Chapter 8 Daring To Abuse Carla

After an hour, they arrived at the ticket office of the amusement park.

Leading a frugal life, Carla, who was careful about how she spent her money all the time, reluctantly bought three tickets, two for adults and one for children.

If her brother hadn't begged her to allow Terence to go with them, she wouldn't have taken him.

Carla shot Terence a dirty look from time to time. Whenever she looked at him, it was a constant reminder that she had spent more of her hard earned money on him unnecessarily.

However, Terence seemed to be unaware, or simply didn't care and chose to completely ignore Carla's sullen glances. He played along happily with Sean and tried several different rides for himself.

Carla went on a few rides but found that she was too exhausted to keep up with them, so she found a shady spot and sat there to rest. She watched as Terence and Sean went on the pirate ship ride, which wasn't far away from where she sat.

If it had only been Carla and Sean at the amusement park, then Sean would have dragged her around everywhere with him and she would be run off her feet. But since Terence accompanied them today, then she didn't have to be so involved and could sit back and rest a while, letting Terence run around with Sean instead.

She looked down at the two big teddy bears beside her that Terence had won for Sean and touched one of the ears.

She then looked up and saw how much fun Sean was having with Terence today and sighed deeply.

The extra ticket that she bought for Terence was worth it, after all.

"Carla?"

While absorbed in her own thoughts, Carla heard someone call out to her.

Instinctively, she turned to see who it was.

When Carla realized who it was that called her, she blushed and immediately stood up feeling nervous. As he approached, she adjusted her clothes and smoothed her hair. She glanced down at her feet and was embarrassed to find that her white sneakers were now dirty after being accidentally stood on by Sean.

"What a surprise to see you here, Evan."

Carla greeted him as he approached, with a big happy smile on her face.

"Yes. I came with a friend. What about you?"

he smiled and asked politely. Evan An was a tall, dark-haired and very handsome man. He was gentle and quietly spoken.

Each time that Evan An smiled at her, Carla went mushy inside. She couldn't resist that gorgeous smile of his. She managed to point a finger in the direction opposite to them and answered,"I came with my brother. He's over there on the pirate ship ride. By the way Evan, thanks for helping me out last time. If it wasn't for you, I might have been fired by Karen."

A short distance away, the pirate ship ride had come to a stop.

After descending from the ride, Sean spotted his sister talking with Evan An. He drew Terence nearer to him and pointed towards them. "Do you see that man over there?"

Following the direction of Sean's finger, Terence caught sight of Evan An and Carla.

To his surprise, he noticed how pleasant and polite Carla acted in front of this man, whereas, at home, she barely tolerated him and was rude and overbearing.

"Do you see him, Terence? His name is Evan An. My sister has had a secret crush on him for over three years now. But, she has never had the courage to tell him how she feels. If you want to be with my sister, he will probably be your biggest rival in love."

Sean told Terence about his sister's feelings for Evan An, in secret. Even though he knew Evan An well before he met Terence, he never really liked Evan An.

As for Terence, as soon as he met him that very first day, Sean took a liking to him.

Sean furrowed his brows when he realized something and looked at Terence. "Your surname is also An, the same as Evan's. Is it possible that you might be related to him?"

He and Carla were siblings and shared the same surname, so Sean assumed that Terence and Evan An could also be related since they shared the same surname.

Terence thought for a moment and then answered,"It might just be a coincidence. There are many people who have the same surname in the world but are not related to one another."

While answering Sean's questions, Terence observed Evan An and Carla who were chatting happily enjoying each other's company. Terence was trying to get a better look at Evan's face but all that he could see was his profile and from that, he couldn't tell much.

Feeling confused, he smiled and looked down at Sean. "What makes you think that I want to be in a relationship with your sister?"

Sean was only a ten-year-old boy who loved his sister and wished the best for her. Hearing the question, he looked up at Terence innocently, his face sincere and pure.

"Because I felt that you would be my brother-in-law the first time that I saw you," he replied.

Even though his sister didn't seem to like Terence very much. The moment Carla brought him back into their home, Sean somehow felt that his sister and Terence were a go

od match for each other.

