Noelle's words were soon proven true.The day after the project was handed over to Julio, Amity Group notified them that work would resume.Although Noelle's responsibilities had been transferred to Julio, she was still the general manager of the subsidiary, so some processes still had to go through her.Two days later, Julio claimed that there were still some unclear aspects of the handover. Since Noelle was on leave preparing for her wedding, he decided to take Oliver from her side.Noelle didn't object. After all, this was the company's project, and if anything went wrong, she would be held accountable.Oliver was soon reassigned.A week later, when it was only two more days until Noelle and Dylan's wedding, she received a call from Oliver in the middle of the night. "Ms. Swanson, shit has gone down. I can't get in touch with Mr. Garcia!"Noelle was shocked and was now wide awake from her sleep. Her mind was still in a mess. "What?" "Mr. Garcia is missing!" Oliver's voice
In the past, Craig had always been the one giving orders to Noelle. He didn't need to consult her, nor did he allow her to oppose him. But now, he seemed like a helpless child, asking Noelle what to do. Noelle closed her eyes for a moment before speaking again, "Who else knows about this for now?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake in phrasing, so she quickly added, "No matter who knows, we must block the news. Otherwise, once the stock market opens tomorrow, Elm Group will truly be doomed!" Craig remained silent while staring vacantly ahead. "What about Julio's family? They should still be here, right? You need to get someone to contact them immediately. Once Julio reaches them, call the police right away! Do you hear me?" Noelle's final words seemed to snap Craig back to reality, and he shakily reached for his phone. Noelle didn't look back, turning to walk away, but there was no sound behind her. When she turned back in confusion, she found
Noelle looked at Dylan for a long while, then smiled. "No need. Just stay with me like this." Dylan reached out and pulled her into his arms. His hug wasn't tight, and the faint fragrance on his body instantly filled Noelle's nose. Noelle made no effort to resist but slowly reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist. "How's your father?" Dylan asked her. "Acute stroke," she said softly. "But we got to the hospital on time, and the doctor said that as long as he wakes up, everything will be fine." "Mm, how about you go back and rest? I'll keep an eye on things here." "No. I won't be able to sleep even if I go back. Haven't you noticed my phone hasn't stopped ringing?" Dylan didn't reply. Noelle didn't know if he was feeling guilty for being unable to help her, so she said, "The wedding doesn't need to be postponed. Your grandfather has been looking forward to it for so long, so we can't disappoint him." "But…""Don't worry. I can still spare a day, and with Elm
"Noelle, I'm just an ordinary friend of his. I don't have that kind of influence." Sandra laughed, then added, "Actually, if you want to meet Mr. Mueller, maybe you should have Dylan…"Dylan, who had been sitting nearby, finally lifted his head when Sandra mentioned his name.But Noelle didn't pay him any attention. She grabbed Sandra's hand and pulled her out of the room."What's this about, Noelle? You're hurting me!" Sandra still spoke in a sweet tone, but as soon as Noelle dragged her to an isolated spot, she immediately yanked Noelle's hand away, her voice turning cold as she asked, "What do you want?""I should be asking you that," Noelle replied. "You should know very well what's going on with the family right now. If I could contact Javier myself, that'd be one thing, but the problem is now…""Now what? Noelle, I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be the one asking me for help." Sandra laughed, raising her chin and looking at her. "So, go ahead. Ask away. If it's a r
Noelle subconsciously glanced at the person in the hospital room after hearing the secretary's words.Dylan was sitting quietly there.Looking at him, Noelle suddenly remembered the hug he gave her that morning. She knew that her relationship with him was purely contractual, including their marriage, but all she wanted at that moment was a hug.She knew this went beyond the scope of their agreement, but Dylan didn't bring it up, and neither did she.Perhaps Noelle had been looking at him for too long. Dylan sensed something unusual and immediately looked over at her.Noelle took a deep breath. "I need to go back to the company for a while. I'll arrange for a nurse to come over. As for here…""It's fine. Go ahead," Dylan quickly replied. "I don't have much to do today anyway.""But…""Have you forgotten? We're getting married soon, so your father is my father-in-law. Isn't it normal for me to take care of him?" Dylan's words rendered Noelle speechless.It was clearly not appr
"That's right." Hendrix nodded satisfactorily. "We already had bad blood, so why bother with fake pleasantries now?"He continued as he picked up the coffee cup in front of him. "You must really wish for my death right now, don't you?"Hendrix's voice was calm, with a faint smile on his lips, but the words he spoke were enough to leave Noelle speechless.She paused for a moment, but she quickly responded with a smile, "Yes, so you know.""Mm, but unfortunately, I'm still sitting here just fine," Hendrix said, showing no concern. He met her gaze with a cold stare. "And based on the current situation, I doubt I'm the one who's going to be ending things first."Noelle couldn't reply. Although Hendrix had treated her with this kind of attitude before, she still remembered clearly the taste of the drinks he forced upon her that night in Vinton City. At this moment, all she could see in his eyes was an endless coldness.Noelle's voice grew hoarser. "If that's the case, Mr. Freeman, w
