That was why Cedric had cut his meeting short and rushed back.


    Noelle pressed her face against his palm. "Have I ever cried that badly before?" She didn''t remember ever crying like that.


    Cedric pursed his lips. She was crying during that car ident.


    Noelle had cried just as heartbreakingly when he pulled her out of the wreckage. She even bit him when he refused to let her get near the burning vehicle. It seemed Noelle had forgotten about it.


    Cedric''s hand felt warm against her skin, his gaze dark and unreadable as he locked eyes with her. Just as he leaned down, Noelle straightened up again and cleared her throat. "You probably haven''t eaten yet either. I''m hungry."


    "... Me too." He took her and gave her a look.


    Noelle nced down at their joined hands and blurted out, "What are we?"


    Cedric tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I''ll take you somewhere once you''re discharged."


    "Where?" Noelle was curious.


    "It''s a secret. We should make things official soon." Cedric smirked.


    Her eyes flickered at his words. "Make things official?" So, were they finally going to be together?


    Even though things had changed between them in the past few days, neither of them had directly addressed it. She hadn''t expected Cedric to be this considerate.


    After dinner, Noelle still didn''t tell him about Xenia''s father. It was all just spection for now.


    The next day, Tilly brought back the investigation results. "We lost him, Ms. Liddell. He''s extremely cautious. And we couldn''t find any records of him either. It''s as if he doesn''t exist."


    Noelle was disappointed. It was as if he didn''t exist. Well, Sean was supposed to be dead, ording to official records.


    Upon seeing Xenia''s swollen face from the beating, Noelle couldn''t help but suspect Xenia was trying to find a way out.


    After all these years, Xenia had never slipped up once. She had always imed


    to be an orphan, living in the Liddell family and enjoying the same luxurious treatment as Noelle.


    Knowing Xenia, she would never


    have sought out her father unless she was desperate. It would ruin her


    position in the Liddell family if anyone discovered that her father was still alive.


    Noelle remained calm. "Looks like ke''s attack scared Xenia enough to make her seek help."


    Everything was falling into ce. Xenia had finally slipped up.


    Noelle needed to find a way to force Xenia into contacting her father more


    frequently. That would be the best way to gather evidence and catch them.


    Just then, she received another message from ke. "Has Xenia apologized yet?


    If you''re not satisfied, I''ll keep beating her until you are."


    He hadn''t changed at all and was now treating Xenia the same way as he did with


    her.


    Suddenly, Noelle realized something.


    Xenia had gone to find Sean right after ke''s beating. An idea formed


    in her mind. She picked up her


    phone and replied: "She hasn''t apologized."


    ke''s mood lifted when he saw her reply. If Noelle was willing to respond, did that mean that things between them could go back to normal as long as Xenia apologized?


    Just then, he saw Xenia carrying a bottle into Frank''s hospital room. His expression turned unpleasant. Without hesitation, he stormed over and grabbed Xenia by the hair.


    He snapped, "Xenia, I told you to apologize to Noelle yesterday! Why didn''t you? Do you have a death wish?"