Chapter 39 What Are You Doing Here?

After Harper was released from the hospital, she and Frank went straight to see Linda. Harper had finally realized how serious things were and wanted to apologize. But when they got there, Luke wasn't home, and Linda didn't seem so happy about letting them in. Frank and Harper spent the whole day waiting outside Linda's place, hoping to see Luke and Charlotte, but they never showed up. Linda was really worried about Charlotte, but she was glad Luke was with her. With Luke and Charlotte away, Linda and Andrew had to take care of the children. Meanwhile, Charlotte was at the beach, watching the sunset and feeling so much better with her favorite person by her side. "I think we should head back home." "Do you want to go back?" Charlotte nodded. She missed the children and felt ready to handle whatever was waiting for them. "Let's go back." Holding hands, they packed up and headed home. When they got there, Frank and Harper were standing outside, looking pretty rough. Linda was inside, refusing to let them in. Harper looked a lot older after her time in the hospital, and Frank was in bad shape too, wearing messy clothes. When they saw Luke's car, Frank walked right into the road to make him stop. Luke was annoyed to see them. "What are you doing here again?" "We came to apologize. I just wanted to greet Charlotte that day, but my mom came out of nowhere. I should've stopped her. This is all my fault." Charlotte couldn't help but look down on Frank. She knew he was the one who caused the trouble in the first place, and now he was blaming his mother. "You're not being very manly, blaming your mistakes on your mom." Frank really didn't want them to hold a grudge, so he lowered himself as much as possible. "That's why I brought my mom here to say sorry. We've known each other for a long time, and it doesn't make sense to be on bad terms." Luke turned to Charlotte. "What do you think?" "I'm too tired to care." Charlotte turned her head away, not interested in seeing them. Luke looked coldly at Frank and Harper. "Get out of here before I get really mad." Frank apologized again to Charlotte, more sincerely this time, and quickly left with Harper. Back at home, Linda was heartbroken to see how exhausted Charlotte looked. "My dear, you've suffered a lot." Charlotte tried to smile. "It's okay. It's all over now. Don't worry about me." Seeing Charlotte's pale and weary face, Linda said, "You should take a break from work and rest at home." Andy and Lilya rushed down the stairs as soon as they heard their mother's voice. They had been really worried about not seeing her for a few days. Charlotte looked at them with a serious expression. "Next time, if something like this happens, don't just run into it. It would make me so worried if either of you got hurt." Andy was resolute. "I will protect you. I won't let the bad guys bully you again." Lilya hugged and kissed Charlotte. "Mommy, we're big kids now. We can protect you." Luke crouched down to their eye level. "You know, these things are way too dangerous for you guys. Don't forget, you have Daddy here. I promise nothing like this will happen again." Andy was still adamant. "I'll help Daddy protect Mommy then." Luke looked at his son with pride. "Seems like our little man is growing up." Charlotte felt her eyes welling up with tears seeing her children so mature, but she held them back, not wanting to upset them. "Why don't you two head to bed early tonight?" However, Lilya and Andy had a different plan. "We want to sleep with you and Daddy tonight. Can we?" Luke looked a bit uncomfortable. "Would that be okay?" Charlotte agreed with a nod. "If that's what you want, then let's all sleep together tonight." Linda, watching this tender family moment, encouraged them to head upstairs. "You've all had a tough few days. Time to rest well." "Sure, Mom. And you should go to bed early too." While Andrew was home, he wasn't just lounging around. He contacted his old buddies, putting a stop to all their work with Frank, including the deals with his family's business. He totally broke off from Frank, leaving him without any big business opportunities for some time. Frank managed to cool down Luke's temper, but he was still stressed out at home. He had put in a lot of hard work over the years to grow his company. But because of a single slip-up, it felt like he was back at the starting line, like when he first kicked off his business. Even with his father-in-law's backup, things at the company weren't smooth these days. He had even thought about splitting up with Lorraine, who couldn't stop nagging, if her father hadn't offered help. Lorraine hadn't really faced hard times, but as she watched Frank become increasingly drained, she started feeling jittery too. "Don't worry, babe. My dad will definitely get us out of this mess." "You should get some sleep." Frank tried his best to stay calm. "But..." Lorraine hesitated, wanting to be there for him. She might be a bit headstrong sometimes, but she really wanted to show Frank she was there for him. "I told you, I don't need company." Lorraine knew he wasn't in the best mood. She had genuinely wanted to be by his side, but he seemed to want her to leave. Realizing he might have been a bit harsh, Frank knew he couldn't lose her support now. Running his hands through his hair in frustration, he let out a sigh and then embraced Lorraine. "Sorry, I've been really on edge these past few days. Didn't mean to startle you." "It's fine, I understand." With those simple words, any upset Lorraine felt melted away. She cuddled into his embrace, comforted as he spoke softly to her, feeling truly happy. Meanwhile, Charlotte felt like she was getting behind on her work. So, when Luke headed out in the morning, she decided to follow suit. "Are you sure you're ready for this today?" Luke's voice was laced with concern. He didn't want her to dive back into work too quickly.