The Cherished Wife

Charles just pressed his lips together, a hint of a smile playing on them. "You're worrying about nothing. It's not just the guys, others will be there too."

"Really? So, they'll all know about us?" Noelle gestured to herself, a bit concerned.

"Don't sweat it, they're all good people," Charles reassured her, giving her shoulder a comforting pat. "No need to fret over me."

Sean made a couple of tsk-tsk sounds, rolling his eyes. "If I'd known you guys were coming, I wouldn't have bothered showing up. Can you believe I bolted over here the second I stepped out of surgery?"

"You seem like you really don't want to see me, huh?"

his usually innocent face. Catching the gleeful looks on

and straight. He casually held a coat over one long

a bit taller than Sean, giving him a towering presence. He gave Sean a condescending look and, seeing Sean's goofy antics, his dark eyes intensified with a sardonic lift of his lips. "You haven't changed a bit

the kind that stuck in your memory,

Sean to Charles, and then shifted his attention to Noelle. With a slight raise of his brows and a charming tilt of his lips, he

with a cool ease that Sean lacked. His eyes twinkled with mirth as he casually wrapped an arm around Noelle's waist, a silent claim of territory as he faced Steven. "Meet my wife, Noelle," he introduced, shooting a quick, knowing look her

She had always thought Charles was the