After more than a day and night of non-stop work, Charlene finally finished recording everything she needed to and sent it off to Stewart. Only then did she head downstairs to grab some breakfast. Once Stewart went through the materials she sent, he was so thrilled his hands were shaking. “This is it, this is brilliant, absolutely brilliant!”

Charlene rubbed her aching temples and said, “I need to catch some sleep. We can talk later.”

“Alright,” Stewart replied.

Charlene slept like a log until well past five in the afternoon.

When she woke up, she found Jasmine sitting on the carpet, engrossed in a Sudoku puzzle.

As soon as Jasmine noticed she was awake, she got up and said, “Mom, you’re awake?”

Charlene replied with a simple, “Yeah.”

“Are you thirsty? Want some water?” Jasmine asked.

Charlene paused for a moment, then said, “Thanks.”

After Jasmine got her a glass of water, she went back to her puzzle.

As Charlene watched her daughter, a wave of guilt washed over her. She knew she’d been buried in work and hadn’t spent much time with her recently.

Unfortunately, today marked the end of their holiday. Tomorrow, she’d be back at PrimeStar and wouldn’t have much time for Jasmine.

With that thought, she called out, “Minnie.”

Jasmine turned around, asking, “What’s up, Mom?”

“When’s your dad coming back?”

“Dad said not anytime soon,” Jasmine replied, then asked, “Do you need to talk to him?”

Charlene shook her head, replying, “No, it’s nothing. Go on and play.”

“Okay.”

Charlene finished her water and texted Thorne.

“When are you coming back? I’m back to work tomorrow and can’t look after Jasmine. You need to come and get her.”

It took Thorne over half an hour to reply. “I’ll be back in two days.”

Seeing the message, Charlene didn’t bother to respond.

After dinner, Jasmine went for a walk with Helena, and as soon as Charlene headed upstairs, Stewart called.

They were brainstorming together, so Charlene had him on speakerphone.

When Jasmine returned from her walk and heard her mom chatting with someone whose voice she didn’t recognize, she felt a bit left out and asked, “Mom, who are you talking to?” Charlene replied, “A friend of mine.”

“Oh…” Jasmine said, still a bit curious.

Stewart heard Jasmine’s voice but didn’t say anything, not mentioning he’d met her when she was just a little thing-even held her.

Charlene and Stewart talked until well past ten that night before finally hanging up.

The next day, Charlene officially returned to work at PrimeStar.

Ever since the company began developing the two projects she’d worked on last year, they’d been understaffed. They’d planned to expand the team at the end of the year, but she and Stewart had been too busy to get around to it.

Hiring more people was now urgent, so on her first day back, Charlene set the ball rolling.

Thorne had promised to be back in two days.

But three, four days passed, and there was still no sign of him.

It wasn’t until the fifth day, while Charlene was still at work, that she got a call from Jasmine. “Mom, Dad’s back! He sent someone to pick me up.”

“Okay, got it,” Charlene said. “Make sure you pack everything, don’t forget anything.”

Jasmine chirped happily, “I know!”

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Then she asked, “Mom, can you come home and see me off?”

Charlene had a mountain of work to do.

She thought about saying no.

But she hadn’t been around much lately, and after this, Jasmine might not see her for a while. So she agreed, saying, “Okay, I’ll head home now.”

Jasmine’s voice was bright with excitement, “Yay!”

Stewart had returned from his business trip by then.

Charlene was exhausted from work, and if she wanted to leave early to get some rest, Stewart didn’t mind.

But still….

He snorted, “Thorne dumps Jasmine on you to go gallivanting on a delayed honeymoon, feeling no guilt. Yet here you are, the mom without custody, feeling bad about a little neglect. Thorne’s got you pegged. He knows you’re too soft-hearted, and that’s why he thinks he can make promises he doesn’t keep and leave you holding the bag.”