Patrick repeated his words.
I, who couldn't be more overjoyed, looked at him as I asked over and over again, "Really? Is what you said true?"
I was so afraid that after Patrick gave me hope, he would disappoint me again.
But this time, Patrick nodded firmly.
At that moment, I didn't struggle and let him hold my hand in his big palm. And I felt that my slightly cold hand became warm little by little.
The next day, I went to work.
Patrick proposed to send me to work. This time, I agreed.
I sat in his car. He left after dropping me off at the cafe. But some sharp-eyed colleagues saw his car and came over. Then they asked, "Charlotte, is your boyfriend so rich? How come he is driving such a good car?"
I looked at Patrick's car and didn't know how to explain it for a moment.
"Am I going to tell them that Patrick is my husband? They certainly won't be convinced by the fact that I, who has a rich husband, is
working in a cafe."
Moreover, what Seth had done before made it even more difficult for me to tell them the truth.
"That's his boss's car," I said vaguely.
Sure enough, when my colleagues heard what I had said, they seemed to be somewhat psychologically balanced as they said, "That's right. Your boyfriend is driving such a good car. How could he bear to let you work here?"
That morning, someone ordered 20 cups of coffee for takeout from the cafe.
I took the initiative to deliver the coffee. As I looked at the address on the order slip, it showed that it was at a nearby venue.
However, after I arrived at the entrance of the venue and saw a big board standing in front of it, I realized that I shouldn't have come here.
It was clearly written on the big board that a press conference about a new book's publication held by the genius designer, Caroline Archer, would be held here today.
In less than a month, Caroline had published her design works as well as her books.
No wonder she cared so much about the design draft in my hand.
After all, once I exposed her, all of her
"efforts" would be ruined once and for all!
But since I was already here, I could only take the coffee in.
After I went in, a staff member came to pick me up, asking me to put down the coffee and leave.
Caroline was surrounded by a group of people for an interview not far away from me.
I didn't want to get involved with her. So I walked over, put down the coffee, and was about to leave. Then I heard someone on the side say, "Oh, this deliverywoman looks a lot like Miss Archer."
Everyone was staring at me after hearing what he had said.
I tried my best to lower my head.
I wanted to leave, only to be blocked by the ones who swarmed over.
Then, I heard Caroline shouting behind me, "Charlotte, is that you?"
In desperation, I could only raise my head, turn around, and look at Caroline. Then I said generously, "Yes, Caroline, are you going to tip me?"
Hearing my words, everyone knew that Caroline was a well- known designer and I, who was her younger sister, was nobody but a deliverywoman.
All kinds of comments rang around me.
Someone said, "Oh, different people have different fates. Although they have the same face, one is a designer and the other is a deliverywoman. Sure enough, comparisons are odious."
Some others said, "Caroline is so heartless. She, who is so rich, didn't arrange a job for her sister. Even if she arranged her to be her assistant, the job would be better than delivering takeout."
I heard different comments.
Of course, Caroline heard their discussions as well. She looked at me, frowning. Before she spoke, I knew that she was going to put on a show.
After that, as expected, she put on a pathetic look and said, "Yes, Of course, I will tip you. How much money do you want? I'll give it to you."
As she spoke, she asked her assistant to give me money.
Someone asked Caroline why I was just a deliverywoman.
Caroline guessed my thoughts very accurately.
I turned around and stared at her. And Patrick Cowell flashed across my mind unexpectedly.
I thought of the fact that Patrick had accompanied me to the orphanage yesterday. Subconsciously, I said to her, "Okay. As long as you leave City Y, leave Patrick Cowell, and never come back or show up, nobody else will ever know about that design draft except me." Caroline looked at me and gritted her teeth, "No way!"
I retorted, "Then my answer is also the same."
Caroline looked at me as her eyes were red with hatred. Then she slowly let go of my hand.
I went back to the coffee shop.
After I got off work, Patrick came to pick me up.
In that period, I got along with Patrick.
As long as he didn't go on a business trip, he would pick me up every day.
Sometimes, I indeed felt that he and I were just an ordinary couple.
It was late autumn. Although there was a central air-conditioner at home, I didn't bear to turn it on during the day. So the house was still cold by the time I went back at night.
I had dinner at home that day.
After that, I was sitting on the couch watching TV. And Patrick was sitting on the couch reading a book.
I got up and planned to fetch a glass of water. When I turned back, I accidentally rubbed my feet on Patrick's legs. Patrick looked up at me and then put down the book without saying anything. After that, he patted the sofa beside him and said, "Put your feet on it."
"What's wrong?"
I looked at him suspiciously.
"Put your feet here," Patrick repeated.
I hesitated for a moment and put my feet there as his instruction.
After that, Patrick sat down beside me and put my feet on his stomach.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Substitute Her to Love You (Charlotte and Patrick)