Noelle had whipped up tonight's dinner, and Charles, right after stepping into his home office, dove straight into work. Lately, he had been making a point of riding to and from the office with Noelle, a change that had him clocking out on the dot—a stark contrast to his usual late hours. Ronald, who was used to shadowing Charles, could not help but raise an eyebrow at this new routine. However, it was not completely out of the blue for him.
After all the time Ronald had spent by Charles's side, he had come to see that Charles's feelings for Noelle were the real deal.
Charles used to practically live at the office, sometimes not even bothering to head home and crashing there instead. His office even had a crash pad, stocked with all the essentials.
Ronald had once thought Charles's workaholic ways were over the top, even a bit out there, but now, seeing Charles settling into something resembling a normal life, he could not help but feel a bit of relief.
Turning on his phone, Charles was greeted by a barrage of missed calls—Janet, Clarisse, and a couple from his dad, Mateo. He did not need to guess twice; trouble was obviously brewing on Janet's end.
With a slight hardening of his gaze, Charles brushed aside the missed calls and hit up Ronald instead. "Give me the Mansfield Group files."
"Absolutely, Mr. Hoffman!" Ronald did not waste a second as he quickly sent over the Mansfield Group's files to Charles. "Mr. Hoffman, the Mansfield Group is based in Cascade City. Does this mean Colossus Group is looking to branch out there too?"
Charles's brow creased slightly, his long fingers brushing against his lips in thought. "Let's take a look first. What's the situation with the Jabs family?"
"Well, the Jabs family's second son, Andy, isn't holding down the fort in Cascade City right now. It's the eldest son, Franklin, who's in charge," Ronald explained, pausing for a moment. "I've looked into Franklin, and he doesn't seem like someone we can work with. What do you think, Mr. Hoffman?"
"Mm, got it," Charles murmured, his eyes glinting with a playful curiosity. Andy? That's just Bob Smith in disguise, isn't it? It was a mystery what he was really plotting, considering his own family gave him the cold shoulder, and now he had turned up at the Smiths' in Brookville.
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