The Cherished Wife

Chapter 555



"And why shouldn't I be here?" J eyed Becky with suspicion. "Besides, HR's out, I heard they're handling some business, and no one's gotten those documents for me." She glanced at Becky, then followed her line of sight to catch a glimpse of a woman slipping into Charles's office. Her gaze sharpened instantly, zeroing in on the door. "Who was that woman who just went in?"

"What woman?" Becky hesitated, feeling J's piercing stare, and quickly regained her composure. "Oh, the woman who entered Mr. Hoffman's office? She's from the project department. Mr. Hoffman asked them to come up to talk about the project." Becky explained, noticing J's expression was far from pleased. "Ms. Scott?"

"Is there just one woman in the project department?"

"No, there's a bunch," Becky replied, confused. "Ms. Scott, why do you ask?"

"Who was that who just walked in? What's her name? How's she doing at Collosus Group?" J fired off a bunch of questions, and Becky was jolted back to the moment.

Was J seeing Noelle as competition? Becky quirked an eyebrow. "Her name's Noelle. She's in the project department, Mr. Parker's right-hand woman. Mr. Hoffman only brought her up for some work stuff!"

"Really?" J was not quite convinced. "Becky, don't play me. We're buddies now!"

"Ms. Scott, you're kidding, right? You've been nothing but awesome to me, I'd never trick you! Anyway, I'm done with my stuff, so how about we brainstorm a bit? Doing the same old thing every year is getting old. Maybe we shake things up this year, could even turn Mr. Hoffman's head our way!"

"I like the way you think." J was hooked on Becky's idea and forgot all about Noelle for the moment. "Come on, Becky, let's hash it out. Or better yet, lunch break's coming up. My treat!"

"Sounds great! Just give me a sec, Ms. Scott, I need to straighten up here!" Becky took one last look at Charles's office door and let out a relieved breath.

When Noelle was summoned

upstairs, she nudged the door open and was immediately greeted by J and Becky's chatter. She slipped in and quickly shut the door behind her. With a cautious glance, she scoped out the hallway from the doorway. Charles watched her tiptoe and peer around, a smirk creeping onto his face. "What's up? You're acting like you're on a secret mission!"

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"Shh!" Noelle pressed her finger to her lips, signaling Charles to zip it. Once he piped down, she cracked the door open a sliver to spy on J and Becky's conversation outside. Her heart was racing, but luckily, Becky was quick on her feet and whisked J away

With a relieved exhale, Noelle closed the door and spun around, only to find Charles had stealthily moved right behind her, his arms casually draped around her waist.

Noelle gently pushed his arms away, letting out a resigned sigh. "Come on, we're at work. Can't you be a little more professional?" She glanced towards the door. "J might come back any minute!"

Charles gave a sly squint, stepped in front of Noelle protectively, and peeked out the door. There was not a trace of J. He grinned. "The coast is clear!"

Noelle's tension melted away. "This

is all your doing. Why'd you call me up here, anyway?" She looked around the room, puzzled. "Was there some work thing you wanted to go over? You went through all the details for the West City project in the meeting, right? Is something off?"