Xyla's expression changed dramatically. "I admit that you did help me, Mr. Kingston, but it was a win-win situation for both of us the first time! Besides, your attempt to drive a wedge between them didn't work!"Gabriel's patience had run thin. "That's none of my concern. Just tell me, when can you get me what I want?""In three days!" she said through gritted teeth. He hung up the phone.Her heart was pounding in her chest. Gabriel wanted the bid price for a project from Stille Industries, and it wouldn't be easy for her to get her hands on it; she needed to find the right opportunity.…Meanwhile, Noelle arrived at the library. Sawyer waved at her from his seat from a distance, and she walked over. "Hello."Sawyer appeared very excited as he whispered, "I thought you weren't coming." He was a full-time student who only had time to visit the library in Dragfort on weekends. The last week had felt like a month to him."I bought this for you!" He pulled out a popular cartoon plu
Quentin felt content when he saw Noelle. After getting into the car, he told Martin, "Find a reason to keep Sawyer Donovan from the School of Foreign Languages away from the library.""That punk doesn't know his place," he brooded. How dare he make a move on his woman?Noelle watched as Quentin's car drove away and was about to enter the library when she received a message from Grover. "Breaking news, Ms. Xanthos! Mitchell Langston went to the hospital to tamper with the surveillance footage last night!""What did he tamper with?" she asked.Grover responded, "He had the security department destroy all the surveillance footage from the tenth floor of the inpatient department from the night before last."Wasn't that the floor where Xyla was staying? Also, the night before last… Her chest felt stuffy as she recalled how Quentin had asked her if she had sent someone to slap Xyla.Noelle called Grover. "Grover, could you please ask the patients on Xyla's floor if anything had happene
Layla's family called her all sorts of nasty names, as if she were a jinx that everyone despised.If she could really become friends with Noelle, it might help her family business, right? After all, Noelle was personally chosen by Janet as the future mistress of the Lowe family. Besides, Quentin had no intention of marrying Xyla, which meant that he was fond of the woman before her. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. …After wrapping up his work at the company, Quentin headed to the hospital. Xyla sat quietly on the bed, watching dramas with Ava. She seemed to be in a good mood.When he walked in, Xyla looked over and smiled. "You're here, Quint!" She seemed overjoyed, as she even jumped out of bed to get him some fruit. Quentin stopped her. "Sit still. I'll get them!"Ava chuckled. "Ms. Cadwell has changed a lot in the past few days; she's become much more cheerful. It must be because her brother's watching over her!"Xyla said softly, "Yes, it must be because of my br
Martin responded. "Will do, Mr. Lowe." Then, he muttered under his breath, "Is Ms. Cadwell cursed or something? One minute she's getting burned, the next she's involved in a car accident, and now she's been slapped in the face. "As if that's not enough, she has asthma and depression, and she tried to cut her wrist to commit suicide. Then, she ran away on a rainy night… It's a miracle that she's still alive!"Quentin frowned. "What did you just say?"Martin hurriedly responded, "N-nothing!"Quentin spat, "If you don't have anything nice to say, shut up!"Martin immediately lowered his head. Just then, Quentin's phone rang. His expression softened when he saw the familiar number. He answered the call. "Elle?"Noelle asked, "Let's go out for dinner tonight."His eyes crinkled as he asked gently, "Where to?""I sent the location to your phone," she said.Quentin checked his messages and forwarded the address to Martin. "Take me to this restaurant."Half an hour later, Quentin
Xyla had just started to calm down when someone yanked the blanket off her. "You bitch!" Layla snarled. As soon as she saw Xyla, she was reminded of everything she had been through. Before Xyla could react, she slapped her several times in a row. Then, she took a picture of her swollen face before storming out of her ward.Xyla was so furious that she almost passed out. Layla had slapped her again and taken a picture. The thought of her bruised and swollen face being paraded in front of countless eyes drove her insane.Just then, her friend forwarded her another post from Yvette's social media. Xyla took one look and nearly lost it. It was a picture of Quentin and Noelle at the cinema. Noelle was holding a popcorn bucket, her eyes crinkling with a smile. The man beside her was handsome and tall.Xyla felt as if she had been punched in the chest, and she was consumed by anger. Why was she getting slapped here while the two of them were out enjoying a movie? She should be the one st
Noelle hailed a cab and headed straight to the hospital.…Meanwhile, Xyla sat on the hospital bed. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were glazed over. Her face was marred by handprints and swollen. It was just like that day all over again.Quentin felt as if his heart was being squeezed in a vice. "Xy?" Her vacant gaze slowly shifted toward him, and she began to sob, "Quint, she just can't stand me, after all…"He appeared bewildered. "Was it that woman again?"Xyla nodded, tears streaming down her face. "She told me that Noelle had sent her to deal with me and that even if she beat me to death, you wouldn't know because you were out having dinner and watching a movie with Noelle. She said that I could scream until my throat was raw, and you still wouldn't hear me…"With each passing moment, Quentin's expression grew colder. Was this really Noelle's doing? As he thought about her strange behavior earlier that evening, inviting him out to dinner and a movie, his fingers started
Xyla looked anxious and pitiful, a sight that tugged at Quentin's heartstrings, though his mind swam with questions. His dark gaze landed on Layla. "Were you really the one who slapped Xy?"Layla glanced at Quentin, then at Xyla, and felt both amused and vexed. "Stop pretending, Xyla Cadwell. You're not blind. I'm sure you know who slapped you!" Her words made Xyla shudder, and Quentin's expression changed drastically. He glanced at Xyla, who was still trembling, and frowned. As doubt gnawed at him, the door to the ward swung open once again, and Mithcell walked in. "I can confirm that it was Ms. Lewis who slapped Ms. Cadwell, and she did it on two separate occasions!" he declared resolutely."However, Ms. Cadwell made me delete the surveillance footage, which is why you couldn't find anything. Also, that EEG report was falsified; it belonged to another patient. Ms. Cadwell doesn't have depression!"Mitchell's face was as pale as a ghost. Now that the truth had come to light, he c
Large rocks tumbled down from the mountaintop unexpectedly. It crashed into the bus, which Noelle Xanthos happened to be in, and the two cars ahead. The cars were buried beneath the rubble right away. Meanwhile, the bus got struck so hard that it jerked violently before flipping onto its side."Wren, we encountered a landslide! I'm going to die!" A woman on the bus bawled while shrieking into her phone.With trembling hands, Noelle fished her phone out and sent Quentin Lowe a voice message. "I'm scared, Quentin… Can you come and get me?"The shivering in her voice made it evident that she was crying.Yet, there was no response from the other end.Noelle sat near the window, so her head smashed into the glass when the bus flipped over. The girl sitting beside her also crashed into her. When everything finally stilled, Noelle could no longer move one of her arms.Pain, chaos, stuffiness, fear, and helplessness overwhelmed the small, cramped space. Noelle felt as if she were drown