The Cherished Wife by Chweety

Charles frowned slightly. How could he not be aware of everything Noelle was saying?

He was not mad, just a bit frazzled by how Noelle was handling things. Or maybe it was not about Noelle at all, but the way things out of their control had barged in, shattering the calm between them. "Do Janet's hangouts with us bug you?" Charles asked, locking eyes with Noelle.

Surprise flickered in her eyes before she masked it with a grin, resting her chin on her hand as she mulled over his question for real.

Pretending she was not upset would be a total lie. Legally, she was Charles's wife, which should mean something. However, hardly anyone knew they were together, and Charles's mom was all about Janet, practically trying to snatch him away. Nobody would be cool with that, acting like it was all fine and dandy.

However, she was the one who had wanted to keep her thing with Charles on the down low. She could not exactly complain about people being in the dark, especially since the person in question was Charles's mom. That made it even trickier to speak up. "Huh?" Charles caught Noelle's spaced-out look and gave the table a knock. "No sweat if you don't wanna talk. Let's just eat, okay?"

admit it's getting to me, would you think I'm just stirring up drama?" Noelle nibbled on her lip before spilling her guts. She eyed Charles cautiously, but he just

at Noelle's words like an iceberg surrendering

in

it!" He flashed a quick smile. "If it bugs you, I'll have Janet

that won't

together. She knew she could not just kick Janet out-she was Clarisse's niece, after all. If Charles sent Janet packing, it would only add fuel to the fire with Clarisse, and their relationship

that even if Janet left now, Clarisse would find another way to push her into Charles's orbit.

to worry