The Cherished Wife



Charles pressed his lips together, a dark look crossing his face as he glanced at Peter. "Mind your words, Peter!"

Peter raised an eyebrow and gave Charles's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Relax. Nobody's brave enough to make trouble here," he said, then looked over at Sean, who had not said a word. "Why are you just standing there?"All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Sean, who usually was smiling, looked serious. "Looks like someone's pushing Charles too far!" he said, hinting at something. However, Charles just gave Sean a quick look. "You're staying right here."

"Hey!" Sean complained. "Why should I?"

"Because you're a doctor. It's your job to save lives," Charles said, then he grabbed his coat and left.

Sean tried to follow, but Peter blocked him. Peter smiled slyly, his hand resting on Sean's shoulder. "He's off to find his lady. This isn't your rodeo." "You don't get it. Charles is usually so calm, but he gets all worked up around this lady. You might not have seen her, but I have a few times. She's really pretty, and she kind of looks like him too. But she always gets Charles stirred up. I'm worried..." Sean said.

"There's nothing to worry about!" Peter's eyes darkened, and he let out a dismissive snort. Charles is the most level-headed out of all of us besides Mr. Fischer. He knows what he's after. You don't need to butt in."

Noelle felt around in the pitch-black room for what seemed like forever before she finally managed to stand up. After being in the dark for so long, she realized something was not right: the bathroom light had gone out, and someone had locked the door from the outside. Noelle knew that was no accident.

She quickly thought it over and

figured someone was out to get her.

At the get-together with her

classmates earlier, the only people

who had issues with her were Winter, Annie, and Suzy. Noelte

could not imagine why anyone else would want to hurt her.

This kind of sneaky trick was just what Winter and Annie would do. Once Noelle put the pieces together, she felt a lot calmer.

Taking a deep breath, she felt for the

sink with her hand and her heart started to settle down. She made her way to the door and tried to

push it open, but it would not budge. Noelle pounded on the door as hard as she could, yelling, "Hello? Is anybody there?! Can anyone hear me?!"

Her voice bounced around the bathroom, Suddenly, she heard a creepy sizzling noise. Her ears were more sensitive than usual in the dark and her sense of calm Soon fled.

A snake. It was the sound of a snake hissing.

Noelle could not see them, but the hissing sounded like it was right in front of her.

She felt chills all over, and fear crept up from deep inside her. She was too scared to move or even make a peep.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed outside, halting right by the bathroom door. "Is anyone in there?"

It was a voice Noelle knew, but it sounded a bit strange. She recognized it in a heartbeat-it was Yevgen! "Yes, someone's here!" Noelle's voice shook. "I'm inside."

"Noelle?" Yevgen's voice was laced with concern. "Is that you?"