Riches in Disguise

I didn't know what to say. So, I answered Charlotte, "These are fruits. They're not poisoned, don't worry."

She harrumphed. "These are from you, so, that's hard to say."

I...

I really shouldn't have come here!

At this moment, the few women by Charlotte's bed became interested. They came over and scrutinized my gift, as if the gift from me would be something weird.

Isabelle took out a handful of fruits from the box. "What's this? Why haven't I seen it before? Are these mulberries? Doesn't look like it!"noveldrama

"I've never seen it before either."

"It looks like some wild berry. Mulberries are gross enough. This looks like it tastes worse than mulberries."

"Can these even be eaten? This brat even specified that these are not poisoned. This isn't the Streisand effect, is it?"

I inhaled softly. I was about to argue back when Matthew pulled me aside. "Forget it, just leave them be. They are just a bunch of women. Don't stoop down to their level."

I was about to nod when I heard Charlotte say, "I don't have the guts to eat the things he brought. You ladies go ahead."

Lainey shook her head hard. "I'm afraid to eat them too. I keep having the feeling that he just got a box from somewhere randomly, then picked some wild berries from some bushes by the side of the road to put this together."

The other women nodded vigorously in agreement. "How dare he do something like this?"

Lina was the only one who stood silently by the side. She didn't say a word.

Ever since that incident with Joshua, she was always like this. She would lie low. Even if she came out with these women, she almost never said or did anything.

She would just remain silent just like that.

It seemed like she was greatly affected by Joshua.

I had no idea whether she had contacted Joshua these past few days.

Right when I was unconsciously staring at Lina spacing out, a few women suddenly stepped right in front of Lina, and glared at me with scornful gazes.

"What are you looking at? How dare a stingy man like you check a woman out? Even if you're not willing to spend that money, you could've just gotten two pounds of apples. You're even worse than that ugly dorm mate of yours."

She insulted both of us at once.

I tugged at Matthew. This time, I could no longer hold it in. I needed to fight back.

Matthew chuckled bitterly. As he was afraid that I would start a fight with those women, he tried to back me up.

"That's enough, all of you. We're all here at this hour to visit Charlotte. It's the thought that counts."

Charlotte snorted. "I didn't ask him to come over."

"I was the one who got him to come along, okay?"

Matthew finally lost it.

"Aren't all of you going overboard? Why are you all always targeting William? It's not like he has provoked any of you."

The expression on Charlotte's face turned cold. She sat up straight immediately. "Who's targeting him? Are you people delusional? Would someone like him be worth me targeting him?

"Okay! You say that I'm targeting him, yes? Fine, I targeted him. So what?"

As she said that, she waved her arm, sweeping the box on the table, along with the fruits within, onto the floor.

"See this? This is what targeting looks like! But, I never thought of treating him like this. He was the one who asked for it."

I clenched my fists immediately.

That was a gift that Lucy had given to me!

If Charlotte hadn't looked so pitiful, I wouldn't even have considered giving the fruits to her.

Not wanting Lucy's kind gesture to go to waste, I walked over to clean up the fruits. Nevertheless, I only managed to pick up one fruit before Matthew grabbed me and made me stand up to my feet.

"Leave it, William. Don't devalue yourself. They will see you as a joke. It was my mistake. I shouldn't have brought you here tonight."

Matthew really blamed himself.

Of course I wasn't blaming him. I was sure he wouldn't have expected Charlotte to lash out at me even in that injured state of hers.

But, I wasn't devaluing myself by picking the fruits back up, was I?