Vesta put down her phone and turned to Laverne, saying, “Something must have come up. I’ll call back later.”

After about half an hour, she dialed Granger again. This time, he picked up. “Am I interrupting anything?” Vesta asked.

“No, not at all,” Granger replied. In truth, he’d seen her call the first time but chose not to answer.

“Is there something you need?” he queried.

Vesta explained her reason for calling, and Granger asked, “Why not send her over to Thorne Industries?”

With a slight smile, Vesta responded, “Thorne Industries isn’t hiring at the moment.”

Granger paused for a moment before asking, “What’s her name?”

“Janetta.”

“How do you spell that?”

“J-A-N-E-T-T-A,” Vesta clarified.

“Got it. Have her apply through the usual channels,” Granger said.

“Thanks, Granger,” Vesta said gratefully.

Before Granger could reply, Vesta, eager to keep the conversation going, asked casually, “What are you up to these days? Staying busy?”

Before he could respond, a gentle female voice came from Granger’s end. “Granger, who are you talking to?”

“Nothing important,” Granger replied coolly. Then, to Vesta, he added, “I have to go. We’ll talk later.” And with that, he hung up.

The sudden appearance of the woman’s voice had clearly soured Granger’s mood, and his abruptness in ending the call suggested he didn’t want Vesta to get the wrong idea about his relationship with the woman. Vesta raised an eyebrow at the thought. She set her phone down and told Laverne, “Granger agreed.”

“Thank you, Vesta,” Laverne said gratefully.

Leah, with a triumphant grin, turned to Janetta and said, “See? I told you, as long as my sister asks, Granger will say yes.”

Janetta paused, giving Vesta a thoughtful look.

That evening, after having dinner, Charlene returned to her apartment from the Ross Mansion. She was about to start her work on the computer when a call from Thorne came through. Charlene didn’t answer; instead, she turned off her phone.

It wasn’t until the next morning that she powered it back on. She found several messages from Thorne waiting for her.

[I’d like to talk to you.]

[About grandma’s birthday party.]

[I hope you’ll attend.]

Seeing no reply from her, Thorne stopped messaging.

Charlene stayed quiet. Later, as she was making breakfast after her morning routine, Thorne called again. She frowned and chose to ignore the call.

14:07

After a couple more attempts, Thorne gave up.

Charlene went to work as usual. That day, Dalton Ramirez had some business at PrimeStar Technologies, and Stewart was the one to welcome him. Over lunch, Dalton tried insistently to invite Stewart to join him, but Stewart declined as always. So, Dalton left with his own team.

As Dalton reached the parking lot, he noticed Thorne leaning against a car, seemingly waiting for someone.

“Mr. Henderson,” Dalton greeted as he approached.

Thorne smiled. “Mr. Ramirez, here for a meeting at PrimeStar?”

‘Yes.”

Recalling Thorne’s open approach towards Charlene, Dalton eyed him curiously. “And you, Mr. Henderson?”

“Looking for Charlene,” Thorne replied with a grin, glancing up at the PrimeStar building. “She’s probably upstairs, right?”

Dalton pressed his lips together, not quite sure what to say. Thorne sighed and continued, “She doesn’t answer my calls or messages, so here I am.”

Dalton was about to respond when Charlene and Stewart emerged from the building, surprised to find both Thorne and Dalton in the parking lot.

Stewart almost wished he could turn back inside, but they continued walking towards their car, seemingly ignoring the others.

Thorne, however, intercepted them, addressing Charlene directly, “We need to talk.”

Stewart wasn’t aware of the hug Thorne had given Charlene at the previous meeting. He only knew that Thorne had always kept their marriage discreet, not wanting others to know about his rela