The Cherished Wife (Noelle and Charles)

"If you're so happy, why did it take you so long to come visit me?" Sebastian asked, shaking his head as he gently pinched Noelle's nose. "Oh, child!" Charles brought in the gifts they had bought, and a loving smile appeared on his face as he listened to Noelle speaking so cutely to Sebastian. "Hello, Grandpa!"

Sebastian nodded. "Take a seat!" Then, his gaze landed on Charles, who he gave a good up-and-down look to before he nodded in satisfaction. "I thought you'd make Noelle come here alone." He had not expected Charles to accompany Noelle back home, and he was glad his overthinking had proven wrong.

Sebastian had never quite approved of their decision to get married in secret, but since his granddaughter wanted to do it, there was not much he could do. Sebastian's opinion was that although Charles was extremely well-accomplished and perceived to be too good for most people, Sebastian still just saw him as one of his students who happened to be better than most others in his studies. His darling Noelle was more than enough to be a good match for Charles.

However, Noelle did not seem to think the same. Despite being married for over half a year, she did not seem interested in publicizing their relationship. Several days ago, Sebastian recalled the rules that the Hoffman family had set in place for celebrating the New Year and had asked May to go around asking some questions. Sure enough, Charles had not accompanied Noelle back to the Shaw family for New Year celebrations.

Although Sebastian could not care less for the Shaw family, he thought it necessary for Charles to visit them since he and Noelle were married now. Since he had not done so, it was evident they were still keeping their relationship a secret, which Sebastian did not approve of. However, he found comfort in the fact that Charles was here today.

Charles was a smart man, and he could tell from the look in Sebastian's eyes that there was something about him that the man disapproved of.

"Ms. Noelle, Mr. Charles, please have some tea!" May had just brewed a fresh pot of tea, and she handed them their cups before adding, "I'll return to the kitchen now to finish things up. Sir Shaw was so happy when he heard Ms. Noelle would be visiting today!"

"I'll go help you, May!" Noelle said as she got to her feet and walked alongside May into the kitchen. A smile appeared on Charles' face as he watched Noelle walk away, and he turned to Sebastian. "Grandpa Jones!"

Sebastian huffed. "Come to the study with me!"

Charles nodded and walked into

Sebastian's study with him. Sebastian glanced at Charles and noticed he had impeccable posture. He never floundered or seemed nervous when speaking to others, which was one reason Sebastian had such high expectations of

Charles all those years ago.

He mentored many students, who were all outstanding in their own ways. However, Charles had the most confidence and charisma despite being the youngest among them. "Do you know why I summoned you here?"

Sebastian did not bother beating about the bush and immediately got straight to the point. "I know of your feelings for Noelle, but you two..."

"Sir, I believe you know how things

between me and Nelly are going?" Charles was an intelligent man, and combined with the fact that Brookville was not a particularly large city, there was no way Sebastian would not know about what he had done, given the ruckus it had caused. However, since Sebastian had not summoned him even after all this while, Charles had figured out what was going through his mind.

"Since you've allowed me to take care of Nelly, I'm sure you know about my character. What you saw previously was not the full picture Please forgive me for not being able to give you the full rundown of what's going on now, sir. I can solemnly swear that my feelings for Nelly are genuine and that I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

Charles helped Sebastian lower himself onto a chair as he spoke, and he grinned. "Care for a game of chess, sir?"