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 to atone for your

her head low and indulged in her breakfast. Her appetite wasn't great, but she still forced herself to eat. With less than 100 days until the entrance exam, she was determined to leave the Liddell family behind once

him, her eyes cold

hurry up so the food doesn't get cold," Blake ordered. "If she

replied coldly, though she had no intention

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 in her mind. Back then, Blake even told her jokes to coax her

was always drawn to her first

had a fever, she had to

got into the car and closed her eyes to rest. She reminded herself that she just

soon as she entered, 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

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

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

lunch, Xenia arrived at the classroom. She was still on an IV drip, and her

changing another position in her

her desk hard. She glanced up impatiently, irritation evident in her

was standing in front of her, flanked by her

them, Noelle realized that the women before her were Gwen Hopkins and Betty Yates. They always followed Xenia around and constantly spread rumors about Noelle, even fabricating lies to bring up her brothers. "Noelle,

need," Noelle

"You're so ungrateful.

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

care of myself. I've always been on my own. Stop criticizing her, or else

kind. No wonder people

prepared to leave the classroom. Just as

she coincidentally fell on the broken glass. What a

say something when her vision went black, and she fainted. When she woke

body