The Cherished Wife

Now that she understood Charles’s reasons, Noelle felt her frustration fade away.

Charles then sat down beside her, gently holding her hand on his knee. He cupped her face in his hands, and they looked into each other’s eyes, understanding each other without words.

Noelle’s heart raced a little. She looked away, but Charles gently turned her face back to him. “Trust me, okay?”

She nodded. “I trust you!”

Charles gave a small smile. “Time to eat!”

They both enjoyed their meal. When it was over, Noelle got up to clear the dishes, but Charles stopped her. “I’ll take care of it. We’re in this together, right?”

Feeling a warm glow, Noelle did not argue and stepped aside to watch Charles clean up the table and start washing the dishes.

Then, her phone rang. It was Jade. “Noelle, you need to come to the hospital right now!”

Noelle’s brow furrowed. She did not want to deal with Jade, but she could not ignore family. Jade’s mention of the hospital made her anxious. “What’s wrong?”

“You don’t know? Your sister’s had an accident, and you didn’t even call. Now Grandpa’s sick. Are you going to pretend he’s not your grandpa now too? You’re so heartless!” Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“What are you talking about? Say that again!” Noelle was only thinking about her sick grandfather, not Jade’s harsh words. “What happened to Grandpa?”

“It’s all your fault!” Jade’s voice was angry and desperate. “What did you tell Grandpa? You made him so worried, you…”

“That’s enough! Where’s Grandpa?” Noelle yelled. “I’m on my way!”

Jade was shocked when Noelle’s voice boomed through the phone. She froze for a second before blurting out, “City Hospital!”

Noelle hung up before Jade could say another word. Jade glared at her phone and muttered, “Jerk!”

“What happened? What did Noelle say?” Winter asked with worry as she grabbed Jade’s hand. “Mom, don’t stress yourself out. Maybe Grandpa’s just tricking us. There’s no way he’d do that. I can’t believe it!” However, deep down, Winter was fuming. Why did Noelle get everything?

Why did Grandpa and her maternal grandfather always take Noelle’s side? She was not superior to Winter in any way, but they treated her like she was the most important person in the world.

“I don’t want to believe it either, but…” Jade was so mad she could barely breathe. She turned to Julian, who had not said a word. “Come on. Say something!”

“What should I say? That you made Dad so mad he ended up in the hospital?” Julian shot back, his eyes sharp. “If anything happens to my dad, Jade, you and I are going to have a serious problem!”

“Why are you yelling at me? Did I make him mad? Or is it because he’s always favored Noelle? Have you

ever thought about how hard I’ve worked for the Shaw family all these years? Yet Dad still won’t accept

me!”

“Stop it!” Julian said, rubbing his temples. “Let’s wait until Dad wakes up.”

Noelle ended her phone call and quickly dialed Mr. Thompson. She found out that her Grandpa Samuel had had a huge fight with Julian and Jade that day. It all started because Jade wanted Grandpa to split up the family business shares. Grandpa said no, and the argument blew up.

Rushing upstairs, Noelle changed clothes in a flash. As she dashed downstairs, Charles stepped out of the kitchen. He could tell by how she looked that she was heading out, especially with her worried face.” What’s wrong? You’re going out?” he asked.