Charlie was taken by surprise when Sydney invited him over for dinner at her house.


    He initially considered making an excuse to decline the invitation, but before he could say anything, Sydney quickly interjected, “It’s happening tomorrow, Saturday. Doris doesn’t have to work, so I’ll be able to help around the house, like doing the dishes.”


    Mr. Young chimed in, “Yes, Mr. Wade, pleasee over for a meal. Just think of it as a thank you.”


    What Mr. Young didn’t realize was that Charlie had actually visited their house before. Feeling a bit embarrassed by the situation, Charlie was reluctant to ept the invitation; however, it seemed impolite to refuse.


    At that moment, Doris Young hastily spoke up, “Mom, I have ns for tomorrow. Thepany needs me to work overtime; can we reschedule?”<h3 style="background-color:DodgerBlue">


    “What? Overtime on a Saturday?” Sydney replied with evident frustration. “What kind of overtime is that?” Doris wasn’t actually scheduled for overtime, but she suspected her parents might want to invite Charlie over to learn more about him, especially since they seemed to have a favorable impression of him.


    Doris figured her parents likely didn’t know that Charlie was married; otherwise, they wouldn’t be so straightforward with their invitation. She aimed to postpone the dinner while rifying things with her parents. Even if she couldn’t reveal all of Charlie’s background, she felt it was important to inform them that he already had a wife so that they wouldn’t get any wrong ideas.


    With this in mind, she stated seriously, “Mom, I genuinely have a lot going on tomorrow, and it’s not just that day; I’m busy for the next few days. Can we skip this week and touch base again next week?”


    Upon hearing Doris, Sydney realized she needed to back off. She had hoped for a family dinner with Charlie, but if Doris had priormitments, it would be awkward for her and Mr. Young to invite him over without their daughter present.


    “Alright, then. I won’t ask Charlie toe over this week. Let’s see how your schedule looks next week, and hopefully, we can arrange something for next weekend,” Sydney said, looking at Charlie with an apologetic expression. “I’m really sorry, Charlie. What do you think about rescheduling for next week?”


    Charlie nodded with a smile, “Auntie, that works for me.”


    Sydney quickly turned to Doris, “Doris, you really shouldn’t be working overtime next weekend!”


    Doris replied, a bit sheepishly, “It’s not up to me to decide on the overtime. I really have important tasks to tackle next week that I can’t just ignore!”


    With a hint of dissatisfaction, Sydney remarked, “You work so hard every day. Why does your boss keep piling on the work? Isn’t that unfair to employees?”


    Listening to this, Charlie felt a bit ufortable, recognizing that he was, in fact, the boss being described.<fn3cd3> ??? ????? ???????s ??? ?????s??? ?? find(?)ovel</fn3cd3>


    “Uncle and Aunt,” Charlie interjected, “it’s gettingte, so I won’t keep you any longer.”


    Realizing she had taken up too much of Charlie’s time, Sydney quickly said, “Alright, Charlie, let me walk you out. Doris will drive you to the parking lot.”


    “No need for that, Auntie. I can manage on my own,” Charlie replied with a smile.


    Doris insisted, “Charlie, I’ll walk you out!”


    Charlie waved his hand dismissively, “It’s fine. You stay here and spend time with your parents. Besides, if your dad is being discharged from the hospital tonight, you should hurry and take care of the paperwork.”


    With that, Doris no longer pressed the matter. Feeling grateful, she said to Charlie, “Thank you so much for everything today.”


    Charlie waved her off, “No need to be so formal. You stay here; I’ll be on my way.”<h3 ss="has-text-align-center" id="chapter-list"><strong></strong>