Page 53 of Runaway Pride

The two hauled their golf bags into the back unit of the golf cart. As they got in their seats, Charlie heard someone shout her name.

She recoiled in shock when she spotted her mother waving at her from inside a golf cart.

“Oh, my god. How did she know where to find me?” Charlie whispered in horror.

She thought she had found a pattern with her mother, using a system where she responded sporadically, but she would be agreeable yet noncommittal. Anything to keep her mother from coming too close in person.

“Ummmm…” came Aera’s cringe. “I might have posted about being here with you in our community’s group chat.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to.” Aera grimaced apologetically. “Sorry. But what is she doing here?”

“We’re about to find out,” Charlie muttered under her breath. When the cart stopped, she barely noticed the driver next to her mother.

It wasn’t her stepdad, who Grace sometimes dragged around. He didn’t look familiar, but she saw that he was much younger than someone her mother would have around.

“Charlotte,” Grace said in her Grace tone. “Hello, Aera. It’s been a while.”

Aera offered a light smile and sunk back into her seat.

“What are you doing here?” Charlie got out and stood in front of her approaching mother.

“Since you are so busy to answer my messages or calls, I thought I’d bring the conversation to you.”

Charlie didn’t understand, but suspected it had something to do with the man walking behind her mother. When he approached, Grace nodded to him.

“This is Frederick Yang, the young man I told you about,” she reminded. “You said you would be happy to meet him, remember?”

“I did?”

“Yes, I told you. We met on the cruise. He’s in finance. You two will have so much in common.”

Charlie fuzzily recalled the name being mentioned in the slew of useless conversations with her mother. But putting two and two together, this had to be a man her mother wanted to pair her up with.

She didnotneed this right now.

Grace was smart, cornering Charlie in an open field with little defense. She didn’t have the heart to reject the guy right there. He was an innocent victim of Grace’s many schemes. The plan was brilliant and evil.

“Ah… you didn’t exactly give me time to prepare,” Charlie said feebly.

“You never responded, so I took it as a yes. I’ve had enough of chasing you around, so when Aera told us where you were, luckily Frederick and I were close by. This would make it the perfect time to introduce you two.”

“But I am busy,” Charlie insisted. “Aera reserved this time for us. We had plans.”

Grace’s patronizing chuckle followed, unfazed. “Not a problem. I’m sure Aera would be happy to let you two use the time to get to know each other. I’ll pay her the amount for this reservation. You don’t mind, do you, Aera dear?”

“Uh…” Aera stuttered.

“Great! Since I haven’t seen you in such a long time, we shouldcatch up while these two get together.” Grace grabbed Aera’s hands, practically hauling her out of the cart. “The café over there looks interesting. Why don’t we get something to eat while we talk? We can use my cart.”

“Uh—” Aera couldn’t get out another word before Grace grabbed her arms and began dragging her away. The look of confusion on Aera’s face mimicked Charlie’s, the scenario playing out like a terrible comic.

“Wait!” Charlie protested. Her mother was already driving out of the grass, waving from behind victoriously.

Did five minutes even pass since her mother charged in, commandeered her tee-time and kidnapped Aera in favor of pushing her to a stranger? She wasn’t even sure how long she stood there when she heard someone move next to her.

Charlie turned to him, catching the amusement in his eyes.

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