Chapter 416 Your Sister’s Really Something Else
Charmaine looked at him with a puzzled expression.
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The two girls were caught off guard by his cold response. Their faces turned red, and they quickly pulled away from each other, backing up.
Noticing Charmaine’s confusion, Emyr casually dropped a coin into the machine.
“They weren’t really after the toys,” he explained.
Charmaine raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”
Emyr smirked knowingly. “The game exchanges coins in amounts of ten or fifty. They only had ten in their basket. If they were really trying, they wouldn’t have just eight coins left. They tried once and gave up.”
Charmaine hadn’t noticed any of this before. “Well, helping them out wouldn’t hurt, right?”
Emyr snorted. “Help them, and next thing you know, they’ll be asking for my number and bothering me.”
With a quick, practiced movement, Emyr grabbed the last giant panda from the machine and tossed it into the already overflowing cart.
“They claim they want a toy, but they didn’t even look at you. They were focused on me.”
He raised his hand and flicked her lightly on the forehead, his voice teasing yet playful. “You should wise up, ‘Girlfriend.“”
Charmaine rubbed her forehead, still in disbelief.
Emyr gave her a pointed look, but she broke into a grin. “It’s okay. You’re much more careful than I am. You even gave me a warning with detailed explanation.”
Emyr froze, looking almost like he was about to scold her again, but before he could speak, Charmaine grabbed his wrist in a playful move and gently bit it, shaking it like a puppy initiating playtime. The action made him laugh, though he seemed a bit irritated.
The Nelson family, along with Veronica, who had joined them on the trip, arrived at the airport and successfully met up with Maxwell, who was accompanied by his teammate, Liam Quinlan.
Maxwell, who had witnessed the harsh realities of war, now carried a maturity beyond his years, a quiet weariness settling in his eyes.
His voice, gravelly and rough, greeted them. “Hey, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Jonah.”
Liam also greeted the family.
“My son, you made it back safe!” Willard clapped Maxwell’s shoulder with a hearty thud.
Olympia and Valda couldn’t hold back their tears, each wrapping their arms around Maxwell in a tight
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Chapter 416 Your Sister’s Really Something Else
Maxwell exchanged a quick glance with Jonah, Zayn, and Leah but stayed silent, gently patting both women’s backs to comfort them.
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“Did you get hurt?” Olympia asked, her hands running over his body, inspecting him from head to toe. “Why do you look so thin?”
Valda added, “Thinner’s fine, as long as you’re safe! Once we’re home, we’ll feed you well, get you some good food, and fatten you up!”
Zayn, ever the practical one, asked, “How long do you have off?”
Maxwell replied, “At least a month, until the next mission.”
“That works,” Zayn said.
Seizing the moment, Leah stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Maxwell in a big hug, playing the role of the spoiled little sister. “Maxwell, you must be starving. There’s a restaurant over there. Let me take you and Liam to grab a bite.”
As she spoke, Leah shot a playful wink at Olympia. “Mom, I’m just going to have a little chat with Maxwell. Don’t worry. We’ll bring him back soon!”
Olympia smiled warmly, “Go ahead, eat your fill. We’ll wait in the car for you.”
“Okay!”
Once inside the restaurant, Maxwell’s deep brown eyes saw right through her intentions. “Spill it.”
Leah stuck out her tongue, embarrassed. “I knew I couldn’t hide anything from you, Maxwell …”
She then explained everything that had happened at Mount Hyrul, her face full of innocence as she pleaded with him. “I know lying is wrong. I wanted to wait until after the monastery visit to tell everyone you were back, but in that moment, I was really scared. I was worried Dad and Grandma would think breaking the bracelet was a bad omen. Especially since Chara had said so many terrible things, making the Crosses go against the family. I didn’t want to disappoint them even more….
”
Her voice trailed off, her last words barely a whisper as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She looked so pitiful it was hard not to feel sorry for her.
Maxwell’s thick brows furrowed in concern.
He had heard about the family troubles, but he hadn’t expected the “sister” he’d never met to be so cold-
hearted.
Veronica, eager to chime in, exaggerated the story, making it sound like Charmaine had purposefully gone out of her way to harass her on the plane. This time, even Liam couldn’t keep quiet.
“Damn, Maxwell, your sister’s really something else. Just because she has someone backing her up, she bullies everyone–her classmates, her family, even you? That’s just wrong!”
D
