At first, Hendrix hadn't really cared. To him, Ruth and Ricky were insignificant. But since Noelle found amusement in watching them struggle, he was willing to let her have her way.As for what happened to Ruth and Ricky in the end, it didn't matter to him. But Ricky's message made him change his mind.When Hendrix heard Ricky's deliberately lowered tone, he almost laughed out of sheer frustration. Dylan was one thing—although he didn't think much of him, the fact that Noelle had been with him in the past meant he must have had some redeeming qualities.But Ricky? Who did he think he was? How could someone like him actually have the audacity to set his sights on Noelle? It was both ignorant and laughable.So, Hendrix changed his mind. He wouldn't interfere with Noelle's plan, but he would refine it a little. Besides, he was done seeing Ruth around. It was time to make sure they disappeared from this city for good."Hendrix." Noelle's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts.Hen
Hendrix arrived in the hospital in no time at all. But the moment he spotted Dylan at the emergency room doors, his expression darkened.Marla was sitting there as well, gripping Dylan's hand as if she depended on him completely. As upset as he was, Hendrix pushed his emotions down and walked over upon seeing that."Hello, Mr. Freeman," Dylan greeted him quickly.Hendrix ignored him and asked Marla, "How's Mr. Swift doing?""The doctors are still trying to save him," Marla replied weakly. "It's all my fault for being so careless. He hasn't been looking well these past few days, and this morning he told me his chest was hurting."I thought we could just bring it up with the doctor during this physical at the end of the month, but I never expected that he would…"Marla's voice trailed off."Don't worry, Mrs. Swift. I'm sure Mr. Swift will be fine," Dylan said before Hendrix could respond.Marla nodded repeatedly, then looked up at Dylan. "Thank you so much. If you hadn't come to
When Dylan locked eyes with Hendrix, he even chuckled. "Mr. Freeman, thank you for coming all the way here in the middle of the night. But the doctor just said that Mr. Swift is stable now, so—""Dylan, just what are you trying to do?" Hendrix didn't have time for small talk or pretenses. He cut straight to the point, his gaze sharp and icy as he looked at Dylan.Dylan raised an eyebrow. Then, he said, "Mr. Freeman, what do you mean by—""A man who would kill for money suddenly decides to take care of his deceased friend's parents." Hendrix chuckled coldly. "Do you really think I'd believe that?""Kill for money? Mr. Freeman, who are you talking about?""You know exactly who I'm talking about."Dylan didn't say a word. He simply frowned at Hendrix, his gaze filled with confusion—almost as if he couldn't understand how he had been so thoroughly misunderstood."You can leave now," Hendrix said. "I'll have professionals take care of Mr. Swift. You're not needed.""But I've already
"Who fell ill? Is it someone important that you have to rush over in the middle of the night?" Noelle continued to press, staring intently at Hendrix with a frown.Hendrix suddenly found himself at a loss for words. It was only then that he realized—Noelle was becoming harder and harder to fool. So, he understood why some people said not to fall for women who were too smart.But that advice was for ordinary men. Hendrix didn't have that kind of problem at all."Yes. He's quite an important business partner," Hendrix replied calmly. "He's getting on in years and had a sudden heart attack. It was pretty serious. But by the time I got there, he had already been resuscitated, so I didn't stay long."As he spoke, his eyes never once left Noelle's—giving no signs of deception.But Noelle asked again, "Who is it? Do I know him?""You might. I'm not sure," Hendrix answered. Then, he deftly changed the subject. "Did you stay up just to ask me this?"Seeing how relaxed Hendrix was, Noelle
Marshall quickly nodded and answered, "I'm fine."Noelle then turned to Marla. "I'm sorry. I just found out about this. You—""The doctor said he's fine," Marla replied calmly. "And Dylan was here last night, so nothing serious happened.""I didn't do much. It's mainly because Mr. Swift is strong enough to pull through. But the doctor said you need more rest and can't overwork yourself—you have to remember that.""Exactly," Marla immediately chimed in, agreeing with Dylan. "I've said it before—just let others handle the company. We're not young anymore. What's the point of making so much money? It's not like we can take it with us when we die, nor do we have anyone to—"Marla suddenly trailed off. Then, she slowly turned to look at Noelle.Noelle stood there, her already uneasy hands clenched even tighter.Just as the atmosphere was about to freeze, Dylan quickly said, "I should head back now."Following his head, Marla said, "Yes. You've stayed up all night. Go home and get so
Dylan had considered all kinds of responses Noelle might give him, but this was the last thing he expected. And she wasn't just brushing him off—her gaze was serious, like she was genuinely asking.Before Dylan could respond, Noelle continued, "If I remember correctly, we had already broken up by then. And while we were together, I never had any contact with Hendrix. In that regard, I never did you dirty or wrong."After Noelle finished speaking, Dylan's smile slowly faded. "So are you implying that I did you dirty?" he asked hoarsely.Noelle was caught off guard by his question. She was about to explain when Dylan said, "I know I hadn't been entirely honest with you during our relationship. But Noelle, do you think I really had a choice back then?"Noelle frowned and stared at him for a long moment before asking, "So, you were lying to me back then, weren't you?""What?""Didn't you tell me before that you could handle having nothing, that it didn't matter if everything was take
