Noelle froze for a moment."We meet again," Hendrix said softly. "Do you live here?"Noelle looked at him and nodded slowly."I live here, too," Hendrix told her.Noelle's eyes widened. "But I've never seen you before.""Yeah, I just moved in today.""Oh, but this house is pretty old. It might even leak when it rains."As Noelle spoke, she frowned slightly. She didn't know why—she didn't even know his name, since they had just met today—but the moment she heard what he said, she instinctively felt something was off.The house didn't seem to match the man in front of her. He shouldn't be living here. But where should he live? Noelle didn't know, either.While the two were talking, Irene suddenly noticed Hendrix was holding Noelle's hand. Her expression immediately changed, and she charged forward with a broom in hand."You scoundrel! How dare you touch my daughter? Let go of her right now!"Before Hendrix could react, Noelle quickly stepped forward and hugged Irene."No, no.
The signal in the village was terrible. Jerry had his team clean up the house, making it somewhat livable, but there was no fixing the poor reception.After trying various spots in the house, Hendrix finally managed to get through to Erwin.The moment Erwin picked up, his tone was dripping with sarcasm. "I thought you were dead.""Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm doing just fine," Hendrix replied."Well, I'm not," Erwin said darkly. "Do you know what people at the company are saying right now? They're all demanding answers from me! I get it now—your so-called 'inconvenience' was just an excuse to make me take the fall for you, wasn't it?""I'll give you half of my share once this is done," Hendrix said bluntly.It was no small sum. But for people like them, money was just a meaningless number. In their line of work, what they truly craved was the thrill of the game.They could have wrapped this up in one move. Erwin had even picked out the wine for the celebration. But then, Hen
After Hendrix finished speaking, there was a brief silence on the other end of the line. Then, Erwin chuckled. "Hmm, that does sound interesting.""Then, I'll leave it to you.""What did you just say?""As far as the world is concerned, I'm already 'dead.' And as for the Swift family, for certain reasons, it's not exactly easy for me to do anything to them. Besides, haven't you always wanted to break into the market in this country? Well, here's your chance now, no?"Just as Erwin was about to respond, Hendrix heard a soft knock at the door. The villagers went to bed early, and the surroundings were eerily quiet, so the sound was especially clear to Hendrix.He immediately moved the phone away from his ear and asked, "Who is it?"Still in work mode, his voice carried a sharp edge.The person outside the door seemed to hear it, and the knocking stopped abruptly. But there was no response to Hendrix's question.A frown immediately appeared on Hendrix's face. For a moment, he thou
Noelle immediately turned around with panic written all over her face.Irene narrowed her eyes. "What were you doing outside so late in the night?""I-I thought I heard a cat meowing, so I went to check.""A cat?" Irene frowned. "What's so strange about a few cats in the village?"Noelle fell silent.Irene didn't press further, simply telling her to go to bed early before turning and heading back to her own room.Noelle followed behind her. The window in her room faced the house across the street—the one with the lit window, where Hendrix was staying.The broken glass in the window had been repaired earlier that day. The warm yellow light shining through matched the glow in her room. Noelle stared at it for a while before finally lying down to sleep.The night passed quickly.Irene didn't need much sleep. Before dawn even broke, she had already taken her hoe and headed out to work in the field.After making her bed, Noelle started preparing breakfast. Just as she was beating
Hendrix wasn't a particularly delicate person, but even he found the environment hard to endure. Not long after, he was woken up by a commotion outside. He opened his eyes and pushed himself up, just in time to see what was happening outside the window.Irene was chasing someone off with a broom. Despite her age, she still had the energy to scold while giving chase, her voice so loud and full of vigor that it startled everyone inside and out. And then, she turned around and scolded the onlookers as well.Noelle followed closely behind her, sheltered under her protection. Her eyes were curious as she glanced around, but she didn't dare stray more than half a step from Irene.Just as Hendrix was watching, Noelle noticed him, too. She seemed to freeze for a moment, then quickly looked away and tugged at Irene's hand.After a bit more commotion, Irene finally pulled her inside and shut the door with a loud bang.Once inside, Irene turned to Noelle and said, "Don't worry, Nelly. Sid's
Irene owned a plot of land in the village. She used to grow corn on it, but in the past two years, a contractor from the neighboring village had come by, so she switched to growing strawberries instead.It was now the season for planting seedlings. After the morning's commotion, Noelle had convinced Irene to rest at home and took over the planting work herself.The task wasn't particularly strenuous, but bending over for long periods was exhausting. Noelle squatted down, but after a while, she started feeling dizzy. She closed her eyes, preparing to take a short break, when somebody suddenly yanked her up.Hendrix frowned at her and asked, "What are you doing?"Noelle was startled for a moment, then clumsily pushed his hand away. Only after taking several steps back to put a safe distance between them did she finally ask, "What are you doing here?"Hendrix's frown deepened at her reaction. "Are you afraid of me?""No," Noelle quickly denied it. Her flustered expression made it se
"I haven't eaten yet. Will you grab a bite with me?" Hendrix asked Noelle.Noelle was stunned. But before she could react, Hendrix had already taken her hand and started leading her forward.Jerry had wanted to say something to Hendrix, but all he got was a distant wave as Hendrix took Noelle straight to the car.This was the car Hendrix had someone bring over yesterday. The once gleaming paint was now covered in splatters of mud after driving through the village's dirt roads. But he didn't mind.It wasn't until they had driven for a while that Noelle finally snapped out of her daze. "My mom will find out!""Don't worry. If she gets mad at you, I'll explain it to her.""She'll definitely hit you."Hendrix, holding the steering wheel, glanced at her. "What? Are you worried about me?""Of course not!" Noelle replied immediately. Then, she turned to look out the window.Hendrix watched her for a moment before reaching over and taking her hand."What are—" Noelle's eyes widened.
Noelle wasn't quick enough to stop Irene this time.When Irene swung down her hoe, Hendrix instinctively raised his arm to block it. As a result, the wound he had just had re-bandaged at the hospital that day split open again. There was even a faint cracking sound, as if a bone had been fractured.Even for someone as tough as Hendrix, the intense pain was enough to make him frown, and cold sweat quickly beaded on his forehead."Mom!" Noelle rushed forward and grabbed Irene's arm.But was still in the heat of anger. She pushed Noelle aside and was about to strike again when Jerry, who had received an emergency call, arrived on the scene.Jerry felt his vision darken for a moment when he saw Hendrix's injury. Then, without hesitation, he and his team restrained Irene."What are you doing? You bunch of ass-kissers! Let me go!" Irene struggled fiercely, her curses never stopping.Jerry was at a loss. He was about to have her taken to the police station when Hendrix grabbed his arm.
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