The Cherished Wife (Noelle and Charles)
Chapter 616

Charles took a quick glance at his phone screen, then back at Ronald. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing, really," Ronald said, puzzled by the odd look of Charles's phone chat interface. He never pegged Charles as the type to dive into Messenger, but there he was, thumbing through it. Ronald could not resist a playful jab. "You haven't just added your wife on there,

have you?"

Charles pocketed his phone with a raised eyebrow. "Got an issue with that?"

"No way! Why would I?" Ronald backpedaled quickly. "I mean, Messenger's all about keeping in touch, right, Mr. Hoffman? Don't you want to add a few more people?" "Such as?"

"Like Mr. Lennon, Mr. Smith, or even me." Ronald gestured to himself with a grin. "Come on, Mr. Hoffman. These smartphone apps are super handy, right? Staying connected is a breeze. Plus, if you ever ping me on Messenger, you'll get an instant reply, I promise." "So, Mr. Wells, you're saying you'd drop everything to reply to me, even if you were working?" Charles leaned back, tapping his desk, eyeing Ronald with a playful smirk.

Ronald, clueless to the teasing edge in Charles's voice, nodded vigorously. "Absolutely! Whenever you reach out, I'm on it—no matter where I am or what I'm up to!"

"Really now?" Charles's smile took on a teasing twist. "So, during work, your phone is glued to you, huh? It's never out of sight?"

Ronald's heart sank as a stark

realization washed over him. He had

walked straight into Charles's trap Panicking, he shook his head

vigorously. "Mr. Hoffman, yo

got

it all wrong. I didn't mean it like that, not at all."

Charles let out a dismissive snort. "If there's no issue, get out of here!" "Right, I've got tons to do, I'll head out now, going right away."

Janet snagged her number plate the moment she could, all thanks to her insider knowledge. She beelined to Becky, grabbed the number, and picked what she thought was a lucky one-number 2. She had heard through the grapevine that Charles's number was 14, which meant together they were 2/14, which was Valentine's Day. To Janet, it was a sign of romance, a day for

celebrating love.

Pretty much everyone at Collosus Group had their numbers and were buzzing with excitement for the annual bash. Rumor had it that this year's shindig came with some killer perks and a few surprise twists. The whole crew was dying to know what the big surprise was, especially since sightings of the elusive Boss were as rare as a blue moon.

The night before the big event, Noelle was in a fashion crisis. Normally, she would throw on anything and call it a day, but Charles had asked her to step up her game that time. She wanted to look sharp but stay toasty. Torn by Charles's mixed messages, Noelle was stumped in front of her closet, struggling to replace anything that ticked both boxes.

Charles had just wrapped up a work

chat with Henry in the study when

he walked in on Noelle staring down her closet like it was a math problem she could not solve. He snagged a fancy dress from her grip, gave it a once-over, and hung it back up. "What's the deal?"

Noelle spun around, shooting Charles a look that was half-annoyed, half-playful. "This is your fault, you know. You want me to look sharp and stay toasty. Where am I supposed to replace an outfit that does both?"