Chapter 208 Pursuing the Wife
It was only then that everyone belatedly realized: "Wait, could this be Mr. Gonzaga's older brother?"
"No way, Zoey said her husband was an old man."
"That can't be right. Think about it - Mr. Gonzaga is so handsome, how ugly could his brother be? Did we misunderstand before?"
While the other women were completely smitten with Charles, only Rose kept her head clear: "Don't let his good looks make you forget how he treated Zoey. He has another woman and bullied Zoey - have you all forgotten?"
Only then did the group of women snap out of it.
Right, so what if he's good-looking?
They'd received plenty of skincare products and lipsticks from Zoey these past few days, so they definitely needed to be on Zoey's side.
......
Charles entered the house and only saw Matilda and Wentworth.
The two were cooking.
"Where's Zoey?" Charles asked.
He couldn't wait to see his little chipmunk.
Wentworth pointed to a small room next to the dining area: "She's in there."
Charles was immediately displeased when he saw the room: "Why is she staying in such a small room? This is the maid's room, isn't it?"
Wentworth had been influenced by Matilda these past couple of days and was somewhat dissatisfied with his older brother too: "Well, whose fault is it for not taking good care of your wife? My Matty would never run away from home for no reason, but your Zoey has already run away twice!"
Matilda secretly gave Wentworth a thumbs up, then fed him some of the freshly made salad as a reward.
Charles looked at the maid's room door and knocked.
No one answered.
He tried turning the handle hard - it was locked from the inside.
"Zoey, are you in there?" Charles asked.
A fierce voice came from inside: "No!"
Charles's lips curved up slightly - his little wife was definitely angry.
But if she wouldn't open the door, what could he do?
Matilda and Wentworth had finished cooking. After Matilda brought the salad to the table, she called out toward Zoey's room: "Zoey, the salad you wanted is ready. Want to come out and eat? I specially added pineapple."
Zoey's door immediately opened.
Without even glancing at Charles by the door, she headed straight for the dining table. "Wow, looks delicious. Matilda, did you make this?"
Matilda pointed at Wentworth, "He made it."
"Nice, very nice."
Matilda served Zoey a bowl of rice. "If you're hungry, go ahead and eat first."
After all, Zoey was pregnant.
Matilda then said to Charles: "Charles, wash your hands and eat."
Charles's gaze remained on Zoey.
He felt she seemed to have changed somehow - her waist seemed bigger, probably because the food here was good and she'd gained weight?
Her face also seemed rounder.
But she kept ignoring him, treating him like he was invisible.
He helplessly went to wash his hands, then prepared to sit next to Zoey. However, Zoey immediately said: "This seat is for Matilda!"
Charles fell silent.
Regardless, seeing her today made him quite happy inside - it was a very grounded feeling.
Whether she was angry or not.
After the meal, Matilda and Wentworth hung small decorative lights in the house and tied inflated balloons to the walls to create atmosphere.
Charles couldn't help but ask: "You're doing all this... to welcome me?"
Matilda giggled: "No, why don't you have Wentworth tell you."
Wentworth told Charles about Sally and Nick.
Charles's first reaction: "So you're saying there are no spare rooms in the house?"
No wonder Zoey had to stay in the maid's room.
Wentworth asked: "Charles, are you planning to stay here too?"
Charles glanced at Zoey: "Whenever Zoey goes back, I'll go back."
Zoey, sitting on the sofa eating fruit, rolled her eyes internally. Hmph, I'm not going back. I don't believe you can put aside company business to stay with me!
Wentworth and Matilda didn't think Charles could stay very long either.
Maybe he could coax Zoey back in two days?
For the first time, Wentworth felt that this small military district villa wasn't big enough.
......
That evening was Sally's birthday.
Both Sally and Nick had invited kids over. The adults just set up the venue and prepared delicious food, then let the kids play by themselves.
Later, Zoey worried it might be awkward, so she led them in singing a song.
The siblings only knew Zoey played piano well, but didn't know she sang so beautifully too. After Zoey sang one song, the kids wanted her to sing a second.
Zoey sang three in a row, almost all a cappella.
Charles sat on the sofa, his gaze locked on Zoey the whole time.
How had he never noticed before that his little wife sang so beautifully? Much better than Janice used to sing. Most importantly, her voice had a special magic that drew people in involuntarily.
While she sang, his lips kept curving upward.
......
Matilda threw this birthday party for the siblings for two reasons: first, she genuinely wanted to make them happy, and second, she wanted to clear up the rumors Scarlett had spread earlier.
The first goal was achieved.
The second goal was actually unnecessary, because with Zoey there, Zoey had already told everyone how well Matilda treated the siblings.
"The siblings each have their own room, I'm the one staying in the maid's room."
"Matilda used to be a doctor - her hands held scalpels. When did she ever cook? After the siblings came, she's been cooking every day and has been burned so many times. The siblings do housework because they feel bad for Matilda. Speaking of housework, what kid doesn't do chores? When I was their age, I had to take care of the family's cats and dogs."
"Matilda even helps with homework. There are so many real parents online who lose their temper helping with homework, but Matilda has never lost her temper once. Of course, the siblings are smart too, but it still shows my Matilda has a good temperament."
"......"
Early morning.
Charles woke up very early.
He'd slept on the living room sofa last night.
No choice - Zoey still treated him like air and completely ignored him. There were no rooms upstairs, so he could only sleep on the sofa.
The sofa was a bit short, and too soft - when he lay down it sank deeply. His back was sore from sleeping on it.
He glanced at Zoey's room door - it was tightly closed with no sound from inside. She probably hadn't gotten up yet.
Before long, people in the house gradually woke up. Matilda got up to make breakfast for the siblings, and after they ate, they went to school.
Wentworth also had to return to the training base today. The base was usually far away - he said he'd only come back on weekends.
Charles ate something simple, then went to the sofa to wait for Zoey.