On the other hand, while Eli and Belle had the best dinner after work, Charles experienced quite the opposite. In fact, he hadn't gotten his dinner yet.
Earlier, as soon as he found out that Karis was having dinner with his sister, he called Charlene at once.
Charlene carried herself with a happy-go-lucky charm, but beneath that breezy exterior was a razor-sharp observation. She had spent the afternoon playing dumb, pretending not to notice the heavy layer of makeup Karis had used to mask her swollen, bloodshot eyes. But she knew her friend; those eyes spoke of a soul-crushing cry. With Karis's mother finally out of the woods, there was only one logical culprit left for this kind of devastation: her own brother, Charles.
So, when Charles called her, she kept their location a secret and continued her dinner with Karis—unbothered by her brother's incessant calls.
