When She Turns Her Back (Teresa and Charles) novel Chapter 209

Chapter 209

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Ava saw the serious look on Naomi’s face and thought her daughter was about to scold her, but instead, Naomi brought up something unexpected.

Ava’s laughter grew louder. She leaned in and whispered, “I actually pinched her a few times when she wasn’t looking.”

Naomi chuckled and playfully nudged Ava. “Mom, you’re always full of tricks.”

Ava patted Naomi’s hand, her voice soft with concern. “It’s tough on you, having to put on a smile when you can’t stand her.”

Naomi grinned. “Just some fake smiles for status and power? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”

Ava nodded and echoed, “But when you put it that way, you’re right.”

The two of them let their guard down and talked openly, dropping all pretenses.

But just then, a figure suddenly appeared at the kitchen doorway.

Naomi was just about to tell Ava to pinch Yolanda a little more when Charles’s voice broke in first. “What are you two whispering abou You look like you’re plotting something.”

Charles lounged against the kitchen doorframe, arms folded, looking completely laid–back, with a faint, lazy smile glimmering in his

eyes.

Naomi’s cheeks turned red, caught off guard like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar. But she forced herself to calm down and said. “Charles, perfect timing. We were just talking about Yolanda’s weekend event–trying to figure out who should go with her.”

The school had scheduled a fall field trip, but it was already practically winter.

Still, since it was just something organized by the kindergarten, Charles didn’t give it much thought.

After thinking for a second, Charles said to Naomi, “If you’re free this weekend, you should go. If you’re busy, I’ll ask her mom to go instead.”

After a brief silence, Naomi spoke up, “It’s fine, Charles–I’ll go.”

Charles said, “If you’re not too tired, go ahead. But if you’re feeling worn out, just skip it.”

Naomi walked over to Charles, standing in front of him. “Alright, I’ll

go

instead. This way.

landa will be happier

Charles shrugged. “Fair point”

Naomi smiled. “I’ll head upstairs and change”

Charles replied, “Sure, I’ll wait for you downstairs. Then we’ll go see Professor Judd together

Naomi nodded and headed upstairs.

Before long she got ready and came deneristaus

Charles divne, and the two of them made their way to the school togeth

As soon as Cedric finished his last class of the trading, Charles aged Ad

When Cedric sa Naumi standing post to Chattes by juurd

Naomi’s search project was hulfway dois bus ber die

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12:18 AM PP

Chapter 209

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With people milling around everywhere, Charles wasn’t about to stir up drama. He gave Cedric a look and said, “Let’s find somewhere quiet to talk.”

Cedric could tell right away that Charles meant business, so he nodded and went along with it.

They ended up at a restaurant, where Charles booked a private room.

Once they’d ordered, Cedric couldn’t hold back any longer. “Mr. Logan, can we just cut to the chase? What’s this all about?”

Charles reached for his cigarettes out of habit, meaning to light one up, but when he noticed Naomi still there, he quietly put the pack

away.

He looked over at Cedric and got right to the point. “Professor Judd, let’s be frank. If you don’t help Naomi get her PhD, the Logan Group’s annual funding for the medical school might come to an abrupt end.”

Charles didn’t bother to hide his threat–it was laid bare for all to see.

Cedric let out a disbelieving chuckle. “Charles, you can’t be serious. Are you really thinking of going up against the government?”

Sure, the medical school owed a lot to Charles’s financial support, but without backing from the authorities, it never would have survived this long.

The idea of Charles trying to strong–arm Cedric into letting Naomi graduate by threatening to pull his funding? It sounded downright ridiculous.

Cedric never imagined Charles could be this brazen

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Wrap his head around the fact that he was actually serious.

Even as Charles laid out his threats, Cedric just can’t t

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Seeing how Cedric still couldn’t believe a word of it, Charles stood up and doubled down. “Professor Judd, I’m dead serious. You don’t have to believe me—just wait and see. Whether the med school lives or dies, it’s all in your hands now.”

With that, Charles strode out, Naomi following right behind.

For a long moment, Cedric was left alone in the private room, totally thrown by what had just happened.

Not long after, Cedric’s phone buzzed. He picked up, and a man on the other end said, “Professor Judd, looks like the research gear isn’t going to make it after all.”

Cedric was confused and quickly asked, “Why not?”

The guy sounded helpless. “Orders from above. It’s out of our hands.”

With that, the line went dead.

Still sitting alone in that chilly private room, Cedric finally called Charles.

Charles picked up right away, sounding pretty smug. “Professor Judd, so, have you thought it over?”

Cedric snapped, his voice sharp with anger. “Charles, this is a school–not a place for you to abuse your power!”

Charles didn’t miss a beat, “Just have Hector come up with a feasible research topic for me. Naomi will handle the experiments and the

thesis on her own.”

Cedric let out a bitter laugh, voice full of contempt. “All these dirty tricks for a woman? Charles, you’re more pathetic than I ever gave you credit for.”

Charles remained silent, not giving him the satisfaction of a reply.

Since Charles still didn’t answer, Cedric continued, “Naomi’s just not cut out for this. You can try and use your connections to prop her up, but the higher she climbs, the harder she’s going to crash.

With that, Cedric hung up.

He realized Charles had completely played him.

But that wasn’t the real issue–what really mattered was that Naomi might be moving too fast for her own good, and maybe she’d be better off just taking things slow and steady.

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