Chapter 462 Is There Some Regret
When they rolled up, they pitched their tent right next to Daphne's.
After that, the two families started chatting, and Daphne was totally into him.
While the grown-ups were yapping away, he was goofing around with her. The adults were having a blast, and Daphne couldn't stop grinning at him.
"Did you start crushing on me back then?" Benjamin asked lazily, noticing her still staring at the photo.
"Kids don't care about looks," Daphne shot back. "You probably just seemed friendly, so I played with you."
"Then why were you always smiling at me? And grabbing my finger, not letting go. And you kept calling me sweet names."
Daphne felt a bit overwhelmed. What kind of trip was it to have someone remind her of stuff she couldn't even remember?
No matter what he said, she couldn't argue because she had no clue if it was true or not.
"Why don't you call me sweet names now?" Benjamin looked at her, all chill.
"That's just your version of the story." Daphne's cheeks turned red. Even though it was something she did as a kid, hearing it so bluntly made her feel embarrassed. "Let me call Aunt Lyla and ask."
After Jasmine passed away, Lyla rarely came back.
To dodge the marriage Kieran set up, Lyla had split and now lived abroad most of the time, only occasionally calling Daphne and Lydia.
Now that she thought about it, it had been ages since they last talked.
Benjamin raised an eyebrow and let her make the call.
The call connected quickly.
Daphne first asked about her current life, making sure everything was cool before getting to the point, "Did I really like that boy back then?"
"Besides your mom, he was your favorite person that day," Lyla, who had this amazing vibe and charm, said. "When we were leaving, you wouldn't let go of his hand even when I tried to carry you."
"Why'd you suddenly ask about this?" Lyla wondered.
"I saw a photo and realized the boy in it is my current boyfriend." Daphne didn't hold back. Lyla knew about her relationship. "He said I was always smiling at him back then, so I thought I'd call to confirm."
"He's right. Not only were you always smiling at him, but you also kept sweet-talking him, asking a lot. You even cried when you had to part. If it weren't for the age difference and the fact that the boy was already sensible, your mom might have talked to his mom about an engagement."
Benjamin heard this.
His eyes flickered, and he pulled out his phone to message Anouk: [Why didn't you set up an engagement for me back then?]
If they had, maybe he and Daphne would have been together all along.
Anouk: [Did you have a fight with Daphne?]
Benjamin: [No, we're cool. Just suddenly talking about this topic.]
Anouk: [I wanted to, but you didn't want it yourself. Don't you remember?]
Anouk: [When you were seven, you met this little girl, about two years old, while we were out. You didn't wanna leave her, so your dad and I thought about talking to her family. But you stopped us, remember?]
Reading this, Benjamin had a fuzzy memory of it. Yeah, he did seem to have stopped them.
Back then, he didn't see the point of an engagement. He figured if they were meant to be, they'd meet again. If not, no need to tie that cute little girl down for life.
Most importantly, he thought they'd only meet that one time.
Anouk: [Don't be wishy-washy. You are with Daphne now, make it work. She's a girl worth cherishing.]
Benjamin replied with a simple [Okay.]
Daphne was still on the phone; he sent another message: [Daphne is that little girl from back then.]
After sending the message, he put his phone away.
If he had felt a little guilty before for not expressing his feelings in time, now he felt deep regret.
If he had agreed back then, Daphne would only have met him and wouldn't have gone through those crappy times with Charles.
For a moment, all sorts of mixed emotions swirled through Benjamin's heart, overshadowing his earlier happiness.
"What's up?" Daphne noticed his change in mood after hanging up the phone.
Benjamin's deep black eyes were intense as he asked out of nowhere, "Do you blame me?"
"For what?"
"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had that miserable marriage."
Benjamin wasn't usually the sentimental type.
On the contrary, he was someone who took things lightly.
But knowing he had a brief time with Daphne as a kid and almost had an engagement, his mental defenses wavered.
"What's going on?" Daphne could tell something was off.
Feeling a bit down, Benjamin handed her his phone.
Daphne read through his chat with Anouk, then handed the phone back, comforting him, "This has nothing to do with you, and there's no pointing fingers here."
"I'm someone who resists engagements. If we had one, we might not have ended up like this." Daphne took it lightly. "You gotta believe that everything happens for a reason."
She was two, and he was seven; she hadn't even started preschool, and he was already in elementary school.
Kids that age easily play together, but after a short afternoon, they forget about it.
"True." Benjamin sorted out his thoughts and understood.
With Daphne's personality, if she had known he was her fiancé during her training, they might have become enemies.
Daphne had a strong sense of holding grudges.
"But..." Benjamin, having figured it out, returned to his usual self.
Daphne didn't notice and fell into the trap. "What?"
"Isn't it a bit of a bummer that I didn't get to be there and take care of you from childhood?" Benjamin's tone was slightly teasing, with a hint of nonchalance.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
