𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓.

Charlotte has a lot of patience in her. She bottles it in and keeps going, even if it's at the expense of her own well being. It all goes back to her obsession with maintaining self control, hating the way she might behave if she acts on her emotions. Sarah's sudden presence after weeks, and her subsequent words don't ease the hurt and the anger in her heart, because Sarah says so much yet nothing at the same time. Her apology doesn't say much, and then she brings up their mother, and it feels like that thread keeping her from getting angry is ripped. "You're sorry?" She scoffs. What is she supposed to do with that? "Our brother went to jail and you were nowhere to be found. You couldn't even spare me a text. God, I know we had a shitty relationship growing up, Sarah, but I deserve better than this treatment." Especially when she's done nothing but be there for her the past few months. "I have done my best to try and mend things, but you don't care. I needed you and you didn't care." She sighs, the words flowing out of her lips unfiltered and equal parts pained and angry. "Our mother died and I had to figure out the funeral arrangements all by myself and you were still nowhere to be found." She quirks her eyebrow at his sister. "You're not the only one who had a bad relationship with her, Sarah. Because guess what, I had a bad relationship with her too. Mom actually focused on you growing up." She shakes her head, moving her fingers through her hair. "You're not the only one going through something and you come here and all you have to say is that you're sorry and that you should've done something and didn't. Really?”

"That joke will only work for a few more weeks, Char, get it all out of your system now." Soon they'd both be 31 and growing old. Even if Kyle was smart, he was also a slacker, and he hated having to read so much when none of it really mattered to him. Charlotte was much more balanced than him, at least in the book-smart ways. In other ways, they were probably equally both lost causes. "That's medical shit though, it's different," he retorts, all while evading her question, because, of course, he doesn't want to read any of her work. Unless it was meant to put him to sleep. "How's two weeks? You can think of it like we're back in school, a deadline or some shit," Kyle adds with a grin. "Unless you have better things to do, that is."

"You're still a few months older, so the argument still stands," she says, smiling playfully in his direction. "Well, maybe it'll broaden your horizons. You never know, you might get interested in all of that and find your true calling." She's joking and it's obvious. She can't picture Kyle working in healthcare, although he has the brains for it, he just wouldn't survive a shift when he had the tendency to slack off more often than not. "Hm, I can work with two weeks." She pauses at his words, a slow smile curving up her lips and she shrugs. "I'm a very busy woman now." With Junho back in the picture, she no longer just spends her time between the hospital and alone at home!

"I know," Aleyna says just as quietly. She understood that Charlotte was strong, always had been, but she couldn't help but feel worried. So much has happened just in the past couple of months, it could definitely be too much for anybody currently in Charlotte's position. Now that the bag was out of her hands, Aleyna found herself immediately wrapping her arms around her older sister's taller frame, hoping that she could offer even just a little bit of comfort. "It is," she murmurs when she pulls away from the hug. "It's just one thing after another and it really isn't fair on you," Aleyna adds with a frown. "Have you visited Jake? How's he doing?"

Everything was falling apart around her and she had no idea how to keep things intact anymore. From Jacob's imprisonment to severing her relationship with Sarah to their mother dying... she's starting to genuinely believe her family attracts tragedies, and she's not sure how much longer she can hold on before she bursts. She's a ticking time bomb. "No, it's not fair, but what can you do, right?" She sighs, moving to look over at Aleyna. "Yeah, I've visited him. He's in jail, so he's not doing well." Obviously. "Now that mom's gone, I've taken over talking to the lawyers, and they're still working on his case." It's making her really impatient.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Aleyna immediately said once the door was opened, and she held up the bag with what she knew was Charlotte's favorite from The Daily Dose, the only thing stopping her from wrapping the older woman in a tight hug. "I just wanted to see you."

It's not that she doesn't want to talk about it, it's that she has no idea what to even say. She's not sure if she's more surprised by her mother dying or being killed. Does that mean the killer was never caught? Or was this something completely unrelated, so secret vendetta against the Ohs? She's not sure how to feel, and after the whirlwind that has been the past few weeks, Charlotte doesn't have it in her anymore. "Aleyna, hey. Thanks for coming, but you didn't have to," she says quietly, taking the bag from her and letting her in. "Honestly, I don't know what to say anymore. From Jacob's imprisonment, to this... it's a never ending nightmare."