Noelle's expression changed as she heard Hendrix's words, and she turned to look at him.Her expression made Hendrix feel like something was stabbing into his heart. It seemed like he was right.That contractual relationship seemed more than that now. Noelle had fallen for Dylan. If not, what could explain the look in her eyes now?Noelle didn't even react this way when he brought up her and Elm Group.The dull pain quickly spread across Hendrix's chest, accompanied by a familiar metallic taste. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and after taking several deep breaths, he finally managed to suppress the feeling and said, "It seems like you really care about him.""Hendrix, this is between us. Can you stop being so despicable and dragging innocent people into this mess?""Innocent?" Hendrix chuckled. "It seems like you really don't know much about your fiancé. Do you know what he's been doing behind your back?"Before Noelle could respond, Hendrix handed her a file. "Take a look
As soon as Hendrix finished speaking, Noelle suddenly stepped forward and raised her hand. But her slap never landed. Hendrix had caught her wrist, his face completely expressionless."You're crazy!" Noelle said.Hendrix smiled faintly. "Yeah, I know."Noelle didn't say another word, but she trembled even more violently as tears began to fall. Still, it seemed she refused to show any weakness in front of Hendrix. So, she quickly wiped away her tears."Dylan's grandfather is sick," she finally told Hendrix. "Alzheimer's. His condition is deteriorating quickly, and he might not remember anything soon. That's why Dylan proposed to me."But when she finished speaking, the answer she wanted never came.Hendrix's gaze remained cold as he looked at her. When he noticed Noelle was still staring at him, he even asked, "So? What does that have to do with me?"Noelle took a deep breath. "So, could the wedding—""No," Hendrix cut her off without hesitation, and Noelle's question was left u
"Look at what they did to my son! My son was perfectly fine, and now he's lying in a hospital bed! I'll make sure that bastard rots in jail forever!"Joanne's shrill voice pierced through the door.Noelle sat on a chair, clutching a cup of hot water. Beside her sat Irene, her face dark with fury.The yelling outside continued, "Nelly is nothing but a slut! I knew from the start she was no good! Just look at that face. Who wouldn't she try to seduce? Sid isn't that kind of person! She must've failed to seduce him and then conspired with her lover to frame my son!"Irene couldn't take it anymore. She flung the door open, and the shouting stopped instantly.It was no surprise that Joanne would be scared of Irene since the old woman was holding a hoe in her hand."Get lost," Irene said simply.Joanne paled but stood her ground.Seeing this, Irene was just about to charge forward with her hoe when Joanne panicked and quickly turned to leave.But the onlookers lingered nearby, watch
But that was only if Sid had been willing to accept it. The way Hendrix had looked at him back then—cold and disdainful.And when he'd spoken, his voice had been so certain, as if he'd known Sid would take the money. And in the end, he had. But that didn't give Hendrix the right to look down on him.The more he thought about it—the way he'd been overjoyed when he first met Noelle during their matchmaking, the time and emotion he'd wasted on her—the more resentment burned in his chest."What do you want?"Noelle could feel the danger radiating off him. She kept stepping back, but Sid only advanced, step by step."What do I want?" Sid let out a cold laugh. "Simple. You just need to sleep with me once.""What did you say?" Noelle stared at him in disbelief.For a moment, she thought she must have misheard."Stop playing dumb!" Sid snarled impatiently. "Cut the act! I know you're no longer pure. I saw that bastard sneaking out of your house this morning. You've got some nerve. You
Noelle ended up leaving the room first. The moment she stepped out, she shut the door firmly behind her.Irene thought that was weird. "Why did you close the door?""No reason. Just a habit."Noelle's cheeks were still faintly flushed, and she avoided Irene's gaze, brushing off the question with a vague reply.Irene found it odd but didn't press further.After breakfast, Irene announced she was heading to the back mountain to gather herbs to sell at the market in a few days.Noelle had been thinking about how to divert her, and this played right into her plans."Come with me," Irene said. "And bring two more bottles of water."Noelle hesitated for a moment. She usually accompanied Irene on these trips, so refusing now would seem suspicious. In the end, she nodded.But before leaving, she suddenly called out, "I'm closing the door!"Her voice was loud, ensuring the person inside her room could hear.Irene gave her a strange look. "Who are you talking to?""You.""I'm standi
