Not wanting to ruin the mood, Irma quickly changed the subject.


    The Rosses yed along effortlessly.


    The rest of their trip turned out to be quite enjoyable.


    However, on the drive back after dinner, Helena fell silent. After a long while, she suddenly asked Charlene, "What... happened with them?"


    Charlene hadn''t brought it up, so the rest of the family didn''t know the exact status of Thorne and Vesta''s rtionship.


    Still, Helena and the others knew that Vesta had saved Thorne''s life a while back, which prompted him to drag Charlene back to city hall for the divorce paperwork.


    Having been friends with Irma for years, Helena knew her foul mood meant something major had happened between Thorne and Vesta—something that infuriated Irma.


    Charlene paused, taking a second to process the question.


    "I heard..." she murmured. "Lloyd and udia have given their approval. He already took her to meet them."


    Vernon Ross and the others had guessed Thorne had done something to anger Irma, but they hadn''t expected Lloyd and udia to cave so quickly and wee Vesta.


    At this rate, the moment Charlene''s divorce cooling-off period ended, Thorne and Vesta would likely get married right away.


    Helena had only suspected that Thorne had brought Vesta to the Henderson estate against Irma''s wishes. She hadn''t anticipated things escting this fast.


    Stunned, she retreated into an even deeper silence.


    She turned her head toward the window. Charlene leaned over to speak to her, only to realize her grandmother''s eyes were brimming with tears.


    Panic seized her chest. "Grandma-"


    "Tell me, why is the world so unfair?" Helena asked. Despite her teary eyes, her voice waspletely calm.


    Charlene opened her mouth to speak but found she had no words.


    She knew exactly what Helena meant.


    The Spencer family had bitten the hand that fed them for the sake of a better life. They hadn''t just stolen her daughter''s husband; they had destroyed her daughterpletely.


    Yearster, fate hadn''t punished the Spencers or the Hawkins family at all. Instead, Vesta-the daughter the culprit-had effortlessly


    swooped in and stolen the


    happiness Charlene had always


    dreamed of.


    Even Charlene''s own daughter, swayed by the man Charlene loved most, preferred the culprit''s daughter.


    And the Spencers wouldn''t stop there.


    If Vesta truly married into the Henderson family, the Spencers would use every trick


    in the book to keep stepping on the Ross family.


    Charlene was capable and had built a formidablework. The Spencers couldn''t just crush them on a whim anymore. But the Henderson family held immense power, and Jasmine was firmly in Thorne and Vesta''s grasp. The Ross family wouldn''t just be denied their revenge; they''d be forced to watch their enemies thrive.


    How could Helena not be heartbroken?


    In that moment, a lump formed in Charlene''s throat, and her own eyes burned.


    That was when a sudden thought shed through her mind. She wouldn''t go through with the divorce.


    Handing Thorne an easy out felt like giving them her blessing.


    Helena was genuinely grieving. She couldn''t reel in her emotions, nor could she stop the pain from overflowing.


    However, seeing the tears in Charlene''s eyes and the sudden fierce resolve in her gaze, Helena instantly knew what she was thinking.


    As much as she loathed the


    Spencers and the Hawkins family


    she dreaded the idea of Charlene.


    trapping herself with Thorne forever,


    sacrificing her own happiness and freedom just for spite.