Chapter 572

Upon hearing Charles's emotionless response, Alberto Patrick stepped forward again, closer this time—her heels clicking softly against the floor as she closed the distance between them with practised grace. “If only you had told us sooner,” she said sweetly, lips curving in a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We would’ve arranged a car to pick you up.” Her tone was playful, almost chiding—an invitation disguised as concern. Charles didn’t even blink. He stood there like a monument carved from ice, unmoved and unreachable. His expression remained perfectly blank, his gaze distant, as if the people in the room—her included—barely existed. The temperature around him seemed to drop several degrees. Still, Alberto refused to give up. Driven by impulse or desperation—or both—she stretched out her hand toward his arm, her fingertips brushing the edge of his sleeve— But Charles noticed. Without so much as a word, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he shifted his weight. A single, s