Felix''s brow furrowed. "I should take you back first. She still has friends, but you only have me."


    "But my cousin..."


    "She''s still furious. Nothing I say right now will get through to her." Felix rubbed his temples wearily.


    Madeline sighed as well. "I''m just worried that Mr. Prescott will take advantage of the situation. The way he was looking at my cousin earlier was clearly not ordinary."


    This made Felix''s hand pause at his temple.


    Then he said with renewed irritation, "You''re overthinking it. She''s obviously just trying to make me jealous by getting close to Wilbur on purpose."


    She had pulled this stunt before.


    He''d seen it all.


    Naturally, he wasn''t going to y along.


    Her tantrums had to have a limit.


    He decided to give her the cold shoulder for now. It would give her a chance to cool down and think things over.


    ...


    After finishing her dessert, ire went back to the hotel and slept soundly for two days.


    Once Noreen was sure she was okay, she finally had the mind to deal with her own


    mess.


    As for what that mess was...


    She was too embarrassed to even mention it.


    It had been almost three days since the incident, and there had been no word from Seth at all.


    He wasn''t trying recently.


    Had he given up?


    pop up in front of her to get her attention like he had been


    If so, that would be great.


    But what happened that night remained an unresolved issue weighing on Noreen''s mind.


    She worried that if they didn''t clear the air, it would cause her trouble down the line. Noreen finally picked up her phone and called Seth.


    She wanted to talk to him face-to-face.


    The call went through.


    But no one answered.


    Noreen frowned, looking at her phone as it automatically disconnected after ringing


    for too long. A sense of irritation washed over her.


    Finally, she sent him a message.


    It was a simple, direct sentence.


    *We need to talk.*


    Unfortunately, the message was like a stone sinking into the sea. There was no reply.


    Even by the next day, she hadn''t received a clear response.


    Noreen considered herself a patient person, but Seth''s current behavior-not answering calls, not replying to texts was starting to get Fon her nerves.


    She decided to call Jude instead.


    Jude actually answered, calling her name timidly. "Ms. Gilmore."


    Noreen got straight to the point. "Where''s Seth?"


    Jude, as if he had expected the question, answered quickly, "I''m not with Seth. I don''t know where he is."


    Noreen''s eyes narrowed. She understood what Jude was implying.


    "Then have him call me back as soon as possible."


    "I can''t guarantee I can get that message to him," Jude said.


    Noreen didn''t say any more and just hung up.


    On the other end, Jude heard the disconnect tone and let out a long sigh, clutching his chest.


    It was so strange.


    Even though they were on the phone and he had rehearsed it countless times in his


    head, he was still a nervous wreck when Noreen called.


    He was more nervous than he ever was meeting the dean of students back in school.


    He nced back at the man lying on the sofa, bis expression nk, and said, his voice still shaky, "Bro, barely managed to handle her this. time. Next time, I''m definitely going toblow it."


    Seth didn''t even move his eyes, staring nkly at the ceiling. "We''ll see when she calls next time."


    Jude scratched his head. "But you can''t just keep avoiding Noreen like this."


    Besides, he didn''t get it.


    Shouldn''t that night have brought them closer?


    Why was Seth suddenly avoiding her afterward?


    Seth covered his eyes with the back of his hand, plunging himself into darkness before speaking in a lowe voice, "You don''t understand. She''s already sentenced me to death in her mind. After what happened, she''ll only despise me more. She'' only looking for me to clear things up and draw the line between us again."