After She She Stopped Loving Him

Chapter 194

(90)

155 vouchers

Charles picked up Joelle at six in the evening. Evercrest Manor was a bit of a drive from Moonbay Estate, and he

figured he'd be haround midnight. So, right in front of Joelle, he called Yolanda.

Yolanda was still keeping an eye on the online buzz. She didn’t even need to answer his call to know where he

was-Joelle had already posted about it on Twitter.

Charles’s expression softened as he thought about what Joelle had worn out today, his chest growing warm at

the memory.

“Are you home? I'll be working late tonight and should be back around twelve,” he said.

Yolanda gave a half-hearted “mm” in response, her attention focused on her computer as she chatted with

Jason.

Jason was in charge of Sophie's case right now, and with all the online blowing up, they had to calm

things down ASAP-or else, even if Starlight tried to fix things later, they'd still get shut down for good.

‘Charles couldn't help but feel uneasy-her voice was so calm, it almost sounded distant!

‘Cto think of it, Yolanda hadn't called to ask where he was or what he was doing in forever.

‘He used to just give her half-hearted answers, but at least he'd picked up when she called.

‘Now he was the one making the effort, but she couldn't care less.

Before Charles could get another word out, Yolanda ended the call on her end.

Joelle caught the look on his face and slowly tightened her hand by her side. “Charles, I've always wanted to

ask... did | wait too long to cback?”

‘He only married Yolanda out of frustration with me, but now, watching him call her, | can’t help but think he still

cares about her-otherwise, why bother checking in?‘ Joelle thought to herself.

Charles kept his eyes on the window, his voice gentle. “Why do you think that?”

Joelle bit her lip and let out a quiet sigh. “Just a hunch. Right now, | need to put my career first. As for us... let's

talk about it another time.”

Joelle reached for her wrist, tracing the noticeably visible scars there.

After that incident with Andrew, she faked having sserious psychological issues-and she'd carefully laid the

groundwork for her trip abroad with that act.

Charles was the one she wanted, but he was always messing around; Andrew wasn’t the CEO of Sinclair Group,

and Quentin didn’t quite measure up. So, Joelle took a sum of money from May and decided to try

her luck overseas.

Charles noticed those faint scars on Joelle’s wrist, and a dull ache hit his chest.

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

10:59 Mon, Oct 20

Chapter 194

90

55 vouchers

Back at the welcparty, the director claimed Joelle just got a little too into her role, but Charles knew better-

ever since then, her mind had never really been okay.

Still, she always acted upbeat, no matter if she was hustling for her career or dealing with people.

At least, that’s the impression she gave. As for what she was truly thinking, Charles honestly didn’t have the

tor the heart to dig into a woman's mind.

The car pulled up at the entrance of Evercrest Manor, and as Charles got out, he ran into Simone.

Next to her was lan, and the two were deep in a conversation about acting.

Joelle had met lan before, so she greeted him politely, “Junior lan.”

“Junior lan.”

“Senior Joelle,” lan replied, giving her a respectful nod.

They exchanged nods, acknowledging each other.

Simone’s gaze settled on Joelle, then on Charles-who’d brought her along. Simone smirked. “Charles, did you

forget you're married?”

Charles rubbed his temples. “I just happened to be passing by.”

“Oh, really? So you just conveniently dropped by and ended up here?” Simone shot back, voice flat. “We booked

the whole place tonight-I didn’t hear anything about anyone else coming.”

Simone didn’t bother to hide her contempt. “I thought Yolanda was finally seeing slight at the end of the

tunnel, but looks like you haven't changed one bit.”

No matter what it was, if Joelle was involved, Charles always put her above everything else.

Simone wasn’t your average woman-in the entertainment industry, she could sniff out tricks from a mile away.

Years ago, Joelle kept a bunch of guys dangling, never saying yes, never saying no, just acting all pitiful with red

eyes and bitten lips when pressed. That “poor me” routine had every dude thinking they were special, falling

harder and harder until they were totally hooked.

If Charles was bad news, then Joelle was every bit as much of a player.

The difference was, Charles had the luxury of being a player, backed by his own strength and the Sinclair family

name, Joelle, though, grabbed every opportunity she could, all while pretending to be spure little angel who

was above it all.

Simone was seriously annoyed, but she wasn’t about to stoop to arguing with Joelle-it wasn’t worth her dignity

as the older one. Shooting lan a look, she said, “I'm heading inside. The air out here is just unpleasant.”

With that, she sped up and strode away.

Joelle flushed in embarrassment, nearly lost her balance, and her bag tumbled from her hand to the ground.

