The Cherished Wife

Jade had always tried to win Samuel's affection, but no matter what she did, Samuel's responses were tepid at best. She would bend over backward to make him happy back in her youth, but she stopped caring so much with age. Julian left Jade and headed straight for Samuel's room. Samuel was engrossed in a book but looked up and set it aside when Julian walked in. "Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Father, I wanted to talk to you about Winter," Julian said.

"Winter?" Samuel nodded in recognition. "I've kept up with what she's been up to lately. I may be old, but I'm not out of the loop. She..."

"Father, Winter might be a little spoiled, but she's not a bad person. She's married to Xavier now, so there's no way she'd have anything going on with Charles!" Julian interjected, eager to clear her name.

Samuel watched Julian's frantic defense and shook his head gently. "I haven't even finished, and you're already jumping to her defense. Jule, did you ever stop to wonder why I show Noelle more affection than Winter, even though they're both my granddaughters?" Julian was at a loss for words.

"You know exactly why. I don't need to spell it out. I'm not interested in whether Winter is wrong or not. But since you're here, why don't you tell me what you want me to do?"

off-guard. "Father, you know perfectly well why I need to treat Winter well and why I

so you should've been ready for everything that came with that decision. If you weren't up for it, why did you bring her into this?" Samuel shook his head, clearly let down by Julian. "Noelle's clueless about all this. Why are you making her life harder? Anyway,

to clear up this mess? It's been hanging over Winter's head for ages, and Charles could fix it with just a

here. Charles and I are good friends, but I can't promise he'll listen

willing to try," Julian responded quickly. "If it doesn't

left, Samuel picked up the phone

watching television with Noelle, when his eyes flickered over to his phone, and he noticed's name on the caller innet Noelle caught it too

remote, and picked

Noelle turned in