No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

Seeing Donovan's expression, Noelle felt a slight sense of satisfaction. It seemed her guess that he had deliberately ignored the calls back then because he did not want to take the blame for Wyatt's amputation was right.noveldrama

Even though Lucas had exposed the truth, someone like Donovan would never admit it. And now, he expected her to back down for Wyatt's sake and let Xenia off the hook. Well, Donovan should pay a price if he wanted that.

Donovan swallowed his anger. "Noelle, that was years ago. Do you really have to hold onto it? If you want compensation, I can offer you something else."

Noelle was taken aback by his audacity of wanting to avoid it. She said coldly, "I don't need anything else."

Her voice was calm, almost teasing, as she continued, "Mr. Donovan, you always say that as Liddells, we should be willing to sacrifice for family. Well, it looks like it's your turn now."

Back then, he had acted so righteous when demanding sacrifices from her. Now that it was his turn, she wanted to see if he could actually live up to his own words.

Donovan's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Haven't I sacrificed enough for the Liddells?"

"That's your duty. Besides, Mr. Quigley saved the Liddells' lives-what's a little sacrifice from you? You always say people should repay their debts, don't you?"

Donovan was exasperated by Noelle's reply. Yes, he had said those things before, but he never imagined they would be used against him.

Noelle smirked. "That's my condition. You'd better give me an answer before the police officially open the investigation."

She threw those words at him, then turned and got into the cab.

Donovan cursed under his breath, furious but helpless. All he could do was watch as Noelle's cab pulled away.

His frustration boiled over, grumbling, "I just don't get it-Noelle is my real sister! Why does she keep making things so hard for me?"

James, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced back. "Mr. Donovan, but Ms. Liddell isn't the one who caused this mess. And yet, she's always the one expected to back down. Wouldn't that be frustrating for anyone?"

James had been assigned to Donovan by Frank, specifically to keep an eye on the Liddells and make sure they did not hurt Noelle.

When Donovan fell silent, James continued, "Mr. Donovan, if Ms. Liddell is your real sister, then why have you always treated Xenia better? It does seem a little strange."

"You won't understand." Donovan's headache worsened at the thought of Xenia.

So many years had passed in the blink of an eye, and now that Wyatt was in love with her, things had only gotten messier.

...

Noelle went straight to the gym. After changing into her workout gear, she headed into the boxing room and started throwing punches at the bag.

If she had not needed to lure out the people backing Xenia, she would have completely cut ties with the Liddells by now. But she still had not found Sean, so she had no choice but to endure for now.

Frustration burned inside her, and

her mood worsened as her minde drifted back to her past life. She never expected Wyatt to actually like Xenia, and she could not help but wonder if Donovan liked her too.

A cold, deep voice suddenly broke through her thoughts. "Are you trying to ruin your hands?"

The person pressed their hand against the bag, stopping its movement. Noelle, panting slightly, looked up. The moment she saw Cedric, surprise flashed in her eyes. "You're back?"

For the past couple of days, she had known he was out on a business trip, so she had not told him about the chaos at the Liddells. But now that he was here, she could not help but feel relieved.

She stepped forward and hugged him, deliberately rubbing her sweaty forehead against his crisp white shirt. Cedric noticed her little trick but did not say anything. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, neither of them speaking, just letting the silence settle around them.

Noelle leaned against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. It calmed her in a

way nothing else could. She closed her eyes, and the irritation she had been feeling slowly faded away.

She thought, "Yeah, I really like this man..."

Cedric, too, felt his mood lift. During his trip, he had not been able to stop thinking about her. After hearing from Filly about everything that had happened with the Liddells, he rushed back as fast as he could.