Hearing his words, Noelle looked over in astonishment.


    What did he mean? And how did he know?


    Avoiding her gaze, he continued, "After all, your parents loved you very much, and they definitely would have chosen to save you. So, you don''t need to feel guilty."


    Tears welled up in her eyes. "But I do feel guilty, and I still miss them after all these years."


    If her parents hadn''t had that ident, Xenia wouldn''t be in her life, and none of this would have happened.


    Unfortunately, life didn''t live on what-ifs.


    When Cedric noticed her reddened eyes, his throat tightened.


    He stared at her quietly, the guilt inside him threatening to burst forth and drown him.


    He patted her shoulder and said, "You''re finally free now. You should head back to Yasnia and start a new life."


    "Yeah, that''s what I was nning to do. Once I buy a house there, I''ll finally have a ce I can call home."


    She didn''t n on returning.


    Cedric looked away, admiration flickering in his eyes. "Liddell Corporation''s firewall is well-known in Yasnia. I never expected you to be the programmer behind it. How many more secrets do you have?"


    "I just happened to be naturally talented at it. Frank studiedputer science and gave me a lot of books, and I slowly picked it up."


    "Is that why you want to major inputer science at Yole University?"


    "Bingo. I might even pursue a double degree, though I haven''t decided on the second one."


    She nced at Cedric. "When I was receiving the Outstanding Youth Award today, I think I saw that Yasnia was going to have a business fair on artificial intelligence. Do you think Alfred''spany would be interested in that?"


    She recalled that in her previous life, Frank''spany had ventured into this field and eventually skyrocketed as the industry rose to prominence.


    She had also been involved in developing the systems and personally wrote the code for the software.


    This time, she wanted to start her ownpany and build something from scratch instead of working for someone else.


    Cedric was already aware of the event. He just never expected her to be interested in this too.


    He replied, "The project does sound promising."


    "I think so too. Who knows? Maybe thepany might gain traction because of this project?"


    Seeing eagerness rece her sadness, Cedric silently vowed to help her achieve all her dreams.


    That evening, Noelle continued her gaming livestream in good spirits.


    Her winning streak for solo matches has yet to be broken, so she was still the top yer.


    Countless yers had challenged her but so far, no one has won yet.


    As usual, after her matches, she would review key points and strategies with her viewers.


    Her fans also left somements in the chat box.


    "Queen Nelly, you seem to be in a good mood today. Did something good happen?"


    "She''s the top scorer for this year''s national exams. I''m guessing


    saw Yale University opening it


    3. Ors


    to students and made up her mind to apply there."


    Noelle nced at thements


    ove


    and replied with a smile, "Something good did happen today, and I''m looking forward to starting anew life in Yasnia."


    "Are you really going to Yole? Gosh, to be a top scorer while being awesome at games-how I wish I could be you!"


    "I guess I''ll spend another day


    envying others. Then again, I betcher family must be even more envious. I heard that your adopted sister got her grades canceled for cheating."


    en


    Noelle hadn''t paid attention to what would happen to Xenia.


    Betty was dead now, but she felt there was more than met the eye. She hoped the police would be able to uncover more details.


    Calmly, she said, "Let''s not sour the mood with such unpleasant stuff."


    She didn''t want to bring up anything rted to the Liddell family right now. Just then, someone sent her Carnivals.