Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 1436

"Joel, when did you get back?" Lorelei asked in astonishment.

Joel, Tanner, and Harold had all attended the same middle and high schools.

The Garner and Bellamy families were close, and he had a decent relationship with Tanner.

However, his dynamic with Harold couldn't exactly be called terrible, but it was absolutely nowhere near good.

Harold, in particular, harbored an inexplicable hostility toward him.

Whenever they crossed paths, Harold was downright abrasive, his expression cold enough to freeze water.

Naturally, Joel never gave him the time of day either.

Because of this, the occasions where they actually appeared in the same room were exceedingly rare.

"A couple of days ago."

Joel sat across from her, a gentle smile gracing his handsome features, his voice impossibly soft. "You're married now. You look much more mature than before. You aren't that little girl who used to beam at me and beg me to buy her ice cream anymore."

"Yeah."

Lorelei smiled and nodded, her voice dropping lower. "I got married three years ago. You were studying abroad at the time, and I didn't want to distract you, so I didn't send you a message."

More importantly—

Her wedding had been born from a scandal. The fewer people who knew, the better. It had been an incredibly stripped-down affair.

"Is that so?"

Hearing her reasoning, a complicated look flickered across Joel's face, his tone laced with melancholy. "Lori, you should have told me."

If he had known, he absolutely would have flown back.

There were so many things he hadn't had the chance to say to her, so many feelings he hadn't shown her. She deserved to know.

Especially after finding out just how absurd the circumstances of her marriage had been.

It filled him with endless, agonizing regret.

He had assumed that since she liked Harold so much, she had finally gotten what she wanted and would live a happy life.

Because of that, once he found out she was married, he blocked all domestic news related to the two of them.

Until two weeks ago.

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