The Sway and Slide of Love

Noelle glanced down at Hendrix's hand and simply said, "Let go."

Hendrix didn't respond, but his grip on her remained firm.

"You're hurting me," Noelle added.

Only then did Hendrix loosen his hold slightly, but he still didn't let go.

Noelle suddenly laughed. Before Hendrix could understand the meaning behind her laughter, she raised his hand to his mouth. Then, she bit down on his forearm. Even though she used considerable force, Hendrix didn't make a sound-not even a grunt. If anything, he even inched his arm closer to her, as if he was afraid she hadn't gotten a good enough grip. But the next moment, Noelle released her grip.

After a pause, Hendrix rolled up his sleeve to expose more of his forearm before offering it to her again. "Keep biting until you feel better."

Noelle chuckled coldly. "Do you really think just biting you will make me feel better?"

Hendrix fell silent.

"When did you find out about what Sandra did?" Noelle asked.

"After our first divorce," Hendrix replied.

Noelle's lips curled into a faint smile. "So before that, you really thought the miscarriage was just an accident, didn't you?"

Hendrix fell silent again.

Noelle didn't press further. But just as she was about to push his hand away, Hendrix suddenly pulled her into his arms.

Noelle immediately put up a struggle, trying to shove him away with all her strength. But that only made Hendrix tighten his hold around her.

"I know I was a jerk before," he whispered in her ear. "You can hit me, yell at me, and do whatever you want. I'll take it all. But you must stay by my side. As long as you don't

leave me, I'll agree don't

anything you want."

Noelle didn't answer. She simply pressed a hand against his chest in silent resistance.

"As for Ruth, you can rest assured I'll deal with her. I was going to let her keep scraping by, but now, it seems she still thinks the world is a little too kind to her."

Noelle suddenly stopped struggling when she heard that. Then, she slowly looked up at him. "What do you mean? Are you saying that you have something to do with the downfall of Ruth's family business?"

"Yup."

Noelle went quiet, her brows slowly furrowing.

"You were bullied by her before, no?" Hendrix asked.

Noelle didn't know how to answer. She and Ruth had never gotten along, and she certainly didn't feel any sympathy for her, but Hendrix's response still caught her off guard.

After a brief pause, Hendrix added, "But her family's business was already on its last legs. Her father.

getting old, and there's no one ton

take over. Not to mention, they failed at their attempt at restructuring. So, it's not entirely because of me. I'm not as cruel and heartless as you think I am."

There was a hint of tentativeness in his tone toward the end. Only then did Noelle finally look up at him. It was just a fleeting glance-so fight that Hendrix couldn't read any emotion from her eyes.

He was about to say something when she suddenly asked, "So, what are you planning to do now?"noveldrama

"What?"

"You just said you were going to deal with her. How do you plan to do that?"

"What do you want me to do?" Hendrix asked instead.