Chapter 2

Helen held her hand, tears streaming down. "It's all my fault. I lost you back then and made you suffer all these years at the Smith family..."

"It's okay," Charlotte said calmly. "Grandpa treated me well."

Helen nodded, wiping her tears. "That's good then."

David sat down nearby and poured Charlotte a cup of coffee. "You must be tired from the journey. What would you like for dinner? I'll make it for you."

Charlotte took the cup and sipped—it was premium Blue Mountain coffee. She smiled. "Anything is fine. I'm not picky."

"So thoughtful," Helen said, wiping her eyes. Suddenly remembering something, she got up, took out a manila envelope from a cabinet, and pressed it into Charlotte's hands.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you all these years. From now on, I've arranged everything for your future." She gestured for Charlotte to open the envelope.

Charlotte opened it and found a stack of photos inside, all of young men of various types.

She looked at Helen questioningly.

Helen smiled. "These are all the marriage prospects I've been selecting for you over the years. See if you like any of them? I'll arrange a meeting for you."

David frowned. "Charlotte just got back, why are you talking about this already?"

"So what?" Helen said matter-of-factly. "I've already failed as a mother for eighteen years. I must arrange this marriage matter properly for her! Charlotte, take a look—do you like any of them?"

Charlotte didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she still looked through them. When she got to the fourth photo, her hand suddenly froze.

She recognized the person in this photo—it was Charles Wilson, her former arranged marriage partner.

The Wilson family was well-known in high society circles. The Smith family had gone to great lengths back then to connect with the Wilson family by arranging her engagement to Charles, but Stella's appearance had disrupted everything.

The fact that the Brown family could have Charles's photo here meant their background was definitely not as simple as it appeared.

"Charlotte?" Seeing her staring at Charles's photo, Helen asked quietly, "Do you like him?"

Charlotte immediately shook her head. "No."

She wasn't interested in blind dates, but Helen was so enthusiastic that she couldn't refuse directly, so she randomly pointed at a photo that looked decent. "Him then."

Helen took it and her eyes lit up immediately. "You have great taste! This is Richard Davis, I like him too!"

David leaned over for a look, and his expression changed slightly. "What's so good about the Davis family? They have connections to the mafia."

Helen dismissed this with a wave. "As if you don't have connections."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she'd said too much. She quickly covered her mouth and looked at Charlotte carefully.

Charlotte's expression remained calm, as if she hadn't heard anything.

Helen laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. "Don't listen to your dad's nonsense. The Davis family is a bit complicated, but Richard himself is really good—young and accomplished, and good-looking too. If you like him, I'll arrange for you two to meet in the next few days."

"No need to go to so much trouble," Charlotte said. "Keep it simple."

"How can that work?" Helen looked serious. "Your life's major event must be done properly! Don't worry, I'll arrange everything perfectly."

Charlotte didn't insist further.

It was just going through the motions anyway—it didn't matter whether it was elaborate or not.

After dinner, Helen took her upstairs to see her room.

The room wasn't large, but it was decorated warmly. Charlotte lay on the soft bed, feeling more relaxed than ever before.

Just then, someone outside shone a flashlight on the window, creating a small point of light.

Charlotte immediately got up, opened the window, carefully observed the surroundings, then found a spot in the camera's blind spot.

She climbed out the window and landed steadily in the first-floor garden, the whole movement smooth and flowing.

She left through the garden side gate, avoiding the cameras, and came to the main street.

A black car was parked in the shadows. Seeing her appear, the door opened and a man in his early twenties stepped out, his striking silver hair particularly eye-catching.

His name was Max, one of Charlotte's trusted subordinates.

"How did you end up in such a backwater place? It took me forever to find you." Max couldn't help complaining as soon as he saw her.

Charlotte ignored his complaint. "What did you find out?"

Max's expression grew serious. "You were right—there's definitely something suspicious about William's death."

He took out a tablet from his briefcase and pulled up a file.

"Three months before William died, his health had been stable. Although he was old, he didn't have any fatal diseases. On the day he died, his private doctor did a routine checkup and all his indicators were normal."

Charlotte took the tablet and quickly scanned through it.

"But that night, he had sudden heart failure and died despite resuscitation efforts." Max tapped the screen. "This is his blood test report. On the surface, there's nothing wrong, but look here..."

He zoomed in on a data point.

"This is a rare biological toxin that causes cardiac arrest. The symptoms are exactly the same as heart failure, and ordinary autopsies can't detect it at all. It took me a long time to find this out."

Charlotte's pupils contracted slightly.

"Did you find the source of this toxin?"

Max paused, his expression somewhat complicated. "You'd better prepare yourself."

"Tell me."

"The formula for this toxin comes from the Davis family."