Part 45

Claire arrived home at ten o'clock in the evening after dropping Bella off at her apartment. At first, Claire had asked Bella to stay over, but after thinking about it for a long time, Bella eventually declined because she didn't want to deal with the hassle of going back and forth to her apartment the next morning before heading to the office. Now, Claire felt grateful that her friend hadn't stayed over, as when she opened the gate, Gladwin's car was already there.

Her twin brother had a spare key to Claire's house, so she wasn't surprised to see him there. Claire opened the front door after locking the gate behind her. Her twin was watching television with a bowl of instant noodles in hand.

"Where have you been?" he asked without bothering to look away from the screen.

"I attended a coworker's wedding in the next town," she replied.

Claire chose to sit next to her brother and asked for some of the noodles in his bowl. Gladwin didn't refuse and handed her the bowl without hesitation.

As the last singles in their family, both she and Gladwin were quite reluctant to return to their eldest sibling's home, where their mother currently lived. Not for any particular reason, but Claire felt bored when the question "Who's your boyfriend now?" constantly came from the woman who had given birth to them.

Sometimes Claire felt frustrated with her mother. Back when she was a teenager experiencing her own puppy love, her mother often forbade her from dating. Getting close to the opposite sex was the most frowned upon thing by her mother, as she and Gladwin were required to focus on their education. Being obedient children, they did what their mother told them. That was why she and Gladwin managed to accelerate through school; they didn't really enjoy their teenage years like most other kids.

And now, as adults, Claire found herself hesitant to date. It felt boring to watch her friends' relationships, who would worship their partners when they were in love and then cry their eyes out after a breakup. They would then curse their exes when their former partners started dating someone new. After witnessing all that drama, she chose to steer clear of it.

Meanwhile, at twenty-five years old, their mother was urging them to get married. Not both of them, just Claire, since she was her mother's only daughter. According to her mother, she was old enough to marry and have children. Every chance she got, her mother would say, "Back when I was your age," followed by a series of boring comparisons to demand that Claire marry soon.

As for Claire, she couldn't even imagine getting married; she had never even thought about it because she simply didn't want to.

And for Gladwin, their mother wasn't pushing him to marry, but rather urging him to stop fooling around with women and focus on building his career.

Gladwin was handsome. Although he didn't yet have a license to open his own practice, he worked as a doctor. He was an intelligent man, and their mother believed he would become even more successful in the future. He also had an athletic build, so many women were attracted to him. With all his advantages, Gladwin certainly wouldn't turn down any woman who showed interest in him. Regardless of their relationship status, he wouldn't waste any opportunity that came his way. Their mother didn't want Gladwin to develop a bad reputation that could affect his future. That's why he preferred to come home to Claire's place rather than to their mother's house, tired of being lectured.

"G, what if I date a widower?" Claire asked, trying to keep her tone as flat as possible, even though her heart was racing with nervousness. For Claire, Gladwin was more than just a twin brother, and she was even more afraid of his anger than that of their eldest sibling.

"You're dating Flavia's father?" he asked casually, causing Claire to cough and choke on the noodles she was chewing. Was her brother a psychic? How could he guess so accurately?

"What do you mean?" she asked, pretending to be innocent.

Gladwin smirked. "You think I don't know that the billionaire widower is really interested in you? I could see it from the moment I met him," he replied flatly.

Claire remained silent, choosing to silence herself with food.

"For me, it doesn't matter if you're involved with any man as long as he's not someone else's husband and he's a healthy, normal guy," he said simply.

Claire smiled faintly but then frowned. "What do you think Mom's reaction would be if she found out who my date is?"

Gladwin shrugged. "What do you think she would do?" Claire scratched her head, which wasn't itchy. "Are you really serious about that widower? Have you two officially started dating?" he asked curiously.

"I don't have any kind of relationship with him," Claire replied.

"Then, has he expressed his feelings for you?" Claire nodded. "So, do you like him?" Claire shrugged.

"So far, I actually haven't found anything that makes me interested in him," Claire admitted honestly.

"Does your heart race when you're close to him?" Gladwin asked, to which Claire shook her head. "At night, don't you want to know what he's doing or who he's with?" Again, Claire shook her head. "If he's out with a woman, aren't you curious about where they went and what they're doing?"

Claire suddenly imagined Anastasia. But she was never really curious about what they were doing or where they were going. So far, her frustration with Antony stemmed from how he made Flavia second priority and used Abigail to get closer to her.

"If you feel that way, why are you thinking about a long-term relationship with him and worrying about Mom's response? Unless you have special feelings for him, your heart races when you're near him, and you worry about him when he's not around, then you shouldn't be thinking too far ahead," Gladwin replied casually.

Claire could only frown and think. She was confused about why she had to think so complicatedly. In the end, she just shrugged.

Claire got up from her seat and handed the remaining noodles to Gladwin. He accepted them without saying much. He continued eating his noodles while Claire went into her room to prepare for her bedtime ritual.