As they continued their conversation, Mia turned to Charlie once more, asking, “By the way, how long have you been working at the construction site?”


    “Four years,” Charlie replied. “I started when I was eighteen and continued until I was twenty-two.”


    Mia was taken aback. Knowing that Charlie was now twenty-eight, she couldn’t help but exim, wide-eyed, “You were working on a construction site six years ago?!”


    “Yes,” Charlie exined. “Six years ago, the engineering team I was part of took on a new construction project. While I was there, the client’s boss happened to notice my work. He was so impressed that he insisted on sending me to university for over a year.” He paused and added, “He even wanted me to marry his cherished granddaughter…”


    Mia stared at Charlie in disbelief, eximing, “You can’t be serious! Why would that boss treat you so generously and want to marry his granddaughter to you?”<fn92ed> This content belongs to ?ovelFind</fn92ed><h3 style="background-color:DodgerBlue">


    Charlie smiled gently and responded, “It’s a bit of a coincidence. His ancestors had always served the Wade family, so he recognized my background. Even though I had nothing at that time, he wanted to offer me a real home.”


    Mia listened intently, her heart racing. Nervously, she asked Charlie, “You… you didn’t agree to that, did you?”


    “Actually, I did agree,” Charlie replied casually. “At that point, I had nothing and feltpletely lost. I longed for a ce to call home.”


    In that moment, it felt as if a thunderbolt had struck Mia!


    Suppressing the ache in her heart, she asked Charlie, “So you’re already married?”


    “Yes,” Charlie said matter-of-factly. “He arranged for me to attend university, but the truth is, I was there to support my wife through her studies. After she graduated, we nned to have our wedding.”


    Mia felt a rush of heat in her eyes, her vision blurring suddenly. She had never expected Charlie to be married, and the realization brought an unexpected wave of pain.


    What she had thought was mere curiosity had turned into something deeper in just a couple of days, and the heartache was overwhelming.


    At that moment, she felt tears threatening to spill from her eyes.


    To avoid letting Charlie see her distress, Mia intentionally dropped her phone, quickly bending down to pick it up after it fell.


    Using the table as cover, she let the tears flow freely.


    Not wanting Charlie to notice her emotional state, she lingered under the table for a few extra seconds, taking deep breaths until she could control her tears before finally retrieving her phone.


    As she picked it up, she noticed that the ss back cover was cracked from hitting a small, hard stone on the ground.


    At that moment, the damage to her phone was the least of her concerns. The feelings of sadness and loss overwhelmed her, and the tears she had fought so hard to hold back streamed down her cheeks once again.


    Charlie, surprised to see Mia bent over, quickly asked, “Miss Mia, why are you crying? What’s wrong?”


    Mia looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears, unable to hold back any longer. She choked out, “…my phone broke…”<h3 ss="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="chapter-list"><strong></strong>