After a brief pause, Noelle turned back and said, "Go ahead and tell them."
Her response left William stunned. Before he could react, Noelle had already walked away.
Furious, William slammed his hand on the table and got up to follow her, only to be stopped by a waiter. "Sir, you haven't settled your bill yet."
"What bill? I didn't even order anything!"
"Sir, even without ordering, we still charge a seating fee," said the waiter, his eyes scanning William with unconcealed disdain.
William trembled with anger. He was about to slap his bank card-which held his last 50 thousand dollars- onto
bankcard the waiter's face when another voice interjected, "I'll take care of it."
Hearing the voice, William's expression shifted abruptly. He turned around to see Sandra handing her card to the waiter.noveldrama
She then turned and smiled at him. "You must be Mr. Kaplan, right?" "And you are?"
"I'm Noelle's sister, Sandra."
"Ah, the little orphan the Swansons picked up." William sneered, his gaze roaming over Sandra. "What? You got something to say to me?"
William's gaze and tone made Sandra's skin crawl, but she kept her composure, smiling faintly as she said, "Mr. Kaplan, I overheard your conversation with Noelle just now
"Oh? And?"
"You're in need of money now, aren't you?" Sandra grinned before continuing, "I have an idea to make Noelle willingly support you. Would you like to hear it?"
Noelle walked out of the restaurant with hurried footsteps, as if she were running from something terrifying.
In reality, she knew that William could no longer truly hurt her. She wasn't the powerless little girl who didn't know how to fight back anymore.
Yet, seeing him again still instilled fear in her. Like a young elephant tied to a stake, she felt like she would never be able to escape that stake for the rest of her life.
Her anxiety caused her to dash across the street without checking for traffic. A car screeched to a halt, nearly knocking into her.
"Are you crazy?" the driver shouted at her.
Noelle didn't respond and simply kept walking forward. The driver continued cursing, but she didn't hear a word.
It wasn't until much later, when she finally calmed down, that she noticed her phone ringing. She stared at the name on the screen for a long time before deciding to answer the call.
"You finally picked up," came a relieved voice. "Where have you been these past two days? I kept calling, but your phone was off. I even asked your father, and he said you were sick."
"I'm... fine."
"I wanted to visit, but your father refused. Is it... because you don't want to see me?" Liam asked. "No," Noelle answered briskly.
Liam didn't press further, though his displeasure at her sudden disappearance was clearly reflected in his voice.
Noelle decided to take this opportunity to clear things up, but before she could begin, Liam spoke again, "Are you free tomorrow? Let's have dinner. I have something to tell you."
His tone was serious, and Noelle knew that she owed him an explanation. So, she agreed, "Okay."