Chapter 334 Starting Over

The sounds of the servants moving around came from outside the room. Someone stopped outside the door and murmured, "Are you all right, madam?" Victoria stiffened.

Obviously, the servants had heard the sounds coming from inside and come over, worried.

She glared at the man in front of her and motioned for him to loosen his grip.

But Charlie treated it like he hadn't seen it and kept his hand on her waist, trapping her between the door and his body.

Helpless, Victoria simply said, "I'm fine."

The servants were dubious but didn't ask questions and left.

When they were all gone, Victoria glared at Charlie again and growled, "Let go."

Charlie looked at her calmly and didn't release her. Instead, he leant forward, getting even closer to her.

His powerful pressure made Victoria's heart hammer as she shrank back.

Charlie suddenly chuckled.

"You've got feelings for me, Victoria."

Victoria trembled.

As if it was set in stone, Charlie grabbed her chin again and tilted her head up at him. His eyes were dark. Much of his iciness had faded, leaving a mysterious, indecipherable emotion.

"Do you know what I've been thinking all these years?"

Victoria was in a daze and didn't speak as she stared at him.

Charlie stroked the skin on her jaw and murmured, "I've always been wondering why you left me when you loved me so fervently in the beginning. Were none of your words true back then? Were you really with me just for the thrill; the great lady of the Kaur family matching up with a poor kid who has nothing..."

Past memories rushed in like the tide.

Five years ago, Victoria had still been young. And being young and fiery, the moment she saw Charlie, she'd taken a liking to the cool, unbridled young man.

But at that age, even if she liked him, how could she say it out loud?

The more she liked him, the more conflicted she grew, and the more twisted it got.

She loved him to death inside, but simply had to act like she didn't care.

After all, she was the grand lady of the Kaur family.

All the friends around her, all the people by her side, were the upper crust of Julio.

Even Natalia had been the star of the Dawson family before Kiera's incident.

Rich people compared each other often in their circles. One day, when someone asked her if she really was getting together with an impoverished peasant brat and started mocking her.

For some reason, she'd blurted out that she was just having some fun with her, so what was so shocking about that!

Her opponent provoked her, saying that she'd only marry some brat from a farming village and become his housewife for the rest of her life. She'd panicked and said she'd never marry some country bumpkin. She was a Kaur lady, and their relationship now was just for the thrill of it. How could that peasant boy ever be a match for her?

She hadn't meant it that way.

She just wanted to say that the young man she'd acknowledged wasn't an impoverished peasant brat.

He had brains. He had guts. He had spirit.

He was a shining jewel, no comparison to those truly roughshod country rubes.

So she believed that one day, he'd prove that he was a match for her with his own ability.

But she'd never had a chance to explain it all.

Charlie had been standing at the end of the alley, having heard all the arrogance she'd displayed in the heat of the moment.

Up until today, Victoria had never forgotten how cold and shadowy his eyes had looked.

As if, in that single instant, he'd pushed her far away. The two had been so close, only a few paces away, but that distance was an eternity, impossible to breach. The next day, Charlie had vanished.

At only a week before their final exams, he'd left, not even leaving a single word behind for her.

Victoria had been angry then. She'd hated him.

After all, she'd been pampered all through her life. Everyone had treated her as the apple of their eye.

But this man was leaving her just after a few words, without even saying anything. How could he?

Back then, he'd searched for him frantically, calling him, even sneaking to his old home to look for him. But she'd turned up with nothing.

Then, by chance, she'd heard the girls she'd been arguing with before gossip that someone had seen Charlie outside the country. Seems like he was with a woman too.

She didn't believe it. When the exams were over, she ignored her father's opposition and chased out of the country.

It was a car race. His brow was still cool, but it ran with energy. His driving with swift and steady, taking the top spot without question.

He'd opened the door, gotten out, and embraced a girl close by.

A happy, contented smile blossomed on his face, stabbing into her eyes like blades.

How stupid of her!

The regret, panic, worry, longing and conflict she didn't want to admit and thought was love might as well have been an insignificant shower in the eyes of someone else.

There she'd been on one side of the ocean imagining how painful it must have been to hear those words. But here he was, coming into his own, a beauty in his arms, not once taking her words to heart, not once feeling sad over her.

She didn't show herself and slunk back, thoroughly disappointed.

As time passed, she'd buried that romance deep inside, never once displaying it, never once letting anyone know.

Victoria's thoughts drifted far. As time flowed ever onwards, it burst up against the current. For an instant, looking into the man's eyes before her, she saw the youth of the past.

Charlie was still speaking.

His voice was low and hoarse.

"I'd given up on you once. I thought that with time and distance, I could chance everything, including my infatuation and love for you. And I did it. For four years, I seemed to really forget you. I could date, flirt with, and even bed other women. But why is it that when it came to crossing that final line, you would always appear before me? Did you put a curse on me? Such that I'd never love another woman, even feel repulsed from simple bodily contact? For a while, I even wondered if I was a normal goddamn man. But now, with you appearing again, it proves that I am. You know it better than anyone, Victoria. There's a voice deep inside me that rejects every other woman outside because it still hasn't let you go. It hasn't forgotten you. It belongs to you. Will you still have it now? Could you forget the rights and wrongs of the past and accept it again; love it again?"

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