The Cherished Wife

"Peter's my brother. You've probably heard of him, right? He's tight with Charles and the gang."

"I'm Jennifer. I'm guessing we haven't met before, so let me introduce myself!" Jennifer said cheerfully, taking a seat next to Noelle after handing her a glass of wine. Though she was chatting with Noelle, her gaze drifted over to where Charles and his friends were, offering "Ah! Nice to meet you, Ms. Lennon!" Noelle replied with a warm smile, nodding. She felt more at ease and raised her glass to clink with Jennifer's.

Ever the easygoing one, Jennifer lifted her glass to meet Noelle's. "Hey, drop the 'Ms. Lennon', will you? It's way too stiff. Just Jennifer is fine-that's what everyone calls me."

"Sure thing, Jennifer!" Noelle agreed with a nod. "Then you can call me Noelle. That's what my friends call me!"

"Got it!" Jennifer, always one to get straight to the point, chatted with Noelle for a bit and then noticed something different about her than the usual crowd. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know Charles?"

too. Whenever they bumped into each other,

quizzical look and figured out she was

the big party and didn't make a fuss about it, so not a lot of folks are in the loop. How

grin, Noelle added, "Only the crew here

down-low, that's cool. These days, it's all about marrying who you want, and it's nobody else's business as long as it's the real deal between

my take

for now. You know, tying the knot is a big deal for families, and there could be some drama if

the guys had gathered into two groups and were