Chapter 172 A Lesson Learned
"Five hundred twenty dollars," stated Charles.
"Mr. Lancelot," greeted Gavin with a slight smile at the corner of his lips, hiding the apprehension he had felt earlier, as he exchanged pleasantries.
Charles gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, "Mr. Murphy."
After that brief exchange, Charles led Daphne and Gavin inside. With the door closing behind them, Gavin's heart leaped to his throat. But as the CEO of a company, Daffy's Gavin had to muster all his composure.
"Did you already have dinner?" Charles casually asked Daphne as they walked further into the house.
Daphne responded affirmatively.
Gavin was puzzled. When have they eaten?
As Charles caught the look of confusion on Gavin's face, he didn't dwell on it but quickly moved on to discussing work with Daphne, "Would you mind helping me transfer some data?"
"Sure," Daphne said readily.
The task wouldn't have been difficult if the phone hadn’t been shattered to pieces. So, Charles decided to entrust Daphne with this job, which was also a good excuse to shorten the distance between them.
So, there they were. Charles took Daphne to the study, where she prepared to transfer the data after laying out a few items she had brought.
Charles waited in the study the whole time, while Gavin, feeling left out and slow to catch on, wondered if he was being deliberately ignored. Didn't Charles feel that there was a big difference between the Gavin of last night and the one today? Was he that unfazed?
Bored, Gavin sat on the couch, surveying the layout of the living room. The décor was a monochrome grey, sleek and somewhat austere, and the room was as tidy and neat as a showroom. This made Gavin question if someone did live there. It seemed completely devoid of any signs of life.
He tried to recall if anything felt familiar, but no matter how hard he tried, the place was utterly foreign to him, just as it had been on his first visit.
After about ten minutes, Gavin decided to see how Daffy was progressing, but then he spotted something crucial, there were security cameras!
He froze.
The cameras had surely recorded everything from last night. Realizing this, Gavin's anxious heart, which had just calmed down, began to race again, and his mind started strategizing how to ask Charles to delete last night's footage.
Outside in the living room, Gavin was as restless as an ant, while inside the study, the atmosphere was harmonious.
For Gavin, surveillance was a terrifying thing, but for Charles, it was nothing to get worked up about. He wouldn't bother checking the cameras unless there was a break-in.
It was nearly ten when Daphne finished restoring all the data for Charles. Upon seeing all the chat logs back in place, Charles felt a spot of relief and offered a subtle thanks, "Thank you."
"It's what I should do," Daphne replied, exchanging pleasantries. Thinking of Gavin's condition, she added an apology on his behalf, "I'm quite sensitive, so on his behalf, I sincerely apologize for last night's incident."
"It's a small matter, no need to be so formal," Charles responded with a trace of softness across his handsome face.
Daphne looked away. They say emotions can be as dangerous as the sharpest blade. With just one unguarded moment, especially when Charles wasn't wearing a cold expression, could easily captivate someone.
She took out her phone and continued the previous conversation, "I'll transfer to you the money we lost. Let's see how much."
"Five hundred and twenty dollars," Charles said with a hint of a low, sensual tone in his voice that tugged at heartstrings.
Daphne paused, then her gaze fell on his phone, and said, "Even your phone costs more than that."
"Then let's make it five thousand two hundred," he proposed.
"Charles!" Daphne exclaimed, her voice a mixture of surprise and exasperation.
"Hmm?" Charles responded, lowering his voice while his chiseled, earnest face stayed devoid of mischief.
Daphne struggled with this side of him; it was too alluring, affecting her without even trying. She put her phone away and met his gaze, questioning, "Are you sure the damage from last night was only worth five thousand two hundred?"
"Yes," Charles replied, his voice gentle.
"All right," Daphne agreed.
Putting aside past issues, Charles was undeniably tempting. His presence fulfilled her deepest predilections, Such as her fixation with faces, voices, hands, well-tailored suits, shirts, legs, and so on.
In other words, Charles scored off the charts in terms of looks, easily outshining movie stars.
There used to be a joke she'd seen repeatedly in dramas, "If the villain is attractive, morality may as well align with good looks."
Back then, even after watching a whole series, she hadn't thought the villains looked that good, they were just average. But now, seeing a transformed version of Charles, alarm bells were ringing in Daphne's mind.
The things Charles did to her didn't even amount to a tenth of those fictional villains, yet his superior looks and enchanting voice, which became even more dangerous when you were exposed to them often, could easily make someone forget past transgressions.
Charles noticed Daphne’s shift from indifference to wariness and kept his face impassive, yet he felt a twinge of curiosity. He hadn’t done anything in particular to make her behave that way.
Why was she looking at him as if he'd done something to her?
At that moment, Daphne signaled for someone.
Gavin was preoccupied with thoughts about the surveillance footage when he suddenly heard Daphne calling him. He immediately headed towards the study.
Wanting to appear composed, he adjusted his expression before entering, "What's up?"
"Just now, Mr. Lancelot did the calculations, and the damage you caused last night totals five thousand two hundred dollars," Daphne informed him. "You'll need to transfer it to him."
‘Five thousand two hundred dollars?’ Gavin’s forehead creased slightly.
Worried he had heard wrong, he double-checked with Charles, "Mr. Lancelot, are you sure it's just five thousand two hundred?"
Gavin had taken a closer look earlier on, and Charles's home was equipped with a full set of smart appliances. Surely, he hadn't just damaged his phone last night?
"Yeah, five thousand two hundred," Charles confirmed nonchalantly, his thin lips parting to utter those few words.
After ensuring there was indeed no further damage, Gavin transferred the five thousand two hundred dollars to him.
What he didn't know was that Charles had already had the damaged items in the house replaced during the day, and a slightly marked tile had been subtly fixed.
"All set," Gavin showed Daphne the transaction confirmation.
Once Daphne saw that Charles had received the payment, she didn't see any point in staying, "If you remember anything else that needs to be compensated for, feel free to contact me anytime."
"Sure," Charles responded.
Although he didn't know what he had done to annoy Daphne, he could tell she wasn’t too pleased with him right now, especially when she added that ‘contact me anytime’.
He didn’t try to keep her any longer, fearing he might leave a worse impression.
Daphne hummed in acknowledgment, then signaled to Gavin that he could leave.
Gavin’s eyes questioned, ‘Don’t I still need to apologize?’
Daphne texted Gavin informing him that she had apologized on his behalf.
Gavin fell silent and wondered, ‘What about the surveillance video?’
"Daffy, I need to use the restroom," Gavin said, stalling for time while he thought about how to ask Charles to delete the surveillance footage.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
