Free Book | Forest's Redemption

Chapter 8: Christian's POV

"Lauren wait!" I ran after her while she marched out of the house. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." I tried to hug her, but she wouldn't let me.

She needs to know that Lucas gets crazy when it comes to Charlotte. He doesn't think straight. He thinks that he needs to protect her from the rest of world even though she's more than capable of protecting herself.

"Is there something wrong with me?" She turned to look at me with those puffy, teary eyes. "I've been by Lucas' side for five years, Christian. I've been everything that man needs me to be and more. I've literally been there every time he needs absolutely anything, but..."

I took her hand and tried to wipe away some of those tears. "Be patient." I drew her in for a hug. "My brother is stupid for not seeing just how good you are for him, but he'll come around. You'll see."

I could hear her sobbing while we hugged. I really expected Lucas to try and stop her from leaving or to at least see her out, but he was still not out of the house. He didn't seem to care that he hurt her.

"I think I've friendzoned myself." She chuckled while we hugged. "Lucas Greyson will literally date anyone but me."

I didn't know how to console her.

Lucas knows she likes him, but he doesn't seem to feel the same no matter how much time they spend together. The woman has spent every weekend for the past five years either with Lucas or doing something for Lucas or Greyson Corporation. She has watched him date women and pretended to be okay with it for his sake. She helped him get over what Charlotte did to him.

I was a freshman when Charlotte broke up with him. I relied on him to help me get things sorted out in my first year, but when he came back from seeing Charlotte that day, he just fell apart. He didn't care about anything anymore and instead of my big brother taking care of me, it had to be the other way around.

He tried drinking himself to death, but Lauren made sure to keep him occupied and out of bars. He stopped attending classes, but she dragged him to all their classes. She got that man to complete his degree while I kind of froze because Lucas has always been the responsible one while I got to mess around. Lauren didn't just help him, but she also helped me realise I need to take my life more seriously. And yet now it's so easy for him to forget all that just because Charlotte is back in the picture.

"Charlotte isn't here to stay, Lauren." I held her shoulders. "It's been five years. She wants something. Once she has it, she'll be gone and Lucas will need you to be there for him when that happens."

I watched those grey-blue eyes gather more tears behind them.

"I'm not sure if I can continue waiting for him to see me." She said softly. "I could bear it with the others because it was clear that he wasn't really letting them into his heart or his life, but..."

She didn't need to complete that sentence. I already knew what she meant. Not a single one of the women Lucas dated over the years ever got to see the mansion and none of them would ever have spoken to me or Lauren the way Charlotte did.

"If it's too hard for you, then you're more than entitled to walk away from him. Maybe he needs to lose you to realise just how important you are in his life."

She shook her head and gave a sad smile. "That's what Charlotte wants, Christian." She took a deep breath and determination seemed to have replaced all her sadness.

"She kept me away from Lucas through Middle School and Highschool." She started reminding herself. "I was only able to get my friend back in University because he and I happened to go to the same school and chose to study the same course. I got him back and I'm not losing him to her again."

She was nodding her head and looked much better than she did a minute ago. "Yea." She muttered to herself. "I'm not losing Lucas to her again. I'm not that scared and shy girl I was growing up. I've changed and this time, I'll fight tooth and nail to make Lucas mine."

"Good!" I continued walking her to her car. "What's the plan? I want to help!"

"Mmmmm." She bit her lip. "A make over! I'm going to get a make over and show him that anyone can look good in designer clothes. It's not just Charlotte."

I nodded eagerly at this idea. Lauren dresses very conservatively compared to Charlotte. She prefers long grey, blue and black dresses that wash out her skin most of the time and make her look paler than she already is. Her hair is almost always slick and straightened. The straightened hair makes the greyish-blonde colour of her hair look a bit sad. One can easily forget her with the way she looks. I've wanted to tell her to switch it up, wear some make up and maybe even wear brighter clothes for a few years now, but I know better than to comment on a woman's looks.

"I have a friend who's a stylist." She got inside her car. "I'm going to call her as soon as I get home. When I get to work tomorrow, Lucas is going to eat his heart out!"

"I can't wait to see it!" I said as I closed her car door.

She got her seat belt on and gave me a genuine smile before driving off.

I waved while her car disappeared out of Lucas' estate. I hoped with all my heart that Lucas would finally see her.

The second her car was out of view, I marched right back inside the house.

I had to search a few rooms before I finally found him in the kitchen, a place he hardly hangs out in.

"You don't think you should have tried to talk to Lauren?" I grabbed the plate of food he was eating. "Why would you just let her leave like that?"

