StartNovelChapter 34
Chapter 34
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Yolanda was seated by the window with Charles. Then she opened Sophie's post, enlarging the photo to lay it
side-by-side with the real-life scene before her. It was a perfect match.
A faint smile touched her lips. She took a sip of juice, snapped a photo, and posted it to the private Twitter
account Sophie followed. If Sophie keeps clinging to Charles, she thought, ‘he won't have any tleft for
me.
Then Charles's phone buzzed when their food had just arrived. He took his phone and got up briskly. “I need
to take this.”
Yolanda didn’t ask anything. She simply bowed her head and focused on the food quietly.
Charles slipped out into the hallway, phone in hand. But before he could find a quiet spot, an arm reached out
from the next booth and pulled him inside.
There was Rachael, who only moments before had been all sharp edges, now wrapping her arms around his neck
and leaning in for a kiss.
He tilted his head away, a faint glint of amusement in his eyes.
Rachael pouted, tracing idle circles on his chest with one finger. “What's this? Staying loyal to the wife, Mr.
Sinclair?”
Charles stood tall, his features strikingly handsunder the soft lighting. “It's our anniversary,” he said simply.
Rachael's eyebrow arched in understanding. Anniversary rules: no funny business. She sighed tically,
“Fine. And here | thought I'd get to steal you for a minute.”
His gaze drifted over her suggestive posture. “I heard you've been cozying up to sactor lately.”
Rachael lit a cigarette, a sly smirk playing on her lips. “After a man like you, everyone else is a letdown, event
celebrities. But he’s... entertaining. Besides, | invested in a show backed by your Starlight Entertainment.
Consider it a favor.”
Charles checked his phone. Five minutes had passed. “I'll make it up to you.”
Her eyes glittered as she twisted his tie around her finger. “Someone was just mentioning his anniversary, no?
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtPoor girl, it must be exhausting being married to you.”
“Yolanda is innocent, he replied coolly. “She doesn’t suspect a thing.”
In his eyes, Yolanda was pure. He left traces all the time-perfume, lipstick, and late nights. She’d ask, of course,
but a few sweet lies were always enough. She had no other experience to compare it to. But her unquestioning
trust eventually bored him.
He gripped Rachael's neck and kissed her, and then pushed her away. “That's enough. | have to go.”
“Always so cold. Mr. Sinclair,” she murmured.
Chapter 34
But he was already walking away, straightening his tie. Then he returned to his booth and slid the door open,
Yolanda was still by the window, meticulously cutting her steak into neat pieces.
Outside, fireworks burst into the night sky, painting brilliant, flecting patterns across the glass. She turned to
watch, her eyelashes fluttering as a delighted smile spread across her face.
Cheating had never weighed on Charles’s conscience. He'd never been particularly fond of Yolanda to begin with.
But the sight of her, so innocent and captivated by something so simple, made something in him soften.
He took his seat across from her. “Do you like the fireworks?”
Yolanda propped her chin on her hand. This was surprising, and no wonder Sophie was so obsessed with him.
“They're lovely. | suppose all women are swayed by pretty things like this, aren't we?”
Charles picked up his wine glass and gently tapped the rim against the tip of her nose. “It’s our wedding
anniversary. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
Her eyelashes fluttered again. This time, she caught the faint, clinging scent of perfon his sleeve- Rachael's
perfume.
She thought, ‘How can Charles just sit here, smelling of another woman on our anniversary? And I'm suffocating
under the memory of being drugged and spending those hours with lan. | can’t even talk about him. God, |
shouldn't have been this sensitive.
“What did | say on the last anniversary? Oh, right. He hasn't even been there. He was with Sophie and talked to
A faint, ironic smile touched her lips. “Sas last year, honey. | wish every year would be just as good as
today,”
Charles's brow furrowed. For sreason, the words left him strangely unsettled.
Just then, his phone buzzed. It was a call from Sophie.
Sophie had seen Yolanda’s post after finally getting service in the mountains, and she was livid. She'd
bombarded Charles with a series of provocative photos, but he hadn't responded. ‘Is he really going to spend the
night with his boring wife?’ she wondered.
Panicking, she made this call, her voice a pained whimper. She claimed she'd been hurt, that there was no
hospital nearby, and that she was in agony and needed him.
But a quiet warning bell often rang just before one lost their grip on something important. Tonight, it was ringing
for him. He found he didn’t want to leave.
He remained seated across from Yolanda, watching her slowly finish her steak, and for the first tall evening,
a strange sense of calm settled over him.
After dinner, he slid a bank card across the table toward her. “For your sturenovations.”
He'd always given her sixty thousand a month but never a dollar more. Now, he was offering six million all at
7:44 Thu, Sep 11
Chapter 34
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once. Yolanda figured it was fair compensation for fifteen years. She picked up the card without a second
thought. “Thanks, honey.”
Charles was used to getting what he wanted. Life had always handed him wins. He enjoyed pulling strings in
business and with women. It was a ghe knew how to play.
Her easy compliance reminded him of last year’s birthday. She'd shown up late, worried about his stomach.
bringing food as a devoted wife. He'd been in bed with Sophie at the time. He saw her calls but didn’t answer.
And Yolanda waited downstairs all night.
The memory put him in a good mood. He leaned in to kiss her. But she turned her face away, looking out at the
fireworks.
They said the show lasted half an hour, and this was the best view in the city. It was hard for regular people to
book, but Charles had a permanent booth here. The restaurant belonged to the Sinclair Group, after all.
His expression cooled. ‘Playing hard to get? Pointless, he thought.
The colored lights glittered in her eyes. “I heard this fireworks show has run every night for ten years. This is my
first tseeing it, though.”
He'd brought so many other women here. She used to wonder what was wrong with her. She'd learned
everything she thought might please him. But Charles never chome.
Now she understood: a man like him wasn’t meant to be kept. He didn’t value what ctoo easily.
She stood. “Megan’s working late alone at the studio. | should go check on her. Thanks for dinner. She tucked the
card into her pocket.
Charles stayed seated, momentarily caught off guard. It wasn’t until the door clicked shut that he let out a low
chuckle. ‘still mad at me, then.”
He lit a cigarette, gaze drifting downward. He'd never seen her act like this before. And he had to admit it was
interesting.
The door to the private booth swung open, and Rachael's voice cut through the quiet. “Don’t tellyou just got
stood up by your own wife.”
She sauntered in, perching familiarly on the edge of the table. “A man like you, getting turned down? Hard to
picture.”
7:44 Thu, Sep 11
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