The Cherished Wife

Autumn had painted Brookville in shades of gold and crimson when Noelle Shaw stepped off the plane. She grabbed her suitcase and walked out into the crisp air, a familiar sense of home wrapping around her.

A whole year had passed since she left to pursue a corporate training program overseas, and now, she was back just in time.

Her third anniversary with her boyfriend Xavier Harris was just days away, and she had been working nonstop to make it back early enough to surprise him.

She hailed a cab and headed straight for Xavier's office. The moment she walked through the front doors, Alice, the receptionist, gave her a look of total shock. "Ms. Shaw? You’re back? Are you here for the CEO's engagement party?"

Noelle's brow creased in confusion. "The CEO's engagement party? What are you talking about, Alice?"

"It's Mr. Harris's engagement party with your sister!"

"What?" Noelle's heart skipped a beat, and the happiness drained from her face. "Whose engagement party?"

Alice seemed to realize she had dropped a bombshell and nervously swallowed. "The CEO... and your sister..."

"Where is it happening?"

"The... Golden Oasis Hotel."

punch to the gut. Noelle spun on her heel and rushed out. "Driver, take me to the Golden

when she saw a huge photo by the entrance. There Xavier was with his arm around Winter Shaw, who looked stunning in her elegant dress. They

her way over, Noelle was psyching herself up. Xavier was her boyfriend. He was hers! The idea of him getting engaged to her sister was just too bizarre. As she arrived, however, reality hit her like a ton of

walked in just in time to catch Xavier whispering sweet nothings into Winter's ear, making her cheeks turn a rosy

surge of anger, her eyes blazing with

through thick and thin, was now cozying up to her elder sister

and toasting with the guests arm in arm with Xavier when she spotted Noelle. Her face drained of color, and her

second, then flashed Winter a comforting smile before walking over to Noelle. "Hey Noelle, did you come to celebrate me and your

gentle, felt like a knife twisting in her heart. Noelle clenched her jaw. "Celebrate? Celebrate you stabbing me in the back? And Winter, really? Are you that desperate for a man? You knew

finish, a slap snapped her

brimming in her eyes,

right now! What kind of daughter or sister acts the way you're acting? It's your sister's engagement, and you can't even be happy for her? Instead, you show up here to make a scene. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Jade Jones was