08:37
Chapter 79
Granger fell silent and said, “I’ll shoot you the account details.”
“Thank you,” Charlene replied politely, “and sorry for bothering you. Also, I appreciate what you did today.”
Granger responded casually, “No worries,” before hanging up first.
Stewart, listening in, asked, “The guy who fixed your car today?”
By then, Granger had sent his bank details with a photo of the car repair bill.
Charlene glanced at it briefly, opened her mobile payment app, and said, “Yeah.”
From the tone of Charlene’s conversation with Granger, Stewart could tell she and Granger weren’t close.
He knew Granger, no doubt, and knew that Charlene knew him, too. But as far as he was aware, Charlene and Granger didn’t really get along that well. So, despite Charlene referring to the person on the other end as Mr. Harden, it never crossed Stewart’s mind that she was chatting with Granger.
Charlene transferred the exact amount to Granger without hesitation.
Afterward, she sent a thank–you note. Then, she and Stewart got down to the “homework” Kenton had assigned them.
They created a PowerPoint presentation and summarized the core technologies of all the exhibits they’d seen.
Still, given the number of exhibits, when they finished and sent the content to Kenton, it was already past 2
a.m.
Stewart was exhausted but had no change of clothes, so Charlene didn’t offer him to stay over.
After Stewart left, limping from her injury, Charlene went to take a shower before heading to bed.
Her foot wasn’t seriously injured, but Stewart had hoped she would take a few days off to rest before returning to work.
When Charlene woke up the following day, she decided to work from home and didn’t go out.
Not long after getting up, she received a call from Jasmine. “Mommy, is your foot feeling any better?”
Testing her foot, Charlene replied while making breakfast in the kitchen, “Yeah, a bit better.”
“That’s good,” Jasmine, also having breakfast, didn’t seem to know what to say next.
Charlene could tell. It hadn’t always been like this. Jasmine used to have endless stories to share with her. Bu their communication had dwindled over the last two years. Whenever Jasmine had something to say, she’d first go to Vesta, gradually leaving fewer and fewer words for their mother–daughter conversations.
Jasmine seemed concerned about her injury, but superficially. The concern was genuine but not overly so. In the past, any minor injury or even a cold would have Jasmine cry with worry, cling to her non–stop, comfort: her, and refuse to leave her side, eager to care for her. She was a little ray of sunshine then.
But somehow, Jasmine had shifted that warmth over to Vesta without Charlene even noticing.
Like the last time Vesta was sick, Jasmine had rushed to check on her right after breakfast, secretly texting Vesta behind Charlene’s back, and immediately after school, had her driver take her to see Vesta.
So, if Jasmine was worried about her, she could have insisted on getting her address the night before and had the driver take her over. But she didn’t come.
At a loss for words with Charlene, Jasmine turned to Thorne, sitting across from her at breakfast, and asked, “Dad, do you want to talk to Mommy on the phone?”
02:27
enopterao
