Capture Your Heart

Chapter 221 Five-Year Appointment 2

After preparing all of these and putting her daughter to bed, Karin calls her family.

"Dad, we're going home the day after tomorrow."

"Okay."

The next day, the three of them take a flight to London. By the time they arrive at Heathrow Airport, it is merely past 3:00 p.m. To stall for time, she takes Esme and William to Battersea Park.

Standing on the shore by the Thames, she closes her eyes and feels the scent of her home, feeling that a long, long time, has passed ever since she came back here last time.

Esme asks with a smile, "Mom, is this the place where you grew up?"

"Yes."

"It's so beautiful and so much more interesting than Edinburgh."

Karin twists her little ears, "Did you forget what Mommy has told you?"

"Oh, no, it's much more interesting than Zurich."

Karin smiles, feeling incomparably bitter instead.

She takes Esme's hand and stops as she walks to a certain place where a handsome man and a beautiful woman are taking photos. Back then, she had also taken a photo with a man here. Although the picture is still vivid in her mind, the figure of the man in her heart has gradually been blurred.

After they have been walking idly at Battersea Park for more than four hours, it is completely dark. After that, the three of them stop a taxi and go to Karin's home, a home they haven't set foot in for years.

After they arrive at the doorstep of Karin's house, she gets out of the car first. And after looking around, she signals with her eyes that William should follow her and catch up with her with Esme in his arms.

Looking at the familiar shop sign of the dumpling shop in front of her, Karin feels that her nose turns sore and her vision is covered with a layer of water mist. Then she hears someone call, "Karin". And the heartbreaking feeling in her heart is beyond words. She finds that her parents are aged with more wrinkles and more gray hairs. However, they smile less. As they, who rarely smile over the years, exert efforts to put on a smile, Karin can sense some stiffness and strangeness.

"Dad...Mom..."

She jumps over with each hand of hers holding her parents' one hand, bursting out crying. The fact that she owes her parents is a regret that cannot be made up in her life. Back then, she abandoned them in pursuit of her love, only to end up like this. In Karin's opinion, if everything in her life could be predicted and that she could anticipate the outcome, she surely wouldn't have left her parents, stood by, and watched them suffer.

"Okay, come inside."

Jane pats Karin's back as she is in tears. Even Mike gets tears in his eyes.

This is such a bitter scene where nobody feels the joy of reunion but endless self-blame and guilt...

"Dad, Mom, this is Troy Charlie."

Karin points to William. And her eyes are blinking as she introduces him to her parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, I'm sorry for visiting you so late. Please forgive me."

William doesn't disappoint Karin. And with a calm expression on his face, he doesn't look awkward at all.

"Grandparents, please take care of me since it is the first time we met each other. And my name is Esme Shaw."

Karin draws a cold breath. Originally, she thought that everything had been properly arranged and that she had tried her best to instruct her daughter. However, she forgot to change her daughter's surname. At a glance, she knows that Esme is so excited that she takes the initiative to introduce herself, fearing that no one will introduce her. Thinking that her plan is flawless, Karin leaves such a loophole out...

As expected, her parents, who are attentive, frown, "How is the child surnamed Shaw?"

As a rule, rich families are unlikely to allow their descendants to take the mother's surname. So Esme's remark can be considered as a time bomb that will complicate the situation immediately if there isn't a reasonable explanation.

"Here's the thing, I told the child that after she arrives here, she should say her name is Esme Shaw. While at her grandmother's house, she will be called Esme Charlie. Only in this way will people on both sides like her. It was originally a joke. I didn't expect that this child would take it seriously."

Hearing William's tactful explanation, Karin immediately echoes, "Yes, yes."

Jane smiles, squats down, and caresses Esme's fair face, "You look the same as your mother when she was a child."

"It shouldn't be, right? I feel that my mom is not as pretty as me."

Hearing the child's confident words, everyone bursts out laughter. While Mike lets out a long sigh of relief, thinking that as long as his daughter is well, the knot in his mind over the years will be undone as well.

"Let's eat first. We shall talk over the meal."

