Noelle wasn't naive—she could easily see through Christian's little tricks.Christian felt guilty, truly guilty, but the idea of Quentin eating her homemade pasta didn't sit right with him. That would have been too much of a reward."Then how about you slap me?" he suggested, grabbing her hand and trying to guide it towards his face.Noelle pulled her hand back, feeling exasperated. "Just go home, Mr. Blackwood! Don't you have work in the morning?"It was nearly midnight.Christian replied, "I do, but work isn't as important as chasing my girlfriend!"He stepped closer, pulling her toward him by the arm, his glassy eyes locking onto hers. "Tell me when you're leaving. I won't go until you do."At that moment, Christian's usual laid-back demeanor gave way to something sharper, a subtle but undeniable aura of authority and determination.Noelle's breath hitched slightly. "I'll leave after I get him something to eat."Christian released her.Back outside the restaurant, Christia
From a distance, Christian watched as that familiar figure emerged from the hospital building. A quiet sense of relief settled in his chest.He stubbed out his cigarette, and the car window rolled up.Luckily, he had been smoking with the window and door open, so the car was cold but not filled with smoke.Noelle climbed into the back seat, immediately hugging her arms to herself—the car was even colder than outside.Julian turned on the heat, and as the temperature gradually rose, Noelle slowly drifted off to sleep.When the car reached Noelle's place, Christian didn't wake her.Instead, he sat in the darkness, watching her peaceful but tired face, illuminated only by the moonlight streaming through the window.After a moment, he asked Julian for the last cigarette and smoked it outside the car.Then he returned, unbuttoning his coat and wrapping it around Noelle, covering her completely. Gently, he lifted her out of the car.The late October night was biting cold, and Christ
"Nothing, it's comfortable here."The thought of returning to the hotel and facing Madison, who clearly had feelings for another man, made Chance feel suffocated.He had thought that perhaps he was the one who had wronged her, and he'd been trying to make amends—maybe by giving her a child or living a normal married life.But now he realized that she had never really cared for him.Every night, they slept in the same room—she on the bed, he on the floor—and she was probably thinking about another man the whole time.The idea that for the past two years of their marriage, she might have been thinking about someone else made Chance feel utterly miserable.He was overwhelmed with bitterness.Quentin pushed open the door to his hospital room and slipped back into his hospital gown, resuming the role of the injured patient."Your mother's counting on this trip to Collinview City to get a grandchild out of you two, but how's that supposed to happen if you're hanging around here?"Ch
When it was all over, Chance went to take a shower.Madison curled up on the bed, clutching the blanket, crying uncontrollably.By the time Chance returned, freshly showered, he seemed like the same refined, gentlemanly figure he always was.Perhaps the sight of that single drop of red on the bedsheet had eased the suffocating feeling in his chest because he felt much more at peace now.He lay down beside Madison and tried to pull her into his arms, but she flinched and moved away.She was terrified of him now.She had been too naive, thinking he wouldn't be interested in her.After all, they had slept in the same room for a year, and he had never shown any inclination toward that kind of intimacy.Even when Monica had pressured him, he had simply asked Madison if she wanted a child, saying he could give her one if she wanted.She had bluntly replied that she had never considered having his children, and after that, he never brought it up again.She had assumed he wouldn't go
Just as Quentin was about to pour himself some water—Martin having stepped out a few minutes earlier—Zara quickly walked over."Mr. Lowe, let me help you with that!" she offered.Quentin looked at the unfamiliar doctor in the white coat and replied coolly, "Thank you."Zara smiled warmly. "No need to thank me, Mr. Lowe. I'm Zara Patel, currently rotating in this department. If you need anything, you can always ask me."She handed the water to Quentin.Quentin, having encountered many women like this before, took the glass with a detached expression. "I don't need anything. You can leave now."Zara's face stiffened slightly, but she wasn't ready to give up. "Have you had your ointment applied? I can help with that."She reached for the ointment on the bedside table, taking the initiative to apply it for him.Quentin's patience reached its limit. "I told you to leave. Are you deaf?"His gaze was sharp, his mood already sour, and he didn't appreciate this intrusion.Zara's face
Chance stepped outside for a cigarette, and by the time he returned, Quentin was already getting dressed in his own clothes, looking like he was about to leave."If you don't care about her, then don't string her along. End things on good terms. Otherwise, you'll end up like me," Quentin said, offering Chance advice before leaving the room with Martin.Chance frowned, sensing something, yet not fully understanding it. He soon followed them out.After leaving the hospital, Madison called Noelle. "Noelle, I'm fine. Don't worry, it was just a routine checkup.""That's good," Noelle replied.There was a pause on the other end of the line before Madison asked softly, "Noelle, you're on your own now—are you doing okay?"Noelle hesitated, sensing that Madison's wasn't as simple as it sounded. "Is something going on?"Madison remained silent.The man she loved had died in an accident when they were in university, and with him, her heart had died too.So when her parents arranged for h
Quentin couldn't help but follow the girl with his gaze, watching as she stood outside the emergency room, tears streaming down her face.A voice echoed in his mind, questioning, "Have you ever considered that Xyla might not be that man's sister at all?"Quentin's ear twitched as the voice continued to replay in his head, "My feeling is that the two of them don't look alike at all. Like you and Yvette, Chance. Even though you're cousins, there's still a faint resemblance in your features. But Xyla and that man? Not even a little."Then, another voice chimed in, "Maybe one takes after their father, and the other after their mother!"A chill ran down Quentin's spine, a growing sense of unease gnawing at him.It was as if a fundamental belief he held was on the verge of being shattered.He turned to Martin and instructed, "Investigate that girl standing outside the emergency room."Martin glanced over at the girl.With her build and features, she could almost be mistaken for a man
Quentin felt like a fool.Noelle couldn't help but find the situation deeply ironic."You've been treating a devil like a treasure all these years. That must feel pretty great, right, Mr. Lowe?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she turned to look out the window.Quentin's heart clenched.Memories of Xyla flooded his mind—the years he'd spent protecting her, providing for her, giving her the best of everything, even neglecting his own wife for her sake time and again.His eyes grew moist. He realized just how utterly wrong and foolish he had been."If you're not feeling unwell, Mr. Lowe, I'll be on my way," Noelle said as she reached for the door handle.Quentin grabbed her arm, his eyes still wet. "Elle..."But Noelle calmly shook off his hand, opened the door, and left.Whether Xyla was that man's sister or not didn't matter to her anymore.She had left the past behind and started a new life, one where those old wounds no longer needed to be reopened.Quentin st