Swapping a Broken Heart for a New Start novel Chapter 948

"Grandpa didn't give you a hard time, did he?" he asked. Camila snapped back to the present and shook her head. "Not at all. Your grandfather was very kind to me, and Charlotte cooked an amazing dinner. Afterward, he took Lillian to the playroom. I heard he had it built just for her. She was absolutely thrilled all evening." Camila smiled as she recounted the day. "And the gifts your grandfather and Charlotte gave me... it felt like a little too much." Dennis listened, a deep sense of satisfaction in his voice. "Whatever they give you, you should take it. Nothing is too much for you, because you deserve it all." His words were like honey, sweetening her heart. Camila nodded. After chatting for a bit, her attention was drawn to the room's decor. It clearly had some age to it, but it wasn't old-fashioned. Instead, it possessed a classic elegance, furnished entirely with high-quality pearwood and sandalwood. The bookshelf held an array of unexpected items. Most prominent was a cabinet full of trophies from various academic competitions during his school years. There were also some vintage-looking toys, figurines, and certificates. Most intriguingly, the bottom shelf held a collection of fairy tales and comic books. As her eyes moved upward, however, the collection shifted to history tomes, complex academic texts, and classic literature from around the world. Camila scanned the titles, amazed by the sheer breadth of his reading. "Did you read all of these?" she asked. Dennis didn't deny it. "Yes, books I've read since I was a child. My grandmother liked to keep them when she was alive, and it's been this way ever since." "Wow!" Camila looked at the camera, her face full of admiration. "You were a model student from a young age, Mr. Williams. But I have to say, I never pictured you reading comics. Is that a 'Case Closed' manga?" Dennis replied calmly, "That was Larry's contribution. When we were kids, he always said I didn't live like a normal person our age and made it his mission to lead me astray. He tried to get me into video games, comics, even skipping school..." This was the first time Camila had heard these stories, and she was intrigued. "And? Did he succeed?" A smile touched Dennis's lips. "Well, every time we played video games, I utterly destroyed him. As for the comics, I could usually guess the culprit after the first few pages. And skipping school..." He chuckled softly. "Larry led the charge, but he'd barely gotten one leg over the wall when he triggered the school alarm and was caught red-handed by the dean. He ended up getting lectured for half a day and was assigned a three-thousand-word apology essay." Camila couldn't believe Larry Adams had such a history with him. Laughing, she asked, "Did you have to write an essay too?" Dennis shook his head. "No. I was in the middle of telling him that climbing the wall was dangerous and he should use the main gate. I hadn't even finished my sentence when the dean showed up. Later, Larry tried to drag me down with him, telling the teachers I was his accomplice, but it didn't work. The dean just scolded him more, saying, 'And now you're lying! I heard Dennis Williams telling you not to climb the wall!' Because of that, his one-thousand-word essay became three thousand words."