Filed To Story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
However, Austin had no idea about the relationship between Flossie and Water Dock. Instead of stopping, he sounded more indignant.
“That place is full of inhumane people, but I’m not from Beach City. If that place were here in North City, I would have gotten rid of it! It has harmed so many people…”
“Oh, Grandpa! Please stop talking!” Justin turned livid. He anxiously got up and tried to remedy the situation. “There are always good and bad people. You can’t criticize them like they’re the same.”
“Nonsense!” Austin had been a soldier his whole life and was deeply self-righteous. He added angrily, “I’m not joking! People related to that place better don’t come to North City. If they do, I’ll kill them and make them repent their sins!”
Flossie remained calm and indifferent. When Austin got tired from criticizing, she slowly looked up at him.
“Grandpa Baldwin, you’re right. People related to that place are bad. Unfortunately, my brother has always been there. Maybe you’ve heard of Carmine Pawnshop. My brother is the owner. People call him Midnight Demon.”
“What?”
Austin had grown thirsty from yelling so much, and was about to have some tea before he continued. In the meantime, Flossie explained everything.
He spat out his tea, shocked beyond belief.
“Dad, I asked you to stop talking, but you didn’t listen to me.” Sophia grew helpless. Although she wanted to prevent the conflict from happening, she failed. She felt awkward.
“No…” Austin, bewildered, took a long time to take in the new information. He tried to confirm things with Flossie. “So, you’re saying that the infamous Midnight Demon is your brother and Maurice’s grandson. His business is utterly cruel! How could he be… the heir of the Ellsworth family?”
Maurice was the most important person in the Golden Trio. Austin was his biggest fanboy and would always obey whatever Maurice said. He felt that Maurice’s principle was the rule of the world.
He admired Maurice the most, and regarded the latter as the guidance and mentor of his life. Unexpectedly, Maurice’s grandson became an infamous and wicked man.
The huge shock was unacceptable for Austin despite his old age.
“It’s complicated.” Flossie understood Austin’s contempt for Quinton. Normal people would always feel that way about him.
Quinton’s customers always came willingly, neither forced nor threatened. Even so, his work was cruel and dishonorable. No one would find Quinton innocent.
“My brother’s life was full of difficulties. He was forcefully separated from my family when he was born. He had to deal with many bad things. He needed to work very hard just to survive…”
A long sigh escaped Flossie. Rather than contempt, she sympathized with Quinton deeply.
“I’m his sister. I can’t treat him like a stranger. All I can do is gradually help him lead a normal life and guide him to atone for his sins. I feel sad for his past.”
Silence filled the air. No one said anything, at a loss for words. They couldn’t be callous and say as they liked.
Now that Austin had learned of this, no one could be sure if his righteous and stubborn personality would make him stop Flossie and Justin’s marriage.
After all, Austin was a very strict person. He had been honorable his whole life. He couldn’t allow a wicked man’s sister to be a part of his family.
Justin, anxious, hurriedly echoed Flossie’s words.
“Yes, her brother has changed a lot. Now, he’s doing decent work. His pawnshop only deals with rare items instead of indecent ones. I’ve spent some time with him. He’s a reasonable guy, not at all as wicked as the rumors make out. At most… He’s just got a bad temper.”
Justin wanted to praise Quinton, but had seen how the latter lost control of himself. It was difficult to say something nice about the man. He had also heard that Quinton nearly got Halston killed. It seemed his future brother-in-law was a difficult man.
Yet, he couldn’t help it. He liked Flossie and wanted to be with her, so he had to accept everything about her.
“My brother isn’t good or bad. I hope you can treat him like an ordinary man. Thank you,” Flossie said.
She felt guilty over Quinton’s tragic circumstances, so she would be instinctively on guard against anyone harsh or friendly about him. It was probably the telepathic connection between twins. She knew it wasn’t good to act this way, but had no idea what else to do.
Everyone was still silent, especially Austin. He looked very hideous.
He had always been a righteous man and insisted on never getting involved with people he considered evil. But now, he was about to accept a wicked man to be a part of his life. For a moment, he found it unacceptable.
“Let’s call it a day. Flossie’s tired. Let her rest.”
Justin didn’t want to see Flossie suffer such criticizing looks. He took Flossie’s hand and left coldly with her.
They walked in the garden gloomily.
“I’m sorry. Grandpa is an old-fashioned man. He knows nothing and only listens to the ridiculous rumors. He doesn’t know what kind of a person your brother is, but he just demonized your brother.”
Justin sincerely apologized to Flossie, then promised her something.
“Don’t take it to heart. I’ll talk to Grandpa alone and tell him what Carmine Pawnshop is really about. I’ll help deny the rumors about your brother. I’m sure Grandpa can accept him.” “No, you don’t have to do that.”
Flossie was full of guilt when she noticed how anxious Justin was. She shook her head. “Maybe the idea of us marrying each other is premature. I wanted to settle down, but I didn’t consider your situation. I’m very selfish. I should apologize to you instead.”
Marriages involved more than two people. Flossie came with a bad history and a sinful brother. If Justin wanted to marry her, he had to face a lot of stress.
Flossie didn’t want him to suffer all that for nothing.
“Let’s just end it here.”
Flossie took a deep breath. It was time to end this farce.
Flossie’s words turned the air cold.
Justin stopped walking and looked at her, his gaze ice. He demanded, “You want to end it here? What do you mean?”
Flossie was filled with guilt. She avoided Justin’s fierce gaze and tried to make the topic less stressful. “I mean… Let’s end everything here.”
“Hmph!” Justin snorted, unable to hide his disappointment. He found it unfair. “It’s just a small thing, but you want to give up so easily. Is our relationship that fragile?”
“I just don’t want to make things difficult for you.” Flossie heaved a long sigh, overwhelmed with emotions.
She belonged to the dark and was fine with her gloomy side, but she didn’t want to pull Justin into the darkness. She felt that ending things with him as soon as possible was the right choice.
After all, she could never treat Quinton as a stranger for the sake of her happiness. If she had to choose between the two, she could only choose Quinton. She was all he had.
“No, I don’t think so…” Justin frowned, despondent because of how Flossie tried to distance herself from him. Downcast, he said, “We could have solved the issue with more communication, but you wanted to give up straight away. You didn’t even want to try. If it were Halston, would you have risked your life to fight for it?”
“Hey! Stop being sarcastic!” Flossie knew that he was jealous, which she found amusing.” Don’t worry. I’d make the same choice if it were him.”
“What’s that?” Justin asked tentatively.
“Of course, I’ll pick my brother! When he fought against him, I was stuck in the middle. In the end, I picked him because he was abandoned once. As his only family member, I can’t abandon him for the second time because of my trivial romance. And now, Grandpa Baldwin is against my brother. I think our families will resent each other because of this. I don’t want to make things difficult for you, so…”
“Not at all!” Justin immediately interrupted her and vowed, “Just leave it to me. I’ll handle it well. I won’t make things difficult for both of us. We’ll just have to prepare for the wedding.”
Flossie was moved to see Justin’s serious and firm expression. “You…”
When faced with the same problem, Halston’s attitude had been different. Although he and Quinton made peace in the end, both of them had paid a great price.
Flossie couldn’t comment on their different attitudes as she couldn’t tell which was right. However, Justin’s firmness reassured her.
She was no longer hesitant. At that moment, she became as certain as Justin.
“Okay, we’ll hold on and face it together,” Flossie expressed firmly, locking eyes with Justin and reassuring him.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.