Cameron couldn't help but internally sigh at this conversation. He hated having to talk to the uptight robot he had always seen Charlotte Oh as, and for as long as he'd known her, he always felt that she was beneath him talent-wise. Still, she deemed herself a necessary part of his day today, so he was going to humor it, if only because he was bored to begin with. Cam did not believe how genuinely sorry she was about his sister but he gave her a condescending smile regardless. "I am," he answers, the smile growing wider. "I don't believe my ex-wife can handle the responsibility of raising our kids alone," Cam said, knowing fully well that what he was saying could be told to his ex-wife. Good. He hoped she'll find out he's currently gunning to get back custody of his kids, especially after her numerous displays of violence and hearing she frequented the clubs while leaving their newborn and toddler behind. The town was small, and it didn't take long for word to spread, and Cam was so sure the judge would love hearing about her being intoxicated and walking around town in her wedding dress, and that was when they had a nanny. For someone who considers herself such a wonderful mother and for someone who hated him so much for leaving, she sure liked doing the exact same thing, and seems to like doing it frequently too. He was sick of this fake image she was projecting, but because this woman was not the woman he married, he really felt no loss in wanting to take the kids away from her, while simultaneously wanting absolutely nothing to do with her. "So I'm here to stay. I truly hope that's up to your approval, Doctor Oh," Cam sarcastically said.

Cameron Russell has nothing going for him besides audacity, because he doesn't seem to care that he's talking about his ex wife like that when he's the one who left them behind. Charlotte has a lot of self control, and she can tell he's trying to provoke her. If he's a pathetic excuse for a man, then she refuses to stoop so low to his level, even though his words are annoying and disgusting, that he's talking about her friend like this, the mother of his kids. It's degrading and lacks basic decorum. Charlotte's a private person, and she wasn't gong to interfere and give Cameron Russell the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her. "Dilara's doing just fine taking care of her children," she answers with a smile, nodding. They're only Cameron's children by blood, nothing more. She's surprised he even remembers he has children in the first place. "My approval?" She quirks her eyebrow in his direction. There's no way she's talking to a grown man right now. Of course she doesn't like that he's back, but that's not her business. "I think you're asking for the approval of the wrong person, Dr. Russell. I'm not your ex wife." With that, her coffee finishes. She gives him another smile, though it lacks kindness. "I hope you have a good day." She gives him a polite nod, reaching for her mug and starts to head out, not wanting to waste her time on someone so worthless.

"Char-?" she calls softly, knocking on the front door. "I, um...I wanted to...to talk to you." This is stupid, she thinks, staring at the knot in front of her eyes on the wooden door. There's no reason her sister would want to talk to her. "I just..." She swallows hard, words failing her. "I just wanted to talk to you," she finishes weakly.

Sarah is the last person she expects to appear on her door. It took Charlotte a few months to realize her relationship with Sarah was one-sided, that it was Charlotte who was willing to put in the time and effort to be there for her, not the other way around, and that was proven when she was met with radio silence after Jacob's imprisonment. So naturally, she didn't expect her sister to reach out now that their mother was dead—no, killed—and Charlotte has long accepted that things would never be mended between the two. She's not particularly happy things have gotten here, but she's done all that she could and was met with nothing. "What are you doing here, Sarah?" They should've been handling things together; however, Sarah feels more like a stranger than a sister. She lets out a sigh, looking inside her house, not yet sure if she's comfortable letting her in. "Okay, so talk."

"Thank you. I'm basically the full package, now you see why I was so popular," he boasts with a grin, even though Kyle knew that he was never seen as that growing up. For every positive thing he had, there was something equally negative to share that put his reputation at a solid neutral, at best. "Maybe this can be a new hobby for you," he suggested jokingly. "Sure, I do. It was two months ago," he responds. It's not really his fault, because he was grieving and getting drunk every day, which didn't leave time to go through paperwork when he'd finally gotten the guts to take over. "There was some inspector guy that came in two weeks ago trying to talk to me, but I'm a really good bullshitter."

"I think one of us has a faulty memory. You're growing old, Kyle," she jokes, scrunching her nose, as if Charlotte's birthday isn't soon. There was a long list of differences between her and Kyle and Mal; however, their friendship made sense despite these differences. Ever since they were kids, they were her true ride or die, through thick and thin, people she could blindly trust and didn't have to put on a mask or a brave face around. "What's the hobby? Reading documentation? I read enough of those at work already. Do you want to read my own stuff in exchange?" She smiles. It doesn't faze her when Kyle says the deadline was two months ago, and honestly, she can't blame him for dismissing things after everything he's been through. "Well, keep on bullshitting the inspector till I finish these."

