Chapter 131

It didn’t matter to her if he knew that she was cold and heartless.

Ethan was surprised. Although he was aware that she wasn’t on the best of terms with the Wolands, he

hadn’t thought that it was this bad. So, he kept his eyes on Charles, who was walking into the room

slowly, and asked, “What about Old Mr. Woland?”

Now, the closest kin to Alice was Charles, and she paused, hesitating for a second before explaining, “I

suppose I do trust him for now, but I won’t count on him, forget depending on him to fend the others

off.”

Until now, Charles hadn’t done anything to harm her, and he was her father’s closest kin, after all.

Therefore, she still decided to place her trust in him. Nonetheless, she had no other sentiments to

spare for that old man, and neither did she dare to do so.

After the death of her parents, she had witnessed how cruel reality could be, especially when it came to

personal interests. Human nature was the thing that couldn’t withstand any tests, and she wouldn’t put

the so-called human nature to the test, let alone place herself in the way of danger.

All Ethan felt was a sharp prick in his heart, as though something had stung him and he felt a numbing

pain. Seven years ago, she had just turned eighteen. That year, her parents passed away and the life

and death of her brother remained unknown. Ever since that day, she was placed in a tough situation

where she could neither move forward nor retreat. It was evident that she had no one to trust or rely on.

Those so-called family members probably set her up as though she was just a stranger, or maybe, they

were even crueler than that, which disappointed her so terribly, and resulted in her sudden maturity

almost overnight.

He had never known regret, but he felt such an emotion right now. He regretted not putting more

people and effort into finding out the truth of what happened that night. If he had been more thorough,

maybe he would have found her, and she wouldn’t have been so lonely and helpless in the past seven

years.

Suddenly, Charles called out to Alice, “Come here, Alice. Come next to me.”

“Okay,” Alice answered, snapping back to her senses and walking toward Charles.

Ethan kept Alice’s words in his mind, so he remained in the same spot and didn’t move a muscle.

“Alice, since your previous engagement didn’t go so well, so I’m planning to find someone suitable for

you at this party. This time, I’ll personally choose someone for you.”

Charles smiled warmly at her, and she was taken aback by this sudden news. Even though her farce of

an engagement with the Yeager Family was all part of Elijah’s plan, Charles and Sophia also played a

huge part in this matter. Strictly speaking, Bruce was hand-picked by Charles himself.

Still, she knew she couldn’t say anything that would come off as insolent in such a situation because

there was no reason to embarrass Charles in front of everyone.

Ethan narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze over Charles before fixing them on Alice. He wanted to

find out how she would answer Charles. Just a minute ago, she had especially reminded him not to

mention their marriage to the Wolands, including Charles, so he wasn’t expecting her to bring it up now.

“Huh? So, it’s true that Old Mr. Woland wants to get Alice a husband!” It was clear that Irvin was having

a fun time watching this on the sidelines as he started gloating. “Oh, no. What should be done now?”

“Alice, do you—” Charles seemed highly interested in this matter and wanted to pick a husband for her

right there on the spot.

“It’s okay. Currently, I have… no plans to remarry.” Alice made a small pause in between her sentence

before deciding to use the word ‘remarry’. After all, she already registered her marriage with Ethan and

thought that using this word was more appropriate.

Even though the others were startled to hear her use that word, they thought she meant her wedding

with Bruce that was held previously. That time, the wedding had already begun, so to claim that she

was going to remarry sounded fitting, somehow.

Meanwhile, a look of delight flashed past Ethan’s eyes, which had started to turn icy. There was no

doubt that he was satisfied with her answer.

“Oh, wow! Alice says that she has no plans to remarry. So, is she planning to spend the rest of her life

with you, Ethan?” Irvin whispered into Ethan’s ears in a dramatic tone.

Whenever the topic of Ethan and Alice’s marriage was mentioned, their other friends were sure that

Ethan would definitely end up divorcing Alice. On the other hand, Irvin didn’t really pay any attention to

that because Ethan’s marriage was his personal affair that had nothing to do with him. As for whether

the marriage was worth it or whether they were compatible, it was not up to them, outsiders, to be the

judge. All he knew was, as long as Ethan was still married to Alice, he would regard her as his sister-in-

law.

Ethan’s satisfaction grew after hearing Irvin’s words. Since he married her, he already planned to live

with her for the rest of his life. When he heard Alice using the word ‘remarry’, it was obvious that she

was firm in her decision despite her expressionless face.

The smile on Charles’ face froze slightly, but it was only for a split second and almost unnoticeable.

The next second, his face appeared perfectly genial again. “Since you’re unwilling, then we’ll do as you

wish. I’m sorry that I can stay longer because I don’t feel so well, but I’ll cut the cake and thank

everyone for your attendance.” Judging by his late appearance, it wasn’t hard to deduce that he was

still frail in health. “Alice, help me to cut the cake,” he called out to Alice intimately and asked her to

come in front of the cake. Then, he took the knife from the server and passed it to her. “Here, cut it for

me.”

The way Charles treated Alice surprised everyone. Rumor had it that she was unfavored and had no

social standing in the Woland Family. Why was Charles placing her first in everything, then?

All these displays of affection and placing her first in everything didn’t touch Alice, and neither did they

make her emotional. As she had said before, she trusted Charles only for the moment and had no

other positive feelings toward him, and she didn’t dare to invest in him, either. Although Charles hadn’t

harmed her yet, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t do it the instant his interests were threatened.

Even if he was in the dark about Elijah setting her up, he was the one who helped him to snatch the

Glenn Group away. Furthermore, he had always turned a blind eye and didn’t speak a single word of

justice on her behalf when the other Wolands took the assets her parents left for her back then. So,

how could one expect her to have even a sliver of affection for him?

Still, she didn’t turn him down when he wanted her to cut the cake and took the fruit knife from him. The

knife was rather long and sharp, and she cut the cake into a few slices with it. After that, he took the

knife away from her personally.

Somehow, Ethan thought that their interaction didn’t seem so harmonious and frowned. According to

Alice’s words earlier, she wasn’t close to Charles. Given Alice’s character, she wouldn’t be so distant

from Charles if he had always treated her this way, he thought, and his phone started ringing suddenly.

He sneaked a glance at his phone, and he saw that it was a call from Caleb. When he saw the name,

he suddenly recalled that today was the day he sent Caleb to check on the results of Alice’s DNA tests.