Charles' slender hand picked at the seatbelt on Noelle, then he smiled and said, "I hope you were joking."Noelle gazed at Charles, her breath catching in her throat. She could not read him, he was way too close for comfort. His presence and unique scent were overwhelming. A crisp blend of passionfruit and lemon lingered in the air, light yet impossible to ignore.She turned away, her heart racing. "I get it," she said with a quick nod.She knew she was no match for Charles in this game they were playing.Charles noticed her unease and softened his expression. "Hey, I didn't mean to freak you out. Look, stuff happens, right? Why run from it? Face it head-on, accept it, and who knows? You might see things in a new light."Noelle inhaled deeply, trying to steady her nerves. "Fine. I'll give it a shot. Three days, right? You promised me three days."A hint of a smile played on Charles's lips. He found Noelle's mix of fear and feistiness amusing, not the usual reaction he got. "I'm a
Xavier's face turned red with fury as the car sped off into the distance. "Some hero you are, hiding behind tinted windows! Come out and face me if you dare!" he yelled, though his challenge fell on deaf ears.Charles was long gone, the car a mere speck in the sprawling suburb. Xavier was left with nothing but the smoke of the car's trail and a firestorm of anger in his chest that he could not quell.It was maddening. Noelle had been with him for ages, yet she had never stayed the night. Now, some random guy showed up, and she did not come home? Unbelievable.Xavier clenched his fists. If only that guy had stepped out of the car, he would have shown him what a real man looked like.Little did Xavier know that his outburst might spell disaster for his family’s company.It was only after the car had vanished that Xavier calmed his anger. He could not believe Noelle would run around with some guy, not coming home all night. He had not even stopped to think about what he had done the
The more Noelle thought about last night—how Julian had drugged her and Xavier had been in on it—the more she felt sick to her stomach, as if she had swallowed a fly. It was disgusting.Even with Xavier and Winter together, she had not thought about getting back at them. However, they seemed obsessed with tearing her down, even willing to trade her to a guy like Simon for cash.Noelle could not bear to think about what might have happened if Simon had... or if Charles had not shown up just in time to get her out of there. What then?It was her Grandpa's birthday party, with the Shaw family hosting a ton of high-society types. If anyone had caught her in a room with a guy doing who-knows-what, she would have kissed her reputation and her whole life goodbye.What was Xavier even trying to say? Was he actually worried about himself? Could he be?"Noelle, please open the door and hear me out. I honestly have no clue what went down yesterday. Winter told me you were gone, and that your
"What happened to me? Oh, please. I've always been this way. You never knew the real me, or maybe you just never bothered to!" Noelle's laugh was cold as she cut off Xavier's words. "We've had nothing to talk about for ages. I haven't forgotten what went down last night. I'm not some puppet you can play with. Go tell Winter to watch her back. If she slips up, I'll make her wish she'd never crossed me."Noelle was not the type to be cold and unfeeling; she would not have turned this way if they had not pushed her to the limit.After her outburst, Noelle rubbed at her eyes, her head hung low, and she forced a bitter smile. No matter how much her parents played favorites, she used to just get over it. She was great at making her own fun, or she would just hang out with her Grandpa, playing chess. Her Grandpa always said chess was a great way to calm down the mind.Noelle tried to tell herself that her parents just wanted her to learn to stand on her own two feet. Then she saw how they
"What's so great about him, huh? Do you even know him, Noelle? You've barely met the guy. I know you're trying to tick me off because of the whole thing with your sister, but this isn't the way to do it, Noelle.""That's it, Xavier. Leave now, or I'm calling the cops."Noelle was fed up with Xavier's rant. She might not know Charles inside and out, but at least he was honest and would not hurt her.She was done with Xavier's drama. Dragging this out would help no one. Xavier could be as stubborn as a mule, refusing to back down. Even after Noelle told him off, he would not budge, just kept shouting her name outside. Some nosy neighbors even threw in their two cents.Feeling trapped, Noelle decided to ignore him.Meanwhile, Xavier, getting no response from Noelle, grew even more furious. "Noelle, open up! We need to talk. You think running away will fix things?""Sir, do you live here?"After what felt like an eternity, two cops showed up and eyed Xavier. "We have received compla
Noelle started packing up her stuff. It was just a rental, but she had accumulated a ton of things over time. If she was serious about this move, waiting until the third day to start packing would have been foolish. Decision made, Noelle got down to business, tossing out the junk and keeping what mattered. It was a full day's work.Meanwhile, Xavier was totally blindsided. He could not believe Noelle had actually called the cops on him, and that they had just scoffed at his name, totally unimpressed. Dropping the Hoffman family name did not work either. The cops had said, "Even if Mr. Hoffman himself showed up, we'd still play it by the book!" Little did Xavier know that Mr. Hoffman was the reason the cops were there in the first place. There was no way they were going to let him off easy.Xavier had had no other option but to ring up Winter. The moment Winter caught wind that Xavier was with the police, she dashed there without a second thought. Xavier had just wrapped up his sta
It all had been going so well. Even the prestigious Hoffman family had taken a liking to her. Winter had felt like she had Noelle right where she wanted her, squashed under her heel. Now, Xavier's words were throwing her for a loop. Noelle could not have a sugar daddy!"Xavier, are you for real? But that's just not Noelle!""Why wouldn't it be? I saw her this morning in an outfit that wasn't the same as yesterday's, and it looked expensive!”"It might be worth hundreds of thousands!" Winter gasped, her teeth catching on her lower lip in worry. "What are we going to do now? And what about Dad? He mentioned that Master York seemed pretty smitten with Noelle, right? Master York was in Noelle's room yesterday and ended up getting hurt!"A mean streak flashed in Winter's eyes. She had been so sure that Noelle and Simon would end up in a scandal last night. Who would've guessed Simon would be such a flop, getting knocked out cold?The word on the street was that SImon did not care who h
The three days flew by in a blur. Noelle had her bags all packed, just waiting for Charles to swing by and pick her up. The last few days were not just about waiting; they were filled with drama, like the York family finding out Samuel got hurt and deciding to cut all ties with the Shaws.Julian was freaking out and running around like a headless chicken. He apologized to Samuel at the hospital and blew up Noelle's phone with calls. Noelle was not about to fall for that though. She knew better than to show up. Julian even had the nerve to say on the phone that if the Yorks came after the company because of him, it would all be Noelle's fault.Noelle was so close to laughing out of sheer frustration. She could not believe the nonsense coming out of her own dad's mouth. It was a sad moment when she realized she might not really know the man she called Father.Julian did not stop there. He actually had the gall to tell her to go and throw herself at Simon, to try and charm him into gi