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."

heard the word "prosthetics," as it reminded her

mentioned the idea to Cedric once, but apparently, he had moved fast. Then again, with Maple Enterprise

a small nod and pulled out her phone to text Grace, telling her to go ahead and eat without her. Then,

there, too. The air in

present knew about Laura and Cedric's history, so when Cedric walked in with a young woman by his side, eyebrows were definitely

and greeted Noelle with a sweet but pointed smile. "Ms.

wealthy

man. Ms. Merlock is already here, and you go off to bring in another

the tension in the

at Noelle, clearly feeling

"Maybe

venet

his jaw clench. Right now, he absolutely did not want to

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

to join a pro team at the moment,"

a shame. This kind of opportunity doesn't come around often. Sticking to your college team might limit your