Chapter 184
As if burned, Charlotte jerked her hand back, her face flushing red: "I'm sorry, I didn't hold it steady."
But Landon didn't mind at all. He calmly picked up the jewelry pieces one by one and put them away carefully.
"It's not your fault. I didn't catch them properly."
Landon's voice was steady and strong, seeming to have a calming power. Charlotte couldn't help but settle down.
She carefully lifted her head and asked tentatively: "Are you sure it wasn't because I didn't hold them steady?"
Landon curved his lips into an encouraging smile: "Of course not."
Charlotte finally smiled, her whole body relaxing as she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
But another voice in her heart was scolding her.
Although Landon was her elder, he was only five years older than her. Did she really need to be this scared? How pathetic!
She was so busy beating herself up that she didn't notice at all that Landon's smiling gaze had been resting on her the whole time.
The assistant who also served as driver caught this scene through the rearview mirror and couldn't help giving Landon a mental thumbs up.
It looked like Charlotte was destined to have no escape from Landon.
The car soon arrived at the kindergarten.
After getting out, Landon discreetly looked around. Not seeing Jordan anywhere, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In his view, the only one who could be considered a rival right now was Jordan.
Before long, Philip ran out from the kindergarten.
He spotted Charlotte right away, his bright eyes instantly filling with joy!
Calling out to Charlotte while running over, he hugged her leg tightly: "Charlotte, I missed you so much."
Charlotte's heart melted instantly. She crouched down and gently rubbed his little head: "I missed you too."
Watching Philip and Charlotte being so affectionate, that familiar sour feeling rose in Landon's heart again.
He had originally planned to use taking Charlotte and Philip home as an excuse to naturally bring them both out for dinner together.
Who would have thought Charlotte would say she had already made dinner plans with Amanda.
So Landon had to hold back his thoughts and dropped them off at the entrance of the appointed club.
Charlotte brought Philip into the club, where Amanda and Debra were already waiting inside.
As soon as they met, Amanda and Debra came forward to greet them personally.
"Charlotte, come sit down."
After pulling Charlotte to sit down, Amanda and Debra comforted and encouraged Charlotte with gentle words before starting to order food.
Taking advantage of the wait for the dishes, Amanda brought up the main business.
"Charlotte, that sleep candle you gave us really works. Maurice has been sleeping much better since using it."
"So I wanted to trouble you again - could you make some more? Maybe it could help Maurice completely cure this old problem?"
Hearing that the candle had truly helped Maurice, Charlotte felt genuinely happy.
Lynn had said before she died that Maurice had taken good care of her, so this time she was also helping Lynn repay a debt of gratitude.
She immediately agreed: "Don't worry, Mrs. Walker, I'll take care of it."
Seeing Charlotte agree right away, Amanda's smile deepened.
At this time, the dishes began arriving one after another.
Philip ate obediently while Charlotte ate and chatted with Amanda and Debra.
As they chatted, Amanda suddenly sighed: "Early next month, Nova is coming to River City to attend the Forbes Group's anniversary celebration, but I still haven't found a suitable dress."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Amanda immediately realized something was wrong.
Charlotte had just divorced Alexander, and here she was bringing up the Forbes Group - she really put her foot in her mouth.
Amanda was about to add something to smooth things over when she saw Charlotte's expression was calm, her emotions seemingly unaffected.
This surprised both Amanda and Debra. It seemed Charlotte was stronger than they had imagined.
On the other side, Charlotte had already spoken with a light smile: "Mrs. Walker, if you don't mind, I could design a dress for you."
Amanda had already heard from Debra about the kindergarten parent-child competition and knew Charlotte had some talent in design, so she agreed on the spot: "Great! Then I'll shamelessly wait to wear the new dress you design for me."
Charlotte smiled with her eyes crinkling: "No problem, leave it to me."
Amanda was delighted.
Getting carried away, Amanda wanted to play matchmaker for Charlotte right then and there, saying she had a relative studying abroad who was excellent in every way, and she'd introduce them to Charlotte when he returned at the end of the year.
When Debra heard this, she knew trouble was brewing!
So she quickly interrupted Amanda: "That's just a distant relative, not necessarily reliable."
Then she turned to Charlotte with a smile: "Charlotte, instead of considering others, why not consider Jordan?"
"Jordan only knows how to study and work all day, he's never even had a girlfriend. I'm so worried."
Seeing them competing to introduce potential partners, and one of them was even Jordan, Charlotte felt a bit overwhelmed and quickly declined. She just said she had just gotten divorced and didn't have the mind to think about such things for now.
Amanda and Debra had no choice but to give up.
Debra even felt secretly sorry for Jordan.
Philip, who had been eating with his head down, looked up at the two ladies at this moment, thinking, 'Dad, you have more and more rivals.'
At that moment, outside the private room.
Calvin had specially come to the Forbes Group today, forcibly dragging Alexander and Sabrina along, insisting on making up for last night's celebration.
By sheer coincidence, they had also chosen this club and booked the room right next to Charlotte's group.
So when Alexander's group of three passed by, a server was pushing the door open to deliver a fruit platter, and the scene inside the private room was instantly visible.
Calvin had sharp eyes and was the first to spot Charlotte: "Alexander, look, it's Charlotte!"
Alexander frowned. How could Charlotte appear in a place like this? This was a members-only high-end club.
He instinctively looked over, and it really was her!
Today's Charlotte didn't have the stunning impact of that red dress from the other day, but her light purple gown made her look exceptionally elegant and refined.
Alexander's gaze just froze there.
Sabrina took in his reaction completely, feeling both annoyed and jealous.
She had always known that Charlotte was better looking than her.
Back in school, she was good at playing the delicate card, using schemes, and knew how to maximize her strengths. With these tactics, she barely managed to stay one step ahead of Charlotte.
But deep down she knew that Charlotte was much prettier than her.
At this moment, Calvin was about to rush in regardless, but Alexander pulled him back: "What are you trying to do?"
Calvin looked disdainful: "Alexander, can't you see it yet?"
Alexander hadn't recovered from his earlier amazement: "See what?"
Calvin snorted coldly and gestured toward the private room with his chin: "Look at who Charlotte invited."
"Mrs. Walker is someone who's very close with Mrs. Nicole Forbes, and the Howard Family has been family friends with your Forbes Family for generations. Charlotte inviting them to dinner at this time - it's obvious she regrets it and wants them to help bring you two back together."
Alexander frowned, half-believing: "But Charlotte was the one who asked for the divorce."
Calvin clicked his tongue: "She asked for divorce just to make you angry, hoping you'd try to keep her. Are you really clueless or just pretending?"
Seeing Alexander's expression start to waver, he quickly added more.
"Now she sees she went too far and it backfired. She has no choice but to ask Mrs. Walker and the others for help."
Alexander's eyes gradually changed.
Sabrina was initially worried that Alexander might soften toward Charlotte after hearing Calvin's words, but then she saw Calvin's malicious look and immediately understood.
Calvin wanted to publicly tear off Charlotte's mask and completely cut off her retreat. So she instantly relaxed, crossed her arms, and just waited for the show to begin.
Sure enough, after Calvin's persuasion, Alexander completely believed his story and even followed his suggestion to teach Charlotte a lesson.