Chapter 297

How could Charlotte be Asclepius?
Roger just stood there, staring, his eyes wide with disbelief as Charlotte faced him. His parents had always said Lottie was still in high school, just an ordinary student at Vanguard. How could a girl like that be Asclepius, the legendary figure everyone in forensic medicine admired so much? Maybe he had just spent too long around Asclepius yesterday, been on the receiving end of her sharp tongue, and now he was seeing things. That had to be it. Maybe their eyes were just similar. There was no way. Absolutely not.
“Lottie, this is Roger,” Samantha said, mistaking his silence for excitement. She took Charlotte’s hand and brought her right up to him.
“Roger?” Charlotte looked up, graceful and poised, her delicate face full of life and those clear eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She smiled, a little mysterious, like she knew something he didn’t.
Her voice… it was so much like Asclepius’s. Roger’s panic returned in a rush, bubbling up from where he’d tried to bury it.
“I He couldn’t move. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might leap right out of his chest. Dread crept over him, cold and heavy.
Charlotte caught the look on his face and raised an eyebrow. She lifted her right hand, and he saw the bandages wrapped around it. It was almost casual, like she didn’t even think about it. “Hi, Roger. I’m Charlotte.”
Roger’s mind went completely blank. The eyes, the voice, even the injury on her hand—everything matched. If they weren’t the same person, then he really was losing it.
He stood there, stiff and pale, lips moving but no sound coming out. How could this be happening? How could Charlotte be Asclepius? He wanted to pinch himself, hoping he’d wake up from this nightmare His own cousin was the
дима
Asclepius-someone respected all
over the world. And the worst part? Yesterday, he’d been so rude to her, saying all those sarcastic things.
“Roger, what’s wrong with you?” Kenneth finally broke the silence, sounding half- amused, half-concerned. “Are you just stunned by how pretty Charlotte is?”
She really was. But she was more than just pretty. She was incredible.
Roger swallowed hard and took a shaky step forward. He tried to force a smile, something polite but painfully awkward. “You… you’re Lottie?”
“I am,” Charlotte said, her gaze cool and distant.
Meeting her eyes, Roger felt like he couldn’t even breathe. He opened his mouth, searching desperately for something to say, but nothing came out. He had no idea how to fix the mess he’d made.
“Lottie, I His voice caught. He
reached out, hoping to at least hold her hand, but she slipped away so smoothly it almost looked effortless. Charlotte lifted her injured hand a little higher. “My left hand’s full and my right hands hurt. It’s not exactly Convenient, she said, her voice light Then her lips curved, almost teasing, but not quite warm. “Besides, Roger, aren’t you the one who freaks out if someone touches you? You carry disinfectant everywhere.”
Roger felt like his brain just shut off for a second. Then it all clicked. His eyes flew open wider. The girl he’d bumped into at the auction that had been her too? He thought back to how he’d treated her then. He’d been nothing but dismissive and cold.
Right then, Roger felt like he was done for. He’d barely set foot back in the country,
and he’d already managed to make the worst possible impression on Charlotte.