The Cherished Wife



"I..." Clarisse found herself at a loss for words. Normally, when she argued with Mateo, she always felt she had the upper hand, leaving Mateo with nothing to say.

Yet now, she had to admit that Mateo made sense.

Back then, there were two reasons she supported J marrying Charles.

On one hand, she believed it was best to keep things within the family. The marriage would help ease tensions between the Bakers and the Hoffmans, something she genuinely hoped for. On the other hand, it was also a way to spite Mateo.

She knew Mateo had always favored Kelly, and anything he liked, she would try her best to sabotage. It became almost a twisted compulsion-she found herself opposing everything Mateo wanted to do just to contradict him.

The more Mateo disagreed with J and Charles' marriage, the more determined she was to make it happen. It had become a path she could not turn back from.

Looking at things now, it seemed that this was the very thing that had caused the growing distance between her and Charles. It created the coldness that now defined their mother-son relationship.

"I..."

"Even if you want to go against me, you shouldn't gamble with Charlie's future. I promise you, I won't interfere with whatever match you try to arrange for Charlie as long as it's not J."

This was Mateo's bottom line. J was like a ticking time bomb, capable of exploding at any moment.

Clarisse forced a smile and did not argue back for the first time.

In fact, after tonight's incident, she had come to the same conclusion-J could not marry Charles.

While she had always been partial to J, Charles was still her son. her son married J, it would only bring disaster to his life. "Fine, agree. But you must keep your promise to me too."

"Uncle Henry, what really happened tonight?" Sean had asked Henry to accompany him, but in reality, it was not because he needed an escort. He simply wanted to gather more information.

Henry gave Sean a knowing look. "You little rascal, you're just trying to fish for information from me to pass on to Charlie, aren't you?"

"I suppose nothing escapes you, Uncle Henry!" Compared to Mateo, Sean clearly felt more comfortable around Henry.novelbin

Henry was more open-minded and shared perspectives that aligned with the younger generation.

Henry shared everything he knew

with Sean. "When I went into the

room, it was a complete mess. There were photos scattered everywhere. They weren't particularly clear, but from the addresses on them, it was obvious that they were taken at Charlie's Phoenix Tree Residence J must've been triggered by those."

He added, "I had your Aunt Nancy clean up the photos and put everything in order."

Sean nodded, now understanding what went down. "You really are sharp, Uncle Henry. You figured everything out at a glance."

Henry's expression turned serious. "With what you're doing, the Bakers won't take this lying down."