Broken Bond: Claimed by My Ex-Husband's Alpha Billionaire Uncle
Chapter 113: Old Friend

Chapter 113: Old Friend

It had only been a few days since Hattie and Derek moved into Crimson Moon Manor, but they were already settling in like they’d lived there forever.

Hattie had even started playing golf with Mona in the backyard, while Derek went off with Louis to visit a wine collector.

From the terrace, Charlotte spotted her mother and Mona walking together in the distance. She smiled. "They’re getting along pretty well."

She and Damon were just sitting there, side by side, on the terrace that faced the backyard. They weren’t doing anything special, just sipping their morning coffee and tea, letting the sunlight warm their skin.

Charlotte could finally relax today. She had no scenes to shoot. The director had given her a day off, saying he didn’t want her pushing herself too hard after being sick.

Most of her scenes were already done anyway. If things went as planned, filming would be over in three more weeks.

What a journey it had been.

"Maybe it’s because they’re both social butterflies," Damon said, sipping his black coffee while watching Mona in the distance. "My mother can make friends with anyone in under five minutes."

Charlotte let out a small laugh. She couldn’t relate at all. It took her at least three months to really feel close to someone. Until then, she usually just saw people as acquaintances.

"If only Carmen could join them," she murmured.

Since Priscilla had been taken to the psychiatric hospital, Carmen had barely come out of her room. She even chose to eat alone there instead of sitting at the dining table with the rest of them.

Mona had tried getting her to come out once, but Carmen had only said, "I need time alone for a while. Please don’t bother me."

After that, she asked Mona to leave and locked her door, not wanting anyone to come in without permission.

Meanwhile, Diana was rarely at home. She preferred spending her time hunting down the remaining rogue werewolves, the ones Julian seemed to have left behind to cause chaos.

They were grieving and drowning in guilt. In the end, everyone decided to take a step back and give them some space to heal.

"She’ll join us soon," Damon said confidently. "We just need to wait a little longer."

Charlotte let out a quiet sigh and took a sip of her warm tea. "You’re right. They just need some time."

After that, neither of them said a word. Damon was busy checking his emails, while Charlotte simply tried to enjoy the moment and relax.

That was until her phone started ringing, once, twice, several times.

She frowned and looked down at the screen. It was an unknown number. Normally, she never answered calls like that. But this time, her hand moved on its own, almost before she could think.

"Hello? Who is this?" she asked, her voice calm but curious.

There was silence for a few seconds before she heard a woman voice on the call. "Is this ... really Charlotte?"

Damon looked over at her, but said nothing.

There was a brief silence before a familiar woman’s voice spoke from the other end. "Is this ... really Charlotte?"

Charlotte blinked, her tongue suddenly feeling numb. "Y-yes," she stammered.

That voice. She still recognized it clearly.

"Wow, I didn’t expect you to still be using this number," the woman said enthusiastically. "Do you still remember me? I’m—"

"Aveline." Charlotte cut her off. Her voice trembled slightly as she whispered, "Aveline Morgan."

Aveline chuckled softly. Her voice sounded like a gentle bird’s song, something that could calm a person’s heart in the early morning. "I am," she said. "It’s been a long time since we last talked, Charlotte."

Charlotte pulled the phone slightly away from her ear and lowered her head. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall any second.

Aveline used to be one of her closest friends since they were in high school. Before Charlotte married Julian, the two of them and a few other girls were almost inseparable.

They traveled together every few months, made silly memories, and shared everything with each other.

But all of that changed after she married him.

Julian began to control everything, her access to the outside world, even her relationships. At first, he allowed Charlotte to exchange messages with her friends, but he never let her go out with them.

Little by little, he started limiting how long she could talk to them. And eventually, Julian completely forbade her from contacting Aveline and the others.

He told her that her friends might "influence her thoughts" and ruin their marriage.

Charlotte had tried many times to reassure him that she would never tell anyone about their marriage problems. But instead of trusting her, Julian slapped her across the face and accused her of having another man, just because she wanted to hold her phone more often.

"I’ve actually seen some news about you a few months ago," Aveline said gently. She took a deep breath before saying, "But ... it took me a while to gather the courage to call."

Charlotte wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, her heart tightening at the sound of Aveline’s voice.

"I wasn’t sure if you’d even want to hear from me," Aveline continued. "I mean, after everything that happened ... after you disappeared from our lives so suddenly. We were all so worried, but we didn’t know what to do. And when none of our messages went through, we thought maybe you just didn’t want to talk to us anymore."

Charlotte closed her eyes. "It wasn’t like that," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I wanted to reach out. So many times. But ... I couldn’t. I wasn’t allowed to."

There was a pause on the line. Then Aveline spoke again, her tone softer now, filled with pain. "Was it that bad?"

Charlotte didn’t answer right away. Her throat felt tight, like the words were too heavy to say out loud. But finally, she nodded, even though Aveline couldn’t see it. "Yes," she said, barely above a whisper. "It was."

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