The Cherished Wife (Noelle and Charles)

she warmed up to him. He turned out to be decent, especially to her.

Time flew, and before Noelle knew it, she had been at Collosus Group for a solid few weeks. She had picked up a lot shadowing Brian. He was a brainstormer and a real deep thinker. Initially, Noelle thought he was tough to deal with kind of a stickler for the rules-but Just as Noelle wrapped up her day's work, her phone buzzed with a call from Jade, which caught her off guard. Ever since Winter's wedding, things had been quiet on the Shaw family front. Noelle had half-expected they had written her off.

Answering the call, Jade's icy voice cut straight to the chase. "Come to Mooncliff tonight."

Noelle paused, taken aback. "Is something up, Mom?"

Given Jade's usual chill, Noelle braced for the worst. Right on cue, Jade's next words confirmed her hunch. "You've been acquainted with Mr. Smith for a while now, right? How's that going?"

"Mr. Smith?" Noelle chewed on her lip, puzzled. Was her mom talking about Bob? She had not even met the guy, much less hung out with him. "Nope, I've been swamped lately!"

"What could you possibly be swamped with? Winter told me you've left Frotconn, and you're not working now. What's keeping you so busy?" Jade's voice dripped with disbelief. "Listen up. Bob is my bestie's son, and he's a catch. He's got a great personality, a good family, and top smarts. Don't blow this chance. If Winter wasn't already hitched, do you think I'd be setting you up with him?"

Noelle's eyes narrowed, a glint of annoyance flickering through. "Well, why not introduce him to my sister? It's always good to meet new people, right?"

"You..." Jade was fuming, unable to believe Noelle's cheek. "How dare you talk to your mother like that! Let me make this clear: you don't get a say in this Bob situation. Be at Mooncliff at seven tonight, or you can forget I'm your mom!"

"Mom!" Noelle massaged her temples, exasperated. "That's-"

Noelle's head throbbed with the weight of the conversation as Jade hung up. She dialed Charles's number. "Hey, Charles, it looks like dinner's off tonight."

"Oh?" Charles's voice was tinged with concern. "Do you have to work late or something?"

"No!" Noelle blurted out, quickly filling Charles in on the whole Jade debacle. "I bet she's trying to get in with the Smiths, but she messed up. She thought she was impressing Bob, but it was Sean she met that day Her little plan backfired big time!"

"Got it," Charles replied, his eyes narrowing, a glint of ice flashing through them. "You're good to go."

"You..." Noelle was taken aback by how easygoing Charles was being. "But I don't even know Bob."

Charles let out a sly grin. "Don't sweat it. You'll be fine!"

Reassured by Charles's confidence, Noelle felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

After hanging up, Charles did not waste a second and called Sean. Sean was on the brink of stepping into surgery when his assistant handed him the phone. "Mr. Smith, you've got a call!"

Sean quirked an eyebrow, spotting Charles's number, and chuckled. "Charles, man, I just handed Arnold off to you. What's up now?"

"Be at Mooncliff at seven tonight."

Charles cut to the chase. Sean's smile lingered, but it faded a notch at the command. "Mooncliff? What's the deal?" He paused, then joked, "You're not asking me out to dinner, are you?"

"Think what you like!" Charles ended the call. Sean was left speechless He was about to say he could not make it tonight when his phone buzzed again. This time, it was his cousin Bob calling.