Standing beneath the apartment building, Charlotte Thompson was shockingly listening to the busy tone coming out of the phone, and it took a while for her to respond.
It wasn’t until Justin Battleson was calling her name with a frown that she snapped back to reality, put down the phone, and turned around as if nothing had happened.
Her long eyelashes dropped down, casting a thin shadow under her eyes. She lifted her eyes to meet the man’s probing gaze.
Charlotte hesitated for a second, then coughed a few times, hiding the complex emotions in her eyes. She heard Justin Battleson speaking curiously.
"Who was on the phone?"
At his words, Charlotte laughed without any change in her expression, her face expressionless, "What does it have to do with you?"
Justin Battleson didn’t detect any signs of guilt on her face; he only curled his lips in confusion and smiled: "How could it have nothing to do with me?"
He nodded slightly, his voice serious: "You mentioned my name."
The voice on the phone wasn’t loud; he could vaguely make out that it was Henry Hudson’s voice, but what he was saying was unknown.
But what he wanted to know even more was what they had said to make Charlotte absent-minded after a phone call.
And she mentioned him...
When Henry Hudson mentioned him, Justin Battleson inexplicably felt that something was not straightforward.
Having cleared his throat, Justin Battleson chuckled lightly, saying, "Charlotte, if you don’t want to tell me, is it because you feel guilty, or are you shy?" ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveIꜰire.net
At his words, Charlotte was slightly stunned and then somewhat irritated. She almost blurted out what Henry Hudson had just told her. But before the words could leave her lips, she realized what was happening.
This man was trying to draw her out!
Swallowing her words, Charlotte raised her eyebrows, composed herself, half-closed her eyes, and then said: "You don’t need to bait me. If there’s something I want to tell you, I will. If I don’t want to tell you, that means I don’t want you to know."
The darkness of night deepened further. Charlotte lifted her eyes again and glanced at the apartment’s lights. She saw that the light in the guest room had suddenly gone out, but the light in the living room was still on.
It seemed that Jordan Thompson had gone to sleep, while the children were still in the living room.
Charlotte looked at her wristwatch under the street light and then frowned, saying, "Mr. Battleson, it’s late. It’s not good for you to stay here."
Besides, the children can’t go to bed too late; they have to get up early for school tomorrow.
Having said that, she turned around and said softly, "You should go back and rest early."
The man looked at her somewhat thin figure, a serious look in his eyes.
After a moment, Justin seemed to think of something and asked in a low voice, "Can I go up to see the children?"
Hearing this, Charlotte was a bit surprised: "Now?"
The man nodded. Charlotte was lost in thought. Just as she was about to turn around to say something, her foot slipped. It seemed like she tread on a sharp pebble, and she suddenly lost balance.
Everything happened so quickly that even Justin Battleson, who was a few steps away from her, didn’t have time to react.
Charlotte fell heavily onto the ground, and immediately a numbing pain emanated from her ankle.
She gasped for breath and managed to sit up from the ground, but the cramp-like pain in her ankle almost made it impossible for her to stand up.
Justin Battleson’s brow furrowed, and he immediately came forward, squatted down to help her up, his voice filled with heavy concern.
"How could you be so careless... where did you fall?"