Thorne had a flight to catch, so after the conference, he and Charlene prepared to leave.


    "Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!" Jasmine waved happily as she yed with her friends.


    Charlene and Thorne nodded, then turned and walked away side-by-side. They hadn''t gone far when Thorne''s phone rang. Since she had arrived in his car, Charlene had already called her driver to bring her own car around.


    By the time Thorne finished his call, Charlene was already walking toward her car, about to get in.


    "See you next time," Thorne said suddenly.


    Charlene frowned slightly but didn''t reply, simply getting into her car and driving away.


    Back at the office, Stewart asked, "How was Minnie''s parent-teacher conference?"


    "It was fine."


    Stewart had a meeting to get to, so he didn''t linger. As Charlene was heading to her office, she ran into Gaylord Hearst.


    "Mr. Ross," Gaylord greeted her.


    Charlene nodded, sensing he wanted to talk, and gestured for him to follow her into her office.


    After discussing work matters, Gaylord looked at her and asked tentatively, "Did you... did you two make up? Are you not getting divorced anymore?"


    The news that Charlene''s "husband and daughter" had picked her up from the airport had already spread through their department. Rumor had it that she and her husband seemed to be on good terms, not at all like a couple on the verge of divorce, which was confusing since she had clearly been preparing for one.


    Charlene paused, wondering why he was suddenly asking this. She was aware of Gaylord''s feelings for her and knew she shouldn''t give him false hope, but she answered truthfully, "No."


    Gaylord let out a relieved breath but couldn''t help asking, "But I heard you two seem to be getting along well now."


    Charlene guessed that Thorne picking her up from the airportst week had caused the misunderstanding.


    "No, we''re not," she rified, then looked at him directly. "However, I—"


    Gaylord knew what she was about to say. He cleared his throat, cutting her off. "I should get back to work."


    Charlene rubbed her temples. She knew he understood her meaning, so she didn''t press the issue.


    Two dayster, Thorne was back from his business trip.


    "Mommy, I''m going back to Daddy''s now," Jasmine announced. "When you''re done with work, pleasee back home soon, okay?"


    Charlene hesitated before managing to say, "...Okay."


    After Jasmine left, Charlene nced at her phone. Thorne hadn''t


    contacted her to discuss the divorce. She had a suspicion why. At the parent-teacher conference, when the teacher mentioned Jasmine''s reaction to their potential split, the look Thorne had given her suggested he was considering postponing the divorce for their


    daughter''s sake.


    She had expected him to bring it


    when they left the school, but he


    hadn''t. It seemed he was still weighing the decision. Charlene put her phone down.


    Another two days passed with no word from him. Then, while visiting The


    Henderson Group, she saw him.


    Stewart leaned in and whispered, "He''s back from his trip? And he has free time this


    afternoon. Has he asked you to go sign the papers yet?"


    Charlene shook her head.


    Just then, Thorne looked over at her,


    and their eyes met. She froze for a


    second, but before she could react Someone called his name and He looked away. Charlene lowered her gaze, trying to focus on her work, when her phone buzzed with a text message from him.


    It read: [What if we put the divorce on hold for a while?]