The Cherished Wife by Chweety

Noelle snapped her seatbelt into place and shot back, "Scared? As if! What's there to be scared of?" She arched an eyebrow. "But you owe me an explanation, don't you think?"

Charles quirked an eyebrow, smoothed Noelle's tousled hair, swung the car around, and zoomed out of the parking lot.

"I figured with the way things are between us, you'd get it," Charles said, one hand on the wheel while the other playfully reached for Noelle's hand.

Noelle bit her lip, pretending to be miffed as she pouted and swatted Charles's hand away with a huff. "Get what? I don't get any of it. The only thing I know is that at lunch today, everyone was buzzing about the Colossus Group's big-shot president scoring a hot new secretary who's not just a looker but super capable too." She kept an eye on Charles's face as she spoke.

Charles glanced at his rejected hand and, hearing the tart edge in Noelle's voice, his eyebrows lifted, and a sly grin spread across his face. "Sounds like someone's got a case of the green-eyed monster, huh?"

"The only one green here is you!" Noelle snorted, her pride kicking in. "I've never been jealous a day in my life!"

"Oh, really?"

grin widening, Charles reached out and gently took Noelle's hand again, giving it a playful squeeze. "Her name's Janet.

She had caught wind of the rumors, but hearing it straight from Charles made

"Yeah, he's got a son. He's a

adopt Janet?" Noelle's curiosity piqued. If Charles's uncle already had a son, what

my uncle's first

Noelle gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "She's not related to your uncle by blood? Then your uncle... he must have really been in love with his first love! But doesn't your family have a

she seemed to be quite fond

object. Janet was practically raised by