Charles watched Alicia step out, her figure drawing closer. On instinct, he looked away, not wanting to be caught staring. But he couldn’t help himself. His eyes kept drifting back, stealing glimpses of Alicia from the corner of his eyes.


    As Alicia drew closer to the car, Charles felt a bit nervous. He sat stiffly in the back seat, his hands clenched into tight fists. He even felt the urge to check his reflection, worried he might not look put together enough.


    After all these years, his little girl had grown up, yet he had never actually spoken to her face to face. He had no idea what expression to wear when meeting her. None felt quite right. In the end, he could only keep his face nk and still.


    *****


    In the end, Alicia kept the nket and umbre. She had no intention of suffering needlessly in the heavy rain, especially with her clothes soaked and her stomach aching.


    Wrapping the nket around herself and opening the umbre, Alicia walked steadily toward Charles’s car. ‘I must look utterly pitiful right now, she thought.


    The rain was pouring down, but Alicia knew Charles was a cold-hearted man. He wouldn’t offer sympathy easily. Her only chance was to make sure he saw the brooch. That was the only way to change what happened in her past life.


    Gathering her courage, she walked up to the car and tapped lightly on the window. Kevin waspletely shocked that she hade over to knock. Unsure whether to roll down the window, he instinctively nced <fn675b> Updates are released by FindN()vel</fn675b>


    toward the back seat.


    Charles stared straight ahead, his body tense in the back seat, his face still unreadable. ‘Does Mr. Yates hate this girl?’ Kevin wondered. ‘He was smiling a moment ago, but now he’s stiff as a statue. So he quickly offered, “Should I get out and send her away?”


    Charles shot Kevin a cold nce, his voice dropping to an icy tone. “Send her away?”


    Kevin shrank back under Charles’s icy stare. “Mr. Yates, she really does look pitiful. She only tapped on the window and hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s just a young girl with nothing left. We can’t just run her over, right?”


    Charles’s expression turned even colder. “Run her over? Who do you intend to run over?”


    Kevin stammered, “I don’t want to run anyone over, Mr. Yates. I just think she looks so pitiful.” His voice faded under Charles’s stern look and frosty tone.


    ‘I never should have felt sorry for her,’ Kevin thought. Finally, he asked outright, “What would you like me to do with her, Mr. Yates?”


    Charles said tly, his gaze fixed ahead and his posture unmoving, “Let her in.” His tone left no room for debate, cold and absolute.


    Kevin’s eyes widened in shock. He stared nkly for a moment,pletely caught off guard. “What?” he


    ?????


    finally managed, the word slipping out in a stunned whisper.


    Charles turned his cold eyes toward Kevin, his voice low and cutting. “Your hearing is failing. It seems this job no longer suits you.”


    Kevin swallowed hard and rushed to answer, “Mr. Yates, no, no. I heard you perfectly clearly.” He quickly reached to open the door.


    Charles’s voice came anxiously from the back, “Be careful when you open the door. Don’t hit her.”


    Kevin opened the door, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He grabbed an umbre, stepped out of the car, and offered a strained smile to Alicia. “Miss Lawrence, how can I help you?”


    Alicia saw only Kevin had stepped out. ‘Still not the one I need to show the brooch to. Do I have to get in the car myself? Fine, I’ll go in. Mr. Yates hates when strangers chat him up. I’ll just act like I don’t know whose car this is. Not sure if it’ll work, but I have to try.’


    Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to calm down, making sure she looked as helpless as possible. Her eyes shone with panic. “Sir, my family just threw me out. I need to get to the city center, but there are no cars around. Could I get a ride with you?”


    Kevin hesitated. ‘Mr. Yates only said to let her in, not to give her a ride. Am I even allowed to say yes?’ He stayed silent, unsure how to respond.


    Alicia’s heart raced. ‘Did he see through my act? That can’t be. In two of my past lives, I was an actress. I even won Best Actress. ying a helpless girl shouldn’t be hard for me, right?’


    Just as neither spoke, Charles’s cold voice came from inside the car, his words slightly gritted. “Let her in.”


    When Alicia heard that voice, a shiver ran through her. It wasn’t the typical “deep, rumbling baritone” she had read about in novels. It was younger than that, steady andpelling, full of raw masculine charm, exactly the kind of voice she liked.


    But there was a sharp edge of impatience in his tone. After lingering on the sound for a moment, Alicia suddenly became worried. ‘Did I annoy him? Maybe I should back out. What do I do now. Should I find another way?’


    Kevin understood immediately what that grittedmand meant. ‘Mr. Yates hates repeating himself and he has just said that twice. So Kevin quickly urged Alicia, “Get in, hurry. Look how hard it’s raining out here.”


    He walked around to open the front passenger door, thinking to himself, ‘I can’t let a young girl sit next to Mr. Yates, right?’


    But the moment he pulled open the front passenger door, Charles spoke again from the back. “We’re picking someone upter. He gets carsick. He needs the front seat.”


    Kevin froze for a moment,pletely baffled. “We’re picking someone upter?” He didn’t remember such arrangement had been made.


    Charles shot him a cold nce and responded with a low, dismissive “Mm”. Kevin was utterly bewildered. He had no idea who they could possibly be picking upter. <ul><li></li></ul>


    It would never have crossed his mind that his respected, almost god-like Mr. Yates had just told the first lie of his life, just to make sure the girl sat beside him.


    Kevin quickly closed the front passenger door, then rushed to the back seat, pulled open the door, and said to Alicia, “Miss Lawrence, please get in.”


    Alicia felt nervous, but she forced herself to stay calm as she got in. She had nned to greet the person inside casually, pretending she didn’t know who he was. But the moment she saw his face, she lost all her


    He was strikingly handsome, his features sharp as if sculpted by a master’s hand. With a straight nose, lightly pressed thin lips, and deep eyes that seemed to hold the whole universe, he drew people in with a single look. Mostpelling was his aura, both rxed and distant.


    Alicia had heard countless tales of Charles’s power and ruthlessness, but no one had ever mentioned he was this handsome.


    She frozepletely. ‘I’m not usually one to care about looks, so why has this man left me speechless twice in one day?’ She tried to steady herself


    faint smile, and gave a slight nod toward Charles.