With Charlie’s last words still hanging in the air, the entire room tensed.
Especially Phoebe.
She stared at the doorway, eyes wide with terror, as if assassins might burst in at any moment.
“Jerry, bring her the phone,” Charlie ordered.
A faint, knowing smile curved his lips—like a prophet who already saw the ending.
“Yes, sir.” Jerry stepped out.
Moments later he returned, placed the black bag in front of Phoebe and considerately unzipped it.
The phone screen glowed inside.
Caller ID: Mrs. Baker.
Phoebe’s face drained from white to ashen grey.
She steadied her trembling hand, lifted the phone, hit speaker, and forced a calm greeting. “Mrs. Baker, it’s late—something urgent?”
“Mrs. Hawthorne, how is Rita? Has the fever broken?” An older female voice, measured and polite.
“It’s broken. All good.” Phoebe&rs
Anyway—she wasn’t going.Absolutely not.No matter how fate tried to push her toward the Lawrence family, she would fight it to the bitter end.Of course, Candice knew that opposing them now was useless. They’d keep persuading her until she agreed—especially Charlie. There was no winning against that man.So… better to play along for now.“Fine,” she said sweetly, pretending to give in. “I’ll go.”The birthday banquet was two days away. When the time came, she’d just say she wasn’t feeling well. Knowing how anxious they were about her condition, no one would dare push her. A banquet wasn’t worth a life—surely they’d let it go.When the discussion wrapped up, Charlie left with Candice first.Afterward, Beatrice was summoned by her mother to a private room—clearly, Mrs. Hawthorne had plenty to say.Cody and Vanessa went to spen
Vanessa couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Why?”Everyone was dying to know — why did Denise want Miss Hale dead?Beatrice opened her mouth, ready to speak, but suddenly thought of something and swallowed the words back down. After taking a moment to steady her tone, she said, “It’s actually my fault. Back in Vanclyn, I ran into Denise. That wretch could talk and act like she was born for the stage — I couldn’t win against her. Luckily, Candice was with me at the time and helped me put that woman in her place. I suppose she’s been holding that grudge ever since.”She picked the smallest, least important reason to tell them.Earlier, anger had made her speak without thinking. But the two real reasons — even if they were only her own guesses — weren’t suitable to say aloud now, especially since her mother and sister-in-law didn’t know Candice well.The first reason was tha
"Thank you."She lowered her head and ate the food he’d put in her bowl, avoiding eye-contact.But even so, Charlie’s manner had already shocked Grandma Hawthorne and Vanessa.They weren’t blind—no boss treats a subordinate with that kind of care and intimacy. The two were obviously… *that* sort of relationship.So he hadn’t escaped the common male failing after all."Charlie is certainly good to his staff," Vanessa remarked, gaze flicking between them, smile laced with meaning. When her eyes landed on Candice they carried a faint disdain.Candice could read minds now: *Scheming bed-climbing sprite—thinks she can turn into a phoenix? Dream on.*She almost laughed.Just then Charlie’s lazy voice floated across the table: "Being good to one’s *girlfriend* is only natural."He added another piece of food to Candice's bowl as if it were the most ordinary thing.She looked up, helple
"Miss Hale, don't be nervous."Cody seemed to read her thoughts; he offered the reassurance then slowly withdrew his gaze. Six years older than Charlie, he was upright, handsome, mature—an utterly rational man who put clan interests first. His marriage to Phoebe had been pure business: a bridge between the Hawthorne and Harrison families. No talk of love; they had always been courteous strangers.Phoebe's accident left him regretful—but only that. His mind was already on damage-control and how to explain matters to the Harrison family.Candice understood and exhaled. *The cousin's still reasonable.*What seemed normal to her took on a different colour in Vanessa's eyes. Her son and husband were cut from the same patriarchal cloth—never bothering with trifles, never this gentle even to their wives. Yet here he was, considerate to a woman he'd just met?She studied Candice again. Beautiful—radiant whether glimpsed or scrutinis
Beatrice had just heard her son say that his future wife was sun-bathing by the sea; seconds later her own mother rang to say he’d arrived in Yan-cheng with *a woman*.For a moment she nearly had a cardiac arrest.Nicole, ears pricked wide, mentally scrolled: *Big brother brought a mistress on a business trip—he’s upgraded to scumbag…*“A… woman?” Beatrice croaked, as though the word were *ghost*.Her tone implied her son had been possessed and needed an exorcism.Realising her daughter knew nothing, Grandma Hawthorne snapped, “Some mother you are—your son brings a woman on a trip and you’re clueless.”Beatrice: “…I really didn’t.”She fired questions: “Have you seen her? Is she staying in the house? What’s her name?”“Haven’t met. Surname Candice, his secretary apparently.”&
Though the dust had long settled and the Clemens family was unquestionably top-tier, Grandma Hawthorne had still nursed a tiny regret.Vanclyn was far, her daughter’s new mother-in-law formidable, the son-in-law domineering. Had her girl married into the Lawrence family, James’s gentleness and Mrs. Lawrence’s kindness would have spared her every grievance—and she could visit home often.Who could have foreseen that within a few years James would cheat, bring back a calamity who stormed the ancestral halls and reduced the Lawrence house to a battlefield, ending in tragedy.After Rosie’s death James still shielded that scourge, insisted on making her official wife, enraging the Harrisons into cutting all ties.For tCandicety-plus years the calamity had worn the mantle of Lawrence family matron, sowing evil wherever she stepped. the Lawrence household became a ghost-cave; old Mrs. Lawrence could only wring her hands.Reca