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?"

deep voice floated from behind Sean. At the sound, Sean's mouth twitched into an embarrassed grin that seemed out of place on his usually innocent face. Catching the gleeful looks on Charles and Noelle's faces, Sean turned around with a mock cry of despair and waved. "Hey, Mr. Fischer, it's been a

tall and straight. He casually held a

towering presence. He gave Sean a condescending look and, seeing Sean's goofy antics, his dark eyes intensified with a sardonic lift

was captivating, the kind that stuck in your memory, but it carried a chill that

his attention to Noelle. With a slight raise of his brows and a charming tilt of his lips, he said, "Charles, aren't you going

Charles greeted 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

had always thought Charles was the pinnacle