\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11 Charity Event\u00a0<\/p>\n
46\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was eleven o\u2019clock at night when Amanda finally saw off the last of the birthday guests. She collapsed onto the living room couch, exhausted, and grabbed her phone to scroll through social media-only to freeze when she saw a nine-photo carousel pop up on her feed. It was posted by Scarlett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The photos showed the Theron family gathered around a birthday cake, laughing, eating, and smearing frosting on each other\u2019s faces. The warmth of the scene made Amanda\u2019s blood boil. Today was Richard\u2019s birthday-Scarlett\u2019s father-in-law-and she hadn\u2019t even bothered to show up, let alone send a card or a text. For five years, Scarlett had spent days slaving away in the kitchen to make Richard\u2019s birthday perfect. This year? She\u2019d run off to her own family like the Stewart name meant nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda\u2019s temper flared. She stormed upstairs, and kicked open the door to Vincent\u2019s study without knocking. She slammed her phone down on his desk, her voice shrill with anger. \u201cWhat the hell is this supposed to be?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent picked up the phone, scrolling through the photos with a frown. \u201cWhat\u2019s the issue here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda leaned over the desk, her face inches from his. \u201cToday was your father\u2019s birthday! She didn\u2019t lift a finger-no dinner, no gift, nothing. Instead, she ran back to her parents\u2019 house like she\u2019s still a kid. She\u2019s married to you, Vincent! Everything she has-her clothes, her car, her lifestyle-it all comes from the Stewart family. And this is how she repays us? By playing maid for her own family? Has she lost her mind?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent hated this kind of petty bickering. He pushed the phone back to her, his voice cold. \u201cDon\u2019t you go visit your sister every weekend? What\u2019s the difference?\u201d He genuinely didn\u2019t see the problem-Scarlett had every right to spend time with her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda\u2019s face turned red. \u201cThat\u2019s not the same! When you two got married, her family didn\u2019t even show up! They practically disowned her! Now that we\u2019re successful, they\u2019re suddenly acting like they care? They just want to mooch off the Stewart name. You mark my words- they\u2019re after something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent sighed, rubbing his temples. He didn\u2019t want to hear this. \u201cTheir family runs a small business. They don\u2019t need our money. Mom, just drop it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda opened her mouth to argue-What if they want a loan? What if they want connections? But the look on Vincent\u2019s face stopped her. His jaw was tight, his eyes sharp-clear signs he\u2019d had enough. She zipped her lips, stormed out of the study, and slammed the door behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent was left alone, his work forgotten. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He\u2019d just realized something-today was Scarlett\u2019s father\u2019s birthday too. In five years of\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:29 Sat, Jan 3 \u2191\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11 Charity Event\u00a0<\/p>\n
46\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
marriage, he\u2019d never known that. He didn\u2019t know her favorite color, or what she\u2019d studied in college, or even why she\u2019d become a pediatrician.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their marriage had always been an accident. A one-night stand, a pregnancy, his grandfather\u2019s demand that he \u201cdo the right thing\u201d. He\u2019d never cared enough to learn anything about her. To him, she\u2019d always been just \u201cVanessa\u2019s mom\u201d-a woman he was obligated to marry, but never someone he wanted to know.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He thought about Scarlett\u2019s post again-the way she\u2019d smiled, the way her family had surrounded her. It was a side of her he\u2019d never seen. But even then, he didn\u2019t feel guilty. Their marriage had never meant anything to him. With or without her, his life would go on the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
*****\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monday morning, Scarlett returned to the small-town school where she\u2019d been volunteering. She\u2019d barely set her medical bag down in the nurse\u2019s office when the principal, Marcos Everett, burst in, his face flushed with urgency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Theron, thank goodness you\u2019re here!\u201d he said, mopping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. \u201cI\u2019ve been checking the clock every five minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett tensed, grabbing her bag. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? Did a kid\u00a0<\/p>\n
get\u00a0<\/p>\n
hurt?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcus waved his hands, looking relieved. \u201cNo, no-nothing like that. We\u2019re hosting a charity event this afternoon. A famous businessman from Rivergate is coming to donate to the school. The second-grade teacher\u2019s on maternity leave, and we\u2019re shorthanded. Could you supervise her class? Just walk them to the playground for the event, then bring them back. It\u2019ll be quick, I promise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett let out a breath, relaxing. \u201cThat\u2019s it? Sure, no problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At two o\u2019clock, the school gathered on the playground. Scarlett led her class of second-graders to their spot, then stood at the back of the group, watching as Principal Marcus took the stage. The autumn sun was warm, and orange leaves drifted down from the trees, crunching underfoot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcus finished his speech, and the crowd applauded. Then, a tall figure walked out from behind the school building-dressed in a casual gray sweater and jeans, but still unmistakable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett froze. It was Vincent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She should have guessed. The \u201cfamous businessman from Rivergate\u201d Marcus had mentioned- who else could it be? She felt a flicker of surprise, but nothing more. No hurt, no anger, no longing-just indifference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent stepped onto the stage, and Marcus handed him a microphone. He spoke briefly, his voice calm and steady, then announced his donation-thirty million dollars for new\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:29 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11 Charity Event\u00a0<\/p>\n
:.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
classrooms, scholarships for low-income students, and even small cash gifts for every child. Scarlett had to admit-setting aside their messy marriage, he was doing a good thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:29 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Awakened Housewife Ignore Betrayer\u2019s Begs<\/p>\n
Silent Dreams Never Die \u2014 Author: John Miller 11 \u00a0 Chapter 11 Charity Event\u00a0 46\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 It was eleven o\u2019clock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-impossible-condition-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}