive a lot of care from her back then."
Emily's gaze cooled slightly, but her voice remained steady. "Did Charles like her?"
Kate immediately shook her head. "No! Charles never really liked her. I mean... he was polite enough, but he always kept his distance from Kismet. Maybe Charles just didn't like owing people favors, or maybe he felt awkward about it."
Realizing she might have said the wrong thing, her face changed, and she quickly corrected herself. "Oh no, no! Emily, I shouldn't have brought up Kismet—she's completely different from the kid she used to be. I don't know what she's thinking anymore. I was just rambling."
Emily glanced at her without making things difficult, simply humming softly. "Continue."
Kate grabbed onto this lifeline, speaking faster. "Right, right! Here's something you definitely wouldn't expect—Charles and Wesley grew up together from childhood!"
Emily raised an eyebrow. "Wesley?"
"Yes!" Kate's face lit up with excitement. "The two of them would fight every time they met. Wesley was already good at fighting back then, Charles couldn't beat him, and he was too proud to give in—do you know what he'd do?"
Emily picked up her coffee, feigning calm. "What?"
Kate said seriously, "He'd get Nathan and me to gang up on Wesley."
Emily fell silent.
Kate continued her assault. "And Charles was so sneaky about it—he'd stand off to the side with his lips pressed together, pretending to be calm. Only after we charged in would he slowly add—'Don't hit his face.'"
Emily finally couldn't hold back a low laugh. "Charles actually said things like that?"
"I swear!" Kate raised her hand. "True story! Wesley even broke up our friendship for a whole day afterward, then came back the next day to find Charles so they could fight again."
Emily's smile faded slightly, but her eyes held a new softness. "So that's what he was like as a child."
Seeing Emily's mood clearly improve, Kate ventured carefully, "Emily, you're not really going to stop caring about Charles just because he... ran off on his own again last night, are you?"
Emily set down her cup, her tone light but steady. "I won't worry about him."
She paused, then added, "But I won't let him control me either."
Kate fell silent.
Emily stood up, putting on her coat, her gaze clear. "Let's go. Today, we do what needs to be done today. As for Charles—when he comes back, we'll settle accounts then."
"Where are we going?"
"The golf course."
On the way to the golf course, the morning scenery of Seraphim passed by the car window—people strolling leisurely, the aroma of coffee from roadside cafés seemingly penetrating even through the glass.
Kate sat in the passenger seat, occasionally stealing glances at Emily's expression in the rearview mirror, as if bursting with things to say.
Emily leaned back in her seat, scrolling through golf course information on her phone, and spoke casually, "If you want to say something, just say it. Don't hold back."
Kate immediately jumped in. "Well, since you asked about Wesley... the relationship between the Windsor family and the Martin family is actually much more complicated from the previous generation."
Emily's finger paused as she looked up. "How complicated?"
Kate coughed, speaking like she was telling a story. "Charles's father, Wallace, and Wesley's father, Julian Martin—they used to be rivals in love."
"Rivals in love?" Emily's eyebrow arched.
"Yes." Kate nodded. "Because of Charles's mother... Crystal."
Emily didn't rush her, just listened quietly.
Kate continued, "Crystal was actually Julian's girlfriend first. They had a good relationship—word was that Julian really loved her, and everyone in their circle said they were going to get married."
"But later, due to family pressure, they broke up. The Martin family... didn't approve. I can't say exactly why, but it was the usual old-fashioned stuff about social standing, interests, arranged marriages." Kate sighed.
The car fell quiet for a few seconds.
Kate glanced at Emily, saw her calm expression, then carefully continued, "After they broke up, Wallace started pursuing Crystal—obsessively."
"How obsessive?" Emily asked.
"Obsessive enough to risk falling out with the Windsor family. Back then, the Windsor family wasn't happy about it either—mainly the patriarch, you know, his temperament. But Wallace just stubbornly stood his ground, not caring about reputation or interests. He had just one thing to say: it's her or no one."
"And he actually won her over. The years they were together, they were truly happy. Everyone in their circle envied them."
Emily felt something stir gently in her chest as she listened.
She'd seen the instinctive silence that came over Charles when his mother was mentioned, and those nights when she'd caught the suppressed emotion in his eyes, but she'd never imagined this was the story behind it all.
Kate's voice grew softer. "So later... after Crystal was kidnapped and killed, Wallace completely fell apart."
"Living hell," she added.
Emily's breathing caught almost imperceptibly. "He..."