Love Across the Light Years -The Devil CEO Indulges My Lies.

Chapter 341: To announce The Empress’s Grief officially.

Charlotte patted the back of Clara’s hand gently. "See, didn’t I tell you? Your brothers care for you." She glanced at Liam and smiled warmly. "Liam has gone out of his way to arrange the role for you."

Clara’s heart turned bitter.

If she hadn’t met the investors today, she probably would have still believed it. But now, knowing how Liam had stood up to defend Adelyn in front of them, she could no longer believe the same.

However, she still smiled at Charlotte and gave her a nod full of reassurance.

"Mom, I always knew Liam cared for me. Even if he hadn’t gone out of his way to invest, I would have still known it."

Charlotte smiled at her.

Bryer, who had seen enough, couldn’t take it anymore. Giving one last look toward Charlotte and then Liam, he turned away and headed toward the stairs.

Everyone looked at him with a frown except for Liam.

He stood in his place with his head lowered, as if blaming himself for something.

Only when Bryer’s footsteps faded did Liam finally look up at his father and say, "If there’s nothing else, I’d head to my room as well."

He was tired.

One look at him was enough to tell that.

Yet it still made Benjamin frown, as if he disdained Liam’s attitude.

Clara, too, excused herself after a moment.

As all their children left, Charlotte finally turned to glance toward her husband.

Seeing him standing with the same frown he had been wearing earlier, his hands clasped behind his back, she asked with quiet concern, "What are you still thinking?"

She briefly glanced in the direction he had been looking.

"You have finally returned. Can you not look at your children like that? It looks like you are very dissatisfied with them."

Benjamin’s tone only hardened.

"Should I not be dissatisfied with them?"

"Benjamin," Charlotte called out softly. "The kids have hearts. They have always cared for Adelyn as their sister. You cannot just expect them to stop caring for her."

She paused before continuing, her voice carrying a faint helplessness.

"After all, she was the daughter we raised. She grew up with them, and they treated her as a sister for all these years. How can you expect them to simply forget all of that because they have finally learned the truth?"

Benjamin’s face only turned darker.

"Treating her as their sister doesn’t actually make her their sister, Charlotte. Your sons need to accept this before I lose my patience."

He turned to face her and said more firmly, "That girl is unrelated to us. Since you have come to accept that, I hope your sons can do the same."

Charlotte frowned.

"She is the girl I raised, Benjamin. We cannot simply cut ties with her."

She had never really wanted to sever the bond with Adelyn.

Charlotte believed that as long as Adelyn came back to her, she would still be the daughter she had been before.

Blood might have determined their relationship on paper, but it had never been what Charlotte used to measure the bond between them.

She had raised Adelyn.

She had watched her grow.

She had held her when she cried, stayed awake when she was sick, and celebrated every little achievement alongside her.

Those years could not simply disappear because of a single truth.

However, Benjamin clearly didn’t think the same way.

He looked at his wife with clear disagreement.

"I have allowed you to keep her as one, honey. However, since you have already discussed severing ties with her, just wait for the official letter to get signed. Don’t hope to bring her back into this family again."

"But Benjamin, she—"

"She has never been related to us, Charlotte," Benjamin said, cutting her off before she could even try to convince him otherwise.

His voice remained calm, but every word carried an unmistakable finality.

"You’d better remember that, and don’t waste your emotions on someone who should never have been a part of this family."

With that said, he looked at her one last time before walking away.

Behind him, Charlotte remained standing with the same complicated expression.

It was she who had told him about severing ties with Adelyn, but she had never expected him to be so firmly decisive about it.

She thought he had agreed to it just to make her feel better.

She had thought he was simply going along with her decision because he knew how difficult it had been for her to make it.

After all, even when she had mentioned severing ties, her heart had never truly been willing to do it.

But now—

It felt like he had been serious about it from the very beginning.

Had she done something wrong?

Charlotte rubbed her hands together, her fingers unconsciously twisting against each other as she stood there.

