Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress

Chapter 1663: Full of joy

The discussion with the Bennet men and Zoren didn't last long, as Atlas, Hugo, and Zoren had to leave. Meanwhile, Charles and Haines remained seated in the study room.

Neither Charles nor Haines dared to break the silence. Charles, in particular, just stared at the beaten face of his daughter without a word.

Charles knew that the incident was terrible. Haines' leg was proof that it had been terrible. However, he never expected it to be this bad. He felt sorry for Haines, but the latter was old and had always been mentally strong enough to carry on.

His daughter might've always been the resilient type, but as a parent, how could one expect Charles's heart to stay in one piece after seeing this?

Haines studied Charles's side profile and sighed.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier," he expressed. "I know Penny asked me to keep it from you and Allison, but in truth, I also wanted to keep it from you."

There were many reasons why Haines didn't think he should detail the incident to Charles. One of them was that Charles had been through a lot in the past, to the point where he almost completely lost his mind. Even when Charles never showed signs of relapsing, Haines had always been mindful of his state of mind.

Of course, Charles was mentally stronger now, especially after becoming a husband and a father of five wonderful children. Even so, Haines didn't want to take chances.

"I'm sorry, Charles," he repeated sincerely. "I didn't want you to find out this way."

Charles smiled bitterly as he peeled his gaze from the photo to look at Haines. "If there's someone to apologize, it should be me."

He let out a weary laugh, hanging his head low.

as he clasped his hands. His jaw tightened as he looked back at everything and forced himself to see what he would usually

denied that, there was some truth in

that only he had. Even if he said otherwise, it was true. When Chairman

was his way of spiting his father. After all, Chairman Bennet was deeply against the idea. But alas, Charles didn't listen and did what

Then, that incident happened.

kindly. But one could understand that, despite the chairman's harshness, he protected his

himself. However, one also had to realize that if that had been someone else, there would've been no way for them to return to the family. Let alone have

logic to it and said, "It's because Charles was born a leader. He had a natural charisma in business that neither

true in some sense, that was because Charles was given far more opportunities and chances than anyone in the family. He

he whispered, his heart clenching as his breathing slowed. "And even if I claim that you were more like a brother to me,

me... my actions and thinking

centered on me."

laugh escaped. "I claim that I

you've been suffering all

and that I care for her with all my heart, and yet he stopped, sniffing hard as he held back his tears. "And yet, I didn't Care enough to know just how much trauma she had been through just because I thought, since she's fine now, it wasn't that big of a

were like daggers slicing through his heart, a hand striking him right across the

time, I thought I was doing a good job," he scoffed. "But no. All this time, everyone's been walking cautiously around me just

tears fall onto the carpet. He kept his head hung low, clasping his hands together

me I wouldn't have known, I should've because you've always known everything. Me, my marriage, my family... my business." Haines's mouth parted, but then he

and tell Charles that wasn't the truth- but they both

indeed, a little selfish in his own

even take a bullet for him. However, that trait of his had grown