Gaylord couldn''t understand why Charlene and Lloyd Henderson seemed to be on such good terms, yet she and Thorne appeared to have absolutely no personal rtionship. Then again, he''d heard the Ferguson and Henderson families had some ties, but Stewart and Thorne had zero interactions outside of business. Shaking his head, Gaylord decided not to dwell on it.


    The next day, Granger Harden arrived at PrimeStar Technologies to discuss the next round of their partnership. As always, Charlene was the one to receive him.


    Granger looked at her. "Long time no see."


    It hadn''t actually been that long. They had seen each other just before little Daisy left Starfall City to go back to school. But since Granger said it, Charlene didn''t bother correcting him. She just nodded along. "It has."


    Gaylord had wanted to sit in on the meeting when he found out Granger wasing over to talk with Charlene, but his schedule was too packed for him to slip away.


    Once the business details were mostly ironed out, Granger suggested they grab a bite to eat, and Charlene agreed.


    At the restaurant, after making small talk for a while, Granger suddenly looked at her. "I heard Lloyd and udia... finally gave their blessing for those two."


    The abrupt shift in topic caught Charlene off guard for a second before she realized what he meant.


    She gave a calm nod.


    udia and Lloyd had always been sticklers for matching social status and a wless family background. Their sudden change of heart was undoubtedly because Vesta had risked her life to save Thorne not too long ago.


    But none of that was her concern anymore.


    Still, with his parents finally on board, she and Thorne should have no trouble finalizing their divorce this time.


    After lunch, they headed downstairs to leave, only to run straight into Henley Hawkins and Maureen Spencer''s group.


    Henley smiled. "Granger, what a coincidence."


    Granger nodded, offering polite greetings to Henley and Maureen. "Mr. Hawkins, Mrs. Spencer."


    They nodded in acknowledgment, but their eyes immediately drifted to Charlene. Shepletely ignored them, turning to Granger instead. "Mr. Harden, I need to get going. If there are any questions regarding our partnership, we can schedule another time to discuss the details."


    Granger chuckled. "Sounds good."


    Charlene nodded, treating Henley and the rest as if they were invisible, and walked away without looking back.


    It was impossible for Granger to miss the sudden ice in Charlene''s eyes and the tant chill that hade


    1.n


    washed over her features the second she saw the Hawkins and Spencer families. Even though he


    already knew about th? bád blood bad blood ris between her and Vesta, seeing her absolute hostility toward them in person was still a bit startling.  Things at PrimeStar Technologies had been frantictely, so when the workload finally eased up a couple of dayster Stewart treated the department to dinner as a reward.


    After toasting the rest of the team,


    clinked his ss


    Charlene''s.


    e been working hardtely."


    Charlene smiled. "You too, Stewart."


    The atmosphere at the table was lively. Just as Charlene set her ss down, the phone she''d left on the table buzzed a few times.


    She picked it up, and it only took a single nce to read the message.


    [His parents already approved the marriage. See? They even made him invite my sister out to meet with them today.]


    Stewart, who had leaned over to say something to her, caught sight of the screen.


    He let out a dark scoff. "Lloyd and the others... approved of them being together?"


    Yes.


    That was exactly what the sender imed.


    Stewart plucked the phone from her hand and opened the message thread.


    It turned out the sender had attached two photos along with the text.


    The pictures showed Thorne and Vesta sitting in a private dining room, sharing a meal with Lloyd and udia.