The Cherished Wife



Charles nodded. "Looks like it." He whipped out his phone and dialed Peter. "Are there any leads on that thing I had you check on?" "What's up?" Peter grumbled, clearly having been woken up. "This better be good, or you and Sean are on my list for today."

He sounded less than thrilled.

Charles quirked an eyebrow at Sean, a silent question hanging in the air-had he tried to reach Peter too?

Sean just shrugged, and Charles got the message. "So, how's the search for Noelle's family history going?"

"That issue?" Peter hesitated, taking a long moment before he finally spoke. "It's a tough nut to crack. It's weird, but Noelle's past isn't as straightforward as it seems. Everything I've dug up has been tampered with. There's got to be something unique about her background, or else why would anyone go to such lengths to cover it up?"

Peter was fully alert now. "You didn't ask me before the holidays, so I figured you weren't in a rush. I've been on it, but I need a bit more time!"

"I can't wait any longer. What have you got?" Charles was running out of patience, and when it came to Noelle, he never felt he had enough. "You're right, Noelle isn't Julian and Jade's biological child. That much is clear now. To put it bluntly, she's not a Shaw by blood." That was about all Peter had managed to uncover. "But what's odd is how Samuel and Sebastian treat her. You've seen it too, right? Those two old guys are genuinely fond of her!"

Charles's lips tightened. "So, Julian and Jade adopting Noelle wasn't by chance. They did it on purpose."

"You might be better off checking

out those two old timers instead of having me chase shadows. They're bound to know more than we do, Peter suggested with a sharp edge to his voice. "Oh, and there's one more thing you might not be aware of

"What?"

"Your favorite teacher, Sebastian, who's also your wife's granddad, has some serious ties to the Jabs family in Cascade City!"

Charles glanced up at Sean, who looked back, totally confused. "Why are you staring at me?"novelbin

"Got it," Charles said, looking away. "Keep me posted about Noelle, okay? I'm counting on you." After hanging up, Charles's gaze returned to Sean. "The Jabs family from Cascade City."

"What's up with you? Why are you digging into the Jabs family all of a sudden? You're freaking me out with all these questions!" Sean could not shake the feeling that something was off. "I'm not one of the Jabs, you know!"

"But your cousin is," Charles reminded himself about the Jabs family. "What do you know about their connections?"

"Don't ask me. You've gotta ask my

cousin-he's the one in the Jabs family." Sean's eyes suddenly sparkled with realization. "Oh yeah almost forgot. Charles, your teacher Sebastian is from the Jones family. My cousin's grandpa was named Sawyer Jones, and I heard his kids switched their last name to Jabs. How did I miss that? They can't actually be related, right?"

When Sean mentioned that, Charles felt as if an invisible string was pulling at his heart, but right now, that string was a jumbled mess, and it did not help untie the knot inside him. "I should go ask Bob Smith about it."

Sean nodded. "I was planning to check with him anyway. The Jones family's got a whole web of complications. But why the sudden curiosity about the Joneses? Does this have something to do with Noelle's past?"