No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

Cedric faced her direct display of affection, but all he could do was avert his gaze in panic. He couldn't respond to Noelle's advances.

His throat felt like it was clogged with cotton. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "You're still young. You don't understand."

"I'm already an adult, Cedric. Are you afraid of me getting too close? Afraid that you might want a taste of me?"

Noelle decided to throw caution to the wind tonight. She felt that Cedric had been really good to her. She had almost believed he had feelings for her, but learning he was seeing other girls crushed her spirits. Cedric's expression darkened. "Do you know that 'a taste of me' isn't something to be said so casually?"

Noelle was taken aback for a moment. Then, her face turned bright red after realizing what he meant.

She never expected a cold man like Cedric to make such a lame joke. She murmured, her cheeks flushed, "Turns out all men are the same."

Cedric pressed his thin lips together. "You can't handle this kind of joke, but you're trying to learn how others flirt in a bar?"

Hearing his lecture, Noelle realized he had shifted the topic. Not giving up, she looked up at him and asked, "Cedric, I've always had one question. Why have you always been so good to me?"

Cedric couldn't answer her, not daring to even meet her eyes. He feared that he might reveal his true feelings if their gazes locked.

Noelle wrapped her arms around his neck, asking, "You've always been so kind to me. Don't you feel even a little bit of affection for me?"noveldrama

If Cedric didn't like her, why had he been so good to her? Did he have feelings for her, too?

At that moment, Noelle felt as if she had summoned all her courage, only able to ask him this in this dimly lit space. For once in her life, she wanted to be brave for herself.

The girl in Cedric's arms asked the question without hesitation, and her sincere words made his initial reasons feel so insignificant. He had only gotten close to her to ease his guilt, not because of real feelings for her. He couldn't tell her the truth. He didn't even dare to entertain the thought.

When Cedric saw the look in Noelle's

eyes, his heart softened in a way he couldn't explain, but he could only say the words that betrayed

feelings.

his true

"Little girl, I'm only helping you because it's convenient for me. I couldn't stand how biased your brother was."

In an instant, Noelle's eyes filled with

tears. His words were calm, almost

gentle. Yet they rejected her so clearly, cutting through her hope without mercy.

Noelle felt incredibly embarrassed at that moment, realizing she had just confessed to a man who already had a girlfriend. She had crossed a moral line. Panicking, she quickly pulled away from him, lowered her head, and stammered, "I... I was just joking. I'm going to the bathroom."

She fled from the crowd awkwardly.

Cedric followed closely behind. His expression darkened instantly as though he carried the weight of years of hardship.

It wasn't until Noelle entered the

restroom that Cedric stopped in his tracks. He stood in place and borrowed a cigarette from someone. His long fingers wrapped around the cigarette, and he exhaled a cloud of white smoke, hiding his tightly controlled expression.

Alfred approached with two glasses of alcohol, handing one over to him. "How's the night going?"

Cedric downed the red wine in one go. "She cried."

"Tsk, I warned you. Keep your distance; don't be too kind to her."

"Then why are you also so kind to her?"

Cedric bit down on the cigarette, his brows furrowed in frustration.