"You want to talk to me about manners?" Quentin held his cigarette between his fingers, his dark eyes glaring through the swirling smoke. "I'm afraid you'll have to show me some manners first, Ms. Xanthos!" He paused before fuming, "How long has it been since we split? It's only been half a year! Yet, you're already with another man in that short time? Is that what you call class? What happened to your morals? Did you think of our marriage while you were cheating on me with that guy?"Noelle was so angry that her breathing was ragged. "What are you on about, Quentin Lowe? I never had anything to do with him while we were married! I barely even know him! Also, like you said, we've been divorced for six months! Even if I fall for someone else right after our divorce, it's none of your damn business!" "Are you telling me you've really fallen for him?" Quentin's temper flared. Unable to control himself, he yanked her by the collar, bringing her face to face with him. "How far have you
It was Saturday morning. When Noelle opened the door, the door across the hallway swung open, as if the person had been waiting for her.Dressed in a cream-colored trench coat, Quentin looked dashing. Initially, he wanted to join her in the elevator, but he held himself back. He stood in front of another elevator and looked into her eyes. "I'm truly sorry about what happened yesterday. I promise I'll keep my emotions under control in the future. So, please don't be mad at me, okay?"Noelle couldn't care less if he could control his emotions or not. All she wanted was for him to leave her alone. She hoped that what happened last night would never repeat itself. "Feel free to do whatever you want, Mr. Lowe," she said calmly, stepping into the elevator as the doors slid open.Quentin felt a dull ache in his chest. Did she really not care about him anymore? He wanted to confront her, to ask how she could be so cruel, but his feet stayed planted. He'd promised to keep his emotions under
"Don't forget about us when that time comes, Lia!" Just then, a white sedan pulled up right in front of the three women, narrowly missing them. "Hey, watch where you're going!" one of Lia's friends yelled. The sedan's window rolled down, revealing a young woman's cold face. Noelle's voice was icy as she threatened, "Stay away from Gentle Glades, Lia Woodworth! If you ever insult my mother again, I can't promise I won't break your legs!""Who do you think you are? Do you even know who you're talking to?" Lia's friend shot back. Lia stopped her and smiled. "Lola, this is Michael's daughter!" Her smile was so warm and friendly. "Elle, I'm afraid you've got the wrong idea. I would never insult your mother. I simply wanted to have a friendly conversation with her. After all, we're both your father's women, remember? In a way, we could even be sisters!""Shut your trap!" Every word Lia said was an insult to Emmie. Noelle could barely contain her boiling anger. "No one considers y
Emmie tried to ignore Michael and walk away, but he grabbed her arm, yanking her back. "Where do you think you're going? Is Elijah waiting outside for you?" He said it to get a rise out of her, knowing full well Elijah was bedridden and scheduled for surgery the next day.Emmie couldn't take it anymore. "Let go of me! I'm meeting Elle for lunch!" she yelled, thrashing about.Michael smirked. "Tell her you're too busy and eat with me instead! Or else, she can bid her trip to the Utopia States farewell!"She felt suffocated. "Michael Xanthos!"He cocked his brow. "You should know that there was never a rotation program in the Utopia States!" It was obvious he'd pulled some strings to get Noelle a chance to go to the Utopia States.Her anger subsided a little. "I'm glad you haven't forgotten she's your daughter!"Right then, her phone rang. Emmie was aware it was Noelle calling. She answered it and said, "Elle, I was just notified that I needed to go to the museum right away. I won'
Michael had only wanted to be a little closer to Emmie. When did he ever ask for anything else? How did it turn into him forcing her to trade her body? Was he truly that inhumane? In the end, he got up and left with a heavy heart. …The next day, Noelle couldn't meet Emmie, as Fred's condition suddenly took a turn for the worse. When Quentin called her, she burst into tears. Despite having a flight booked to the Utopia States the following day, she immediately booked the most expensive flight to Dragfort. Unfortunately, she was too late; when she arrived, Fred had already passed away. Overwhelmed by grief, she wept uncontrollably.Quentin handed her a letter. "This is from Grandpa." He appeared calm and collected, just like always, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was grave.Noelle unfolded the letter and felt as if she could see Fred's kind and loving face right in front of her. "Elle, I want to apologize for everything our family has put you through over the y
On the way to Collinview City, Noelle's head pounded, and her stomach churned with nausea, though she couldn't bring herself to throw up. She reclined in her seat as the flight attendant, assigned to accompany her, checked on her frequently, concern etched on her face."Are you sure you don't need anything?" the attendant asked again, her worry apparent.Noelle shook her head, but then caught a whisper from the attendant to someone nearby, "Mr. Lowe instructed us to take good care of Ms. Xanthos. Should we inform him about her condition?""Don't tell him!"Noelle abruptly sat up. "I'll be fine after some rest."She didn't want to cause any more trouble, nor did she want to endure Quentin's concern and care.A breakup is a breakup. There's no need to keep dragging things out.Noelle's reaction took aback the flight attendant but quickly composed herself. "Alright, Ms. Xanthos," she replied, refraining from contacting the ground as instructed.Over two hours later, the plane touc
After Michael finished speaking, he walked away, his tall figure showing no trace of emotion.Noelle stared blankly at his departing silhouette, thinking, "Yeah, she really had missed out on so much before. But… did this mean he was actually trying to mentor her?"When Noelle returned to her place, she collapsed onto the bed, not wanting to get up. Even though she had only assisted in the surgery, the constant tension had left her utterly exhausted.Her phone rang—it was Christian. She answered."Hello?""Hey, little widow, did you finish knitting that scarf?"Noelle replied, "Halfway done."Then, through gritted teeth, she added, "Call me 'little widow' again, and I'll marry you just to spite you!"Christian chuckled, his voice sounding especially nice even over the distance. "Sure! Go ahead and try. Let's see if you can manage to outlive me!"Noelle suddenly found herself at a loss for words."You're so annoying!"She hung up the phone and walked over to the window, hoping
Noelle laughed for a good while as she stared at the notification of the 700-dollar deposit. It was the most stress-relieving and happiest thing that had happened to her in a long time.Excitedly she posted on social media, along with a screenshot of the notification."700 dollars received, yay!"A flurry of envious emojis flooded the comments.John simply commented, "Nice."Christian added, "If I'd known it made you this happy, I would've helped you get even more!"Noelle suddenly found herself at a loss for words.Just then, she received a new message on WhatsApp. Noelle opened it.Zara texted, "Elle, how did you do it? Teach me! I've tried several times, but I never succeed."Noelle replied, "I just got a lot of people to help. You can do it too if you find enough people."But Zara replied, "Elle, I don't have many friends. Could you ask your friends to help me out too?"Noelle frowned. She had only asked Christian for help on a whim and was already regretting it. Christi