Noelle's words might have been tactful, but Dylan understood her meaning all too clearly. She found him repulsive—so much so that she couldn't bear to look at him.And why didn't she hate him? How could she not hate him? If she truly felt he had wronged her, then she should hate him! But why didn't she even feel hatred? Was it because he wasn't even worthy of her hatred?Dylan's expression slowly faded, his face turning grim. But Noelle didn't seem to notice.She simply nodded at him and stopped walking. "I'll leave you here."Only then did Dylan realize they had reached the hospital entrance.Without waiting for Dylan to respond, Noelle turned and walked away.Dylan watched her leave and suddenly laughed, his lips curled into a twisted smile.After a long moment, once Noelle had disappeared from his sight, he slowly wiped the smile from his face. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned and walked away.Noelle quickly returned to the hospital room. It was quiet now.Marla
"Where are you?" Hendrix asked in a tense voice the moment Noelle answered his call."The hospital," Noelle answered truthfully.Hendrix fell silent for a brief moment.But Noelle didn't wait for his response. Instead, she said, "I have things to do, so I'm hanging up now."With that, she ended the call.When she entered the hospital room, Marshall and Marla had indeed fallen silent.Noelle paused, then took the initiative to break the silence. "I just saw Dylan off.""Oh, okay." Marla nodded. "Thank you."Noelle pressed her lips together and added, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop earlier. I'm really sorry.""It's fine. It's not like we were talking about anything that you shouldn't be hearing," Marshall quickly said with a smile. Then, he even added, "We weren't, were we?""No, of course not," Noelle immediately replied, waving her hands.Marla couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. She then offered the apple in her hand to Noelle. "Want some?"Noelle was completely at a los
Erwin was just about to repeat his question when a voice came from behind."Excuse me, but I think I know where your wife is."Hendrix spun around immediately.Standing behind them was a woman with long hair and big eyes. "I saw her just now in the backyard. Someone was taking her away. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was Mr. Pritchett from Morphy Fund?"At the mention of Dylan, Hendrix's expression turned dark as thunder. He charged up to the woman. "Where did they go?""I'm not sure. But I did take down his license plate number. Do you need it?""Where is it?" Hendrix barked.The woman held out her hand. "I'll give it to you for 1,000 dollars."Hendrix didn't carry cash with him. But he shoved his bank card into her hand without hesitation. "The license plate number!"The woman looked at the card, a little dissatisfied. But considering Hendrix's status, she figured he likely wouldn't care about such a small amount of money. Thus, in the end, she still showed Hendrix the phot
"Erwin!"The voice came just as Erwin stood on the terrace, smoking a cigarette in frustration.Although they had technically won the battle and he had earned a great deal from it, he felt, strangely enough, not the slightest trace of satisfaction. Maybe it was because Hendrix had forced him into the game. Or maybe, by now, winning and losing simply didn't stir anything in him anymore.At the beginning, Erwin had been somewhat excited. He had thought Dylan would be a difficult opponent—someone who could cause serious trouble, maybe even defeat them entirely. That would have been interesting. But instead, everything had gone far too smoothly. There had been no twists and no turns. Just a clean finish. It was boring, to say the least.And the current victory party? Equally so.Hendrix had insisted Noelle attend the party, saying she had flawlessly completed her part of the plan and that this victory was also hers. So, the party had turned out very wholesome, or rather, dull.Erwi
Erwin still showed signs of dissatisfaction. It seemed he was saying something, but Noelle could no longer hear him. She didn't look back either, instead turning her gaze to the other people at the party.The loud music continued, and the excitement and energy of the crowd remained high. But Noelle knew that this wasn't the usual celebration. This, in fact, was just Hendrix's way of making her adapt and accept the situation.Though she had known this for some time, the realization still made Noelle uncomfortable. Then, she suddenly remembered something Dylan had told her a few days ago about her past with Hendrix.Even though she knew Dylan's words weren't necessarily true, that didn't mean everything he said was a lie. How much of the past he mentioned was real, and how much was false?Noelle actually thought her life was fine now. She was willing to accept her past choices and believed in Hendrix's feelings for her. At least, this was what she thought sometimes.But at other tim
