The Cherished Wife

Noelle slept through the night, but she was not in very high spirits when she awoke. As she gazed at her pale face and puffy eyes reflected in the mirror, she vehemently splashed water at her eyes until some color returned to her cheeks. Then, she propped her hands against the sink dispiritedly and gazed at herself sadly.

“Wake up, Noelle! There aren’t any hardships that you can’t get past!”

After preparing herself mentally, she began putting on makeup. She heaved a sigh of relief when all signs of disheveledness could no longer be seen on her face. However, she frowned when she saw her grandfather, Sebastian, her maternal grandfather, calling her. She hurriedly answered, “Hello, Grandpa? What’s the matter?”

“You haven’t forgotten that I asked you to come home today, have you?” Sebastian’s voice rang out. He might be getting on in age, but his voice was filled with as much vim and vigor as it had during his younger years. He had his many years of delivering lectures to students to thank for that.

Noelle was stunned when she heard Sebastian say that. “Grandpa, I… Alright, alright. I’ll come home. I’ll drop by, alright?”

Noelle gazed at her phone with a vexed expression for a long while before she heaved a sigh and grabbed her handbag to leave the house.

she decided to change her plans. She first went grocery shopping at a nearby supermarket

had been an entire year since she had left Brookville, and she had spent all her time working without paying a single visit, only making the occasional phone call to her grandfather. She felt slightly sheepish

took Noelle’s hand in hers and smiled as she

managed to finish her sentence, she heard Sebastian’s voice ringing from the room, “Charles, it’s been so long since you’ve visited.

up, she saw a man sitting with his back to her in the living room. He seemed familiar, and it

Sebastian said as he smiled and gazed at Noelle. However, the smile vanished from his face when he saw the

bring the gift over. “Come here, quick. Let me

you so much!” Noelle said as she took Sebastian’s arm and rested her cheek against it, swinging to and fro as

Sebastian said as he gently clapped Noelle’s forehead. “Watch yourself.

in his and walked over. “Allow me to introduce you to my granddaughter, Charles. Noelle, this is a student of mine. His name is Charles