The Cherished Wife

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Noelle snapped her seatbelt into place and shot back, "Scared? As if! What's there to be scared of?" She arched an eyebrow. "But you owe me an explanation, don't you think?"

Charles quirked an eyebrow, smoothed Noelle's tousled hair, swung the car around, and zoomed out of the parking lot.

"I figured with the way things are between us, you'd get it," Charles said, one hand on the wheel while the other playfully reached for Noelle's hand.

Noelle bit her lip, pretending to be miffed as she pouted and swatted Charles's hand away with a huff. "Get what? I don't get any of it. The only thing I know is that at lunch today, everyone was buzzing about the Colossus Group's big-shot president scoring a hot new secretary who's not just a looker but super capable too." She kept an eye on Charles's face as she spoke.

Charles glanced at his rejected hand and, hearing the tart edge in Noelle's voice, his eyebrows lifted, and a sly grin spread across his face. "Sounds like someone's got a case of the green-eyed monster, huh?"

"The only one green here is you!" Noelle snorted, her pride kicking in. "I've never been jealous a day in my life!"

"Oh, really?"

His grin widening, Charles reached out and gently took Noelle's hand again, giving it a playful squeeze. "Her name's J. She's my uncle's adopted kid."

"Adopted? So she's not his real daughter?" Noelle's surprise was genuine. She had caught wind of the rumors, but hearing it straight from Charles made it real. "Doesn't your uncle have any kids of his own?"

Charles shook his head, a soft laugh escaping him. "Yeah, he's got a son. He's a few years younger than meand way older than J."

"So why adopt J?" Noelle's curiosity piqued. If Charles's uncle already had a son, what was the story behind bringing J into the family? "She's my uncle's first love's daughter."

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"No way!" Noelle gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "She's not related to your uncle by blood? Then your uncle... he must have really been in love with his first love! But doesn't your family have a problem with

this?"

Considering how Charles's mom treated J, she seemed to be quite fond of her.

Charles nodded. "It's a bit

complicated. The Bakers aren't exactly thrilled, but they know it's pointless to object. J was practically raised by my uncle and my mom. My uncle adores her, and my mom... well, she's probably nice to J because of him

"So, J got into Collosus Group because of your mom's doing? She planned this so J could get

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close to you, so you could fall for each other, and then you'd marry her?" Noelle pieced it together,, sense of alarm creeping in. "But even if you're not siblings by blood, you're still considered siblings, right? You can't just change that on official documents. Do your mom... and your uncle actually approve of this?"

Charles gave a resigned shake of his head and gently patted Noelle's head at the red light. "Noelle, sometimes you don't have to think everything through, you know!"