Chapter 8
No sooner than Noelle had spoken did Sabrina break into loud wails.
Panicking, Conner pulled her into his arms and shot Noelle a hard look. “Can’t you be reasonable for once? Apologize now that you’ve made a mistake!”
Noelle frowned and almost laughed in disbelief. She pointed to herself and snapped back, “My mistake? Are you saying I’m in the wrong? Seriously?” Clenching her teeth, she continued, “Fine, it’s all my fault. So now, can you get out of my room?”
Yasmine was clearly dissatisfied. “If you’re apologizing, then act like it. That’s the only way Sabrina will
feel better.”
Conner was equally frantic. He hadn’t expected Sabrina to suddenly come home from the hospital, much less walk in on him. If anything happened to the baby, the past two months‘ work would be for nothing, and there was no telling when he could return to Noelle’s side.
With Sabrina’s emotions spiraling out of control, he could only fix Noelle with a sharper stare.
But to Noelle, his stare was a vicious, almost threatening look.
She couldn’t help but wonder how those eyes, once filled with love, had turned into this. Now, they glared at her with coercion and loathing, like shards of poisoned glass.
Before Conner could speak, she pushed herself up from the edge of the bed. “Fine. If you won’t leave, I
will.”
Noelle had barely taken two steps toward the door when Sabrina’s plaintive cry rang out behind her, Yasmine! Caleb! Do you see her attitude? How dare she act so defiant when she’s clearly in the wrong!
“And my stomach hurts so much!”
Panic flickered in Conner’s eyes, worried that something might happen to Sabrina’s baby. He shot forward to grab Noelle by the arm and warned, “Your dad…”
Noelle turned to look at his unfamiliar eyes. She was in disbelief that Conner would use Patrick’s plight to force an apology out of her.
That just showed how ruthless and cruel the Ashfords were.
Patrick’s matter had been settled and paid for with Dalton’s favor, but Conner seemed certain that she wouldn’t risk it and would certainly compromise for Patrick.
Swallowing the pain from her cramps, Noelle faced the smugly coddled Sabrina. “I’m sorry, Sabrina. It’s all my fault.”
A trace of satisfaction flashed in Sabrina’s eyes after seeing her softened attitude–though she never intended to let it slide. Very quickly, she turned to Conner and Yasmine. “Why don’t you two step out? I’d
Chapter 8
like a word with Noelle.”
Yasmine knew that Noelle had already faced her share of humiliation, but Sabrina was the Ashford family’s priority right now. It was only right that Noelle take on the insults and swallow her grievances since she was infertile.
Once Conner and Yasmine were gone, Sabrina dropped her aggrieved act. Her now triumphant and arrogant gaze shifted to Noelle as she crossed her legs and smugly raised her chin.
“What do you have to fight me, Noelle? Do you think you can steal Caleb just because of your looks?”
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Noelle frowned. “Since when did you develop this persecution complex? I have zero interest in fighting
for Caleb.”
But Sabrina wasn’t listening to whatever she had to say.
When she’d received news of the plane crash that night, she went cold from head to toe. She learned that one brother had died, and another had survived. Back then, she wouldn’t dare imagine what she’d do if
Celab were dead.
For years, the Harpers had fed off of the Ashfords. Without the Ashfords, the Harpers‘ debts would have
swallowed them whole.
If Caleb had died and the Ashfords cut them off, her life as an elite socialite would have ended on the
spot.
Fortunately, Caleb had survived, and she now clung tighter to what she’d almost lost.
“Enough talk. Conner is dead now, so there’s no point for you to stay at the Ashford residence. Go back to the Spencers, or I’ll make you regret it.”
Noelle snorted. “Is that a threat? Your tricks are so pathetic that I’d never be intimidated by them. And don’t worry. I’ll be long gone before you know it.”
Chapter 9
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Chapter 9
