In the passenger seat of someone else’s car, Charlene managed to snatch a few moments of sleep, though it was far from restful.

Upon waking and noticing Granger pulling his hand back, she didn’t give it much thought and simply asked, “Are we there yet?” “Almost.”

Two minutes later, the car pulled up at the hospital entrance. Granger, with Daisy in his arms, turned to Charlene and offered, “Want one of my guys to drive you back?” Charlene shook her head, “No need, I’ll drive myself home.”

Granger didn’t press further.

As she was about to reach home, her phone buzzed with a text from Thorne: Grandma’s heading over to see Your grandma. Let’s all drop by the Ross residence together.

This was a text she couldn’t ignore.

Picking up her phone, she called Thorne back.

He picked up quickly, “Hello?”

Charlene said, “I’ll swing by to pick up Minnie on my way there.”

By saying this, she implicitly indicated she didn’t expect Thorne to accompany her to the Ross residence. After all, every time she had suggested he come with her in the past, he had always found some excuse to avoid it.

And it wasn’t like her family was eager to see him either.

There was a brief silence on Thorne’s end before he finally said, “Okay.”

After hanging up, Charlene turned the car around and headed towards Thorne’s mansion.

Upon her arrival, Jasmine was already waiting, backpack slung over her shoulder.

Seeing Charlene, she nestled closer to Thorne and averted her gaze, still miffed about being left out of last week’s skiing trip.

Thorne looked up at Charlene and paused, “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Charlene hadn’t expected him to ask. Perhaps her lack of makeup and tousled hair made her sleepless night too apparent.

She just gave a noncommittal “Hmm,” not really wanting to get into details. Picking up on this, the butler chimed in helpfully, “Having trouble sleeping? We’ve got some great aromatherapy oils that could help. I’ll put some in your room later if you like-” That’s when Charlene explained, “I usually sleep fine. It was just the camping last night. I’m not used to sleeping outdoors.”

The butler frowned, “Camping in this cold weather? Hope you didn’t catch a cold. That doesn’t sound fun at all.” Charlene chuckled, “Actually, winter camping is great. You can have snowball fights, build snowmen, and play hide and seek by the bonfire… The atmosphere is amazing.” She had envied the fun the other campers seemed to be having last night.

Thorne, overhearing the conversation, set down his newspaper and gave her a thoughtful look. Jasmine, on the other hand, felt a pang of jealousy. Not only had her mom not coddled her when she was upset before, but she had also missed out on a fun camping trip!

Dragging her backpack, Jasmine hopped off the couch and stormed upstairs with a huff, bypassing Charlene without a word.

Charlene watched her, a frown forming, but before she could speak, Thorne set aside his newspaper and calmly said, “Minnie, come back.”

His tone was devoid of any anger, yet Jasmine halted in her tracks immediately.

She bit her lip and turned around, standing in place without moving closer.

Thorne glanced over at her.

Jasmine lowered her head and sulkily walked back, dragging her backpack behind her. Yet, she didn’t go over to Charlene. Instead, she clung to Thorne’s hand and pleaded, “Daddy, can you come with us, please?”