Chapter 182 How Could This Guy Be So Oblivious
Hearing this, Rex immediately turned to look at him. He was curious to see his reaction to someone showing interest in Daphne.
Unfortunately, Charles disappointed him. Charles had masked his emotions very well at that moment, fully aware that it wasn’t the right time to say much. But when he looked at Roger, his gaze carried a bit more weight than before.
“Thank you, you’re quite charming yourself,” Daphne responded politely, with a slight curve to her lips.
Roger responded with a joyful smile.
As the conversation continued, Roger was the most enthusiastic of them all, asking Daphne about her hobbies and preferences so much that Marcus and Damian eventually caught on to his intentions.
Roger didn’t bother to hide it; he believed if you found a girl attractive, you should say it, and the same went for her qualities. No point in being secretive.
Damian wanted to give his grandson a bit of space, realizing it was the first time he had seen him so captivated by a girl.
“Let’s go for a stroll, Marcus,” Damian suggested as he stood up and shot his grandson a knowing look, “Let the young ones talk. We don’t need to intrude.”
After catching Charles’s glance, Marcus agreed, “Sounds good.”
Before long, all the elders moved off to other areas to chat, leaving the younger ones to themselves.
Jasper and the others, recognizing that Roger was fond of Daphne and acting as good buddies, naturally didn’t want to third wheel and started making up excuses to leave.
Jasper was the last to go and hinted to Charles and Rex, “Rex, Charles, do you want to double-check today’s itinerary?”
Anyone could tell this was his way of suggesting they leave.
“You go ahead,” Rex replied, “we’ll be right there.”
“All right,” Jasper said without lingering further.
Rex tapped his arm and alternated his gaze between Roger and Daphne, an eyebrow raised as he slowly suggested, "Shouldn't we be heading out?"
"Why leave?" Charles countered, his expression serious and composed.
Rex's lips curled into a smile as he leaned in close, his hand on Charles's shoulder, teasing, "Don't tell me you haven't noticed that Roger's got a thing for Daphne. You can't give Daphne happiness, so why prevent someone else from doing so?"
Charles glanced over at Roger and then back at Rex, his eyes conveying a message, ‘Him?’
The guy might have the fresh-faced, younger brother charm that's popular right now, but he wasn't Daphne's type.
If Daphne were into that sort, she would've taken Kevin a long time ago. Why wait until now?
"Not leaving?" Rex pressed.
Charles ignored him.
Rex, ever the instigator, couldn't help but throw in, "You're not, perhaps, jealous of Roger, afraid he'll win over Daphne, are you?"
"With the time you spend on such thoughts, you might as well focus on your own significant matters," Charles retorted coolly. "I wouldn’t mind having a serious talk with Marcus."
"If this were before, a talk with Marcus might do you some good," Rex smirked, his canines flashing, cheeky. "But now, are you certain Marcus won't make you sort out your own issues before you try to meddle with mine?"
Charles fell silent. He would. And he'd surely get an earful for it.
"Daphne, I need to go over the schedule with my brother," Rex announced without giving Charles a chance to refuse, saying it outright in front of Daphne, "I'll come back later."
By now, Daphne understood what was meant, but she simply replied, "Okay."
"Let's go," Rex tugged at Charles.
This was the first time Charles felt such an intense urge to set someone straight. How could this guy be so irritating? Despite his reluctance, Rex had made it public, and Charles had to leave temporarily.
As the two of them left, Roger suddenly grew nervous. He didn’t understand why; normally, he was smooth as could be when chatting up girls, but now he was strangely at a loss for words.
"Marcus mentioned your family is from Gedser?" Roger scrambled to find a topic.
Daphne responded indifferently, "Yes."
"I'm from Gedser too," Roger said, his eyes lighting up. "When are you heading back? Maybe I can join you."
"Tomorrow," Daphne replied after a slight pause.
It wasn't that she was bad at conversation; it had always been her nature, even with Evan and the others, to speak very little.
Rex and Charles did not concern themselves with any procedures. The two found a quieter corner to sit, holding the itinerary in their hands and only pretending to look it over.
"You got to admit, when you look at it this way, that kid from the Zhou family actually seems a bit suitable for Daphne," Rex said provocatively, analyzing the situation. "They're about the same age, aren't they?"
Charles simply stared with a blank expression.
Rex urged him to join the discussion, "What do you think? Am I right?"
"If you've got nothing better to do, why don't you go run the company," Charles replied, his voice cooling as he noticed the man chatting and laughing with Daphne. "Otherwise, keep it shut."
"Why are you getting so upset? If Roger and Daphne end up together, you should be happy," Rex said, clearly unafraid of a scuffle. "It guarantees Daphne's happiness, our parents and Marcus will stop nagging, and you'll get some peace. Isn't that a good thing?"
The grip on the itinerary tightened in Charles's hand, the atmosphere around him dropping a few degrees.
Rex teased, "Or is it that you have feelings for Daphne?"
"Just go through the itinerary, okay?" Charles stuffed the paper into Rex's hands and then stood up abruptly, "I need to step out."
Rex was puzzled, "What?"
Just like that, he left. But Charles didn't head for the exit; instead, he made his way to where Daphne and Roger were.
He was quite aware that Daphne didn't like these social situations and disliked making idle conversation with strangers.
During the two years of their marriage, she had told him she didn't like it, and he had never left her to face it alone. Now, even though they were divorced, he couldn't bear to see her in discomfort.
Just as Roger was getting to a crucial point in his conversation with Daphne, he saw Charles approaching.
Instinctively, she called out, "Charles? Is something wrong?"
"I need to grab something from the old house with Daphne," Charles said curtly, emitting a vibe that clearly stated strangers were not welcome. "Are you coming with us, or shall we chat later?"
Roger wanted to say he would join them. But he was put off by the aura and distance Charles was emitting, and decisively replied, "We'll chat later."
"So, we'll be leaving now," Charles said. He was about to reach for Daphne's hand, only to realize at the last second that they were no longer married, and he abruptly retracted his movement.
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