The Cherished Wife by Chweety

them a reassuring smile. "Peter's my brother. You've probably heard of him, right? He's tight with Charles and the gang."

"I'm Jennifer. I'm guessing we haven't met before, so let me introduce myself!" Jennifer said cheerfully, taking a seat next to Noelle after handing her a glass of wine. Though she was chatting with Noelle, her gaze drifted over to where Charles and his friends were, offering "Ah! Nice to meet you, Ms. Lennon!" Noelle replied with a warm smile, nodding. She felt more at ease and raised her glass to clink with Jennifer's.

Ever the easygoing one, Jennifer lifted her glass to meet Noelle's. "Hey, drop the 'Ms. Lennon', will you? It's way too stiff. Just Jennifer is fine-that's what everyone calls me."

"Sure thing, Jennifer!" Noelle agreed with a nod. "Then you can call me Noelle. That's what my friends call me!"

"Got it!" Jennifer, always one to get straight to the point, chatted with Noelle for a bit and then noticed something different about her than the usual crowd. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know Charles?"

Jennifer was not trying to snoop around-it was just that even though they were not super close, her brother Peter was tight with Charles, which meant she was pretty friendly with Charles too. Whenever they bumped into each other, she would always shout a friendly "Hey, Charles!" She thought she had the scoop on most things Charles, but his wedding? That was news to her.

Jennifer's quizzical look and figured out she

We just skipped the big party and didn't make a fuss about it, so not a lot

Noelle added, "Only the crew here today

"If you guys want to keep it on the down-low, that's cool. These

my take

a big deal for families, and there could be some drama if we change our minds¶ater!" Noelle said,

into two groups and were already deep into a card

the head seat at the

gaze drifted to

to draw his next card. He caught her look, and their

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