Kiss My Revenge The Heiress Strikes Back

She shrugged off the question with a half-hearted reply. "Yeah, the mosquitoes out there are huge."

Carter might have a reputation for being a bit wild, but he wasn't the kind of guy to mess around with women.

Growing up in a family like the Hawkes, he'd actually managed to keep his nose pretty clean.

Honestly, even his relationships were mostly long-distance and online with girls from other countries. His private life was about as boring as it gets.

Plus, Miranda had always come across as that untouchable, ice-queen type, so he never thought much beyond that.

Jo, sensing the mood, asked, "Mr. Hawke, are you planning to keep staying here?"

Carter's eyes lit up as he glanced at Miranda, looking all hopeful and eager, like a puppy waiting for a treat.

Miranda was honestly surprised. Knowing Crystal, she figured Carter would've been kicked out by now.

"You can stay if you want," she said, "but don't you have anything better to do?"

The house was big enough, sure, and Carter could crash here if he wanted, but did he really have nothing going on, just hanging around for fun? It wasn't exactly a party house.

Carter straightened up, suddenly all serious. "Of course I have things to do! My job is to get along with you. Then I'm supposed to take you back to the Hawke family estate for a visit."

Miranda couldn't help but be curious. "Don't you have any real work to do?"

Carter looked genuinely confused. "Real work? My mom just told me to stay out of the family business. She said I can spend money however I want."

"So I just toss some cash into random startups or play around with stocks. Got lucky, made some money, so now I spend my days traveling, trying out schools I like. Other than classes and goofing off..... I guess that's about it?”

He actually paused, putting real thought into it, as if he had to dig deep to remember his daily routine.

Miranda finally got it-Carter really didn't have anything meaningful to do.

But she knew the schools he attended-top Ivy League colleges, and not just one. He'd basically bought his way into whatever school and major he wanted, straight out of high school.

It was summer break now, no classes, which just made him look even more aimless.

"Hey, sis..." Carter trotted over, looking sheepish. "Can you find me something to do?"

Miranda noticed a flicker of confusion in his eyes as he asked. He really had no plan for his life, no direction—just drifting.

Her heart softened a little as she looked at him. "We'll figure something out tomorrow."

Carter brightened up instantly. "Awesome!"

The way he looked so excited, like he was about to get a mission in a video game, Miranda could tell-this kid really had nobody looking out for him.

Considering his cheating dad, mom who was always off with her boyfriends, and a broken family with nothing but a fat bank account to his name... It was a miracle he'd turned out as decent as he had. noveldrama

"Where's Crystal?" Miranda asked when she found Carter lounging on the couch, snacking on chips and watching Netflix. Crystal was nowhere to be seen.

At her name, Carter looked a little awkward. "She said she had to go out for a bit. Hasn't come back yet."

"Hey, sis, who is Crystal, anyway? Are you guys close or something?"

Miranda was still wondering what Crystal could possibly be up to at this hour, when Carter piped up again.

"What do you think she's doing out so late? Is she out partying? Don't tell me she's meeting up with some male model or something." The more he thought about it, th@darker his expression grew.

"I read somewhere that lots of young women are into meeting up with male

models at night. Crystal's not like that, is she?"

Miranda snorted. "Why don't you just ask her yourself?"

She started heading upstairs.

Carter muttered, "I'd feel weird... What if she thinks I'm nosy and gets a bad impression of me?"

Miranda glanced back in surprise. Carter just flopped back onto the couch, eyes drifting from the TV to the front door every few minutes.

He was really making himself at home, huh?

But it was obvious-he was only half-watching the show, constantly glancing at the door.

"Oh, and tell your family not to try anything weird," Miranda called down from the stairs, just loud enough for Carter to hear. "I'm not interested in the main branch, okay? If they're that desperate for people, they can wait for the ones in jail to get out. Sure, the sentences are long, but eventually, they'll be free.”