No longer a pushover

Raymond shot a glance at the man standing next to Noelle. He had heard the two had already broken up. In response to Raymond's reply, Noelle nodded politely and walked past Cedric without hesitation.

However, Cedric's eyes darkened as he watched Raymond approach. His voice was low and carried a hint of threat. "Stay away from her."

"But didn't you two break up?" Raymond raised a brow.

"I haven't agreed to it yet," Cedric replied coldly, his lips tightening. He narrowed his eyes and added, "You'd better not do anything you'll regret."

Raymond did not respond, but his gaze held a clear challenge. He did not even bother to finish his cigarette before turning around and heading back into the private lounge.

Cedric clicked his tongue softly. He could not believe he had just warned some clueless kid. The feeling that washed over him was hard to describe.

...

Meanwhile, Noelle had just come out of the restroom after splashing cold water on her face. As she walked back down the hallway, she saw Cedric still standing there. She took a deep breath and made her way over to him.

Without looking directly at him, she passed by, but Cedric spoke up. "There's a dinner tonight for the Al project. Want to come? There's a new development coming up-something to do with prosthetics."

for a second when she heard the word "prosthetics," as it reminded her of Wyatt. In her past life, she successfully developed Al-powered prosthetics, which

but apparently, he had moved fast. Then again, with Maple Enterprise backed by Alfred and Cedric, money and resources

and pulled out her phone to text Grace, telling her to go ahead and eat without her. Then, she followed Cedric to a private lounge at the end

soon as they walked in, she noticed Laura was there, too.

history, so when Cedric walked in with

greeted Noelle with a sweet but pointed smile. "Ms. Liddell, what a surprise

wealthy

Greene, that's cold, man. Ms. Merlock is already here, and you go off to bring in another

tension in

glanced at Noelle, clearly

grew just as bright. "Maybe I came at

venet

and looked at Cedric, flashing a smile that made his jaw clench. Right now, he absolutely did

to smooth things over. "No, you're right on time. There are some folks here who invest in pro-gaming teams. Since you're so good at gaming,

a pro

come around often. Sticking to your college