10:59 Mon, Oct 20

Chapter 194

lan bent down, scooped it up, and gave it back to her.

90

65 vouchers

Joelle’s eyes suddenly sparkled. ‘Bet lan’s got a soft spot for me. That's just what | need-if | play it right, | can

use him to mess with Charles a little,” she thought, plotting.

Guys can’t stand it when another man grabs the spotlight-Charles was no different.

She took the bag, softening her voice. “Thanks, lan. So how do you feel now that the directors chose you to be

the leading man this time?”

“Working with a senior like you, Joelle, honestly makesnervous. Your acting is next level-you're so deep in

your roles, sometimes | wonder if you ever stop acting, even off-camera. You're seriously devoted,” lan said.

Joelle’s first reaction was that his words sounded a bit strange, but as she mulled it over, she realized he

probably didn’t mean anything by it.

‘Maybe I'm just reading too much into it," Joelle thought to herself.

Joelle flashed a gentle smile, putting on her classic big sister act. “Relax, I'll make sure to look after you and

show you

the ropes.”

Then, her eyes drifted down and landed on the necklace lan was wearing.

“Hey lan, isn’t that necklace one of those couple sets? You can’t buy them solo, right? So... do you secretly have

a girlfriend?” she teased, eyebrow raised.

Joelle remembered overhearing the directors say lan’s popularity was skyrocketing and his acting was superb.

Getting involved with someone now would be totally reckless-he’d be crazy to get a girlfriend at a tlike

this.

Charles's gaze followed Joelle’s, and for a second, his eyes narrowed-something about that necklace triggered a

flash of suspicion in him.

He squinted, realizing the piece looked oddly familiar, like he’d seen it not too long ago.

Then it clicked-just a couple weeks back, he'd thought about getting that exact style, but Yolanda, bless her

oblivious heart, totally missed his not-so-subtle clue. ‘Sometimes, that girl is just hopeless, Charles thought,

resigned.

lan looked as cool and distant as ever, even with people around. “She’s not my girlfriend—at least, not yet.

We're just talking. | honestly have no idea if she’s even interested.”

Joelle felt her cheeks heat up. ‘Wait... is he talking about me?”

She'd had tons of guys chasing after her before, but lan was a whole different breed. No one like him had ever

tried for her.

His vibe was something else-completely unique, and it definitely caught her attention.

As they chatted, they made their way inside, where a bunch of directors were already chilling on the sofas in the

lobby.

10:59 Mon, Oct 20

Chapter 194

Charles had only tagged along with Joelle, and he couldn't care less about the script details.

65 vouchers

So, he headed back to his car to catch up on swork, figuring he'd just wait until everything wrapped up and

then drive Joelle home.

No wonder so many women liked him-when Charles wanted to pamper someone, he could be incredibly

thoughtful and gentle.

While the directors were deep in conversation, Joelle sat down next to lan. She pretended to reach for a cup on

the coffee table, her body leaning in close for a moment.

Her scent drifted over, catching lan by surprise; his eyes grew wary as he instinctively shifted further to the

right.

Joelle picked up a glass of water and smiled politely, “Could you sendthe link for that necklace? I'd like to

buy one as a gift-the style is pretty unique.”

lan glanced down, pulled up his Whatchat with Yolanda, and asked her for the necklace link.

“Senior Joelle, I'll drop it in the group,” lan said coolly.

They were both in the sWhatgroup as all the directors. Normally, lan should've just added Joelle as a

direct contact, but instead, he kept his distance and shot the link straight into the group chat.

Oscar overheard their banter and let out a laugh.

“Man, lan, you're so clueless. Do you have any idea how many people are out there trying to get Joelle’s

WhatsApp?” Oscar joked.

Oscar was the one who brought lan to Joelle’s kick-off party last time-that’s where the whole ‘senior’ and ‘junior’

nicknthing got started.

The other directors joined in, egging him on.

“You can tell-still untouched by all the industry . Guys like you are just different,” one said with a grin.

“lan, you can’t even look Joelle in the eye! She must really be that pretty, huh?” another teased.

Joelle laughed along, “lan really is something else-way more genuine than most of the actors around.”

Looking confident and unbothered, Joelle scrolled through the group chat, found the link, and bought the

couple’s necklace without a second thought.

This necklace only cas a pair-no singles-a high-end luxury set, running over two million RMB for both

pieces.

Her plan? Give the men’s necklace to Charles and wear the women’s version herself.

‘Wonder what Yolanda’s face would look like once she saw her husband rocking a matching couple’s necklace -

with someone who wasn't her, Joelle mused to herself, smirking inside.