The Sway and Slide of Love

"Elle,

are you doing well?" This line echoed in Noelle's mind.

She had forgotten how long it had been since someone asked her such a question. She'd even forgotten

to ask herself if she was doing well.

The answer was obvious. But even so, she didn't hesitate to reply, "I'm doing fine."

"That's good, then," Maxwell responded.

After that, he fell quiet.

"If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now," Noelle said.

"Alright," Maxwell agreed.

But just as Noelle was about to end the call, he suddenly spoke up, "I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye back then, I've thought about you a lot these past years while I've been abroad."

After a slight pause, he added, "It's getting late. You should get some rest."

With that, Maxwell finally hung up.

Noelle stood on the stairs, still holding her phone. After a long while, she slowly turned and returned to her room.

That night, Hendrix didn't come to her.

Even so, Noelle couldn't drift off to sleep peacefully. Perhaps it had something to do with Maxwell's phone call, but she spent the whole night dreaming.

In her dreams, she was back to the days shortly after she'd returned to the Swanson family. Craig and Matilda had thrown a grand welcome home party for her, but hardly anyone at the event truly welcomed her.

Her peers from her family's social circle laughed at her and mocked her for being from the countryside. They ever teased her for not knowing what caviar was.

The top floor of the banquet hall housed a huge swimming pool. Some people wanting to test whether the " country bumpkin" could swim-tricked her into going near the pool.

Then, they pushed her in.

SO

She remembered the suffocation she felt as water gushed into her nose, mouth, and chest-it was vivid in her memory, even now.

Her eyes shot open immediately.

The unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings left her momentarily disoriented. After a while, she remembered she was in Nivis Villa-the place where she and Hendrix lived.

Everything from the dream had vanished.

Noelle glanced at the time. There was still over an hour until the usual time she woke up, but she couldn't fall back asleep. As she lay in bed, lost in thought, the bedroom door suddenly swung open.

She turned her head to the door in alarm.

Hendrix stood there. He seemed surprised to see that she was awake. However, he was used to putting on a composed front. So, the surprise in his eyes was fleeting.noveldrama

"Ten minutes. I'll be waiting downstairs," he said as though giving an order.

Then, he turned to leave.

Noelle frowned and asked in confusion, "For what?"

"The hospital. Didn't Mom tell you?" Hendrix responded, his voice already tinged with impatience.

Noelle's hands tightened into fists-Beatrice certainly knew her well. She knew Noelle wouldn't willingly get her body checked, so she had Hendrix take her along

But when bad she spoken to Hendrix about this?

Noelle didn't know, and she didn't care to know.

"Eight minutes," came Hendrix's voice again just as she was pondering that.

This time, Noelle didn't look at him. She simply lay back down. "I'm not going."

There was silence outside the door. She knew her response displeased him, but she didn't care.

Before she could close her eyes and go back to sleep again, Hendrix came back inside. He strode over to her bed and yanked her up.

1 said I'm not going!" She immediately resisted. "Stop pretending you care, Hendrix! You don't even want a child!

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