She didn’t really know what to think anymore.

Years of love ...

Years of care ...

Years of the bond she shared with Adelyn—

How could she bear to sever it and forget it all?

She turned and stared in the direction Benjamin had left.

Though he was their father, she was the one who had raised them alone.

She had stayed back in the country and watched Liam, Bryer, and Adelyn grow up.

She had been there for every important moment of their childhood.

She knew what made them happy.

She knew what frightened them.

She knew what they liked and what they hated.

And through all those years, Adelyn had been just as much her daughter as Liam and Bryer were her children.

Benjamin, however, had never been around quite as much.

He would visit in months, sometimes even a year.

And since he wasn’t around very much, Charlotte had never minded how little he seemed to care about Adelyn.

To an extent, Adelyn almost seemed invisible to him.

Even when the family was together, his attention rarely fell on her.

Charlotte had noticed it before, of course. But she had never thought too deeply about it.

She had believed that since Benjamin hadn’t really had time for the children, he simply hadn’t bonded with them in the same way she had.

Adelyn’s matters never bothered him.

Her absence from the family never seemed to bother him either.

It hadn’t even bothered him when she was here.

Nor had it seemed to matter when, seven years ago, they lost her.

At that time, Charlotte had been devastated.

The children had been devastated.

They had all carried the pain of losing Adelyn in different ways.

Yet Benjamin had remained comparatively calm.

He had only smoothed over their sadness by telling them that it wasn’t any of their fault.

The situation had forced them to choose.

And choosing Clara hadn’t really been wrong.

As for Adelyn, over time, the void she had left behind in the family would be filled.

At that time, Charlotte had thought he was saying it only to make them feel less regretful.

She had thought he was trying to convince them that life would eventually move forward.

She had never imagined that those words might have reflected what he truly felt.

But now—

It felt like he had never cared for Adelyn at all.

Charlotte’s chest tightened.

Was their bond really so weak that severing it didn’t bother him at all?

That was the daughter they had believed was theirs for more than a decade.

The little girl they had welcomed into their home.

The daughter who had grown up calling them Mom and Dad.

The child who had shared a home, a childhood, and countless memories with their sons.

How could he not feel anything for her?

How could he simply say that she had never been a part of the family and expect everyone else to accept it so easily?

Charlotte lowered her eyes.

For the first time, she began to wonder whether she had misunderstood Benjamin all these years.

Perhaps she had always assumed that his indifference was simply because he was busy.

Perhaps she had made excuses for him because she had never wanted to believe that the father of her children could remain so detached from one of them.

And now—

His attitude was forcing her to confront something she had never wanted to see.

Maybe Benjamin had never truly considered Adelyn his daughter.

Maybe, to him, the years they had spent raising her had never meant what they meant to Charlotte.

The thought made her heart ache.

How could Benjamin not feel for Adelyn at all?

The more Charlotte thought, the more uncomfortable she felt inside.

A faint sense of guilt slowly settled over her.

She felt as though she had done something wrong.

Something that she shouldn’t have done ...

———————————————————

Meanwhile,

Back at Sanctuary Heights —

In the late evening, Adelyn was going to Eira’s room to find her when her steps halted upon hearing her phone ring.

She paused outside the room to check. Seeing Freya’s name displayed on the screen, she moved the icon to answer.

"Sister Freya," she greeted softly.

"Adelyn, how are you now?" Freya asked from the other end.

Adelyn smiled and replied, "I’m already better, Sister Freya. Don’t worry."

"Then will you be even better tomorrow?" Freya asked back, her voice hesitant as if she wasn’t very sure.

Adelyn paused before asking. "Tomorrow? Is there anything tomorrow, Sister Freya?"

"Hn." Freya hummed briefly before finally saying, "Goldstem Production is ready to announce The Empress’s Grief officially. There will be a media gathering arranged. Since you’re part of the main cast, this is going to be important for you."