"No, thank you, Grandma,” Charlene said gently. "I have some work to finish up, so I''ll skip dinner tonight."


    Of course, work wasn''t really the reason. The truth was, she simply didn''t want to stay any longer-and it wouldn''t feel right, either.


    Technically, she was still part of the Henderson family; she and Thorne weren''t officially divorced yet. It shouldn''t be so awkward. But in Charlene''s mind, she''d already started drawing a line between herself and Thorne the moment they decided to separate.


    Irma understood all of this, even if she didn''t say so.


    Since Charlene insisted, Irma knew better than to push further.


    She shot Thorne a hard look.


    Thorne pretended not to notice. He turned to Charlene, saying, "Let me drive you."


    "That''s not necessary," Charlene replied, shaking her head. "You''re busy. I''ll have the driver take me."


    Thorne didn''t argue. "Alright."


    Charlene headed upstairs to grab her purse and get ready to leave.


    Irma and Thorne both came downstairs to see her off.


    That''s when Jasmine realized her mom was leaving and clung to her, unwilling to let go. "Mom, you''re leaving already?"


    Charlene ruffled Jasmine''s hair and smiled softly. "Yes, sweetheart. Take care of yourself, don''t spend all your time ying."


    "I know," Jasmine pouted, wrapping her arms around Charlene. "School starts in a few days. Will youe with me on the first day?"


    Charlene hesitated a moment before answering, “Of course. If I''m free, I''ll be there to drop you off."


    Irma walked Charlene to the car. She nced back at Thorne, who stood at a distance watching them, then lowered her voice. "Thorne was supposed to go back to the office today, but he stayed to look after you..."


    And everything Thorne had done was of his own ord. Irma hadn''t pressured him.


    Charlene looked down, her voice soft. "Grandma-"


    "I know, dear," Irma sighed, patting her hand. "It''s just hard to let you go, that''s all."


    If only things could stay like this between you and Thorne, she thought wistfully. But she knew that was just wishful thinking.


    Irma gave Charlene a few more words of advice before Charlene finally got into the car and left.


    Charlene''s excuse about work wasn''t even a real lie.


    She handled most of the Henderson


    Group''s partnership with t


    herself and being sick had


    back quite a bit.  s


    Tomorrow, she''d have to attend a major meeting at PrimeStar.


    Back at the Ross family home, Charlene rested for half an hour before opening herptop and into work.


    s


    She''d barely started when her phone buzzed.


    It was a message from Thorne.


    Charlene paused, then opened it.


    He had sent her a file.


    She frowned, clicked to open it, and quietly read through the contents.


    For a long moment, she just sat there, silent.


    Because everything Thorne had sent was exactly what she was supposed to do next.


    He had already done it for her.


    And not just that—it was perfectly aligned with how she would have handled it herself.


    Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a while before she finally replied: "Thank you."


    Thorne replied almost instantly: [You''re wee.]


    Charlene didn''t respond further. She leaned back in her chair and closed herptop.


    Thorne didn''t send another message either.


    The next morning, Charlene went to PrimeStar and forwarded the file to Stewart.


    After


    her you


    just recov


    at tell


    me you pulled another at nighter  s


    Charlene hesitated, then admitted, "I didn''t do thest part."


    "Oh?" Stewart looked surprised, but caught on quickly. "Thorne did it?" "Yeah."


    Stewart was speechless for a moment. "Did hell just freeze over?"


    Charlene offered a faint smile. "Maybe."<fn2578> Original content can be found at find?novel</fn2578>