She had to suck in a sharp breath as she listened, and force herself to slowly let it out to not interrupt Charlotte but also perhaps to not cause attention to herself. Dilara knew she was right with every fiber of her being, but the bluntness of her words made her chest cave in still. Things were just easier with him gone. She had never imagined her life without him in it, and for that brief moment that he was gone she did. Then he came back and threw her into a loop she could barely escape from... Dee didn't want to admit it to herself but for a split second as she stared at his face outside her home she wondered- if maybe he was there for his family again. If he'd made some kind of mistake and what that would have meant. The fact that it didn't meant that her entire life up to six months ago was nothing more than a façade. A hoax. Some cruel joke. That felt even worst. How do you sleep next to someone for over a decade while fully aware that you're sole purpose in their lives is to break them? To shatter someone who's done nothing but love and cherish you... But there was no way of her knowing. Dilara just had to get over it somehow. Pretend like everything was fine and maybe someday it might be. "You're right." she said and swallowed, "I know you're right." Dee poured them each a glass of wine, and turned her body to where she could see her baby play. "He can open the baby gates now. Little rascal's turning my house inside out. Probably too much time inside. I should really get him to the daycare more to let him exercise his energy amongst other kids." she chuckled as she finished.

Charlotte watches Dilara quietly. She doesn't really care if her words were a little too blunt, because the redhead needs to hear it. She's never been someone to coddle. Even if her tone's gentle, Charlotte's words tended to be direct. Maybe they process their emotions differently, but she doesn't understand why she's making excuses for a cheater and a man who abandoned her and her kids, or why she's still allowing herself to indulge in the what ifs and the whys of it all when none of it will change what happened, especially when it's been months already. Cameron's already done so much, she doesn't understand why Dilara's allowing him more power. She hates seeing her like this. "I don't need to hear that I'm right, I need you to believe it and to act on it, alright?" She knows she's dismissing it, opting to change the subject when things got a little too serious, and she'll allow it, because at the end of the day, this is up to Dilara, and Charlotte's a little too drained from her dealing with her own problems. She looks over at her son. "Kids are curious, he's just exploring," she notes. "Yeah, now that everything's safe again, it's not a bad idea to have him be around other children."

"No, but that's exactly why I feel like you should try it. Branch out, experience new things. You never know what you could've been missing out on." Sounding like she's handing out life advice as opposed to trying to convince Char to buy a mini skirt. A bright pink one. "You would if you at least tried it on and saw how good it looks. Like, look at you. You have great legs and they deserve to be showed off." But trying to convince her was a near impossible mission. This not being the first time she's gone down this road and having no success. With a quick roll of her eyes, Jieun stuck the garment back onto the rack with a defeated (and very dramatic) huff and turned to face Charlotte again. "Fine, but we're not leaving this store until you buy something too. At least something to wear for like.. night outs or dates. You still go on those, right?"

"For a moment it felt like I'm watching a Ted Talk. I'm sure out of all the things I'm missing out on, a Barbie pink mini skirt isn't one of them," she counters lightly, amused by the approach Jieun took to try and convince her. "I'm not against wearing skirts, Ji. Just... not this one. I'll buy a skirt, I just need to see what else is there." It's not exactly what the younger one wants, but this should appease her a little. After all, Charlotte wanted a distraction, and she has a feeling it's the same with the other. "Way to call me out," she says, but there's no annoyance in her tone at all, it's still light, because she's well aware enough of what her life is like. "How about... this?" She picks out a mini dress for Jieun.

"Some of us got into that fancy private school off our brains, Char," he counters, even if his brains had gone down the drain not too long after he'd been attending Wardwell on an academic scholarship. It was really his talents in basketball and connections to the Phillips that had kept him from landing back in public school. "You like to read, I don't. Besides, you'll be faster at it than me, so it all works out." Kyle rolls his eyes, because he much rather preferred the numbers part of owning a business than to how much paperwork there could be at once. "What's there to know? It's just... permits and insurance and shit from the county office. All I have to know is if I'm breaking even every month."

"Okay Mr. Smart Jock," she jokes, reaching for whatever's in her reach—a pen—and throwing it at him. It's true, Kyle is one of the smartest people she knows, it's just that he preferred to let his brain rest and chill on the daily. "There's a lot of reasons I didn't take over the family company, Ky, and this," she says, waving the documents around, "is one of them." Except she'll happily read through these documents, purely because it's for Kyle and Mal. "We'll see what it's about. I just skimmed through the titles. I'll summarize everything for you in a few days, don't worry. You don't have a deadline, right?"