Chapter 195 His Emotions Have Nothing to Do with Her
"No, no, no!" Kayla quickly denied, frightened of a misunderstanding, "It has nothing to do with me; I'm just a bit worried."
"What are you worried about?" Daphne asked.
"Aren’t you concerned about the person watching us?" Kayla was often curious about how Daphne's mind worked, so astute and clever. "After your divorce from Charles, if you were, you know, wouldn’t he target you?"
Daphne wasn't concerned about that. If that ‘person’ made a move, she would investigate directly rather than dismiss it as she had done before. Previously, she had been too lazy to deal with it, and her focus was on the divorce, so she didn't bother to scrutinize everything thoroughly.
"It's okay, I can handle it," Daphne reassured her. "I've got some things to take care of here, so I need to hang up. If that person contacts you, remember to tell me."
"Okay," Kayla acknowledged.
Daphne hummed in acknowledgment and then ended the call. After Daphne had finished her call, Mr. Murphy strolled over to ask her, "Ready to head back?"
"Yeah," Daphne replied succinctly.
Together, they walked toward the hotel to bid Marcus farewell since the party was winding down.
Before they could enter, they spotted Charles standing not far off. He had been there for quite a while, and when he saw Mr. Murphy waiting for Daphne, he chose not to approach, not wishing to intrude.
Mr. Murphy, thinking about the hour plus that the two had disappeared together, speculated whether they had something to discuss. "Did you guys have something to talk about?"
"No," Daphne responded flatly, and Mr. Murphy didn't press further. Children's issues were not his to meddle in too much.
Daphne passed by Charles as if he were a stranger, but Charles reached out and grabbed her arm, his expression unchanged from before. "I need to speak with you," he insisted.
"There's nothing to talk about," Daphne retorted.
"Yes, there is," Charles insisted.
Daphne glanced up at him, puzzled by what he wanted.
"Aren't you willing to talk about that person?" Charles cut to the chase.
"I don't want to," Daphne saw through him; Charles was not interested in discussing that matter. "If you have any new plans, just text me."
After saying that, she told Mr. Murphy, "Let's go."
With an elderly present, Charles, even if he wanted to keep Daphne there, had to let go for a moment. He followed them inside.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Marcus, Mr. Murphy and Daphne left. Marcus felt reluctant to see them go but understood that the Lancelot family didn't hold the same place in Daphne's heart as it used to.
As they departed, Marcus urged Charles with a single prompt, "Aren't you going to escort Daphne?"
Without a word, Charles got moving. Marcus felt that Charles was acting peculiarly today, but he didn't dwell on it.
Charles escorted Daphne and Mr. Murphy back to their hotel. Mr. Murphy initially refused the gesture, but Charles was insistent, and Mr. Murphy relented.
Arriving at the hotel, Charles lingered.
Mr. Murphy was aware that it was because of Daphne, but knowing that Daphne didn't like him, he reasoned that Charles's presence would only displease her. "This is far enough. Daphne and I can go up on our own."
"It's fine," Charles said calmly.
Mr. Murphy hesitated, this wasn't a question of it being fine or not.
‘Daphne just didn’t like it!’
"Dad, you go on up," Daphne said to Mr. Murphy, aware that without a clear talk with Charles today, he'd probably follow her to her room, "I'll be up in a bit."
Mr. Murphy hesitated a little, "But..."
"I know what I'm doing," Daphne replied calmly.
Mr. Murphy glanced at the both of them, he lingered for a moment longer and after seeing that the situation seemed normal, only then heeded Daphne's words and went up without delaying their conversation.
Daphne walked out of the hotel's main entrance to the garden next door and got straight to the point, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Charles didn't reply. He too didn't understand what he was doing. Just the thought of Daphne returning to Gedser and leaving him with an empty feeling... He just wanted to see her a bit longer, to talk to her more, to have more contact.
"If you have nothing to say, then go back. Stop following me," Daphne had no intention of wasting more time on him.
Seeing her so distant and indifferent, something pricked at Charles's heart, "Am I even worse in your eyes than Roger, someone you just met?"
She didn't like adding people to her friends, but she said yes when Roger asked. She even said it was nicer being with Roger than with him.
"Yes," Daphne replied with one simple word.
It was the first time Charles understood what heartache felt like, watching Daphne say that word aloofly, it felt as if a knife had pierced his chest.
"Just because of that incident before, you hate me so much?" Charles still cared; he wanted to be in Daphne's heart.
Daphne corrected his word choice, "It's not hatred, it's complete disdain."
Hearing this, Charles understood everything. No matter what he did, or how he treated her, she would never like him again. From the moment of their divorce, she'd sentenced him to death in her eyes.
Sometimes he thought Daphne was merciless, not giving him the chance to err. And the moment he did, she would not hesitate to cut him out of her life.
He had thought of many ways to keep Daphne bound to him but eventually dismissed those thoughts because of her attitude.
"I'm going up," Daphne finally said when he kept looking at her silently, "If there's anything to discuss about that person, just text me."
Charles hummed in response.
Daphne sensed that his mood was off, but she didn't bother with it. Now that she had nothing to do with Charles; his happiness and sorrow were irrelevant to her. She left quickly.
Charles could only watch her receding figure getting further away, watched as she entered the hotel, watched as she vanished from his view.
He stood there for a long time, only coming back to his senses when a breeze with a hint of chill caressed him. Checking the time, he realized he had been standing there for a full hour.
From a short distance away, Austin watched everything unfold from his car, choosing not to disturb the scene but simply curious to see just how long this guy could stand there like a statue.
When Charles decided to leave, he glanced at the hotel before heading over to his car. As soon as he took out his keys to unlock it, a head popped out from the neighboring car.
"I thought you were going to stand there like a utility pole all night," the voice teased.
Charles didn't even bother to engage, nor did he inquire why Austin happened to be there. His mood was sour tonight.
"Are you upset because you didn't manage to win someone over?" Austin was in a rather good mood, thinking about how Daisy would come looking for him soon, which made all the complex emotions he felt before gradually fade away.
He even joked with Charles, "Do you need my help getting your person back?"
Charles gave Austin a cool, dismissive look full of disdain. It was clear he thought little of the offer.
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