Chapter 482 It's Time to Find a Boyfriend
Charles raised an eyebrow, giving Hayden a look that screamed, "What the heck?"
It was like he couldn't wrap his head around what Hayden just said.
"Don't give me that look," Hayden shrugged, all chill. "Wiping your memory and getting you back to normal will make Laura stress less about you."
"You can't do that," Charles shot back.
"Obviously, I can't. I'm no doc," Hayden replied, cool as ever. "But Brian can."
Charles's face twisted into a mix of emotions.
For a sec, he couldn't tell if Hayden was messing with him or dead serious.
"Give me a month, and I'll sort myself out," Charles took a step back, speaking slowly.
"A month later, you get a check-up and show us the report," Hayden said straight up, his eyes hiding some unreadable thoughts. "If everything's cool, we won't bug you."
Yeah, right. Charles was just trying to get them off his back.
"Scared to agree?" Hayden pushed.
"Who wouldn't be?" Charles rephrased, not sounding too sure himself. "But I can promise I'll eat and sleep well."
Laura was still worried; he was her kid, after all.
Being perfectly healthy for over twenty years, and in just a few months, his body was trashed. Any parent would freak out.
"What's eating you? Past screw-ups, or trying to win Daphne back?" Laura knew it would bug him, but they needed to get to the bottom of it.
"I don't know." Charles's heart was a mess. "But she's moved on, and I won't mess with that."
Laura and Hayden exchanged a look.
"What's on your mind?" Hayden asked.
"Not much, just wanna work and live well," Charles said, sounding indifferent. "Live in the now."
"At the latest, until Daphne ties the knot," Hayden concluded. "If by then your life's still a wreck, I'll have Brian wipe all your memories of Daphne, give you a clean slate."
Hayden kept going, "And we'll set you up on blind dates and get you hitched."
"That's not fair to the girl."
"We'll give her the heads-up. And if you decide to move on, we'll let you know," Hayden continued. "But knowing you, you'll probably just say that's in the past, and you wanna live in the now."
"Aren't you worried I'll flip out?" Charles figured this was typical Hayden.
"So what if you do?" Hayden shrugged. "Worst case, you hate us and cut ties. We're not short on sons."
Charles went quiet.
"Don't listen to your dad's crap." Laura couldn't stand seeing Charles down. "As long as you don't want it, we won't mess with your memory."
Charles just hummed in response.
In the end, Charles agreed to eat well and let his folks visit three or four times a week.
By the time they wrapped up their chat, it was already five in the afternoon.
After seeing them off, Charles dialed up Brian, and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Did you rat me out?"
"What?"
"My parents just dropped by."
"Isn't it normal for them to visit?" Brian sounded all flustered.
"Listen, no matter what my parents told you, if you even think about messing with my memory without my say-so, I'll blow up all your labs," Charles threatened.
Hayden and Laura might be convinced, but Brian? Who knew what he'd pull.
Brian, hearing this, wanted to push back, "Go ahead, blow them up. I don't care."
A lab could be rebuilt; the real data and tech were in his brain and servers. Equipment could be replaced. No biggie.
"So you admit you told them." Charles's words made Brian spill the beans.
Brian went silent.
"So what if I did? I couldn't stand seeing you half-dead," Brian said seriously. "If you croak, fine, but I don't want my rep trashed."
"You sure you wanna go against me?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Fine."
Brian furrowed his brow. What did he mean by that?
"In a few days, I'll set Richard up with some hot guys," Charles knew Brian's weak spot. "He's been single long enough; time for a boyfriend."
Brian immediately got pissed. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me," Charles shot back.
Charles didn't want Hayden and Laura stressing over him or anyone messing with his head.
Sometimes, it wasn't about not moving on; it just took time to sort things out.
"I did mention erasing your memory to your parents, but they shot it down right away," Brian confessed, not willing to gamble with Charles on this.
Charles paused, thinking about what Hayden had said earlier, furrowing his brow. How could he act so well? He almost bought it.
"Let me be clear, if you mess with Richard behind my back, even if your parents try to stop me, I'll wipe your memory," Brian was genuinely scared. "I can do that."
"Not interested in your drama," Charles replied coolly. "Come over in a few days to sign your termination contract. I don't wanna see you anymore."
Brian snapped back, "Same here."
Such a stubborn patient, he would've ditched him long ago, letting him do whatever he wanted, as it had nothing to do with him.
"Then come and sign," Charles said before hanging up.
In the following weeks, Charles tried hard to get his act together, but even so, he still didn't eat much and barely slept.
In a blink, two more months flew by.
Charles's condition hadn't changed much. The only difference was he slept a bit more, hitting four or five hours a night.
As for Daphne, two months after the proposal, they were still in their honeymoon phase.
One day, Daphne went home to hang out with Alexander and Lydia.
After dinner, Alexander suddenly asked, "So, when's the big day?"
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