Chapter 228
At the Amusement Park.
The moment Charles knew Evelyn was bringing Charlie, he stood waiting at the entrance, unable to hide his excitement and joy. He was like a kid on Christmas morning, full of eager anticipation.
In the past, Charles had let his prejudices cloud his feelings for Charlie, his own daughter. So, for five long years, he barely saw her, and back then, it hardly bothered him. But everything changed when he realized he had misunderstood Evelyn. Charlie wasn’t the way he had imagined. The moment he found out that Charlie had spent ages crafting a coffee mug for him, his heart melted.
The surveillance videos from Oakwood Manor, capturing Charlie’s every adorable moments, stirred a deep paternal love within him. Those cute snippets of her growing up kept flashing in his mind, making him yearn to see her even more. He longed to hug, kiss, and tell her that her dad loved her just as much. Time dragged on, every second feeling like an eternity. Charles kept glancing at his watch. The more he waited, the slower time seemed to crawl. For the first time, he truly understood the phrase “like watching paint dry.”
Finally-Evelyn’s car appeared in the distance. A smile immediately spread across Charles’ face. Charlie was here. Unable to wait for Evelyn to park, he snatched Charlie’s gift from Aiden and hurried forward to meet them.
As Evelyn’s car pulled up and stopped beside him, he heard the click of the car unlocking. Eagerly, he reached for the rear door. His voice was gentle as he called out, “Charlie…”
But he found no one. Just an empty child safety seat, no Charlie. Evelyn had played him; she hadn’t brought Charlie along.
The realization hit him like a ton of
bricks. His face darkened with disappointment and anger. His anticipation turned into frustration, and with a loud “bang,” he slammed the car door shut.
Looking up, he saw Evelyn stepping out of the car. His anger bubbled over as he demanded, “Evelyn, you
said you’d bring Charlie! Where is she? How could you trick me like this?”
Evelyn stood cool as a cucumber by the car, her eyes icy. She met his anger with a mocking smile. “Charles, you can’t handle being let down even once?”
“Have you ever thought about how
many times you’ve let Charlie down in these five years?” she continued.
“You’re a grown
twenty-eight-year-old man, yet you can’t handle this disappointment. Charlie’s still a child, and you’ve been breaking her heart over and over. Do you know how sad she must have felt every time you let her down?”
Charles’ face fell, his anger giving way to a moment of stunned silence. This was the first time he had truly felt the sharp sting of disappointment. Having just
experienced it himself, Evelyn’s net
words cut deep. Memories from the past five years began to flood back-promises he had made to Charlie, ones he could barely remember now. They seemed trivial to him then, but he realized now how much they probably meant to her.