Chapter: 7
Even another man could see it—his face was practically dripping with lingering attachment.
I vaguely remember hearing that they broke off their engagement… Is that the guy?
Sharp-eyed Brandon immediately realized the identity of the man standing before them.
He says he just happened to pass by and saw her face?
It was such a ridiculous excuse it almost made him snort.
This area might be lively, but it was still a residential neighborhood.
Unless you lived nearby, there was no reason to come here at all.
Which meant he had figured out from the start that Dorothy lived here and had come looking for her.
This is getting troublesome.
Brandon had followed Dorothy to the market because of Rose.
Once Rose opened her heart to someone, she became extremely attached.
She even nagged Dorothy nonstop, saying she was worried about her going to the market alone.
Her face would turn beet red as she barked out orders—so absurd it left him speechless.
Well… looking back now, maybe that was foresight.
Brandon let out a silent sigh.
He couldn’t allow Dorothy to be alone with a man who had broken off their engagement with her using his own hands, only to show up again now.
Dorothy looked weak—both physically and mentally.
Naive enough to fall for lies or tricks.
How shaken would she be standing in front of her former fiancé?
It can’t be helped.
To bring his sister along, he needed Dorothy’s cooperation.
At the moment, Dorothy was the only person Rose had opened her heart to.
So he planned to roughly sort things out in Dorothy’s place.
If she gets dragged around by her ex-fiancé, it’ll just be annoying later.
Honestly, the situation was already annoying—but still.
Then something unexpected happened.
“What’s going on?”
Contrary to Brandon’s expectations, Dorothy approached Charles first.
Her eyes, as she stood in front of him, looked far calmer than he had imagined.
“Just a moment.”
Brandon’s eyes widened at the unforeseen development.
“Are you sure you don’t need my help? If you’d rather not meet him, I can step in.”
“I haven’t done anything shameful or wrong toward Charles.”
Dorothy shrugged.
“If anyone feels uncomfortable meeting, it’s probably Charles—not me.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Huh? I mean it very seriously.”
Well, if she said so…
Brandon chuckled softly and handed her something.
“A cane…?”
Dorothy blinked in confusion as she looked at him.
“A cane.”
“Should I hold it for you?”
“No. I think you’ll need it.”
“…Pardon?”
Dorothy stared blankly.
“My legs aren’t injured, you know.”
“Yeah, mine aren’t either.”
“…Then why are you carrying a cane?”
“Who knows?”
Leaving behind a flustered Dorothy, Brandon just smiled brightly.
Not understanding but giving up on figuring it out, Dorothy accepted the cane.
“…Thank you.”
“Haha. Don’t mention it.”
Still smiling, Brandon even demonstrated by swinging the cane himself.
“Now, try it! If you think you’re in danger, swing it lightly from bottom to top! Like you’re hitting a ball.”
“A ball? What ball am I supposed to hit?”
“Up or down—it doesn’t matter. I’ll take responsibility.”
“Ah… okay. Thank you for the advice.”
After thanking him, Dorothy headed toward where Charles stood.
Even after letting her go like that, Brandon had no intention of leaving Dorothy alone with Charles.
If things went south, he planned to intervene immediately.
Meanwhile, Charles looked increasingly irritated during the brief exchange between Brandon and Dorothy.
“Ahem!”
He even cleared his throat loudly.
It seemed having another man beside Dorothy displeased him.
“Hmph!”
He was making a point of showing his irritation.
Was he asking Brandon to leave?
But Brandon didn’t care about that kind of hint in the slightest.
“Yeah, yeah. Hi to you too. Nice to meet you.”
He even waved at Charles with an annoyingly sly smile.
Charles snorted in disbelief and finally turned to Dorothy.
“Hi, Dorothy! Like I said earlier, I just happened to pass by and saw your face. It was really a coincidence.”
“Yeah. Hi.”
“Have you been well?”
“Yeah.”
“…You’ve really been well?”
“Yeah.”
Charles froze for a moment, then belatedly cleared his throat and continued.
“Of course, I’ve been doing well too. Look—did you see this? My face was featured in the Sale Brums Weekly.”
He pulled out a stack of newspapers and showed her.
“My face gets printed every week. Even when nothing special happens, they print it. Around here, there’s probably no one who doesn’t recognize me.”
“Yeah, it came out nicely.”
“Right?”
“But did you come just to show me this?”
“…Huh?”
“We promised never to see each other again after I took the money. Don’t you remember?”
Charles masked his irritation and complained.
“Even so, how could you take that money? After all the years we’ve known each other.”
“Didn’t you agree to it too?”
“What?”
“I heard it from your mother. She said everything was settled with you as well.”
Dorothy pointed out calmly.
“Wasn’t the suggestion that we never get involved again something you proposed yourself?”
Caught off guard by her gentle but pointed words, Charles began to stammer.
It was a side of Dorothy he had never seen before.
Brandon, too, widened his eyes in surprise.
“And earlier, you asked how I could take the money after all the years we’ve known each other.”
Dorothy spoke evenly.
“If we’re talking about those years… you were the one who met another woman.”
She wasn’t angry.
It was closer to genuine curiosity.
Unlike Charles, Dorothy carried no emotion toward him at all.
So she has this side to her.
Brandon let out a soft laugh.
He had thought she was just naive.
Rose’s worries were completely unfounded.
“Did you ever really like me at all?”
Charles suddenly asked.
“Think about it. You took the money without hesitation. You’re living just fine without me. It makes me wonder if you liked me to begin with.”
And Dorothy’s greatest weapon was her honesty.
“Yeah. I liked you.”
Enough to leave the other person utterly stunned.
“I liked you more than anyone in the world. After my mother passed away, there was no one I liked more than you. Didn’t you know?”
“You… you liked me…?”
Charles’s face turned bright red.
As if he had never received a confession like this before, he clutched his chest, completely flustered.
“That’s why I have no lingering feelings now.”
But Dorothy wasn’t finished yet.
“No lingering… feelings?”
The man who looked like he’d been in heaven moments ago now looked like he’d fallen straight into hell.
“Yeah. I liked you enough that there’s nothing left.”
“……”
“I didn’t get engaged to you for no reason. I truly liked you—that’s why I agreed to it.”
Charles gave an awkward laugh.
“What is that supposed to mean? It sounds like you’re saying you don’t like me anymore.”
“That’s exactly what it means. I don’t like you anymore.”
Charles’s eyes widened.
“You said I was the person you liked most in the world—and now you don’t? Then you only liked me that much in the first place!”
His pride wounded, Charles shouted.
“Is it okay to say something that cruel to someone you’re seeing after so long? If you’re going to be like this, just go back!”
“Okay.”
At his words, Dorothy turned around without hesitation.
“Ah—wait! Wait!”
Panicking, Charles reached out.
She stopped walking.
“You’re really leaving just because I told you to?!”
“You told me to go.”
Dorothy sighed briefly before speaking to him.
“Next time, don’t test people. If you have something to say, say it clearly, Charles.”
“……”
“We probably won’t see each other anyway.”
Watching the scene, Brandon couldn’t hold back his laughter, choking it down.
Wow. She’s incredible.
Not just sharp—strong.
She even knew how to take intelligent revenge on someone trying to belittle her.
This was way too entertaining.
Brandon’s blue eyes sparkled.
“I’ll be going now. I hope you live well too—just as well as I do.”
With that, Dorothy turned her back without a trace of regret.
“…She liked me.”
Charles could only stare blankly at her retreating figure.
Standing there dazed, his eyes met Brandon’s.
“Bwahahaha!”
Brandon finally burst out laughing.
“…Hey.”
Charles muttered, his eyes welling up with tears.
