Chapter 24
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Yolanda froze for a second. Once, a comment like that would’ve cut deep, but now she stayed calm. “Having kids is all up to Charles. I’ll go with whatever he wants,” she said.
Her obedience seemed to relax Flora. “Good you get that,” Flora smiled. “Take care of Charles, and we’ll treat you right.”
Yolanda said nothing, just kept massaging Flora’s legs. After half an hour, she lowered her head and moved to Flora’s back.
She’d spent two years learning traditional massage, all to keep Flora happy.
Flora finally sat up, satisfied. “You’re good at this. Where’d you learn? C’mon, let’s go down.”
Yolanda bent down and picked up the shoes by the bed for Flora. Then she followed Flora out.
When they reached downstairs, Flora frowned, “Charles still not here?”
Yolanda thought, ‘Maybe he’s tangled up in Sophie’s sheets.”
Flora spun around, her voice sharp. “Why didn’t you come with him?”
“Granny, he’s swamped with work. I didn’t want to bug him about it,” Yolanda replied.
At this point, Flora couldn’t really say anything more. She just pressed her lips together and sat off to the side.
Yolanda saw Simone checking out the flowers in the garden and hurried over. “Aunt Simone,” she called.
Simone nodded in response, then glanced through the window at Wyatt and Flora in the room.
She thought, ‘Mom’s always favored sons over daughters. Yolanda’s probably gotten her fair share of the short end of the stick. But the Grant women sure know how to stay quiet and humble.‘
Yolanda began straightforwardly, “Aunt Simone, I heard you’re working on a new TV series. Found your lead actor yet?”
Simone narrowed her eyes, surprised by the direct question. “Aren’t you a housewife? Got someone to recommend?”
“Housewives live off their husbands,” Yolanda smiled. “I wanna start my studio, and I’ve got a talent who’d be perfect for this role. Can you give me a shot?”
Yolanda was quite perceptive. Simone was proud, but she hated seeing capable women stuck at home.
Before coming, she’d watched Simone’s interviews. Simone had said she wanted more women to thrive in the industry.
Simone wasn’t like the other Sinclairs, or maybe just different from most women.
Men ran most businesses, most everything. For a woman to make it, she had to fight through all the sexism.
Simone was Flora’s youngest kid. Back then, because she wasn’t a boy, she never got the love. That made her real independent–maybe even a little self–absorbed.
So, Yolanda figured it was best to be straight with Simone about the role. Simone couldn’t stand girls who acted all meek. She respected ambition.
A woman with ambition still has hope. But if she was just living for her husband, that was a dead end.
Simone hadn’t paid much attention to Yolanda before–never cared to dig deeper. But now, she cracked a smile. “Y’know, if the Grants heard that, they’d give you a hard time.”
Yolanda dropped her gaze. “I only dared say it because I saw your interviews. You said women should reach high, and I wanna try.”
Simone was the rebel. High society looked down on showbiz, but she’d dived right in anyway.
She was shocked again. She’d always thought Yolanda was quiet–never guessed she’d watched those crazy interviews, let alone taken them to heart.
She patted Yolanda’s shoulder and said, “Just for what you said, I’ll give you this chance. You’ve got my number–bring your talent directly to me. But keep this quiet, especially around the old folks. Otherwise, you’ll be in real trouble.”
After all, the Grant family only married women to be full–time housewives.
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2:15 AM P P .
Chapter 24
“Got it.”
“Does Charles let you work?”
“He’s cheating. He doesn’t care what I do anymore.”
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Simone couldn’t help but cough, her emotions complex. She’d known Charles was cheating for a while–she was his aunt, after all.
But she didn’t expect Yolanda to be this calm now. She used to be head over heels for him. Every time she visited the Sinclairs, her eyes stayed glued to him.
And Charles had hidden his girlfriend so well–how’d Yolanda, that once–blind fool, find out?
“You’re not gonna say anything to him, right?” Yolanda asked.
Simone found the whole situation pretty amusing. Charles thought he’d covered his tracks perfectly, but Yolanda had known all along and didn’t even seem to care–had she stopped loving him?
‘Charles’s so sure he’s fooling Yolanda, but little does he know who will end up outsmarting whom, Simone thought. She could hardly wait to see how this mess played out.
“Nope,” she grinned.
Just then, the living room door swung open.
Charles strolled in, decked out in a sharp suit, and made a beeline for Flora. “Grandma, feeling any better?” he asked.
Flora spotted a lipstick smudge on his cuff and swatted at it. “Fool around outside all you want, but don’t bring the evidence home.
“Yolanda loves you to death. I don’t wanna deal with the day she finds out and throws a fit–no peace then. I like her massages, but I don’t need to hear her crying about you.”
Charles smiled and passed her a coffee. “Grandma, she barely leaves the house–how would she find out? Even if she did, she’d just cry by herself and beg me not to go. I’d smooth it over easily.”
Flora took the cup and sighed. ‘Charles is loving on the surface, but ice–cold underneath–hard to say if that’s a good thing.
‘If he stayed that way forever, fine. But if he ever fell hard for someone–crazy in love, like Yolanda is–then our family would be in real trouble.
But then she realized Charles was their golden boy–always on top, never failing. Even when his first love dumped him, his ego kept him from chasing after her. Born with a silver spoon, he’d never once compromised for a woman.
Finally, Flora said, “Do what you think is best. I’m just giving you a heads up.”
Just then, Yolanda and Simone walked in from the garden.
Yolanda’s face lit up when she saw Charles. “Honey, you’re here!”
Charles glanced at her, flashing a quick smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He patted her head absently and mumbled “hmm” before sitting down and firing off some flirty texts to Sophie.
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