It was as if Carla and Terence had known each other for a very long time.

Terence found what Sean had said amusing and laughed. He then tousled the boy's hair affectionately.

"Well, don't you have a silver tongue."

Carla and Evan An sat together on a park bench under a large tree.

"Carla, you don't have to thank me. I know how hard it is for you and I will always try my best to help you," Evan An remarked politely.

He was well aware of Carla's difficult situation. Not only did she have to look after herself but also her little brother all on her own.

"Evan, for a long time now I have been meaning to thank you. After all, you have helped me out many times," Carla uttered, with a smile on her face. Evan An was a kind and compassionate man, so he was always willing to help her whenever he found out that she had run into some difficulty.

Evan An looked at her sincere face and smiled. "Carla, you are one of the kindest people that I know. I just did some small things to help you, so you really don't need to express your thanks to me."

Carla felt a bit embarrassed and looked down blushing upon hearing Evan's compliment. Then with a wide grin, she looked up and said,"Evan, will you be free next Sunday evening? It will be my brother's birthday. Would you like to..."

"Evan, there you are. I've been looking all over the place for you."

Before Carla could finish what she wanted to say, a flirtatious female voice spoke over her. Carla first noticed a faint scent of perfume in the air and then she saw a woman dressed in all white walk up to them. The woman took Evan's hand and snuggled into his shoulder.

Evan An responded by wrapping his arms affectionately around her waist and whispered in her ear,"When you went to the ladies room, I looked for a spot to rest while I waited for you and then I happened to run into Carla. So we chatted for a while."

"Carla, let me introduce you."

Carla sat wide-eyed and stunned for a moment. She recovered slightly when Evan An began to speak to her.

"This is Nina Rui, my girlfriend. Nina, this is Carla Ji. I told you about her before."

Evan An introduced Nina to Carla after he first calmed Nina Rui.

Nina Rui rudely ignored Carla and pulled on Evan's arm for him to stand up and said,"Evan, let's go. Can't you see that I'm wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes? We really should find a place where I can sit down and rest, right now!"

"Okay, we will go in a moment, but before we do, I think it would be nice for you to say hello to Carla first,"

Evan An spoke in a low voice, pulling his girlfriend closer to him.

Nina Rui was displeased by Evan's request, glared at him and then pouted. She rolled her eyes and gave Carla a sidelong glance and uttered with disdain,"You're Carla, and both of your parents are dead, right? Are you also the one that takes her little brother along and pretends to be pitiful and plays on Evan's compassion to help her out all the time?"

After Nina Rui had finished, the atmosphere became awkward and embarrassing.

Carla was left without words. All that she could do was to sit and stare shocked at everything that had just happened. Firstly, Evan An had a girlfriend and then all of the unkind and hurtful things that Nina Rui had just said belittled her. She felt anger boil in the pit of her stomach.

"Nina, how could you say that?"

Evan An was taken aback and frowned at his girlfriend. He was embarrassed by her rude remarks. He reprimanded her in a low voice,"Apologize to Carla now!"

Nina Rui glanced at Carla, who was dressed in only modest clothing. She raised her head flicking her hair back and snorted with contempt. She just shook Evan's shoulder and retorted,"Oh, come on Evan! What are you saying? She is just a poor woman! Don't think that I don't know what she is trying to do. She pretends to be pathetic and helpless in front of you so that you would pity her. She wants to get close to you because she knows that you are rich! Why do I have to apologize to such a poor and deceptive woman?"

Sean clenched his teeth after hearing everything that horrible woman had said about his sister.

He was so annoyed that he almost ran over there wanting to beat that woman up for abusing Carla. However, Terence who was right beside him and also heard everything grabbed him by the arm before he could run off.

Terence deliberately didn't go to Carla's aid because he intended to observe her reaction.

He wanted to see how Carla was going to react after she had been insulted in front of the man that she liked. At home, she never had a problem with giving him a tongue-lashing, always acting rude and arrogant towards him. So now was his chance to see how she was going to handle the whole situation.

He wondered if she would show respect for Evan An and bear the insult, or she would quarrel with Evan's girlfriend and risk offending him so that Evan An would never want to speak to her again.