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Chapter 5: Their Marriage Goes Public

The next day, Anna woke up, and it was already ten in the morning. Still half-asleep, she reached for her phone but ended up touching a warm chest instead.

Anna froze, her groggy mind snapping to attention.

Her eyes flew open.

She was married!

Just yesterday.

Anna slowly turned her head and met Charles's eyes, which had a faint smile.

Seeing her awake, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Awake? Still hurting?"

He rubbed her waist with his hand as he spoke.

Anna immediately grabbed his hand to stop him, "It doesn't hurt anymore; don't move your hands."

Charles raised an eyebrow, "I'll just rub it for you, nothing else."

Anna held onto his wrist, not daring to let go, "No need, it really doesn't hurt anymore."

Charles's lips curved into a barely noticeable smile as he looked at her lazily, seemingly judging the truth of her words.

She lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze.

She subtly changed the topic. "Get up first; I'm a bit hungry."

Charles let go of her, pulled the blanket off himself, and got out of bed. "Breakfast is ready. Should I bring it up, or do you want to eat downstairs?"

"Downstairs is fine; I'll be right there."

Anna knew she wasn't lucky enough to have someone like Charles, a man of such high status, serve her.

Charles didn't move; his eyes lowered as he looked at Anna, who was still curled up in bed. He asked, "Do you need my help?"

Anna shook her head. "No, I can do it myself."

Charles didn't insist. He pointed to the walk-in closet nearby, "Clothes and accessories are in the closet. See if you like the styles. If not, I'll have them replaced."

Anna followed his gaze and looked, then politely thanked him.

Charles said nothing more and turned to leave the bedroom.

After Charles left, Anna couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Anna took the set of clothes placed at the foot of the bed and put them on piece by piece.

There was a clock on the wall. Anna looked up at the time, grabbed her phone from the bedside table, and pressed the power button before heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

By the time she was ready, more than ten minutes had passed.

In the dining room downstairs, Charles was setting the table. Seeing Anna coming down the stairs, he placed the last dish of soup, "Come eat."

Anna sat across from him, slightly stunned at the variety of breakfast items on the table.

Charles said, "I didn't know what you like to eat, so I prepared a bit of everything."

"No need to go to such trouble in the future. I'm not picky and have no dietary restrictions," Anna said.

'Not picky?' Charles glanced at her. How did he remember that there were some foods Anna wouldn't touch at all?

But he didn't say anything, quickly looking away.

He placed a fried egg on the small plate in front of her.

Anna smiled and thanked him.

Although they didn't talk much during breakfast, the atmosphere was warm and not awkward. Until a sudden phone call broke the silence.

Both of their eyes fell on Anna's phone.

Seeing the name "Michael" flashing on the screen, the warmth in Charles's eyes turned cold. But his expression didn't change. Instead, he looked at Anna with a slight smile, his voice tinged with weariness. "Not going to answer?"

Anna's eyes were half-lowered, and Charles couldn't see her emotions. He only saw her slender fingers press the reject button on the screen.

After the call was hung up, a missed call notification popped up on the screen. Anna glanced at it expressionlessly.

There were twenty-six missed calls.

Even without opening the contacts, she could guess who made those twenty-six calls.

Seeing her staring at the phone screen, Charles said at the appropriate moment, "Your phone kept ringing last night, so I turned it off."

Anna nodded.

No wonder her phone was off this morning.

Anna usually didn't have the habit of turning off her phone at night.

Seeing Anna had no intention of answering Michael's call, Charles leaned back in his chair, casually stirring his coffee, and asked, "Not gonna answer Mr. Tudor's call? He might be looking for you for a reason."

Anna's fingers paused, but she just said indifferently, "Ignore it."

After breakfast, they both left the house. Charles headed to the biggest entertainment spot in Crystal City, Neon Nights Bar. Anna went to a coffee shop to meet her best friend.

Neon Nights Bar.

Exclusive VIP suite on the ninth floor.

Usually just a place for drinking and chatting about women, the suite was buzzing with excitement because of something Charles said last night.

Ethan Collins was scrolling through the chat history, staring at Charles's message for a long time, unable to believe that Charles, who never let women stay overnight, would say such a thing.

Throwing down his phone, Ethan leaned back on the sofa and looked at Sawyer Rivera, who was drinking and browsing Twitter.

"Did our Mr. Percy really get hitched?" Ethan looked incredulous, "Who did he marry?"

Compared to Ethan, Sawyer, the heir to one of the top five families, was much calmer.

With a hint of a roguish charm, he didn't even look up, "Who else could it be? Naturally, it's Tina."

Everyone in Crystal City knew that Charles was notoriously unruly, with countless scandals never-ending.

But no matter how many scandalous partners he had over the years, the only one who remained by his side, with a stable status, was the eldest daughter of the Green family, Tina, who was developing her career in the entertainment industry.

The Green family might not be able to compare with top-tier families like the Percy family, but they had a rich and deep cultural heritage. A marriage between her and Charles could be considered well-matched in terms of wealth and social status.

As soon as Sawyer said that, a light scoff came from the corner of the suite.

"Absolutely impossible."

The speaker was Mark Campbell, CEO of Starlight Entertainment, "As Tina's direct superior, I have the most say in this matter."

Mark glanced at Sawyer and Ethan, "Tina is currently in a closed shoot and hasn't finished filming yet. How could she have time to marry Charles?"

Before the two could respond, a notification for a trending topic on Twittercame through. Sawyer instinctively looked down at his phone, clicked on the trending topic post, and widened his eyes at the content.

Sawyer was so shocked that he spilled his drink.

Mark and Ethan looked puzzled. "What did you see? Such a big reaction. Is the sky falling?"

Sawyer quickly scanned the post, full of shock, "Charles's marriage partner is actually Anna!"

Ethan had just taken a sip of red wine, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but spit it out!

Ignoring the wine splashed on his phone screen, he looked at Sawyer in astonishment, "Who did you say?"

"Anna Howard." Sawyer waved his phone, indicating that they could see for themselves. "Apex Holdings just released the news. You two better check it out."

Ethan and Mark quickly picked up their phones. When they saw the official post and the attached marriage certificate photo, they were stunned.

It was as if a bomb had gone off in their heads, leaving them disoriented.

It took them a full minute to react. Just as they were about to speak, the suite door suddenly opened. Charles walked in, dressed casually.

Charles sat on a single sofa, ignoring Sawyer and the others' shocked expressions. He lazily leaned back on the couch and lit a cigarette.

Charles's posture was relaxed, his expression indifferent, with a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his thin lips. His long legs were casually bent.

Amidst the swirling smoke, Charles's noble and refined features exuded a sense of detachment and aloofness.

Ethan was the first to lose his composure. Looking at the post from Apex Holdings, he asked Charles, "Charles, did you marry Anna Howard?"

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