The Cherished Wife

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?"

you!" Noelle snorted, her pride kicking in. "I've never been jealous

"Oh, really?"

reached out and gently took Noelle's hand again, giving it a playful squeeze.

caught wind of the rumors, but hearing it straight from Charles made it

soft laugh escaping him. "Yeah, he's got a

Noelle's curiosity piqued. If Charles's uncle already had a son, what was the

my uncle's first