"I haven't slept all night. Can you just let me rest for a while?" Hendrix asked."Why don't you go sleep in your own place?" Noelle argued."I can't sleep without you."The moment Hendrix spoke those words, Noelle's cheeks flushed bright red.She wanted to argue, but in the next moment, Hendrix's breathing seemed to steady.Surprised, she lifted her head and saw the dark circles under his eyes. Even his usually clean-shaven jaw now bore a faint stubble.Her hand, which had been ready to push him away, slowly dropped.Hendrix hadn't expected to fall asleep so quickly. Though he had finally found Noelle, he hadn't been sleeping well these past few days. Aside from constantly being jolted awake, the terrible conditions here only made things worse. But in Noelle's room, none of that seemed to matter.Even in this cramped, damp little house, even on this rickety wooden bed that cracked beneath him, he could still catch the faint scent of her skin and the sun-warmed fragrance of the
Night fell quickly.Hendrix had been restless since evening. With no Internet here, he couldn't even distract himself with work. He could only lie in bed, flipping through the photos on his phone while listening intently for any movement outside.He didn't like having his photo taken, and neither did Noelle. So there were very, very few pictures of the two of them on his phone. During the time Noelle was missing, he had already memorized every single one of the photos.After scrolling through them several times, he finally couldn't take it anymore and got out of bed. To prove he wasn't joking, Hendrix was really planning to climb over the wall to find Noelle.But then, he quickly remembered something—his arm was still in a splint. So there was no way he would be able to climb that wall.In the end, he could only stand outside the wall, staring at the door. Only after confirming that Noelle wasn't coming out did he turn and go back inside.As dawn broke, he finally heard movement
And was the man in front of Noelle really her husband? Because they had once been the closest people in the world, he knew everything about her.That was why Noelle had felt an inexplicable familiarity toward Hendrix before and why she had instinctively wanted to get closer to him.Sensing her concern, Hendrix asked, "You don't want to leave your mom, do you?" After a moment of hesitation, Noelle nodded."Don't worry. I'm not planning to take you away right now," Hendrix said. "There are still things to deal with in Coppersville. I have to wait until everything is settled before we can go back. As for your mom, we can take her with us when we go back. Don't worry. I'll take good care of her for saving you."But you can't just listen to her and marry someone else. You're already my wife. If you marry another man, you'll be committing the crime of bigamy. And more than that, it would be completely irresponsible to me."Noelle didn't respond.Hendrix couldn't help but frown when h
Hendrix hadn't planned on telling Noelle all of this. As the doctor had said, once the blood clot dissipated, she might remember everything on her own. So, he didn't want to push her.And if she never remembered, that was fine, too. He had come to think that staying here for a while longer might not be a bad idea because Noelle could get the maternal love she had always longed for from Irene.As for their relationship… Well, it had been an arranged marriage from the start. The moment she was of age, they had wed without hesitation. Even their first kiss had happened during their wedding photoshoot.So Hendrix thought, if she had forgotten all of that, he could just court her again. It would be a chance to make up for the romance they had missed out on before.But now, he had no choice but to tell her. He had finally found her, and it would be the biggest joke of all if she ended up marrying someone else because of what others said. There was no way he would ever allow that to happe
Noelle couldn't help but frown.But before she could say anything, Hendrix suddenly asked, "Why didn't you come?""What?""I'm asking why you didn't come to the hospital. Was it because you were too busy getting married?"As Hendrix spoke, he took a step closer to her. His intense gaze felt as if he were trying to pull something out of Noelle.Noelle froze for a moment but quickly replied, "I never said I would definitely go.""You said you'd take care of me.""I didn't say that. That was your own assumption," Noelle quickly retorted. Then, she looked up at him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you have plenty of people taking care of you.""What do you mean?""You've definitely had a lot of women before, right?" Noelle forced a smile. "I don't know why you're staying here, but I'm not like those women. So, if you're just looking for some fun, don't waste your time on me."Noelle's voice was laced with sarcasm. But her eyes were slightly red, and her throat moved as if she was tryin
The woman who had shouted was about to continue making a scene, clearly intent on drawing the entire neighborhood's attention. But Hendrix quickly turned around.To her, a thief should have looked guilty. Yet, when he looked at her, his eyes were sharp and piercing. That gaze made the woman swallow her words before they could leave her mouth.Just then, Irene came out, holding something in her hand. When she saw Hendrix, her expression darkened. "How dare you show your face here again, you scoundrel? Do you have a death wish or something? Fine. I'll send you straight to hell right now!"As she spoke, she raised the object in her hand, ready to strike Hendrix—just like she had done several times before.But this time, Hendrix didn't dodge. Instead, he expressionlessly grabbed her hand. One of his arms was still in a splint. But even so, it was enough to stop Irene completely. Her eyes widened in shock.Noelle also came out from inside. When she saw Hendrix, she was momentarily stun