No longer a pushover

Chapter 9

Noelle straightened her back, remembering when she first learned that Xenia's father had saved her life. When Donovan brought Xenia home, she did not object and even treated her like a real sister.

Yet, over time, she watched as Xenia slowly stole her brothers away from her. That realization was the turning point and the reason their relationship had soured so much.

"Noelle, listen to yourself!" Frank shouted. "Nobody's asking for your life. We just want you to get along with Xenia! Is that really so hard? How long are you going to keep up this attitude?" "I'm not being difficult," Noelle muttered.

When she heard Frank speak, all the questions and anger that had built up in her heart suddenly seemed pointless. She had tried explaining herself in her past life, but it did not help. Hence, she refused to let her brothers' opinions affect her emotions this time. Silently, she packed her textbooks into her bag and said softly, "If there's nothing else, I'll go to my room now."

Frank sat on the couch, looking frustrated. "Noelle, if you agree to join the team now, we can forget everything you've done wrong."

Noelle found his words amusing. In fact, she found everything she had done in her past life to be a joke. With that, she headed upstairs without looking back, her steps more determined than ever.

Frank lit a cigarette, clearly irritated. Soon, Gordon approached cautiously and said, "Mr. Frank, if Ms. Liddell doesn't want to join, it's not the end of the world. At least Ms. Quigley is still here." Frank frowned. "It's not the same."

"Mr. Frank, if I may... Ms. Liddell hasn't asked about any of you once when you've all been away these past few days. Her indifference is concerning."

Frank immediately extinguished his cigarette and drove away from the mansion. Noelle watched him leave from her window, assuming that he was heading to the training camp.

After showering, she reviewed her practice problems one last time. She was determined to escape this place.

...

up until dawn. She hurriedly packed her bag,

first downstairs and caught a glimpse of her leaving. He

Liddell has been taking public transport since Monday. She was late for school before because

complicated. Just then, Blake came downstairs, questioning, "Seriously? She's making

them. "Frank, Noelle's just putting on a show to make you feel guilty. If you give in now,

deserved to learn her lesson. After all, they had given her chances, but she had thrown them all

gleamed with satisfaction before she cheerfully bounced downstairs. "Good morning,

lifted at Xenia's cheery demeanor. He was relieved that at

...

she remained focused in class and was determined not to miss any

and said, "Xenia, you've been quite distracted lately. If

jumped in, saying, "Miss, Noelle's been

since her

looked pleasantly surprised. "That's correct! Noelle's been putting in a lot of effort lately. Everyone should follow

had cost her this moment. She could not believe that Noelle had stolen her spotlight. She would have to catch up quickly. Meanwhile, Noelle felt a

...

risk Frank discovering her routine. As expected, Gordon kept watching her closely, making her uncomfortable. After dinner, she retreated to her

inform Cedric that she would not be at the infirmary that day. Then again, it was not like he was expecting her. She

and thought she would just tell him later. She soon found herself nodding off from