They walk into the backyard. After sitting at the table in the living room, Mike began to advise bitterly, "To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that your child has been grown-up, I simply wouldn't have intended to forgive you."

"Dad, I know, there is no way to control the feelings. Otherwise, I surely wouldn't have dared to take your daughter away from you."

"It's useless to talk about this now. As long as you are truly good to my daughter, I will admit it."

"You can rest assured that my feelings for her will never change in this lifetime."

William's words sound sincere. It seems that William is saying so completely from the bottom of his heart. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"That will be the best. The reason why Jane and I objected to your being together at first was that our family is different from other families and that we can't be too casual when it comes to relationships."

"I understand. Karin has told me about it."

Jane glares at Mike, "They already have a child. Why did you mention those things again? Hurry up and drink."

"Okay, come on, let's drink."

Mike picks up a glass of wine and drinks with William happily. Over the years, he has been depressed and upset. And tonight, he is finally relieved.

He drinks happily and holds Esme in his lap, kissing her over and over again.

Jane pulls Karin into the inner room. At first, they hug each other and cry for a while. Then they wipe away their tears and start talking.

"When I let you go back then, I was worried that I had made a mistake, thinking that it's okay if you are happy. However, I had another thought in my mind back then, that was, what should I do if you don't have a happy life happy?"

"I'm happy now. So, Mom, you made the right decision..."

"Yes, I'm so relieved that you can appear in front of me today with your husband and your daughter. I have been having a hard time over these years."

"I'm sorry. Because you guys weren't willing to show up at our wedding when we got married, I was a little angry in my heart. So I was capricious and didn't contact you for the past few years. Will you forgive me?"

Jane nods with tears, "I understand. Your father and I know that you are resenting us..."

"I am not angry now. I have long since stopped being angry. As long as you and Dad take care of yourself well, it will show most strongly that you have forgiven me."

"That's good."

They walk into the living room. And after five years, the long-lost laughter echoes in the house which was originally cold.

Barry's family house is on the same street as Karin's family house. After Barry comes back from working overtime, his mother hurriedly calls him into the house, "Barry, come here, come here..."

"What's wrong?"

Barry walks in, confused.

"Do you know who I saw today?"

"Who?"

"Karin!"

Barry's heart stutters as he says, "Is she back? Really?"

"I saw her at Battersea Park. It's just strange that the man she was standing next to was not the one I had met a few years ago."

"Then he probably is her friend, right?"

"I don't think so. She was taking a child by her side with that man. And I guess he should be her husband."

After Lucy finishes her words, she snorts, "Fortunately, I didn't take this kind of daughter-in-law in my family. After all, nobody knows how many men she has slept with in Zurich."

"No way. She married Troy Charlie. And her mother told me in person."

Thinking about this, Barry feels hurt. After Karin escaped back then, he went to the Shaw family over and over again, hoping that Mike could bring Karin back. When he was there last time, Jane told him that her daughter was getting married. He was angry and made a big fuss in the Shaw family, after which he was introduced to a woman. And within three months, he got married decisively and flamboyantly.

He did so to deliberately infuriate the Shaw family. Five years have passed. And now his child is three years old. Although he no longer expects to renew his relationship with Karin, hearing his mother say that Karin has returned at this moment, he still wants to go to see her, intending to ask her why she abandoned him so cruelly back then!

Having made up his mind, Barry changes his clothes and walks towards the Shaw family.

Karin winks at William. Then William immediately gets up and says, "Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, I have an appointment with a friend tonight. And it's almost time. Would you excuse me for a while?"

Mike asks drunkenly, "You have friends in London as well?"

"Yes, I invested in a project here five years ago and made some friends in the business field. Hearing that I am here this time, they insist on seeing me."

Jane smiles and nods, "Go on then."

Karin walks William to the door as she softly admonishes him, "Tomorrow, I will tell my parents that you have to take care of some urgent business in your company and that you have gone back first. So you shouldn't come over again."

"What about you and Esme?"

"We'll go back on our own in a couple of days."

"Good."

As soon as the two of them step out of the doorway, they run into a person. As Karin takes a close look at the visitor, her face turns pale.