The Cherished Wife



Charles's lips quirked up. "Peter, looks like I'm going to need your help again."

Peter nodded. "Just remember what you promised me."

Charles nodded back, and the two men reached an unspoken agreement. "Give me a few days, and I'll arrange a meeting with the person. How you handle it is your call."

Peter's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Deal!"

The others were lost, unable to follow Charles and Peter's cryptic exchange. Noelle, however, caught on to some of it and cast a thoughtful look at Charles and then at Peter.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Sean took Rowena and Teresa home while the rest of the crew split up, each heading to their own place. Noelle was lost in thought on her way back. "You had someone increase J's dose? What's that about? Don't tell me her wild behavior has something to do with you."

"What?" Charles turned to her, a playful smile on his lips as he gently tousled her hair. "What's on your mind?"

Noelle shook her head. "Nothing!" She really did not want to dig into J's business, but at the same time, she could not stand the thought of Charles getting his hands dirty for her sake. She wasn't trying to be a saint, but the idea of Charles doing shady things worried her.

"Relax, it's no big deal. You're an open book, Noelle. Anyone can read you like one," Charles said, smoothing out the crease of worry on her forehead with a tender touch. "Since when have I been so helpless?"

"Alright, I didn't mean it like that!" Noelle let out a sigh of relief. If Charles was involved, he must have had his reasons, and she decided not to fret over it. "Hey, what were you discussing with Peter earlier?"

UMS

"Tania!" Charles hadn't planned on keeping that from Noelle, so he told her directly, "Remember what I mentioned before? About how my aunt and uncle's child was swapped?"

Noelle nodded. "You said she's your sister, right? Is her name Tania?"

Charles nodded, steering the car with one hand while filling Noelle in on the drama involving Tania, the Hoffmans, and the whole Peter and Lennon family saga. "Tania and

Peter were an item before I knew

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she was my sister. It wasn't until my aunt got sick and needed a bone marrow transplant that we found out the girl the Hoffmans had raised for over two decades wasn't their own flesh and blood. After a wild series of events, we finally crossed paths with Tanis." Content belongs

Noelle's eyes widened in realization. "So, the Hoffmans brought Tanis back into the fold after that?"

"Not exactly." Charles let out a soft

sigh. "She was with Peter by then,

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and they were pretty solid. My uncle and aunt couldn't bear to split them up. But things got messy, misunderstandings cropped up between her and Peter, and Tania took off. She's been gone for three whole years!"

"Three years?" Noelle echoed, stunned.

Peter and Tania had been in a fight for three years?

"Why didn't he go after her?" Noelle mused, convinced that Peter still had to be in love with Tania, especially after the way Peter had just been talking to Charles.

"Who says he didn't?"