Dalton had obviously heard the rumors about Thorne and Vesta discussing marriage.


    "Ms. Hawkins, long time no see," he greeted. "I heard you and Mr. Henderson will be tying the knot soon. Congrattions."


    Vesta had noticed him the moment he approached. She smiled warmly. "Thank you."


    While Dalton genuinely wished her well, his congrattions were also a subtle probe to confirm the rumors.


    Now that she had personally confirmed it, he was happy for her, but a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes. After a brief pause, he asked, "I heard your injuries were quite severe. Have you fully recovered?"


    "Notpletely, but I''m just about there. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Ramirez."


    Dalton nodded. He made a bit more small talk before finally running out of things to say and excusing himself.


    The moment he turned around, he locked eyes with Stewart and Charlene.


    Seeing Charlene, his expression instantly soured. However, since he had already made eye contact with Stewart, he forced a polite nod. "Mr. Ferguson."


    Stewart returned a frigid nod. "Mr. Ramirez."


    That was the extent of their exchange. Stewart clearly had zero interest in making conversation.


    Noticing the cold shoulder, Dalton didn''t bother trying to butter him up. He did, however, shoot a couple of nces toward Charlene.


    Charlene remained entirely indifferent, treating him as though he were invisible.


    Recently, he had heard that Thorne was practically glued to Vesta every day, even bringing his daughter from his previous marriage along.


    He hadn''t seen Charlene anywhere near Thorne for a while.


    It seemed she was finally learning her ce or rather, she had been forced to learn it.


    With that thought, he turned and headed back to his seat.


    Naturally, the Spencers and the Hawkins family had also spotted Charlene and Stewart.


    A while back, when Charlene and Thorne''s rtionship had seemingly improved, they had gnashed their teeth every time they saw her.


    Now, they practically looked straight through her. Their res were reced with thinly veiled smugness.


    A momentter, Charlene''s phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.


    She caught a glimpse of the preview:


    [Did you see the bracelet on my


    sister''s wrist? Thorne-]. She didn''t the rest swiftly


    bother reading..


    blocking the number and deleting the message.


    But even without reading it, she knew exactly what Leah Spencer was trying to shove in her face.


    Just moments earlier, when some socialites had asked about Vesta''s bracelet, Leah had loudly and


    obnoxiously boasted that it was


    gift from Thorne. She imed it was a custom piece from a private collector that vesta had admired


    once. To make her happy, Thorne had bought it for an astronomical sum.


    Leah had likely sent the text just in case Charlene hadn''t overheard her obnoxious bragging.


    Vesta was already the object of widespread envy, but the tale behind the bracelet sent the socialites into a total frenzy. Even though Charlene and Stewart kept to themselves, they coufen''t escape the relentless gossip about the golden couple.


    Listening to everyone fawn over Vesta and praise Thorne''s romantic gestures, a vein throbbed in Stewart''s temple. He felt as though his ears and brain were being actively polluted.


    "Good lord, I feel sick," he muttered, covering his ears and massaging his temples in sheer agony. "I really shouldn''t havee."