Chapter 1663: Full of joy

The discussion with the Bennet men and Zoren didn’t last long, as Atlas, Hugo, and Zoren had to leave. Meanwhile, Charles and Haines remained seated in the study room.

Neither Charles nor Haines dared to break the silence. Charles, in particular, just stared at the beaten face of his daughter without a word.

Charles knew that the incident was terrible. Haines’ leg was proof that it had been terrible. However, he never expected it to be this bad. He felt sorry for Haines, but the latter was old and had always been mentally strong enough to carry on.

His daughter might’ve always been the resilient type, but as a parent, how could one expect Charles’s heart to stay in one piece after seeing this?

Haines studied Charles’s side profile and sighed.

"I’m sorry for not telling you earlier," he expressed. "I know Penny asked me to keep it from you and Allison, but in truth, I also wanted to keep it from you."

There were many reasons why Haines didn’t think he should detail the incident to Charles. One of them was that Charles had been through a lot in the past, to the point where he almost completely lost his mind. Even when Charles never showed signs of relapsing, Haines had always been mindful of his state of mind.

Of course, Charles was mentally stronger now, especially after becoming a husband and a father of five wonderful children. Even so, Haines didn’t want to take chances.

"I’m sorry, Charles," he repeated sincerely. "I didn’t want you to find out this way."

Charles smiled bitterly as he peeled his gaze from the photo to look at Haines. "If there’s someone to apologize, it should be me."

He let out a weary laugh, hanging his head low.

"I was... I was selfish, wasn’t I?" he whispered, his face twisting as he clasped his hands. His jaw tightened as he looked back at everything and forced himself to see what he would usually ignore. "Stephen was right. I was... selfish and ungrateful. And that I always had it easy."

Even if everyone denied that, there was some truth in it.

Being the son of the chairman of the Bennet Family, Charles had privileges that only he had. Even if he said otherwise, it was true. When Chairman Bennet told him to take over the company—regardless of Charles’s qualifications—he defied that and chose to pursue being a soldier.

At that point, Charles wasn’t even sure if that was what he truly wanted or if it was his way of spiting his father. After all, Chairman Bennet was deeply against the idea. But alas, Charles didn’t listen and did what he wanted.

Then, that incident happened.

Who helped Charles fix his life again? It was his father. Of course, Chairman Bennet didn’t do it kindly. But one could understand that, despite the chairman’s harshness, he protected his son from any scrutiny and did his very best to get him help.

Thanks to Chairman Bennet’s support, Charles managed to get a hold of himself.

However, one also had to realize that if that had been someone else, there would’ve been no way for them to return to the family. Let alone have a significant position in the family business. Yet, Charles was handed that position on a silver platter even when Stephen and Haines had worked tirelessly for the company.

Everyone just casually put logic to it and said, "It’s because Charles was born a leader. He had a natural charisma in business that neither Haines nor Stephen had."

Although it may have been true in some sense, that was because Charles was given far more opportunities and chances than anyone in the family. He could screw up and not worry about being kicked out of his family.

"It’s always been me, me, me..." he whispered, his heart clenching as his breathing slowed. "And even if I claim that you were more like a brother to me, and that my children and wife are everything to me... my actions and thinking are still centered on me."

Another bitter laugh escaped. "I claim that I know you more than anyone else, but I didn’t even know you’ve been suffering all these years."

"I say that Penny is my princess and that I care for her with all my heart, and yet—" he stopped, sniffing hard as he held back his tears. "And yet, I didn’t care enough to know just how much trauma she had been through just because I thought, since she’s fine now, it wasn’t that big of a deal."

His words were like daggers slicing through his heart, a hand striking him right across the face.

"All this time, I thought I was doing a good job," he scoffed. "But no. All this time, everyone’s been walking cautiously around me just to make sure I don’t fall or trip out of the bubble I’ve wrapped myself in all these years."

Charles raised his brows, watching his tears fall onto the carpet. He kept his head hung low, clasping his hands together to keep himself steady.

"I’m sorry, Haines," he choked, but still tried to convey his heart. "I am... very sorry for not knowing. Even if you tell me I wouldn’t have known, I should’ve—because you’ve always known everything. Me, my marriage, my family... my business."

Haines’s mouth parted, but then he closed it again.

A part of him wanted to say something nice and tell Charles that wasn’t the truth—but they both knew saying that would be a lie.

Charles was, indeed, a little selfish in his own way.

There were a lot of redeemable qualities he had, and he would protect his family no matter what. He would protect Haines and would even take a bullet for him. However, that trait of his had grown along with all his other good qualities.

Even so, that was something Haines wouldn’t see as Charles’s flaw. It wasn’t a beautiful flaw, but everyone in this world had their own ugly flaw.

"I still don’t know what to say about that," Haines whispered. "However, I am not as hurt as you probably believe I was. If anything, this pain... I now see it as not pain, but rather, an insult."

He paused, eyes still on Charles. "An insult for being lied to, and a mockery she made me to be."

"No, you loved her—"

"I did. For many years, I did." Haines huffed, mustering the courage to say his next words. "My heart, however, is safe now."

Charles slowly turned his head, and the second he met Haines’s eyes, all he saw was the subtle, contented look in the latter’s.

"I am not coming home because I don’t want to see you, but because I want to spend every minute I can with her," Haines explained. "I am fine, I am at peace, I am... full of joy, Charles. I may not have told you about that woman in the past, but I could talk about the present until you are tired of hearing it."

Haines offered him a kind smile. "I listened to you about Allison, so you should prepare your ears and pack a lot of extra bottles of water because what’s to come is an influx of your own medicine. You can’t be selfish now — you owe me that much."