Charis easily spotted him in the crowd. Three years had passed, yet Brandon still managed to make her weak in the knees. Her heart raced at the mere sight of him. Charis slept late last night and hadn’t fully recovered from the jet lag.
But the excitement to meet Brandon seemed to energize her in an instant. She spent hours in front of the mirror, dressing up to impress him. Now, she was confident about her looks. All the senior executives came to talk to Charis.
She politely greeted them and walked to Brandon.
“Long time no see, Brandon.” Charis smiled and clinked her glass with his.
She wanted to hug him and tell him how much she missed him and how lonely she had been for the past three years.
A smile tugged at the corners of Brandon’s lips. He took a sip of the red wine, staring into the distance. It looked like he was thinking about something else.
“You must be tired after the long journey. Welcome back.” Charis sat beside Brandon. She wanted to spend her entire day talking to him. She thought Brandon would inquire about her personal life and what she had been doing for the past three years.
But he was sipping on his wine without uttering a word.
Brandon’s indifference broke Charis’s heart. “We are meeting each other after three years! Don’t have anything to say to me?”
Brandon put down his glass and looked at her. “We have made huge profits from the overseas market this time. The company has decided to reward you for that.”
Charis arched an eyebrow and looked at him with expectant eyes.
“I obviously don’t want to work for free. What reward will I get?”
“During the meeting with the senior executives, we decided to give you a promotion along with a raise. In addition to that, you will also get extra shares and a bonus. We will always treat you fairly,” Brandon said calmly. Charis’s jaw tightened; she was utterly disappointed.
Brandon only regarded her as an excellent employee. However, Charis wanted to earn his love and care, not monetary rewards.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
Charis looked down at her glass of wine, unable to hide the disappointment in her eyes.Sebastian swept a glance over the room, then made a point of glancing at his watch. Without another word, he stood up and buttoned his suit jacket.
“It’s getting late, and I still have work to do.Enjoy yourself.”
He had only attended the party for formality’s sake.
Charis’ return was no small matter, after all, and Brandon Larson certainly had to be present at het welcome party.
Charis’ head immediately shot up.
“Oh, you’re not done for the day yet?” she blurted out.
“Do you need my help with anything?” They had only been talking for a few minutes.
She was reluctant to see him leave so quickly.Her offer made Sebastian frown, but his tone remained polite.
“This party is all about you. There’s no point in you disappearing in an event held in your honor.”
In the end, Charis could only sit back and watch dejectedly as Sebastian walked away.
When he was finally gone from sight, she downed her wine glass in one gulp.
“Oh, did you not have a pleasant conversation?” Garrett asked, plopping down on the seat beside her.
“Didn’t he give you an update on what has been happening to him recently?”
With a bitter smile, Charis picked up the bottle on the table and filled her glass with more wine.
“How do you expect us to catch up with anything? He said he was busy with work and took off within a couple of minutes.” Garret cocked his head to the side and rubbed his chin.
So Sebastian hadn’t told her anything.He watched her drink her sorrows away out of the corner of his eye.
“I know you came back for Sebastian, but there’s something you need to know, Charis.” She recognized the seriousness in his tone and paused. She already knew what was coming.
“You’re going to tell me to give up on him, aren’t you?” Charis’ face crumpled into a sneer.
“There’s no need for that, I’m afraid.I’ve loved him all these years.I’m not giving up until I have absolutely no choice but to do so.” Garrett chuckled humorlessly and shook his head.
“I haven’t even finished talking yet.I’m not telling you to give up, I just wanted you to understand something.Now, if you don’t want to hear it, then I won’t say anything.But know that if you act carelessly in the future, it might affect more than just your relationship with Sebastian.” He grabbed the wine bottle and placed it somewhere out of her reach.
Charis sat back and mulled over his warning.
After a while, she asked, “Does he have a girlfriend?”
She told herself that it was all right if he did.
Sebastian was a catch; there was no way someone so brilliant would stay single for years at a time.
That was all okay, because she could wait.She had already waited for the better half of her life.
“He is married,” Garrett stated bluntly.
His words struck her like lightning, and Charis’ eyes instantly welled up. How was this possible? How could Sebastian have gotten married without her noticing?
“Why haven’t I heard of this?” Charis demanded.
“I’ve been paying attention to his every move, even when I was abroad.” Garrett raised an eyebrow and sighed.
“You might have been paying attention to Brandon, but he isn’t the one who got married Sebastian is.”
True enough, Charis hadn’t cared much for Brandon’s other identity as an illegitimate son. She always saw him as the CEO of the Larson Group, nothing more, nothing less.
“What exactly happened?” corrett proceeded to recount the circumstances that had led to Sebastian and Natalie’s marriage.
“Sebastian cares about his wife,” he emphasized.
“Very much so.l’m telling you this because I don’t want you to overstep his boundaries. If you do, you would only be ruining whatever relationship you have with him, and you may never have the chance to mend it again.” Charis struggled to hide her shock and her pain.
She covered her face with her hands and took several deep breaths. but she still couldn’t calm down.
For a moment, Garrett just watched her, helpless and unsure of what to say next.
In the end, he reached over and gave her a light pat on the shoulder.
“Take your time to process this. You’re not a child anymore, you should know what to do.” He got to his feet.
“I’m leaving now.”
It was all Charis could do to contain her sobs.She managed to compose herself enough to stop Garrett with a question
“Does his wife know that Sebastian and Brandon are the same person?”
“She doesn’t.” Garrett frowned enough to guess what was going on in Charis’ mind.
“You better keep the secret to yourself don’t tell it to Natalie.Sebastian doesn’t want her to know that he is associated with the Larson Group.I think you know the SS consequences if you revealed his secret.”
“Of course, I know.But he doesn’t even want to reveal his true identity to that woman.Do you think he really loves her?” Charis sneered.
“Stay out of it. He has his reasons. You better stop meddling in this.”
Just as Garrett turned to leave, he heard Charis’ sad voice.
“I met him first! I have known him for many years!”
Looking at the pained look on her face, Garrett sighed helplessly.
“It doesn’t matter who came first.Stop overanalyzing everything. You still have a lot of work today.Forget everything and move on.People can change a lot in three years.Stop staying in the past, Charis.”
