Chapter 8

“Look at how kind Winter is to you, Noelle. How could you…”

“F*ck off. I don’t want to see you two.” It was only then that Noelle finally knew what Xavier thought of her.

“Don’t do this, Noelle. No matter what happens, we’re still family. Do you know how angry Grandpa was when he learned about what happened? He… He wouldn’t want bad blood between us sisters over something as minor as this.”

Winter grabbed Noelle’s arm, tears streaming down her face as she said passionately, “You know just how much Grandpa loves you, Noelle. What happened is all my fault. Please come home with me! Grandpa would be so upset if you didn’t!”

Noelle's sadness only intensified when she heard those words leaving Winter’s mouth. “Grandpa? So, you know how disappointed Grandpa would be as well. If you knew that, you should never have done what you did in the first place. Why didn’t you think about how sad Grandpa would be when you did all this despite knowing Xavier was my boyfriend?”

“Noelle, don’t you think you’re being too selfish?

“Please, Noelle, I’m begging you! You said yourself that Xavier was just your boyfriend. You two weren’t engaged, nor were you married. It’s perfectly fine that I got together with him.”

“What did you say?” Noelle could not believe her ears. “So that gave you all the grounds you needed to steal my boyfriend from me?”

“It’s not like that, Noelle. We just couldn’t stop ourselves,” Winter said as she took Noelle’s hand in hers, speaking as if they were still children. “You know how Grandpa is, Noelle. He said he wouldn’t approve of our marriage if you didn’t return home with me. Come on, Noelle. Come home with me, and tell Grandpa you don’t like Xavier, alright?”

“That’s enough. You two disgust me.” Noelle never imagined Winter would still not let her live her life despite everything she had already done. “I won’t go home, and I couldn’t care less about what will happen to you and Xavier. Please leave immediately.”

Noelle shoved Winter aside and hurriedly retrieved her keys from her bag so she could unlock her front door. However, Xavier hurried forth and grabbed the handle, a confused look in his eyes as he gazed at Noelle. “Can’t we part on good terms, Noelle? Do you really have to destroy my good impression of you?”

Xavier had a pained expression on his face as if Noelle had done something terribly wrong to him. “Don’t feel so aggrieved. We were never engaged, and Winter and I weren’t doing anything wrong by getting together. She’s your sister. Why can’t you be considerate of her feelings?”

Noelle felt a stabbing pain in her chest, which slowly spread to the rest of her body. Tears welled in her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself not to cry as she stuck her neck out to stare into Xavier’s eyes.

She never imagined that one day, he would end up questioning her in this manner when she could still recall how he had made all sorts of promises to her. “Listen to yourself, Xavier Harris. What did I not do well enough that warranted the two of you treating me this way?

"You were the one who asked me to date you in the first place, and you promised you would never betray me. That wasn’t even that long ago, yet you’re asking me to be considerate of her feelings now?

"What about me? Have you ever been considerate of my feelings?”