Broken Bond: Claimed by My Ex-Husband's Alpha Billionaire Uncle
Chapter 118: Being Selfish Is Not A Sin

Chapter 118: Being Selfish Is Not A Sin

After nearly an hour of talking, Aveline had finished noting down all the important information about Priscilla and Ronan’s case. She even promised that she would publish the article tomorrow morning.

"I’ll contact you once I publish it," Aveline said as she slipped her tablet into her bag. "No—actually, I’ll contact you even if it’s not work-related. Just make sure you’ll reply to my messages."

Charlotte chuckled softly. "I will. I promise I’ll reply quickly. You have permission to get mad at me if I ghost you for more than five minutes."

They both laughed as they stepped out of the café. Before going their separate ways, Aveline pulled Charlotte into a hug and whispered softly, "I really missed you, Charlotte."

Charlotte’s face softened as she hugged her back. "I missed you too. So much."

Even though they had talked for a long time, it still felt like their meeting ended too soon.

"I’ll call you later," Aveline said as she finally let go of the hug and smiled brightly. "See you later, Charlotte."

Charlotte nodded. "See you later."

She waved as Aveline got into the taxi. Charlotte stood in place for a few moments, watching until the taxi had driven a fair distance from the café.

"How did your meeting go?"

Charlotte’s eyes widened, and she jumped slightly in surprise as someone nudged her arm with a cold ice cream wrapper.

"Damon!" she shouted at him, but quickly felt relieved that the person beside her wasn’t a stranger. "Don’t scare me like that!"

"I’m sorry, sweetheart," Damon said with a soft chuckle, though he didn’t look the least bit sorry. "I just couldn’t resist calling out to you. Do you want to go back to the car or ... we could take a walk around the street for a bit?"

Charlotte took a deep breath before answering, "Let’s walk for a bit. I want to clear my head." She glanced down at the blue-wrapped ice cream in Damon’s hand. "Where did you get this?"

Damon pointed toward a mini market beside the café with his chin. "Just got it from there. The weather’s kind of hot today, so I thought you might want some ice cream while we walk."

Charlotte looked at him in disbelief. He didn’t even know whether she’d want to go home or take a walk, but he still came prepared.

"Don’t worry, it’s not too sweet," Damon reassured her. "And if you can’t finish it, I’ll take care of the rest."

"That’s fine." Charlotte took the ice cream from Damon’s hand and began walking first around the city area. "I didn’t eat much at the café anyway."

Since she spent most of the time talking with Aveline about her past, she barely touched the cake they had ordered.

In the end, she only managed to finish her coffee right before they had to leave.

"So, how did your meeting go?" Damon repeated his question.

Charlotte then told Damon everything, how Aveline had accepted everything about her past, how her friends had welcomed her back into their lives, and even how Aveline was now in a romantic relationship with a lycan.

However, when she was about to talk about the article Aveline planned to write about Priscilla, she stopped mid-sentence.

They came to a halt in front of a closed store. Charlotte leaned her back against the wall, while Damon stood right beside her.

"What’s wrong?" Damon asked gently when Charlotte fell silent.

"Damon, I did something bad." Charlotte let out a soft sigh, her eyes fixed on the busy street in front of them. "I gave Aveline permission to publish an article about Priscilla ... about how she ended up in a psychiatric hospital because of Ronan."

"I know Carmen and Diana still haven’t come to terms with what happened to Priscilla, but I ..." Her words trailed off as guilt slowly gnawed at her heart.

Damon suddenly asked, "What about it?"

Charlotte straightened her back at once and turned to look at him. "What do you mean, ’what about it’?" she repeated, disbelief filling her voice. "Damon, I shouldn’t have told Aveline about that, especially not when her family is still grieving."

"I know," Damon said, stepping closer and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "But why are you so worried about other people’s feelings, when your own heart has already been shattered?"

He looked into her eyes and said quietly, "Shouldn’t you learn to care for yourself first before putting everyone else above you?"

Charlotte lowered her gaze, her fingers tightening around the ice cream wrapper in her hand. "That’s the problem, Damon."

She continued, "I don’t know how to do that. I’ve spent so much of my life thinking about what other people feel, what they expect from me ... it’s so hard to put myself first."

Even when Charlotte gave Aveline her permission, she still felt like she had done something selfish, something she shouldn’t have done.

Maybe it was the result of years spent trying to please Julian.

Even though she had done everything she could to run from her past, a part of it was still too stubborn to leave her behind.

Damon stayed quiet for a moment, his eyes never leaving her face. He could see the weight she carried, how deeply rooted the guilt and fear were, clinging to her like a second skin.

"You’re not selfish, Charlotte," he said softly. "After everything you’ve been through, you have every right to put yourself first."

Charlotte let out a tired sigh. "It doesn’t feel that way. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever stop thinking like this. If I ever stop waiting for someone to be disappointed in me."

Damon took her hand again, his touch steady and warm. "You will," he said. "It’s not going to be easy, but I’ll be right here while you figure it out. Every step of the way."

For a while, they stood there in silence, the noise of the city fading into the background. Just the two of them, her heart slowly healing, and the only thing she cared about in that moment was Damon’s presence.

"And just so you know," Damon said, gently moving his hand to her cheek, "even if everyone else is disappointed in you, I won’t be. I’ll always support you, no matter what you choose to do."