Chapter 263
After hanging up the call, Henley set his phone down with a sigh.
He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on as he watched the PrimeStar investors‘ conference video playing on the large screen in his living room.
Leah was lounging on the couch, casually munching on an apple. Watching Charlene up there, confidently delivering her speech at such an important event, left a sour taste in her mouth. She switched off the TV with a frown. “Why did they let her take the stage? She’s stealing all the spotlight,”
Maureen chimed in, “That’s not the point.”
In Maureen’s eyes, Charlene might have shone a bit by association with Stewart during the conference, but it was all superficial. The real treasure was PrimeStar’s technology.
That’s what truly mattered.
Henley caught on to what Maureen was implying.
Sure, Charlene had done well with her speech, but when it came to the technical aspects of PrimeStar, both Vesta and he, along with Maureen, believed that Stewart had prepped her in advance. Charlene couldn’t possibly grasp all that on her own.
Rhoda, however, pointed out, “But she’s definitely got Stewart on her side.”
No matter how you looked at it, Charlene had basked in the glory today and even managed to lend a hand to the Ross family. To Rhoda, that was quite impressive.
Leah’s concerns were different, though.
She noticed Granger watching Charlene from the audience. His gaze was intense, focused. Granger had never looked at her like that. She felt that if she were the one on stage, it would be her receiving that attention from Granger.
By the time Charlene and Stewart left the hotel, it was nearly ten at night.
After a hectic day, Charlene was exhausted, her head throbbing.
g back, she found herself automatically heading to her usual apartment complex instead of the Ross
ly estate out of habit. It was late, and she had no intention of going back to the family home.
Once she parked the car, she glanced at her phone, scrolling through her missed messages and calls. Both the Ross family and Jasmine had tried reaching her that evening.
Jasmine had even texted around eight, asking when she’d be back.
Charlene skimmed through the messages, then tucked her phone away.
Upstairs, she took a shower and promptly collapsed into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
The next morning.
No sooner had she woken up than Jasmine’s call came through.
Charlene hesitated, not wanting to answer.
But as soon as the phone fell silent, the landline at the Ross family home started ringing.
Resigned, Charlene picked up. “Grandma.”
“Charlene, you didn’t come home last night?”
Charlene replied, “Yeah, I was too busy to make it back.”
1/2
11:20
Chapter 26
Helena, hearing how busy she was, felt a pang of sympathy and handed the phone over to Jasmine.
“Mom.”
“Hey.”
Jasmine was surprised to learn Charlene wasn’t returning to the Ross family estate every night. She felt a bit down after her calls went unanswered the previous evening and waking up to an empty house.
She asked, “Mom, when are you coming back?”
“Tonight, probably,” Charlene replied.
“Oh…”
Charlene suddenly remembered something. “Call your dad and ask him to have the driver take you to school today. I’m tied up.”
“Okay,” Jasmine said, then added, “By the way, Mom, where are you staying? Can I come over after school?”
“No need.” Charlene quickly declined. “When you’re done with school, I won’t be home yet. Stay with your great–grandmother. If you get bored, call your dad and have him take you out for dinner.”
