Thinking about her current attire and the situation, an absurd idea suddenly crossed Annabelle's mind. Had her brother somehow caught onto religious beliefs like their parents without her knowing? But this was Christian she was talking about—she quickly dismissed the thought, finding it impossible to imagine him like that.
So, in the end, Annabelle arrived at the conclusion that Christian should simply get used to seeing her like this, and If he still became flustered and embarrassed by it.
It would only prove that she still had that much appeal, and that thought made her feel quite pleased.
Not to mention, now that she was looking at him more carefully, she noticed his cheeks were slightly reddened.
She found him incredibly cute like this and felt a surge of affection. She wanted to hug him immediately, but in the end, she held herself back, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable or cause him to leave.
Ultimately, Annabelle didn't know exactly what her brother was thinking, but she had just worked out and taken a shower. With the weather now hot, despite it still being the end of April and it really shouldn't be like this, so she couldn't bring herself to wear something more.
So, deciding that appearing like this wasn't a problem, and seeing that he was still silent, she pulled him inside and said again.
"Chris, it's inside the house, so really, it shouldn't be a problem to be wearing this much,"
As Christian was pulled into her room, he couldn't help but feel a mix of relief that at least her outfit outside the house hadn't changed, and frustration at how these encounters with Annabelle were becoming increasingly awkward. Why did it always end up like this when he needed to talk to her?
While he didn't have a clear answer, Christian suddenly thought about the light novels, manga, and anime he consumed, all steeped in Eastern culture, where girls often appeared more reserved. Was it possible that he was subconsciously comparing those fictional characters to his real-life American sister, who was naturally more open and carefree?
For what felt like a long time, Christian was finally reminded of the fact that he was American.
"So now that I've reached it, what will you say?"
Christian didn't mention from the start that the amount of money he had was a lot more, as he wanted to see what she would say. Depending on her response, he planned to wait until she set a higher goal, so he could either exceed it or simply inform her of the correct amount.
"You've already accumulated that much money? In such a short period of time?!"
Annabelle was shocked. What could previously be argued as a small amount of money was clearly not anymore, and instead of slowing down his pace of earning, her brother seemed to have accelerated it.
"Yes."
After Christian's reply, silence filled the room, and Annabelle recovering from her shock, was at a loss for what to say.
She was overflowing with joy at her brother's success and was genuinely happy for him, especially since she was the first one he thought of after gaining all this money. She wanted to go straight to him and hug him; the warmth she felt was indescribable, and she wanted to share it with him.
Her brother had grown up, and he had even started working on his own to earn money, wanting to be the provider for the household. But what should she do about her own work?
When she turned eighteen and their parents died, nothing remained in her life aside from her brother. So for the last ten years, she had lived with the belief that she should at least be able to provide for him, to take care of him, and to ensure he didn't feel the emptiness left by their parents' absence.
Now, what should she do?
Many things tangled up in Annabelle's mind, and she felt a chaotic swirl of emotions inside her.