When She Turns Her Back (Teresa and Charles) novel Chapter 239

Chapter 239

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Teresa knew she had every reason to be mad at Troy for swapping out her clothes, but she simply chose not to let it bother her.

She kept her tone calm as she said, “If you’ve got things to take care of, go ahead. Hector’s here with me–I’ll be fine.”

Troy, however, clearly wasn’t convinced, and he didn’t seem about to leave.

He said firmly, “My job is to keep you safe.”

Teresa hesitated, caught off guard by his words–she genuinely didn’t know what to say to that.

Hector, seeing how awkward Teresa felt, gave her shoulder a reassuring pat and said with an easy smile, “Come on, let’s head inside.”

Teresa didn’t bother saying anything else to Troy–she just walked after Hector and slipped into the lounge with him.

As Teresa opened the door to the lounge, she was taken aback by how many people had already arrived.

Scanning the room, she actually recognized quite a few faces- -even if none of them knew who she was.

Really, it was all one–way; Teresa knew them, but they had no clue about her.

Most of the guests were well–known names in the medical world–the kind of people everyone talked about.

Besides those famous figures, Charles and Naomi were also here.

As soon as the door swung open, most of the guests stood up and warmly greeted Hector.

Some called out his name, while others greeted him as “Director Reed.”

Not long ago, Hector had been promoted.

He was on track for a stellar career anyway, promotion or not.

Not only had Hector studied abroad with an impressive academic background, he also held patents related to primary brain tumors.

He was the kind of guy who commanded respect wherever he went.

In the medical world, he was as close to the ceiling as you could get a true top dog.

Unlike the dead silence that met Charles and Naomi just now, the whole room lit up the second Hector showed his face.

that

In this circle, Hector was basically a living legend–everyone knew his name

Finally, Naomi got to her feet and greeted him warmly, calling out, “Senior Hector

Hector barely spared her a glance, his smile faint and distant.

After exchanging greetings with everyone, Hector guided Teresa to take a seat beside him.

There was a big round table in the lounge–one of those huge ones that could seat about twenty people.

When Hector picked where to sit, he deliberately chose a spot well away from Charles and Naomi.

Once they were settled, Teresa glanced around the room and noticed that no one seemed particularly curious about who she was.

That was fine by her—she didn’t have much of a resume to speak of, and in the medical world, she was basically a nobody.

Among these people, her background wasn’t even worth mentioning

Finally. Teresa let her gaze drift across the table to Charles. He seemed utterly absorbed in Naomi, murmuring something to her with his head bowed. Whatever he said must’ve been funny, because the two of them broke into quiet laughter

As the laughter faded, Charles glanced up–alinust without thinking and his eyes met Teresa’s for a split second across the room, neither of them quite expecting the brief connection.

Bu Teresa quickly dropped her gaze, pretending not to notice.

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Chapter 239

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Charles, though, didn’t move his eyes away. Instead, he watched her closely, almost scrutinizing, as if he could spot any traces of injury on her face or the skin she’d left uncovered.

But thanks to Teresa’s careful makeup, there wasn’t a bruise or mark in sight for him to find–no matter how hard he looked.

In that instant, Charles felt a wave of relief wash over him.

Whew… good, he thought to himself. ‘She’s not nearly as messed up as I feared.’

Before long. Cedric Judd showed up.

The moment he stepped in, the energy in the room shot up, and people got to their feet.

Calls of “Professor Judd!” echoed warmly around the table.

Except for Charles and Teresa, everyone here was actually one of Cedric’s students.

Cedric said a couple of words to kick things off, checked in on everyone like he always did, and then waved for them to sit down and start eating.

The round table was huge, and with all the dishes spread far apart, Hector–worried Teresa might have trouble reaching them- carefully picked out several dishes for her and placed them on her plate.

Once everyone had something to eat, Cedric stood up and proposed a toast. “Let’s raise a glass!”

This dinner was their annual get–together a tradition every year.

But Teresa had never attended before.

Teresa glanced at her glass, surprised to see it filled with hard liquor.

Still, she kept quiet and didn’t say a word about it.

Being a doctor herself, Teresa knew better than anyone how risky it was to drink–especially after going through a second D&C.

Even so, she could only force a smile, raise her glass, and join in the toast with everyone else.

Charles noticed too and shot her a puzzled look, but seeing Teresa stay silent, he shrugged it off and didn’t press her.

After everyone clinked glasses, Cedric grinned and said, “I’m really honored you all came tonight–let me knock this back first to show my respect!”

With that, he tipped back the tiny glass of liquor and downed it in one go.

Everybody here was a veteran in the medical world–social drinking was nothing new to them, so knocking back a shot wasn’t even a challenge.

Plus, with Cedric taking the lead, who would dare pass on their own drink?

Teresa eyed the shot of strong liquor in her glass, her brows knitting with uncertainty as she weighed her options.

Watching everyone else tilt their heads back and finish their drinks without hesitation, Teresa’s nerves started to get the better of her- she felt more and more anxious by the second.

Charles downed his own glass, but when he glanced over and saw Teresa still holding hers untouched, realization flashed across his eyes -So she’s got the hard stuff too, he thought, concern flickering on his face.

Hector finished his glass of liquor and, as he set it down, saw Teresa sitting there–dazed, her own glass untouched. He couldn’t hide the confusion in his eyes.

Hector had shared plenty of meals with Teresa before and knew she could definitely handle her booze,

Downing nearly half a liter of strong liquor wasn’t a problem for her–eight taels, easily.

But now, with only this tiny shot in front of her, she hadn’t even taken a sip.

Everyone else had already finished their drinks and sat back down, but Teresa was still standing there, glass in hand, unsure what to do

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Chapter 239

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