The Cherished Wife

The story of Charles leaving the Hoffman family's old house had become the talk of the town, and everyone knew about his cold treatment of Janet that night. It was obvious that Charles would never marry Janet, which meant the Hoffmans and the Bakers would not be uniting their families through marriage anytime soon.

With that realization, everyone was walking on eggshells around the Baker family, handling any partnerships with utmost caution.

Charles was a calm man, but once he decided to act, you could bet it would not be a simple affair.

Clarisse heard alarm bells ringing too. She was no stranger to family drama, having grown up in the Baker household where backstabbing was as common as breakfast cereal. However, Clarisse was not just clinging to the Baker name because of her marriage ties to the Hoffmans. She had her own bag of tricks. Over the years, she had woven a web of connections within the Baker family. However, she never seemed to find her footing with the Hoffmans, which was partly why she never liked the idea of returning.

nerves, haunted by the events of the gathering that night. Charles, her own flesh and blood, had turned on her like she was

you even listening to

Charles's cold shoulder at the feast

maybe we should just drop the whole Janet thing." She figured Charles had no real reason to go after her unless it was related

opened her eyes to how ruthless they could be. Sure, they had always given

just her-they were icing out the whole Baker family. It all traced back to Janet and Charles's

not exactly unbiased. After all, she had been trying to patch things up