Wendy suddenly thought of the situation between Daisy and Mason.
Henson must be fearful that history might repeat itself again.
“I’ll have you know that I only see Howell as a little brother I love to bits, nothing more,” she reassured.
“Are you sure?” he muttered.
“What are you suspicious about anyways? And what makes you think that every woman in the world is like Daisy?” she huffed with a frown.
His expression instantly became more solemn. “I mean, it wasn’t like she betrayed me by her own volition in the past, she was just forced to make the decisions she made due to the circumstances then. It was impossible not to take that route, so I’m already over her ‘betrayal’ by now,” he said.
“You’re not wrong. If it weren’t for the circumstances back then, the two of you would’ve probably had a few children by now,” she scoffed.
“I hope you don’t get jealous over something menial like this, Wendy,” he replied and started caressing her hair. “The reason I’m telling you the story of how my brother stole my woman is because I don’t wish for it to happen ever again. If not, I fear that I might go crazy, alright?”
After staring at her book for a long time, she finally spoke up again. “To be honest, I feel that the act of giving your lover away to your own brother is a pretty stupid thing to do. I don’t think that you should’ve let her go back then,” she said.
He then plopped himself down opposite her on a cushion at the window and looked at her with a lovestruck grin. “Well, I’d like to think that the reason I gave in at the time was probably because I wanted to meet you in the future,” he teased.
Her expression softened as she gazed into his eyes. She couldn’t help but let out a giggle after, “There goes the Love Expert,”
“Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve only dated twice in my whole life, which includes dating you?” he asked.
“No way,”
“It’s true, only when meeting the right person will I start spouting sweet and affectionate words from the bottom of my heart,” he teased as
a smile crept up on his face. He looked completely at ease.
Although she had a faint smile on her lips on the outside, her heart was thumping wildly in her chest on the inside.
Henson was definitely a much better sweet talker compared to Gorman.
Even though she couldn’t possibly know how he was like in front of other women, he was definitely doing a good job wooing her now.
“Wait, I need to talk to you about something. It’s about Howell,” she changed topics.
“Why are you talking on his behalf?” he asked and frowned.
“Well, this is what I’d promised to do for him for winning the inter-university basketball championships,” she explained.
He squinted his eyes at that. “This brat must’ve known that I’d give in to his requests since it’s coming from Wendy,” he thought.
“Well, what did he want your help for?” he asked.
“He told me that he wanted to open his own pub,” she said. “But isn’t this a small matter in your family? Why wouldn’t you agree to it?”
“How did he plead his case to you?” he smirked
“He said that he wanted to open a not-for-profit bar and that since the Charles aren’t wusses in the world of business, he said that opening a bar like that would only make you ashamed of him,” she explained.
“Complete and utter balderdash,” he scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure he lied about his reasons,”
“What other reasons can there be then?” she probed.
“Of course there are tons. I’m sure he knows very well too,” he answered. “I’ll talk to him about it, so you don’t have to worry about him for now,”
His answer baffled her. “Then… does that mean that I’ve succeeded in my mission or not?” she asked, confused.
“You passed with flying colours, but as for whether he’s able to open his own bar still needs to depend on his behaviour in the end,” he said.
She merely nodded at that. She was just glad that she’d managed to fulfill her end of the bargain.
When noontime rolled around the next day, Henson arrived on campus half an hour earlier
to request the university authorities to let Howell meet up with him in a lounge.
Henson’s expression was enough to signal Howell that something was up.
“What’s up, big bro?” Howell chuckled as he walked over to sit down beside him.
“You tell me,” Henson started.
“Me? How would I know what you’re here for? If I did, I won’t be asking you,” Howell said incredulously.
“I’m here about the bar issue. I’m surprised you’re still harping on it,”
Howell reckoned that Sister Wendy had already helped him plead his case the night before, so that was why his brother was here now.
He then turned to Henson with a straight face and said, “Just to let you know, my case is totally different from our second uncle’s case,”
“I doubt if our second uncle anticipated that he’d meet that b*tch from the Nicholson’s at a bar, much less get ruined for the rest of his life by the woman. May I remind you that the matter of refusing to let you open your bar isn’t just based on my own decision, but on Mason’s decision as well, you know.
“Among the three of us, you’re the only one who resembles your second uncle the most by how impulsive and sensitive you can be. By staying at that kind of place all day long, how can you reassure me that you won’t go down the same path he did?” Henson retorted.
“May I remind you that not everyone in this world belongs to the Nicholson family. I’m a grown man, big bro. You can stop me now for this, but I’ll still do it eventually down the line. I’m the kind of person who’ll follow through on my dreams, so can’t you just give me your support instead of stomping on my dreams?” he ranted.
After glaring at him for a few seconds, Henson said sternly, “Tell me your real reasons for wanting to open a bar. I want to hear it from your heart. Don’t give me any of that flowery cr*p,”
After compiling his thoughts for a while, Howell finally spoke. “I want to get to know all sorts of people. I want to be able to see a world that’s completely different from mine. I want to train myself to make up for all the gaps in my relationships as far back as ten years ago. I don’t want to live a life where I’m just known as the fourth young master of the Charles family. I no longer wish to be put on a pedestal nor make people afraid of me. I just want to use this opportunity to live out a life I truly want for myself,” he said sincerely.
“Well, do you honestly think that opening a bar can help you with all of that?” Henson asked.
“I’m absolutely positive,” Howell answered firmly.
“You know, people will find out eventually that you’re the fourth young master of the Charles family anyways. You’re a part of the Charles and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Henson argued.
“Even if nothing goes as plan in the end, at least I’d be able to say that I’ve managed to live out my dreams with a smile on my face,” Howell replied.
Henson sighed and fell silent for a moment. “Fine, I’ll allow you to open this bar of yours because of the last thing you said, but you’d better not use it for any hanky-panky purposes…” Henson warned.
“Absolutely not,” Howell chuckled without a care in the world. “I won’t make you regret your decision, big bro,” he said giddily.
Henson glared at him through the corners of his eyes. “As for the rest, I’ll have Dayne arrange everything for you. Run along back to your lecture now,” he instructed.
Howell immediately got up from his seat, his expression pleasantly surprised. He knew that Sister Wendy would come through for her.
Sister Wendy was truly the GOAT.
He’d decided to make Sister Wendy his next idol.
But when he reached the entrance, Henson suddenly piped up again. “Wait,”
Howell turned around to look at his brother. “You’re not regretting your decision already, are you big bro?” he asked incredulously.
“I just wanted to remind you to stay away from Sister Wendy in the future so that people don’t come up with rumours like that anymore next time,” Henson said.
“Oh wow, why do I have to take the fall for this when it’s not my fault? It was you who let me see her in the first place, and plus, it’s not like I can influence what the masses think of me and her,” Howell argued.
“Just take a look at yourself and ask why they’re even spreading things like that in the first place. Why get close to her of all people and not other girls? It’s obviously because you’re trying to woo her. If not, out of all the girls on campus, why do you insist on getting close to Wendy then? Don’t you realise that this is a scandal in the making? I’ll remind you again that you and Wendy aren’t on the same side, so if you land her in any sort of rumour again, you better bet your *ss I’m going to take care of you,” Henson threatened.
The corners of Howell’s mouth twitched.
Was he even his blood brother anymore? It was obvious that he didn’t care for his little brother at all. The only person he cared about was his wife.