After She She Stopped Loving Him

That night, after Charles had finished fooling around with Sophie, he stood by the bed, straightening out the

wrinkles in his suit.

When he was undressed, he'd give Sophie anything she wanted. But once he put his clothes back on, he turned

back into the high-and-mighty CEO of Sinclair Group.

Remembering what Yolanda had said, Sophie grabbed his sleeve. “Charles, | mentioned before that | wanted the

lipstick endorsement for Magnifique Cosmetics, right? | checked, and the current spokesperson is Joelle.

Honestly, she’s nothing special. How could she possibly outshine me?”

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

Sophie had never seen him like this before; her heart sank. She swallowed, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her

eyes. “Did | say something wrong, Charles? I've seen her photos. Could you helpget the Magnifique

Cosmetics endorsement? 1-"

He slowly removed her fingers from his sleeve and leaned in close, studying her face. “Sophie, did someone say

something to you?”

Sophie put on her most convincing act, her eyes growing teary. “Charles, | just can’t stand being outshined by

someone who's clearly not as good as me. It's been eating away at me.”

He patted her cheek lightly, a faint smile in his voice. “Don’t say such silly things next time.”

Sophie's face instantly drained of color, her fingers curling into a fist. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice

barely steady.

“Be good, and there'll be plenty of resources coming your way. But if you're not, | can replace you anytime,”

Charles said as he straightened his tie and grabbed his suit jacket. “I'm heading out.”

Sophie couldn't even muster a smile, she just stared helplessly as he walked away.

As soon as the door closed behind him, she hurled a pillow across the room, tears streaming down her face.

She'd insulted Charles's wife right to his face before, and he'd never cared. But just bringing up Joelle made him

turn cold in an instant. Tessa hadn't lied-Joelle was the one he cherished a lot in his heart.

Sophie pounded the bed beneath her. They'd just been tangled up together, and he could flip the switch like

that. She'd never seen Charles act this way before. It was like he'd turned into ice, shutting her out completely.

Her face twisted with rage; she snatched up the business card she'd salvaged from the trash. It was Tessa’s

contact info..

She finally saw it. Charles was truly heartless. She'd been chasing sridiculous fantasy of rising to the top.

She was nothing but a joke.

She was grasping at straws, clutching the card so hard her knuckles turned white, before finally letting it fall

from her hand.

7:45 Thu, Sep 11

Chapter 41

Charles hadn’t even made it far down the road when his phone buzzed-it was Yolanda. She said softly, “Charles,

things have taken a turn for the worse with William. Can you cover right now?”

Yolanda spent her childhood at the orphanage until she was ten. William, the director, wasn’t in great shape, but

he still looked after a few of the kids who had no family.

William's wife, Athena, had died a few years back from working herself to death, and now William was just barely

getting by.

When Yolanda got the call that night, she rushed straight to the hospital and was already pacing the hallway,

waiting anxiously.

To her, William was like the grandfather she never had. She'd never known real family love in the Grant or

Sinclair families; the only warmth she’d ever felt cfrom William.

She forced herself to stay strong, clenching her fists to keep them from trembling, and waited until William was

finally wheeled out.

The doctor pulled off his mask. “We caught it early this time, but William doesn’t have much tleft. He needs

a kidney transplant. We've been searching for a suitable donor for two years but still haven't found a match.”

Yolanda leaned back against the wall, her hand limp at her side. “Please letknow the moment you find a

donor, okay?”

“Ms. Grant, don’t worry, William is at the top of the donor list. As soon as we find a match, he'll be the first to get

the surgery,” the doctor reassured her.

Yolanda nodded, forcing a weak smile. “Sorry for the trouble.”

She walked into the hospital room and saw a few kids gathered around the bed. They were all orphans from the

orphanage, and they'd lived with William for most of their lives.

William was only sixty. He'd taken over the struggling orphanage back when he was middle-aged. He and his

wife had run it together for years, and after Athena passed away, he managed everything on his own.

“Ms. Grant, why isn’t Mr. Bennett waking up?” one of the kids asked, their voice trembling.

“We're so scared. What if Mr. Bennett never wakes up?” another one cried.

Yolanda reached out and gently patted their heads. These kids were the ones who'd called 911. If they hadn't,

William might not have made it.

She said softly, “Be good, okay? I'll have someone take you all home. Mr. Bennett is going to be fine, so don’t

stay here and disturb his rest. Once he’s better, he'll cback to you.”

Each of the kids took turns hugging her around the waist. “Thank you, Ms. Grant.”

Once the kids left, Yolanda walked over to William's bedside.

7:45 Thu, Sep 11

Chapter 41

William opened his eyes. “Yolanda, where's Charles!”

Back when Yolanda had just been taken in by the Grant family, she brought Charles to the orphanage. William

liked him right away, and back when Athena was still around, she liked him, too,

They even knew about Yolanda'’s little crush on Charles. So many years had flown by, and every tYolanda

visited, William would always ask about Charles. But the Charles of today was nothing like the pure-hearted kid

he once was.

“I called him. He's on his way over, Yolanda replied.

William nodded, took her hand, and gave it a gentle pat. “Yolanda, you have to take good care of yourself. I've

always worried about you the most. Knowing Charles will look after you puts my mind at ease.”

Yolanda’s eyes stung with tears, but she held them back. “William, we'll definitely find a matching kidney. You're

just sixty, | asked the doctor, and he said if the transplant works, you could easily have another twenty

years.

Right as she finished speaking, Charles pushed open the door and walked in.

Yolanda immediately noticed a faint water stain on his pants and quickly averted her gaze.

He cover and rested his hands gently on her shoulders, asking with concern, “William, are you okay?

When William saw Charles, he tried to sit up, but Yolanda gently pushed him back down. “William, don’t get

worked up. He's here, and he’s not going anywhere.”

William's gaze landed on Charles, and he reached out to grab his hand. “Charles, the last twe saw each

other was when you and Yolanda first got married.”

Charles looked completely unbothered, a faint smile playing on his lips as he casually slipped an arm around

Yolanda. “Yeah, I've just been swamped these past two years. Haven't had a chance to drop by.”

William's eyes were full of comfort. He couldn't help but cough, saying, “I know you're busy. You're such a

capable guy. Yolanda won't ever have to suffer with you around.”

Yolanda clenched her fist at her side, her nails digging into her palm, but she kept her face neutral.

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