Dylan didn't dare to stay there. He immediately drove back to his place.He wanted to take Noelle with him and leave. Even if she didn't have her passport, it didn't matter. After all, there were definitely people looking for him right now.But no matter what, he was going to protect her. Even if they had to roam the world, it didn't matter. As long as they were together, it was fine. Even if it was just a shabby house, as long as there was a light on, that would be their home.However, when Dylan returned to the apartment, he found Noelle nowhere in sight. Gone also were all her things. The desk and floor were spotless, as if nothing had ever existed there.Dylan remained standing where he was. It took him several minutes to finally process what he was seeing. Then, he couldn't help but laugh. It was as if he had just heard the biggest joke—he laughed so hard that his whole body shook.Of course, how could he have thought she would be waiting for him here? How could she possibly
"I'm damned for ever believing your words! Now, just die!" George didn't give Dylan another chance to speak. He pulled the trigger, aiming to shoot a bullet through Dylan's forehead.In that instant, Dylan finally understood. This time, Hendrix didn't intend to leave him alive.If the goal had only been to swallow up Morphy Fund and make Dylan lose everything, the matter would have ended there. However, it seemed that Hendrix must have said something to George, which led him to believe that Dylan and Hendrix were working together—that Dylan had betrayed Morphy Fund.At this point, George had no way out. So, it wouldn't be surprising if he shot Dylan in the head. What Hendrix wanted was for him to die.Dylan didn't know what he was thinking at that moment. By the time he reacted, he had already grabbed the gun's barrel and twisted it violently. The bullet scraped past his head.Without hesitation, George moved to pull the trigger again when Dylan, still holding onto his wrist, forc
Dylan still remembered the victory party at the villa a few days ago. At that time, George had pushed him in front of everyone. He had enjoyed all the praise and recognition while sipping glass after glass of champagne.He knew that no matter how much doubt and skepticism there had been about him in the past, it all vanished that night. That was also why George had thrown him a victory party at the very first stage.After all, only by telling everyone about his achievements would they believe in him and entrust him with their funds. But they probably didn't expect the final result to be like this.Actually, when Fuer Fund continued to add to their position after reaching the peak, George had already warned Dylan that there might be some issues. But the market was unpredictable—a moment's decision or a few seconds of hesitation could lead to failure.Thus, Dylan didn't wait. He thought Hendrix was also gambling. So, he disregarded the risk and pushed all the funds in. He wanted Hend
Noelle's expression changed at that moment. It took her a while to find her voice to ask, "Is that what really happened?""Hendrix definitely hasn't told you all these, right?" Dylan smirked. "It's because he's too afraid to mention them. So, tell me. How could someone like him possibly deserve a happy life? "Don't worry. I'll make sure to take him down this time. Once I get your passport, you can go whenever you want."When he finished speaking, there was sincerity and seriousness in his eyes as he looked at Noelle. He really hoped she would stay. Of course, he wanted victory. But if he could have her by his side when he achieved it, that would be even better.Although once he reached the top, anyone could stay by his side. But the person he wanted most was Noelle."Thank you," Noelle said in the end.That wasn't the answer Dylan was most satisfied with. But he knew he couldn't afford to rush things just yet. For now, it was enough that Noelle was on his side."Alright, go to
As Dylan spoke, his teeth clenched tighter. It was unclear whether he was trying to convince Noelle or himself.Noelle remained silent, quietly watching him.After staring at her for a while, Dylan suddenly laughed. "So, do you know why we were celebrating tonight?"Noelle shook her head."Because we stole Fuer Fund's opportunity! It's all thanks to the plan you sent me before. Now, no matter what Fuer Fund does next, we'll know about it. "George is really happy, too. He used to doubt my abilities, worried that I'd drag down his fund, but you should've seen how he treated me tonight."Not just him, but the whole industry now recognizes me. I've finally established myself here!"Dylan's voice grew more excited as he spoke.Noelle, however, remained calm.The only sign of change was when she heard that he succeeded because of the plan she had given him—her brow slightly lifted. But it was just for a moment.She quickly regained her calm and nodded.Her reaction made Dylan fro
George didn't care about being cautious. He was too excited. He had clashed with Fuer Fund a few times before, but when faced with absolute power, he had barely gotten any scraps from the table.Now, to be able to seize such a large slice of the pie from Fuer Fund and force them to back off, how could George not be thrilled?Thus, the drinks kept coming, one after another.Even if Dylan hadn't planned on getting drunk, it was hard to refuse the goodwill of so many people. In the end, he was thoroughly drunk.When he returned to the apartment, his steps were unsteady. Seeing the light still on inside, he paused for a moment. Then, he suddenly remembered he didn't live alone anymore. Noelle also lived with him now.Though Dylan was well aware, and his rational mind reminded him repeatedly that he had essentially kept her here as a hostage. If Hendrix made any further moves, he would have no choice but to kill her.But when he saw the light she had left on for him, Dylan couldn't he