As a leading city, Coppersville's airport buzzed with activity even in the early hours of dawn.

The moment Noelle boarded the plane, she requested a blanket from the flight attendant and then shut her eyes to catch up on sleep.

It wasn't until someone sat down beside her that she stirred. She felt a hand gently adjusting the blanket draped over her. Startled awake, Noelle's eyes flew open and locked onto the person next to her.

She had just been dreaming, though a fleeting one. In it, she had seen this same face. He was dressed in a sleek black suit, sliding a wedding ring onto her finger and leaning in to kiss her. But now, the person next to her had jolted her awake.

In that moment, the man before her seemed to blur with the one from her dream, making it impossible for Noelle to tell if she was still dreaming or if this was real.

He reached out again, gently brushing aside the stray strands of hair on her forehead. The cool touch of his fingertips against her skin jolted Noelle fully awake, and she swiftly batted his hand away.

"What are you doing here?" asked Noelle. Her voice was husky from sleep, but the wariness in her eyes was unmistakable.

Hendrix withdrew his hand before replying, "Isn't it obvious? I'm heading back to Vinton City, too." Noelle frowned. "The same flight? The seat right next to mine? Hendrix, do you take me for an idiot?" Hendrix chuckled lightly at her words. "I never said it was a coincidence, so don't worry. I don't take you for an idiot."

His remark left Noelle momentarily speechless. After staring at him for a few seconds, she finally turned away and pulled the blanket higher to cover herself.

Hendrix didn't say another word.

After a while, Noelle heard Hendrix speaking quietly with the flight attendant. Moments later, a bottle of water was placed on the seat beside her.

She slowly opened her eyes, but Hendrix wasn't looking at her anymore. Instead, he had taken out a tablet and was scrolling through the news.

"Hendrix, do you really think this is fun?" asked Noelle suddenly.

Hendrix's fingers paused briefly, then he chuckled. "Quite fun, actually."

"I've already made myself very clear."

"That's your perspective. You're free to hold onto it, but you can't dictate mine."

Noelle let out a soft laugh. "Then, can you tell me what's driving your persistence?"

Hendrix turned to look at her. "What do you think?"

Another one of those evasive questions.

At this point, Noelle felt no anger. She simply told him, "I don't like you anymore. Whatever feelings you have for me now, you won't get any response from me. Mr. Freeman you're a businessman. If you know a project has no benefits or potential for development, would you still choose to invest?"

Her words carried a sharp, unmistakable edge of mockery.

Hendrix knew she was throwing his own "results-driven" philosophy back at him, as she was still bitter about what he'd said before. He didn't get upset. Instead, he simply replied, "I wouldn't."

Noelle chuckled softly and was about to retort when Hendrik spoke again, "But I'm not approaching this as

at businessman right now. If I were calculating everything based on benefits and potential outcomes, I wouldn't have partnered with you on the Continental Reach project, either.

"Letting emotions overrule reason is something I've always resisted and avoided. When my mother's

accident happened, I handled everything with cold rationality, including our relationship.

"I thought it was the right approach and believed I could view my feelings for you through anoveldrama

businessman's perspective and discard them entirely."

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