When She Walks Away (Teresa) novel Chapter 242

Chapter 242

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Even after Troy had left, his laughter seemed to linger in the air, grating on Andrew’s nerves. He pressed his hands to his ears, trying to

block it out.

Andrew found the sound unbearable and instinctively clapped his hands over his ears, desperate for some peace.

Once Troy was gone, Charles finally took a closer look at Andrew’s injuries.

Andrew’s face was a mess–bruised in spots and even sporting a few cuts.

But at least none of it was life–threatening.

Charles felt unsettled, but forced down his anger. He patted Andrew on the shoulder and said, “No matter how unfairly you were treated today, you just have to grit your teeth and bear it. For the sake of the bigger picture.”

In this vast city of Riverdale, Charles and Troy’s two factions kept each other in check, making it impossible for either one to dominate

But compared to Troy, Charles wasn’t willing to put everything on the line.

Troy, on the other hand, would do whatever it took for Teresa. No matter the cost.

Andrew’s eyes were rimmed with red as he thought, ‘I never imagined I’d see the day when even Charles couldn’t set things right.

Just then, Charles’s phone buzzed again.

He took it out of his pocket and saw Naomi’s name flashing on the screen.

“Charles, dinner’s over. Where are you? I’ll come find you,” Naomi’s voice came through the line.

He paused for a moment before replying, “I’m by the restroom.”

Andrew quickly shook his head at Charles, gesturing frantically for him not to let Naomi come over.

Naomi had always been his goddess.

འ བ ཥ ཇ ཋ ༀ ་

If she weren’t with Charles now, Andrew knew he would’ve done anything to make Naomi his.

He knew he’d never get the girl, but that didn’t stop him from wanting her even more.

So the moment he heard Naomi say she was coming over, Andrew completely freaked out.

Andrew thought, ‘If Naomi saw me looking this pathetic, I’d want the earth to swallow me whole.

Charles had no clue just how Andrew felt about Naomi. He just assumed Andrew was super self–conscious, so he said to Naomi, “Just stay in the lobby, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay,” Naomi replied.

After hanging up, Charles told Andrew, “Go wash your face, then come out with me.”

Andrew blurted out without thinking, “Come on, Charles, just go without me. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll just embarrass myself if I go out there like this–and Naomi will totally make fun of me.”

With a dead–serious look, Charles said with absolute certainty. “Naomi would never do that.”

But Andrew stuck to his guns. “I’ll just wait until you guys have left before I go out,” he insisted.

Charles was still worried. “I’ll get Jason to come pick you up,” he said.

Andrew insisted, “No, I just want to head back myself.”

Charles saw he couldn’t change Andrew’s mind, so he let it go.

Still, Charles said to Andrew, “I won’t forget what happened today. I’ll make sure you get your dignity back, one way or another. Andrew, eyes still red, nodded silently.

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Chapter 242

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Charles, seeing how down Andrew was, dropped his voice and said, “We’ve found Stella Sandhurst. I’ll text you her location in a bit—it’s up to you if you want to see her.”

With that, Charles left it at that.

As he headed out of the restroom, he shot Andrew a text with Stella Sandhurst’s address.

Andrew stared at the address Charles had sent him, torn between going and staying.

‘Should I go see Stella? Or just let it go?‘ he questioned himself.

A few minutes earlier, after the dinner had wrapped up, most of the guests had already left the restaurant.

Naomi was lingering in the lobby, waiting on Charles to show up.

Troy was hanging around in the lobby too, and when Naomi glanced around, she immediately spotted him.

He sat there, calm as ever, his side profile flawlessly handsome–a straight nose, sharp jawline, like he’d walked out of a magazine.

Looking at someone that gorgeous, Naomi felt her heart skip more than a few beats, waves of emotion shimmering inside her.

Troy was tapping away on his phone, but as if sensing Naomi’s gaze, he glanced up in her direction.

As soon as he noticed her, a cocky, almost roguish smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

Troy was closer to Naomi, so he got to her before anyone else.

Noticing Naomi wasn’t even looking his way, Troy purposely spoke up, “Ms. Yates, you’re sweet as honey online–so how come you’re pretending we’re total strangers in real life?”

Troy was definitely doing it on purpose; he was just trying to stir things up so Charles couldn’t relax.

Naomi instinctively edged backward step by step, gazing up at Troy, too scared to utter a single word in her own defense.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to protest–just that with Charles standing right behind her, she didn’t dare speak carelessly.

He strode over with long, determined steps, pulling Naomi behind him and placing himself squarely between her and Troy.

Naomi stayed hidden behind Charles, not daring to show her face.

Then he glanced over at Charles, mocking him with a smirk. “Charles, your taste in people is pretty average, you know.”

Charles shot Troy a steely look, his voice steady and certain. “Mr. Hamilton, you can rest easy. That day will never come.”

From Charles’s point of view, he honestly didn’t see any reason to feel bad about losing Teresa.

Yeah, she might be Yolanda’s biological mom, but Yolanda would rather have Naomi as her mom any day.

And feelings? Charles never even caught real feelings for Teresa anyway.

Plus, when it came to family status, the Sullivan family was never going to bring anything meaningful to the Logan family.

So honestly, no matter how he looked at it, Charles figured he’d never regret his choice–not for one second.

Even after saying those words, Charles couldn’t deny a faint pang of bitterness flickered in his chest.

But he reassured himself that it had nothing to do with actually caring.

Just then, someone inside pushed open the door to the private room right behind Naomi.

Out came Teresa, Hector, and Cedric, appearing as a trio.

As soon as Teresa came out, Troy rushed straight over, his face full of worry. “You alright?”

Teresa caught the concern in Troy’s eyes and gave a small nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Troy asked again, “So, can we head back now?”

Teresa said, “Professor Judd wants to hang out with me and Hector for a bit, just us three–so you go on ahead, alright?”

Troy’s expression hardened. “Then I’ll go with you.”

Professor Judd stepped forward and said, “I’m afraid this dinner is just for me and my students, Mr. Hamilton. It wouldn’t be appropriate for you to join us.”

Troy was just about to protest, but stopped himself, swallowing the words before they left his mouth.

Then it hit him–Teresa was about to become Cedric’s mentee.

Not wanting to make things messier for Teresa, Troy switched gears, forcing a relaxed smile at Cedric. “Yeah, guess it really wouldn’t be my place, huh.”

Then he glanced at Teresa and said, “Fine, I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Teresa saw him insisting and responded with a frosty tone, “Troy, you really don’t have to wait for me. I can get home by myself.”

Troy acted like he didn’t hear her at all. “Just don’t take too long–I promise I’ll be waiting in the car for you.”

Everyone could see Troy practically bending over backwards for Teresa, and honestly, the whole crew had their own reactions to it.

Charles frowned, thinking to himself, ‘What the heck is he playing at? Naomi felt an unexpected sting of jealousy, ‘Seriously, why does that bug me so much? Teresa was totally lost, ‘Why is Troy acting this way?‘ Hector looked clearly shaken, ‘Holy crap, what’s going on?” And Cedric was just plain taken aback, ‘Did not see that coming…