No longer a pushover

Chapter 3

The next morning, Noelle's phone buzzed continuously with notifications.

After the noise woke Noelle up, she checked her phone, her expression dark. These notifications were all from a forum app, and her message inbox was flooded with insults.

She was no stranger to such insults, as the incident of her pushing Xenia into the pool last night had been uploaded to the campus forum.

Xenia was very popular in school, and most people began berating Noelle.

Despite her throbbing headache, Noelle jumped into the fray and lashed back at her haters. The number of comments on the forum spread to over a thousand, causing the page administrator to think that the forum had been hacked. After posting her response, she tossed her phone aside and lay back down. Now that she no longer had to please the Liddell brothers and care about her reputation, she would just live however she wanted.

Not long after, a maid knocked at her door. "Ms. Liddell, it's time to get up for school. You're going to be late."

It wasn't until then that Noelle realized she still had to go to school that day. She splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up.

If she wanted to leave the Liddell family, she had to graduate and get into a university far away from here. She changed into her uniform and headed downstairs with her backpack.

Just then, Frank and Blake turned up.

Noticing Noelle's slightly flushed face, Frank walked over and instinctively reached out to her forehead to check her temperature.

But Noelle dodged his hand and headed to the dining room instead. She took a seat, knowing that she needed to eat breakfast to get better and gain the energy to focus on her studies. She was aiming for Yole University, after all.

Frank's hand paused mid-air. As he awkwardly lowered his hand, Blake snorted and said, "I told you she's an ingrate. Unlike Xenia, who has always been weak, she's as strong as an ox. She's burning up just because she fell into the water last night and caught a cold. "But Noelle? She'll never get sick!"

Frank fell silent. It was true that Noelle had always been in excellent health. He approached the dining table and said, "Xenia's sick, so you'll have to take care of her for the next few days at school until she's fully recovered. Got it?"

Now that Noelle had become more rebellious as she grew older, he thought he couldn't spoil her like before. He would force her to learn if she didn't know how to be grateful.

killed her," Blake chimed in. "You must take good care of her

great, but she still forced herself to eat. With less than 100 days until the entrance exam, she was

at him, her eyes

hurry up so the food doesn't get cold," Blake ordered. "If she needs to use the bathroom, you must go with her. "Her father saved your life, so you owe her this. Do

replied coldly, though she had no intention of

words pierced her heart like a needle. Memories of how Frank had stayed by her side all night when she was sick during childhood were still vivid

attention was always drawn to her

had a fever, she had

eyes to rest. She reminded herself that she just had to bear it a little longer. It was

the noisy classroom fell silent. Rumors of her outburst on the forum spread across the school, and everyone wondered if she had lost her mind. "I wonder what triggered Noelle to give

it's because she can't improve her reputation anymore, so she's given up on maintaining a façade. She's

the whispers around her, though she could hear them. She dropped her bag down on her desk and went straight to sleep. She

arrived at the classroom. She was still on an IV

frowned, changing another

while, someone slapped her desk hard. She glanced up impatiently, irritation evident

was standing in front of her, flanked

were Gwen Hopkins and Betty Yates. They always followed Xenia around and constantly spread rumors about Noelle, even fabricating lies to bring

Noelle

Gwen hissed. "You're so

be taking care of Xenia instead. She got sick because of

guys. I can take care of myself. I've always been on my own. Stop criticizing

kind. No wonder

the classroom. Just as she exited, Xenia suddenly

fell over, and she coincidentally fell on the broken

and Noelle sensed an impending headache. She was just about to say something when her vision went black, and she

is 103°F. You've been pushing your body too