Amanda had discreetly arranged for Charlotte to sit between Luna and herself. Although they painted quite a happy picture of a wholesome family, in reality, the set-up was meant to trap Charlotte between them so she couldn't escape.
When they were finally seated, one of the aunts, Aunt Leigh, turned to Charlotte and smiled at her as she gave her the once-over. "We haven’t seen you in years! You look so much more mature now, Charlotte."
"You looked like a girl the last time we saw you, and now you look like a woman!" Another aunt, Aunt Geraldine, chimed in on purpose. "Amanda, what were you saying about Charlotte's kids? Do you mean that she's already married with kids now?"
"Yes, she already has three children. Time has flown by, hasn't it? We're all getting old." Amanda laughed shrilly and continued, "Charlotte, why didn't you bring your kids along with you today?"
This time, Charlotte didn't interrupt her. Instead, she allowed her aunt to finish saying what she wanted to say.
From the moment Luna bumped into her and her child at the kindergarten the other day, Charlotte knew that her secret was out.
The news of her child would have spread like wildfire among the Whites and the Windts.
From what she knew about Amanda's personality, the older woman had probably fed the other aunts all sorts of vile stories about Charlotte to taint her reputation.
Charlotte was sure that Amanda had invited her over tonight to make a mockery of her. The latter probably wanted to embarrass her in front of Hector so that he would end their relationship forever...
"Oh gosh..."
Everyone at the table was extremely stunned. It had been four years since they last saw Charlotte, and she had returned with kids-three of them!
A few of the uncles started to frown. Their expressions had clouded over, and the look in their eyes as they gazed at Charlotte seemed to turn rather accusatory.
Aunt Leigh asked excitedly, "Charlotte, when did you get married? We didn't even know!"
"How old are your kids?" Aunt Geraldine asked. "What does your husband do for a living? Why isn't he here with you?"
Amanda and Luna looked at Charlotte and smiled, looking as though they were grimacing instead.
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