As Charlene drove away, the Spencer and Hawkins families departed as well.


    Vesta had been tied up with urgent matters and hadn''t joined them at The Henderson Group''s resort. She was already home when they arrived.


    As Vesta was about to greet them, Rhoda spoke up. "Vesta, guess who we ran into at the hotel?"


    Vesta didn''t need to be told; she knew it was Charlene.


    As expected, before she could respond, Rhoda revealed the answer. The family hadn''t yet told Vesta about Thorne carrying Charlene to her room and staying for an extended period. Rhoda settled onto the sofa and recounted the incident, finishing with a pout. "I know Thorne doesn''t have real feelings for her, but seeing him be so nice to her still rubs me the wrong way, you know?"


    "Tell me about it," Leah chimed in.


    The others didn''t say anything as Rhoda brought it up, since they truly didn''t consider Charlene a threat. Because of this, none of them noticed Vesta''s hand tightening around her ss.


    This time at the facility, Charlene didn''t run into York Watson. The task, while urgent, was resolved with surprising speed. She even stayed an extra day to help Kenton with some other matters.


    She had initially thought she wouldn''t be finished until several days after her cooling-off period with Thorne ended, but as it turned out, she was leaving the facility with one day to spare.


    The moment she got home, she texted Thorne: [I finished early. I''m free the day after tomorrow.]


    Nearly an hourter, his reply came: [Something came up on my end. The divorce will have to wait.]


    Charlene froze. She hadn''t expected this again.


    had te


    When she had texted him about a potential dy on her part, she had worried that, like thest two times their divorce would be derailed by Work Conflicts. Now, she was back early, thinking they could finally get it over with, but here they were again. Cóntent


    Charlene lowered her gaze, taking a long moment before typing back: [Okay, got it.]


    The Hawkins and Spencer families


    soon learned of Thorne''s business trip. When they heard the news, Rhoda''s voice rose in frustration. "Thorne''s on another business trip? But their cooling off period ends tomorrow! They could have finalized everything the day after!"


    Leah was equally shocked. "Exactly! Thorne already missed thest chance to divorce that bitch


    because of work, and now it''s happening again” Can the just change his schedule?"


    Laverne was annoyed too, but with Thorne already on a ne, what could she say?


    "It must have been an emergency," she said with a sigh of resignation.


    The others thought so too. After all, they were convinced Thorne was desperate to divorce Charlene.


    Rhoda sighed heavily. "I just hope he can deal with his business quickly this time and not let it drag on like before—"


    She didn''t finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she meant. Throughout the conversation, Vesta remained silent.