The Cherished Wife

Charles fell silent, mulling it over, before finally nodding. "And your folks? What do they think?"

"Don't sweat it, they'll be over the moon to help out. Even if they say no, I've still got my aunt in my corner." Sean chuckled. "And let's not forget, my brother owes you big time. It might even be cooler if my aunt made Noelle her goddaughter, with my brother being part of the mighty Jones family and all." Charles looked down, lost in thought for a moment, before saying, "Okay, you can handle it."

"You got it! I'm on it. Pretty awesome, huh?" Sean said with a grin.

However, Charles just gave him an icy smile that sent shivers down Sean's spine. "So, Noelle is younger than me, huh? Once she's my mom's goddaughter, that makes her my sister. You'll have to call me 'brother-in-law'? I'm sure you'll love that!" Charles let out another frosty laugh. "I doubt you can handle it!"

Sean pulled a face. "Don't try to scare me. I'm not one to back down from a threat!"

Noelle cut in, looking a bit exasperated as the two started to squabble. "You're both just trying

to show up just when she needed a way out, even if she knew it was not all for her sake. Still, she felt a thank you was in order. "Charles, I called Mr. Smith for help. How did you end

I ever had a problem, should I call Mr. Smith right away?" Noelle clearly remembered those words. "Plus, when I left, I asked Mr. Parker to look for you, but

feeling when he left the house on a whim that morning

totally out of character for Sir Hoffman, unless he was biding his time for something. Just as Charles suspected, he got a call from customs first thing in the morning about a shipment being held up, and his crew could not sort it out, so he had to

he was in the middle of negotiations, so

who was supposed to be keeping Noelle safe in the shadows had been snatched by Sir Hoffman's goons, and