There was a faint whistle of wind in the dark night. Still under the tree, Darlene hung up the phone, but the screen remained lit for a short period after the call ended.

“Let me see your phone,” said Darrel in a low, mellow voice as he stretched out his fair, slender hand toward her.

Seeing this, Darlene cooperated and handed over her phone. Noticing Darrel’s eyes fixated on her wallpaper, she quickly explained, “This photo was taken last month when Brandi came to Ariosa. At that time, we had taken this photo with Milena and Milan when we visited Uncle Mike. But Milan had refused to take the photo with us, so Milena grabbed him by the ear and pulled him in. That’s how he ended up in our photo.”

Smiling faintly, Darlene’s expression was exactly the same as the wallpaper. Now seventeen years old, Milena looked beautiful and charming, with her short black hair reaching her earlobes and her unrestrained smile. The handsome fifteen-year-old boy, Milan, wore an aggrieved expression when he was dragged over by the ear. His forced smile also made the photo more interesting.

Darrel had glanced at the Guzman family siblings for a moment before his eyes focused on a beautiful and familiar face. Five years had passed, and Brandi’s white, beautiful face had lost its childish look. Now she looked refined.

Although so much time had passed, Brandi’s watery eyes still remained crystal clear. She no longer wore a carefree smile on her face. Instead, her smile was gentle and elegant.

Darrel was captivated by the way Brandi looked in the photo. Her smile here was different from the one imprinted in his mind.

In the past, she was always around him. He was so used to her laughter back then that he had taken it for granted.

However, in the five years after they parted, he had nothing belonging to her with him while he trained at the base every day. Due to her absence, he realized how much he had liked her. He had become desperate to see her again during that time, even if he knew his wishes were in vain.

Darrel had never been a patient person, but she was the exception. He could listen to her prattle indefinitely. When he was younger, he had thought of her as his sister. But in the desolate, quiet time away from her, he had come to realize that he had fallen in love with her deeply and no longer saw her as a sister.

He wanted something more than a sibling relationship with her.

Seeing him in a trance, Darlene waved her palm in front of his face. “Darrel, what are you thinking about?” she asked in confusion.

“It’s nothing,” he gently replied as he looked at her and returned her phone.

Taking back her phone, Darlene looked at Brandi’s sweet smile on the high-definition wallpaper and asked softly, “Darrel, don’t you think Brandi is much more beautiful now?”

“Mhm,” he responded after quickly glancing at the lit screen once more.

“She is not only beautiful but also elegant. She looks more and more like Mommy. Mommy always says that Brandi, who is not obsessed with handsome men, is her biological daughter.” The more she spoke, the more resentful she became. Glowering, she continued, “Apparently, I’m easily attracted to handsome men, and I’m rude!”

Surprised to hear this, Darrel smiled and said, “You’ve undoubtedly been obsessed with hot guys since you were a child. And it’s not bad to have a lively temperament at home and a cold, aloof attitude when outside.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You are the one who’s like that!” Darlene protested unhappily. “When Brandi, who was a lively person, left, you all fell silent. So, I would have been bored to death if I didn’t become a lively person too.”

“That makes sense.” Darrel nodded approvingly.

“Obviously!” Darlene exclaimed, snorting with disdain.

A moment of silence passed between them. Thinking of something serious, Darlene cocked her eyebrows and asked, “Darrel, are you going to attend Brandi’s birthday party?”

“Yes,” he immediately replied.

“I haven’t told Brandi that you’re back yet. So, I don’t know what expression she will have when she sees you.” Her tone held a hint of both curiosity and sadness.

However, Darrel remained silent.

“Darrel, I have something to tell you.”

“Mhm.”

“Brandi had made a deal with me before…”

“What deal?”

“Years ago, Brandi stopped me from teasing her, and said that she was going to my sister-in-law. So, if I teased her, it would have messed up our relationship.”

Recalling this, Darlene felt as if she had seen the innocent and decisive young girl raise her head and honestly speak her mind.

Darrel didn’t comment on this, but his dark eyes flickered faintly.

‘Turns out Brandi can be very domineering when it concerns someone she loves.’

Just then, Darlene remembered the day Brandi had left the Marshall family five years ago. She continued, “When she left us back then, she began treating me as her friend again and not as her sister-in-law. I don’t know what you said to her, but she became a different person overnight. She was very calm when she left.”

The deal was destroyed, and the meaning was clear. Darrel felt a pang in his heart, his lips paling in complexion.

Darlene confidently said, “I think it’s best if you both would be honest with each other. I don’t want to be in the middle, nor do I want to see Brand sad again.”

After a while, Darrel slowly stood up and stepped onto the quiet path. His long back appeared lonely in the soft moonlight.

Running after her brother, Darlene asked in a confused tone, “Darrel, why are you so silent? The older you get, the duller you get! By the way, Daddy is not as boring as you. Don’t you think you’re weird?”

Before Darrel could interject, Darlene continued in a low voice, “When I was younger, I wanted to replace someone as handsome and cold as Daddy. Now I don’t want to be with someone so boring.”

Unable to stand it anymore, Darrel asked, “Darlene, am I so annoying?”

Considering how two girls had expressed dissatisfaction with him over the last couple of days, Darrel, who had always been confident, suddenly felt a little depressed.

In the beginning, he had firmly believed that Brandi, who had always stuck with him, would not have had such an idea. But after hearing what his sister said, he lost all confidence in himself.

Hearing this, Darlene overtook him. Now face to face, she looked up and down at the tall, handsome man standing in front of her under the moonlight and lights. Touching her beautiful chin with her slender fingers, she said, “You’re rich, good-looking, and powerful. Obviously, no one dislikes you. But you’re a boring person. Few girls like silent boys. Whenever a girl speaks too much, you ignore her. That’s no fun.”

“That sounds reasonable!” Darrel touched his strong chin and nodded.

As the atmosphere became harmonious between them, Darlene suspiciously asked, “Darrel, tell me the truth. Did you fall in love with someone?”

“Why do you think so?” he asked calmly as he raised his eyebrows.

“You used to be arrogant and dismissive of other people’s opinions, but now…”

While Darlene was thinking about how to phrase her words, a faint smile appeared on Darrel’s lips. Softly, he said, “Men are willing to change for the one they love.”

“Don’t speak like a book. Eww!” Lifting her eyes, Darlene pouted and pressed him to tell her the truth. “Tell me, who is my sister-in-law?”

“You’ll know soon!” Darrel said with certainty in his black eyes.

Under the soft moonlight, the handsome brother kept his pretty sister in suspense as she chased behind him.

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