After they left, the smile on Henley Hawkins''s face faded.


    Lately, whenever Vesta tried to contact Thorne, her calls either went unanswered or he''d im to be busy. It had been the same for the past two days. In that moment, it wasn''t just Vesta; even Henley could feel with stark rity that Thorne had changed.


    Vesta stared in the direction Thorne and Charlene had disappeared, her hand tightening around her phone in silence.


    After a moment, Henley collected himself and asked, "Are you going to call him?"


    Even though Charlene seemed to upy all of Thorne''s attention now, he still hadn''t officially broken up with Vesta. They had been together for so long; he must still have some feelings for her. She wasn''tpletely out of chances to win him back.


    Vesta understood what he meant.


    Once she was in the car, she hesitated for a moment before dialing Thorne''s number.


    No one answered.


    That evening, she tried again, but Thorne still didn''t pick up. To make matters worse, he hadn''t returned her call by the next day.


    By then, nearly everyone in the Hawkins and Spencer families knew that Thorne had spent his free time with Charlene instead of contacting Vesta. They were forced to admit that he truly wasn''t the same man he used to be. He was genuinely invested in Charlene now.


    Georgina Spencer''s expression soured. She never would have imagined that Charlene possessed such skill, managing to turn Thorne''s attitude around and make him so attentive right as their divorce was approaching.


    Jacques Hawkins was a high school senior, buried in his studies, so he was oblivious to most of the family drama. When he came downstairs and saw the grim faces and heavy atmosphere, he couldn''t help but ask, "Did something happen?" Maureen Spencer masked the coldness in her eyes and offered an elegant smile. "It''s just a small issue with your father''s and sister''spanies."


    "Is it serious?"


    "A little," Maureen said. "But don''t you worry about it. Your father and the others can handle it."


    Jacques nodded as he ate his breakfast. "That''s good, then."


    Around eleven that morning, Vesta appeared at The Henderson Group once again. This time, she didn''te up empty. Thorne was in his office when she arrived.


    A flicker of surprise seemed to cross his eyes when he saw her, but he quickly concealed it. "You''re here."


    Vesta simply nodded. She sat down, but before she could speak, Thorne said, "I heard about the issues with your father''spany and Neural Nexus Tech this morning. I''ll have someone look into the details of bothpanies, and once we figure out how to resolve the situation, I''ll let you know. How does that sound?"


    Vesta paused. To be honest, she hadn''te to him for help today She just wanted to see him, to find an opportunity to spend time with him and win him back.


    But since he had brought it up, she had no choice but to nod. "Okay," she said, then added, "Thank you."


    Thorne smiled faintly. He still had work to finish. "Just a minute," he told her.


    "Of course," Vesta replied softly.


    As he reviewed his documents, Thorne asked, "I have a dinner engagementter. Want toe along?"


    "Okay," Vesta agreed.


    After he finished his work, Thorne


    took Vesta to the dinner


    engagement. On the surface,


    everything seemed the same as


    before as if his unanswered calls andck of contact had nev happened.