At times, what one feared most was what came to pass. When Cedric saw the middle-aged man suddenly appear, he felt a surge of anger. Instead, he kept hisposure, nodded briefly, and quickly led Noelle out of the restaurant.


    After walking a few steps, Noelle nced back and noticed the middle-aged man was already gone.


    She turned to Cedric in confusion. "Who''s that man?"


    "I don''t know him," Cedric replied.


    "He called you Mr. Greene," Noelle said, eyeing him suspiciously.


    Cedric''s heart skipped a beat. How should he exin this?


    After a moment, Noelle seemed to have an epiphany. "Perhaps he''s someone Maple Enterprise used to work with. Since the investment summit, a lot ofpanies have been reaching out to us for coboration."


    Noelle assumed the man hade to discuss a partnership with Cedric.


    Cedric realized she misunderstood it, but he didn''t correct her. Instead, he yed along. "The project does have a good future."


    "It''s more than good-it''s incredibly promising! Once it''s applied to autonomous vehicles and bes widespread..."


    Noelle trailed off mid-sentence, suddenly realizing she had let something slip. Had she just exposed herself?


    Cedric nced at her. "You seem to know quite a bit about this industry."


    His team had conducted thorough research and concluded that this field held great potential. However, most people remained skeptical, dismissing it as an unreliable and emerging sector. He hadn''t expected Noelle to possess such sharp and unique insights.


    The two of them eventually arrived at Noelle''s new house.


    She opened the shoe cab and chuckled. "I just realized I don''t have any shoes for you. Would you mind wearing mine for now?"


    She had only just moved in, and there was still a lot to be done.


    Cedric looked around at the empty room. It was sparsely decorated, but everything necessary was in ce.


    Noelle noticed the pink slippers he was wearing and couldn''t help butugh.


    "Sorry, but at least no one will see you like this."


    Cedric nced at her. He wasn''t bothered by it.


    As Noelle began pulling ingredients from the fridge, he instinctively said, "Let''s just order takeout. You don''t need to cook."


    "It''s fine. I''m actually a pretty good cook. Since we''re settling in, I don''t mind making dinner. I''m not trying to please you, but let me host you," Noelle said with a smile.


    When she had moved into his


    apartment before, Cedric had told her not to worry about trying to impress anyone. Since then, they''d always had meals prepared by a housekeeper. However, this time was different-this was her new home.


    Cedric walked over and started helping with the vegetables.


    Cooking for two wasn''t difficult, and Noelle quickly prepared three different dishes and a soup. She


    even took a photo of the meal, which


    she nned to share on social


    mediater.


    en


    When she checked her phone, she noticed several missed calls. The numbers weren''t saved, but she recognized it as Frank''s. Just then, another call came through, but she simply hung up.


    He sent a message. "Noelle, I''ll make sure to rify the situation with the police about Xenia''s injury, so don''t worry. Even if the footage is broken, I''ll testify for


    you."


    Noelle nced at the message, then ced her phone face down on the table. She didn''t need Frank to help exin anything in her stead.


    Besides, Xenia was too guilty to pin the me on her. Noelle figured Xenia must be smart enough to realize she would be in trouble if the footage was restored.


    Cedric nced at her phone. "The Liddells?"


    "Yeah," she said, "In Donovan''s eyes, I''m the one who pushed innocent Xenia down, so he''ll probably try to settle things with me."


    Cedric''s gaze darkened. "What did he say?"