But when he looked back, Noreen was gone from the main dining room.


    She had already returned to her private room.


    Later that evening, Healy sent Noreen a text with a concise update on Seth''s condition.


    "His hand is burned, pretty badly, but they treated it right away. Should be okay."


    Noreen simply replied, "Got it."


    Healy stared at the screen for a long time, but no second message ever came. It seemed she really didn''t care about Seth anymore.


    Jude, having had too much to drink at an event the night before, had gone home and passed out,pletely unaware of Seth''s injury. The next day, when he found out, he rushed to the hospital.


    Only Bianca was in the room, looking as though she had been there all night.


    "Bianca, you should go home and get some rest," Jude said. "I''m free today, I can stay with Seth."


    Bianca was hesitant, but Seth also urged her, "Go get some sleep."


    "Okay. Call me if you need anything." Before she left, Bianca fussed over Seth, reminding him of what to do and instructing Jude to take good care of him.


    After she was gone, Jude flopped onto the sofa. "Man, Bianca really loves you."


    Seth didn''t respond, leaning back against the pillows with his eyes closed. But Jude was too much of a gossip to stay quiet.<fnf0d1> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? fin?novel</fnf0d1>


    "So, I heard you saved the wrong person yesterday? You were trying to save Bianca but ended up saving Noreen by mistake?”


    "You''re noisy," Seth said, his tone t.


    Jude,pletely missing the hint, barreled on "So what was Noreen''s reaction? Was she moved to tears? She probably thinks you still have feelings for her." He grinned. "I bet she''ll find an excuse to visit you today and wait on you hand and foot."


    "You''re overthinking it," Seth replied, his voice still cool.


    "Want to bet?" Jude insisted. "She''ll definitely show up! She wouldn''t miss an opportunity like this!" He was speaking from experience; that was exactly how Noreen used to be.


    But Jude waited all day, and Noreen never appeared.


    "Seriously? She''s noting?" he finally burst out, unable to sit still any longer. "You got hurt saving her. and she''s just going to ignore you? He paced back and forth across the room. .


    Seth remained calm, working on hisptop with his uninjured hand. Finally, annoyed by the pacing, he nced up. "I told you she wouldn''te."


    "But it doesn''t make any sense."


    Jude went to the door and peered out into the hallway. He even suspected Noreen might have already arrived and was just hiding, waiting for him to leave.


    But the only person who appeared was Bianca, who, after getting some rest, had rushed back to the hospital. Not wanting to be a third wheel, Jude said his goodbyes and left.


    Outside the hospital, he looked up at the gray sky and sighed. People really do change.


    Noreen had just sent her business n to Mrs Joyner when Vincent called. He told her he had scheduled a meeting with a potential investor. Developing a new semiconductor chip wasn''t something that could be done overnight; it required a massive amount of capital. Vincent''s idea was to bring in another major investor to elerate the project and ease Noreen''s financial burden.


    Noreen had no objections. As far as she was concerned, anything that helped the project was a good thing.


    They arranged to meet that afternoon. Noreen postponed a meeting and was just leaving her office when Sophia, sitting at her desk, let out a sharp gasp.