Where Sisterly Bonds and Broken Hearts Collide

"Sis, I’ve agreed to come home for the arranged marriage." Declan Kane's calm voice was particularly clear in the quiet of the deep night. Hearing this, Juniper Kane on the other end of the phone finally felt relieved, "Finally decided to break up with your little girlfriend? After being together for so many years, she never agreed to come back and meet me and our parents. I always knew you two wouldn’t last." Hearing his sister’s confident tone, Declan Kane lowered his eyes and softly agreed. "I was wrong before. I’ll handle things here as soon as possible. Please arrange the wedding for me; I just need half a month." "Don’t worry about the wedding; we’ll take care of it. You just need to come back on time. The person we’ve chosen for this arranged marriage has been carefully selected by me and our parents—family background, personality, and appearance are all excellent. She’s sure to catch your eye." "By the way, since you’re back for the wedding, remember to invite someone for me—my best friend Charlotte Monroe. You used to stay at her place for a while when you went to study in New York, and she took good care of you back then. Make sure to call her to the wedding." Declan Kane didn’t know how to respond to this. After a long silence, he finally replied in a low voice. "She can’t come." Before the words could fully settle, the door was pushed open. Declan Kane swiftly ended the call and looked up just as Charlotte Monroe returned. She raised an eyebrow, a bold smile spreading across her roguish and defiant face. "I can't go? Can't go where?" My wedding. Declan Kane told her the answer in his heart. But his expression remained calm, and his tone was indifferent, "It's nothing." Charlotte Monroe didn't take it to heart either, casually removing her stockings, "Were you just on the phone with your sister?" Declan Kane hummed in acknowledgment, getting up to return to the bedroom, but she grabbed his hand and hugged him. The scorching breath fell on his ear, and an ambiguous atmosphere surged between the two. "Then did you tell her what our relationship is?" Declan Kane smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, "Didn't you not want her to know?" "It's not that I don’t want to, but I can’t. With your sister’s personality, if she found out her best friend and her most precious brother were together, she’d probably fly to New York overnight and cut ties with me as her best friend." Hearing her joking tone, Declan Kane’s eyelashes trembled slightly, his voice still calm, "So, in your heart, am I your boyfriend?" Hearing him suddenly ask such a question, Charlotte Monroe raised an eyebrow, "If I’m not your girlfriend, why have I lived with you for six years? If you’re not my boyfriend, why did I hug you as soon as I came back? If you’re not my boyfriend, why would I do this to you?" As she spoke, her warm lips brushed against his neck. Declan Kane’s body instantly tensed, and he quickly turned his head to avoid the kiss, "I... I’m tired today." Charlotte Monroe thought he was shy and couldn't help but laugh. "Little boyfriend, we've been together for so long, why are you still so shy?" After saying that, she ruffled his hair and turned to walk towards the bathroom. Listening to the fading footsteps, Declan Kane finally murmured it again. Boyfriend? Shouldn’t it be… a substitute? Declan Kane first met Charlotte Monroe eight years ago. She was Juniper Kane's college roommate, and because they were close, Juniper Kane would often bring her home to shop and dine together. In the throes of youthful infatuation, he fell for this cool, languid, breathtakingly beautiful older sister almost at first sight. Later, he graduated from high school, and Charlotte Monroe also graduated and returned to her hometown, New Haven. Missing her, he secretly applied to a university in her city, despite his family's objections. Since it was his first time leaving home and he was unfamiliar with the place, coupled with his introverted nature, Juniper Kane was worried about him being alone in a foreign city. So, she entrusted him to her good friend Charlotte Monroe and arranged for him to stay in her apartment. At first, the two had little interaction. He was busy with school, while Charlotte Monroe was occupied with racing and her love life, changing boyfriends almost every three days. It wasn't until his second semester of college, when Charlotte Monroe came back completely drunk, that he found himself frantically taking care of her. The night was deep, and he looked at the person who seemed to have fallen asleep on the sofa. As if possessed, he raised his hand, wanting to smooth out the furrowed brows. As their skin touched, those tightly closed eyes suddenly opened. Charlotte Monroe lazily lifted her eyelids, her voice seductive and alluring, "Do you like me?" Having his secret exposed, Declan Kane sprang to his feet, "No, no..." The woman smiled lazily: "If you don't like it, then why does your face turn so red every time you see me?" Declan Kane didn't expect that she had noticed every time he secretly looked at her. Just as he was at a loss, the woman smiled, cupped the back of his head, and pressed him into a gentle kiss. He was lost in this tender and lingering kiss, unable to extricate himself. After a night of passion, Declan Kane's once peaceful life underwent a dramatic change. Charlotte Monroe, once a wanderer at heart, seemed to have finally settled down, dedicating himself to their relationship. He repeatedly rejected his parents' and sister's demands for him to return home for an arranged marriage, stubbornly staying in New Haven, by her side. Every time, his sister would ask him, "Who is in New Haven that has kept you away for six years without returning?" He often wanted to reveal his relationship with Charlotte Monroe to everyone, to tell them that he was together with his sister's best friend. But Charlotte Monroe always stopped him, and he never understood why until a few days ago when she got drunk at a gathering. When he went to pick her up, a friend who was also drunk pointed at him and lamented: "How could such a naive young man also fall victim to Charlotte?" "Listen, little brother, you mustn’t fall for Charlotte. She’s heartless. You, her ex, and her ex before that are all just substitutes for Finn Wilder." This was the first time Declan Kane heard the name Finn Wilder, and from then on, he could never forget it. After much inquiry, he finally learned the truth. Charlotte Monroe and Finn Wilder were each other's first love. In the year she loved him the most, Finn Wilder broke up with her and resolutely went abroad. Unable to move on from the past, she indulged herself and became a fleeting guest among flowers, constantly dating boyfriends. And every boyfriend she had bore, more or less, a resemblance to Finn Wilder. This also includes him. After graduation, she refused to inherit the family business and insisted on becoming a race car driver, all because of Finn Wilder's remark in his youth, "Girls who race cars are so cool and unique. My future wife must be a race car driver." Six years of youth and sincerity turned out to be just an illusion. At that moment, Declan Kane made the decision to return home for an arranged marriage. He no longer wanted Charlotte Monroe, nor would he ever like her again.