Chapter 3

I pushed the glass back toward him. "If you want a drink, have it yourself. Let's talk somewhere else."

He cared too much about saving face. Breaking up in front of all these people wasn't a great idea.

Sophia spoke again. "Ava, what do you need to say to Ryan that the rest of us can't hear?"

There were times I really wanted to slap her. Not now, though. I was on my own, and if things got physical, I wouldn't stand a chance.

Ryan's smile faded. "Whatever it is, just say it here."

Fine. That works for me.

"Ryan, we're breaking up."

A collective gasp went around the room.

He froze for a moment, then let out a scoff. "Breaking up? When were we ever together?"

I almost laughed from anger. That was exactly the kind of thing he would say.

I looked around at everyone in the room.

"You're right. Since you all heard that, please keep it in mind. If you ever hear rumors about Ryan and me, I'd appreciate it if you could clear them up."

With that, I turned and walked out. Behind me, I heard the sound of a glass shattering.

Charles and I got married soon after.

Then he took me back to the Bennett family's old estate to meet everyone.

It wasn't anything as I had imagined. No one made things difficult for me. Every member of the Bennett family treated me kindly.

Cornelius especially.

He was in his seventies, but still sharp and full of energy.

He pulled out a stack of old photos and showed them to me. Pointing at a picture of three people, he said, "This is your grandmother, this is me, and this is your grandfather."

They all looked young in the photo, probably still students at the time.

Charles had been right, my eyes and brows resembled my grandmother's.

There was also a photo of my biological parents.

In it, my mother's belly was slightly rounded, and my father was looking at her with a gentle expression. They both seemed like kind people.

"Your parents grew up together and later stayed on at their school to teach. After your grandparents passed away, they were transferred to Capitalia and rarely came back."

Sophia hadn't grown up in Oceania City, so no one had ever questioned her resemblance to Eleanor all these years.

"After Sophia returned to the Carter family, she said my biological parents left behind a mountain of debt when they died. Grandpa, do you know anything about that?"

Cornelius' expression darkened immediately, anger flashing across his face.

"Nonsense. Your parents taught countless students and lived with integrity their whole lives. There's no way they left any debts."

The Carter family had given Sophia two million dollars to settle those so-called debts. She had turned around and put that on me, claiming I owed the Carters.

"Does Sophia know about the will?" I asked.

Cornelius shook his head.

"Your grandfather passed early, and the inheritance wasn't something that could be claimed right away.

"Your parents probably never told her. Later, after they died, Charles refused to marry her, so we never brought it up."

That night, Charles and I stayed at the estate.

Same room, same bed.

I sat against the headboard, trying to process everything I had learned that day.

Charles got into bed on the other side and sat next to me.

"Do you want to have sex?"

His bluntness caught me off guard. Then again, that was exactly his style. Direct and to the point.

I shot back, "Do you?"

He shook his head. "But if you do, I can."

I covered his mouth. "Thanks, but I don't."

The way he said it made it sound like I was the eager one.

He pulled my hand away, his tone unchanged. "Then should we turn off the lights and sleep?"

"Okay."

We turned off the lights and lay down, but I couldn't fall asleep.

The image of my biological parents in that photo kept replaying in my mind.