At their destination, many tall buildings lined the streets. The cool luxury car drove to the most elegant building in the middle of the building group.

Brendan was the first to step out of the vehicle after pulling up at the entrance. “Darrel, you can go back first. I’ll take a taxi home later. And I’ll explain the situation to my parents.”

“Do you think I can rest assured knowing the both of you will be alone in that room?” asked Darrel emotionlessly.

After speaking, he, too, got out of the car.

Brandi was the only person left in the vehicle now. In a daze, she wondered, ‘What did he mean by that? I thought he only saw me as a sister. Ruben also often said the same thing to me. So, it can’t be anything else!’

Accepting this as the reason for his choice of words, Brandi smiled bitterly and slowly exited the car.

Darrel was not only a capable man but also calm and composed.

For example, he calmly walked between Brandi and Brendan and took the elevator upstairs. After Brendan opened the door to his apartment, Darrel walked in and chose a comfortable seat to sit in. In a deep voice, he said, “Brendan, I’d like a cup of Mandheling.”

Darrel’s request sounded more like an order, making Brendan, the apartment owner, twitch slightly at the mouth. After a brief moment of silence, Brendan softly replied, “There’s no Mandheling. I only have Blue Mountain.”

Brandi felt embarrassed as she listened to the cold exchange between the two men. She quickly chimed in, “I’m going to make some coffee.”

Brendan grabbed her by the wrist just as she turned around to walk toward the kitchen. “You’re both my guests here. Let me make the coffee for him.”

Darrel’s dark eyes narrowed into slits, his icy gaze focused on their clasped hands as if he could freeze everything.

Feeling the warmth of Brendan’s hand on her wrist and the coldness in the air, Brandi quickly withdrew her hand and said with a faint smile, “Then let me help you clean your room.”

After saying this, she swiftly walked into the bedroom in front of her. Seeing the door close behind her, Darrel squinted his deep, bottomless eyes as he stood up.

He walked hastily toward the door Brandi disappeared behind, but Brendan denied him entry. “No strangers are allowed to enter my bedroom.”

“Get out of my way!” Darrel uttered in a low, menacing voice.

Brendan was taken aback by Darrel’s regal aura. Cocking his eyebrows, Brendan fearlessly asked, “Darrel, so what if you go in? Who are you to order Brandi around?”

Darrel glared at the handsome Brendan before proudly sitting back down.

Seeing this, Brendan went into the kitchen and made a cup of instant coffee. Within a minute, coffee was served. “Your Blue Mountain coffee.”

Glancing at the poorly made coffee with powder floating on the cold water, Darrel coldly asked, “Is this how you entertain guests?”

Brendan elegantly sat down opposite Darrel. Pointing toward the door, he said indifferently, “Haven’t you ever heard of the saying, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’? The options are limited here. If you’re not satisfied here, feel free to leave.”

Gently leaning back on the sofa, Darrel crossed his legs and looked around unhurriedly. It was clear that he wasn’t going to respond to Brendan’s statement.

Noticing that Darrel wasn’t planning on leaving, Brendan casually picked up a financial magazine resting on the coffee table and leisurely flipped through it.

For a long time, they sat together in silence. Taking in the darkness of the night outside the window and the quiet man sitting opposite him, Darrel asked, “Brendan, why did you approach Brandi?”

Brendan didn’t say anything as he glanced at the indifferent man.

Anticipating a disdainful reaction from Brendan, Darrel remained expressionless as he looked directly at him. Uncrossing and switching legs before he crossed them again, Darrel continued, “I know your adoptive father is Charlie Synder.”

Hearing this, Brendan, who was about to flip the page, paused and lifted his eyebrows. In a calm voice, he said, “You investigated me?”

Carefully observing Brendan, Darrel smiled faintly and replied, “If you don’t want others to know, then don’t do anything.”

A long silence ensued after Darrel said that.

Brendan continued looking down at the magazine in his hand silently and calmly. Darrel glanced at the closed door of Brendan’s bedroom, lazily tapping the sofa’s armrest with his slender fingers indifferently.

“Darrel, my father told me repeatedly that it was your father and mother who took everything from him. And for a while, I truly hated you and your sister for that.”

Brendan’s words turned the atmosphere of the room into a gloomy one.

Recalling his bitter past, Brendan continued in a soft, hoarse voice, “He asked me to get close to you and Darlene and avenge him by destroying her. So, I tried very hard to get admitted to the same high school as you and her. Every day I looked at you both with disgust, but I never got the opportunity to avenge him since I couldn’t get close to your arrogant sister…

Despite that, I still want to thank you both. Because of you, I didn’t have to return to that dark house and endure my father’s harsh beatings or the unpleasant smell of alcohol every day.

I couldn’t get close to you or Darlene during our first two years of high school. And at the beginning of our third year, my father suddenly passed away. That was when I first met Brandi. Her smile that day was as bright as the sun.

The following day, I saw you three talking and laughing while going to school together. It was due to your classmates’ hot discussion at the time that I was made aware of the relationship between the three of you…”

“So, you approached Brandi on purpose because you wanted to get close to us through her?” interjected Darrel coldly.

“Yes,” Brendan said in a loud voice as he closed the magazine on his lap.

“At that time, I thought that even if I couldn’t hurt Darlene on my own, I could at least use Brandi to hurt you. If Brandi fell in love with me, then she would have eventually broken ties with you both…”

“No way!” Darrel uttered those two words in a low voice and suddenly stopped tapping his fingers on the armrest.

“Indeed, it was an illusion. At that time, the pure girl, Brandi, liked you very much,” said Brendan softly.

Then all of a sudden, a meaningful smile appeared on his lips as he changed the topic. “Actually, I gave up wanting to hurt you both a long time ago. Now, I’m focused on winning Brandi’s heart… So, I want to thank you, Darrel, for giving me this chance.”

Brendan’s words made the usually calm Darrel turn cold, his expression frozen on his handsome face.

Seeing Darrel’s expression, Brendan smiled complacently. Changing the topic again, he asked instead, “When did you learn of my identity?”

Darrel arrogantly glared at the man sitting opposite him.

During their high school years, Darlene had noticed a slim boy with a gloomy, cold gaze glancing her way from time to time. However, although she was strong and trained in martial arts, she didn’t feel safe, so she had mentioned it to her brother. Later on, Darrel and Darlene observed him, but seeing that he didn’t pose a real threat to them, they didn’t take his glances seriously.

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