Not A Small-Town Girl

Chapter 18-1

Howard, Vivian, David, and the group of Darling brothers sat on the sofa in the living room. David took a sip of coffee and then spoke. "I’ve come today to see Miss Darling."

Howard and Vivian exchanged glances. They assumed he was referring to Audrey. Since Danielle had only returned recently, they didn’t think he’d have any sort of dealings with her.

Vivian asked hesitantly, "Do you mean you’re here to see Audrey? We saw the news about the two of you. Our families are indeed betrothed, but..."

Vivian didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. "David, you’re here," Audrey said sweetly as she came into the living room and looked shyly at him.

Joseph decided to speak up then. He was slightly daunted by David’s vibe, but he felt it was necessary to make things clear. "Mr. Charrington, are you and Audrey seeing each other?"

He hadn’t minced his words, and for a moment everyone looked to David with their breaths hitched, including Audrey, who had an expectant look on her face.

David knew then that the Darlings had misunderstood him. He stole a glance at Danielle, who was still tucking into her food, and then he answered, "I’m not acquainted with Audrey."

He continued to explain, "She wasn’t paying attention and bumped into me at the hospital entrance." His eyes remained cold and indifferent, while his lips curled slightly into a seemingly mocking smile.

Nathan added, "The reports online are baseless. The person who first broke the fake news has been dealt with. As for who instigated that person, I’m sure Miss Darling knows more about that." He looked meaningfully at Audrey then.

Everyone around them raised an eyebrow. Even Danielle looked up, a little surprised.

Audrey’s face paled as she bit her lower lip in disbelief and humiliation. "David, I hadn’t planned to fall down. I didn’t expect that someone would photograph us at that moment and even upload it online," she said in a quivering voice.

Audrey then lowered her head and said, "I’m sorry." Large drops of tears rolled from her doe eyes as if in indignation.

David watched Audrey carefully but didn’t reveal any change in his emotions. Howard and Vivian inevitably felt a heartache for their daughter, but they suspected that David hadn’t dropped by just for this matter.

Vivian spoke again. "David, we hadn’t had the time to inform you that we managed to find our biological daughter very recently. She’d just returned two days ago. We haven’t released this information to the public yet and even our relatives are still in the dark.

"It wasn’t our intention to keep this information from you. We’d been planning a time to pay you and your family a visit, but now you’ve beat us to it."