"I'll talk to her tomorrow." He grabbed the plate of food right out my hands. "Give me that. Charlotte made it before she left."

I rolled my eyes at him. Now it makes sense why he's eating in the kitchen when he hardly spends any time here.

Charlotte loves showing off just how well she can cook. As if we can't just get our chefs to cook for us.

"So, did you you find out why she broke up with you?"

He stopped eating from his plate for a few seconds before looking at me like he was annoyed. "No." He replied. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is that she's back and she and I can finally be together again."

This time I grabbed his plate and smashed it against the kitchen floor with all its contents.

"She. broke. you!" I tried reminding him. "You almost turned into a f*****g drunk. You almost flushed your whole life down the drain because of her. It's stupid enough that you got back together with her, but you don't even know why she broke up with you? Shouldn't you at least know that?"

He gave me cold stare that made it clear that he wasn't going to talk to me about this, no matter how much I insist.

"Clean this up!" He pointed at the smashed plate of food on the floor.

He started leaving the kitchen and I followed him. One of his maids would take care of the mess.

"Did she ask about the merger?" I asked while he tried to ignore me. "That's probably why she's back."

"She didn't ask about the merger." He slumped down on the couch. "I even offered her a position as head of our in-house counsel. She refused."

"That's just a trick!" I switched off the TV when he tried to switch it on. "You're in the middle of the biggest merger the state has ever seen and she specialises in mergers and acquisitions. It's not a coincidence that she chose NOW to pop back into your life."

He looked unmoved by what I said. He was just trying to switch the TV on like I wasn't standing infront of him pointing out the obvious.

If mom and Annabelle didn't like Charlotte so much, I would ask them to talk some sense into him. Lauren and I can't be the only ones who see what Charlotte is playing at. However, something tells me they'll be too happy to hear that Charlotte and Lucas are back together. They'll probably start planning their wedding.

"Maybe I actually should ask her to join in on the merger." He stood up when he realised I wasn't going to let him watch TV right now. "You and I both know she's not just a specialist. She's one of the best M&A lawyers in the state. The only reason her firm isn't in on it is because I didn't want to go stirring up the past."

I tried to find any semblance of sanity in those green eyes of his...but I couldn't find any.

Lucas is a lot like dad, or at least that's what mom always told us growing up. He's the only one who got his green eyes while Annabelle and I got mom's dark brown eyes. But it's not just his eyes that he got. I've seen dad's pictures and Lucas is his spitting image. However, he didn't just get his looks. Mom says he also got dad's stubbornness and sense of responsibility. That's why when boys his age were concerned with getting the latest car and sleeping with all the girls in school, he was fucused on his grades and making sure he could take over Greyson Corporation when the time came.

He never drank at parties. He always made the honour roll. He headed multiple clubs at school and to top it all off, the man was a star football player. He did so many things that I knew the second I got to highschool that I would be stuck living in his shadow for my entire life.

I was okay with that because I have no interest in shouldering all the responsibilities that Lucas carries. He always has his head on straight ... except when it comes to Charlotte.

"Why do you hate her so much?" He asked when I didn't respond to his ludicrous statement. "Mom and Annabelle have always loved Charlie, but you've always disliked her without reason. Why?"

I shoved him out of the way and he got out of my face.

"Is she going to the banquet?" I decided to change the topic. "You promised Lauren months ago that you would take her. You can't break your promise."

He sighed and slumped back down on the couch. I could tell he was about to give some excuse about why Lauren couldn't go with him anymore.

"You're not allowed to treat Lauren like a discarded rag just because Charlotte is back in your life."

"I won't." He gave me that cold stare again.

"Then don't break your promise to her."

He was still glaring at me.

Every shareholder, investor, head of any department in any of the merged companies, governors, council men, mayors, lawyers - every important person in New York will be at this banquet. Taking Charlotte there will be like boosting her career a million fold.

Lauren has been looking forward to the banquet for months. She helped plan the whole damn thing! She knows that whoever Lucas takes as his date will be talked about by every single person in this city. She hoped Lucas would see her in a different light after the banquet.

Charlotte can't just swoop in and take that away from her.

"She already got her dress and everything!" I pleaded when he still kept quiet.

He was quiet for a good five minutes before he responded.

"Fine." He gave another deep sigh. "I'll still take Lauren to the banquet."

I tried to hide the smile that appeared on my face.

I know how possessive and jealous Charlotte is. She's part of the reason why the guy was popular, but only got a girlfriend after turning eighteen.

With any luck, she will get upset enough to end things with him before Lucas gets too invested. Then he'll see that Lauren is someone who would never hurt him like Charlotte.