Cynthia walked in, moving effortlessly like she was gliding on air. Her presence was magnetic, and her eyes were focused solely on Noah; "Can I speak to you for a moment?" Her voice was perfectly confident, like she was talking to someone really familiar. But for his part, Noah looked at her with equal calmness as he asked;“What is it? What does Miss Flores suddenly want to discuss with a stranger?"Cynthia felt a twinge of embarrassment and ran her eyes over everyone seated there. “Come on, Noah. Don't be like this," She insisted, her tone becoming more and more urgent.Everyone else was stunned into silence, most of all Eliana, who was sitting right beside Noah and could see the face of the woman despite the ambient lighting. Wasn't this Cynthia Flores? The influencer and model? What was she doing here, and more importantly, why was she talking to her husband, asking him to step away for some time?Bailey, on the other hand, was looking curiously at the two of them, trying to
Once Noah, Bailey and Noelle had left, Eliana was sitting by herself, swirling her glass of water, lost in her thoughts. And her mind was continuously indicating things were definitely off today, even though she didn't know why. From finding out about her secret admirer this morning, to Cynthia practically dragging her husband away from the dinner, the day had been filled with so many weird moments.In fact, in the last three years that she had known Noah, she could hardly remember Noah even mentioning any friends at all, so what was all this about? Why and how had his friends suddenly started to appear in their life, out of nowhere? As she was thinking about all of this, completely lost in herself, a hand suddenly clasped her own, making her jump in shock.With a jerk, she looked up to find that it was Jaxon Kent clutching her wrist, his eyes dazed like he was clearly drunk. His gaze was stuck to her chest, like it was drawn by a magnet, making her quite uncomfortable. Eliana ini
“Crazy bastard, did you really think that I'll just accept everything as Jaxon's fault!?”Noelle was screaming hysterically, and Noah was getting more and more frustrated by her behavior. Was she really so desperate to cling to this middle aged creep, just because he was rich? With a disgusting look towards her, he said;“No! What I am trying to say is, after such a disgusting statement, you're just as guilty as your boyfriend! Without even trying to hear what had happened, it's always women like you who don't believe the victims and instead, try to blame them–”Noelle scoffed at Noah's words, interrupting him. “Do you think we both care about what allegations you are pasting on my boyfriend? And trust you as a victim and believe in your words? Clearly not! People like you– with empty pockets and zero morals– can't be trusted anyway; there is nothing you won't do to get even a few cents!”Noah was losing his patience, but he still tried to speak calmly, giving her some margin. Afte
Eliana sat in the passenger seat, her head turned completely away from Noah in the driver's seat. She was looking out of the window, watching the lights of the city pass by in a blur, her eyes filled with unshed tears.Whether they were tears of sadness, betrayal or anger, she wasn't so sure. And the low mechanical whirring of the engine was only causing her gut to twist even further, in tune with the rollercoaster of emotions inside her. She was torn; there was no way she would allow anyone to mess with her boundaries the way Jaxon wanted to, and it was completely non negotiable in her mind. But another part of her was questioning, was it really necessary for Noah to behave like this? She was still partially in shock, unable to believe what had happened earlier. She had always known Noah as a non-violent person, and in the last three years, he had been calm in every situation, almost to a fault… but tonight? Tonight, he had snapped in a way she had never seen before. When she was
Noah's POV:Earlier that morning… It wasn't shaping up to be a particularly good morning so far, first, Eliana had almost seen me in uncle Stuart's car, and only God knows how I managed to deflect the situation with a supposed heart attack, even when I know that the old man is as healthy as a horse!But after that annoying encounter with Gloria, it seemed like my share of annoyances wasn't over yet. I wanted to surprise Eliana with the money, wanting to catch the glimpse of happiness on her face… but it was her best friend, Bailey, who opened the door to my wife's office.Still, I was pretty confident that Eliana would find out soon enough, that every word I had promised her last night was true.I wasn't going to let anyone else torture her anymore… not till I am alive, and definitely not after my death. I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw the sleek black sedan pull up outside the building. I knew I had to shelve my personal grudges for now, and focus on my meeting with William
Bailey sensed the desperation in Eliana's voice, and the soft sound of sniffles was a tell- tale sign that she was crying. In a minute, her panic peaked;“Ellie? Are you okay? Just tell me. I'll do anything… Do you want me to pick you up? I can ask the cab to turn around."Eliana quickly replied, shaking her head absentmindedly like she had forgotten that Bailey couldn't see her. "No, no, Bailey, I'm okay. I just need a favor. Can you please go to my office—""Office? At this time?" It would be an understatement to say that Bailey was puzzled."Yes. I need you to check something on my behalf. Just go to my office as soon as you can."Bailey understood that whatever it was, it was serious enough that Eliana was asking her to go there so late at night without waiting for the next morning, when she herself could check it. With a sigh, she asked the cab driver to stop at Red Swan Entertainment briefly. When she finally stepped out of the cab, the security guard snapped to attention li
Eliana woke up to the incessant ringing of her phone, buzzing somewhere around herself. She tried to pat the bed with her arms, trying to look for it, but exhaustion soon took over and she was pulled back into the throes of sleep. After the third ring managed to break her sleep, she finally cracked one eye open and groggily grabbed her phone from the bedside table, pressing it to her ear.“Hello?”“Eliana, where are you? We had an early morning meeting today, did you forget?”Oh shit… shit shit! Eliana sat up quickly, the sudden movement making her head spin. “Yes, yes I remember. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”She responded in a measured voice and then ended the call abruptly, tossing her phone against her pillow. She sat there for a moment, her head in her hands, feeling the weight of exhaustion; her head felt too heavy and her eyes were swollen because of the excessive crying… She couldn't even remember when she had fallen asleep while crying. Dragging herself out of bed, sh
Eliana was startled by the crashing sound of the tumbler hitting the floor, and Olivia's shoulders also jumped slightly, but Noah didn't even flinch. He calmly turned around, surveyed the damage, and said, "If you wanted fresh juice, you could have just said that. Anyway, I'll bring you some right now."Olivia huffed, her face twisting in disdain. "Huh! Don't act like you're so obedient that you'll obey every single word I say! Or you would have freed my daughter from this torture and run away to your fucking village long ago! Now, what are you staring at me for? It's not like I said something wrong, so are you accusing me right now?”Noah's expression didn't change, and without a word, he swiftly went into the kitchen. Eliana watched him, her heart aching. She knew how hard it must be for him to keep his composure. But just a few moments later, he returned, carrying a plate with three oranges sliced in half, another empty plate, a glass tumbler, and a hand juicer. He placed ever