"Personal grudges?"


    She let out a contemptuousugh. "What personal grudges could I possibly have with Ms. Lowell?"


    "You know perfectly well what I''m talking about!"


    Noreen looked at her face, then suddenly smiled. Her voice was light, but held a chilling edge. "I''m afraid I really don''t."


    "Why are you pretending? Aren''t you just jealous that Seth chose me and abandoned you?" Bianca tried to belittle Noreen with her own interpretation of events.


    Noreen''s smile widened, as if she''d just heard the most ridiculous joke. "Ms. Lowell, your perception is asughable as your academic credentials."


    The mention of her credentials was a raw nerve for Bianca. Noreen''s casual jab snapped the string ofposure she had been holding onto for days.


    Her face twisted with humiliation and anger. "Am I wrong? You''ve stayed single all this time, refusing to meet anyone new or start a new rtionship, because you''re still not over Seth, aren''t you?"


    She looked at Noreen with an expression that said, *I see right through you*.


    Noreen''s smile never wavered. Her tone was unhurried, yet it carried an undeniable weight. "That''s even more ridiculous. Why would I need to be in a rtionship with a man to prove I''m over Seth?"


    "Does he think he''s that important?"


    Bianca''s angry expression faltered, reced by a look of surprise.


    Noreen''s gaze shifted past her, fixing on a point somewhere behind her.


    It was Seth.


    He was looking at her, his thoughts unreadable.


    Noreen was certain he had heard what she just said. What he thought about it, she didn''t care.


    She just wanted both of them to know that neither Seth nor Bianca meant anything to her.


    She wished they would stop dragging her into their drama. It was ruining her mood. On such a wonderful day, they just had to show up and be disgusting.


    Following Noreen''s gaze, Bianca sensed something and whipped her head around to see Seth.


    Lillian was beside him; it looked like they hade to pick her up together.


    Her expression softened. "Seth, are you here to pick me up?"


    Lillian added, "I was worried you might have trouble, so I called him."


    Then she said, "I''m so d he came."


    Seth walked over, his eyesnding on Bianca''s face. "How did you get hurt?"


    "I just got scraped by ident. It''s nothing serious."


    Seth''s concern seemed to restore some of Bianca''s confidence, and she became more rational.


    "I just came here to talk business with Ms. Gilmore. Lillian overreacted."


    Her tone took on an intimate,


    exclusive quality. "And you, why were you so worried about me? You''re so busy yourself, yet yo rushed all the way over here.


    With that, she turned to look back at Noreen, hoping to reim some of the dignity she had lost.


    But Noreen was already gone, clearly uninterested in their romantic disy.


    Noreen got into Dn''s car.


    Dn had witnessed the whole scene.


    Congrattion


    As Noreen buckled her seatbelt, he quipped, "d to see you''ve finally stopped pining are in order."


    "You''re making fun of me too," Noreen said with a sigh.


    If she had known her rtionship with Seth would be such an embarrassing part of her past, she never would have let herself be so blinded by love content


    "I wouldn''t dare make fun of you. You''re our mentor''s most prized protégé now."


    Dn had been drinking, so a chauffeur was driving.


    He and Noreen were sitting in the back, able to talkfortably.


    And today, he had something he wanted to say to her.