Chapter 120

It was the first time Damon had ever touched Noelle's head. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she grinned. "Damon, this is the first time you’ve touched…"

He stared at her bright expression for a second. Then, as if realizing what he’d done, he quickly pulled his hand back and shifted away, increasing the distance between them. His expression turned a little awkward. “Was it a weird reaction?” he asked, trying to…

Noelle grinned and scooted closer. “Didn’t you say you wanted to keep your distance from me? And now you’re patting my head? Does this mean we're friends?"

Damon twitched. She really doesn’t forget things, does she?

He pushed her forehead back with two fingers. “Don’t overthink it. It was nothing. Stop acting like it’s a big deal.”

“Someone doesn't need to act cool,” Noelle teased.

“What are you talking about?” he said curtly.

Noelle grinned from ear to ear. “I'm not making things up. I knew it–Damon, you just can’t ignore me!”

Damon scowled. “Just stop dreaming.”

OUT

Noelle absolutely refused to go to the hospital. Damon had no choice but to drive her home.

Noelle suddenly turned to him with a smile. “Oh, by the way, don’t tell the family about what happened today.”

Whoever was behind the attack came from the lab, and whoever was behind them definitely was, too. Noelle didn’t want her family digging into things, so she figured it best to keep quiet…

Damon glanced at her. He had always known she had secrets. She babbled a lot, but when it came to certain things, she kept her mouth shut. No matter what, there were some things she just refused to share.

He wasn’t nosy or anything. The only reason he ever asked about her past was because he wanted to understand her. Whoever was prone to have Noelle's kind of skills had to have gone through…

Noelle clearly wasn’t planning to explain anything; she even gave him a look that warned him not to ask.

Knowing better than to push, he just nodded and said, “Alright. I won’t tell anyone.”

Noelle grinned and leaned her head against his arm, her eyes twinkling. “That means we have a secret now, just the two of us. No one else knows.”

Who would have thought, a few hours ago, he was telling her to stay away, acting like he wanted nothing to do with her. And now, they shared something, whether he liked it or not.

Even weirder, he didn’t actually ha…

If anything, in fact, it was oddly reassuring. However, that also made guilt creep up on him. He had promised himself he’d stand by Leia’s side, but here he was letting Noelle in.

The thought made his mood drop fast.

Noticing Noelle still leaning on him, his expression darkened. He nudged her off with his elbow, his tone sharper than necessary. “Hey. Don’t lean…"

Before he even finished speaking, Noelle suddenly yelped. “Ow!”

Damon froze. He turned to see her clutching her shoulder, her face scrunched up in pain.

Chapter 120

His heart skipped a beat. Shit!

He had completely forgotten, she’d been shot in the left shoulder, and he had just shoved her without thinking.

Damon immediately pulled the car over. Leaning toward her, he asked anxiously. “Did your wound open up? Damn it, I told you not to lean over! How bad is it? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

For the first time in a long time, he was actually panicking. His mind flashed back to her injury, to the sight of blood soaking her clothes. The realization that he might have made it worse made his chest tighten.

From the way he looked at her, anyone would think he was the one who had been shot.

Just as Damon was about to call 911, Noelle suddenly lifted her head and stuck her tongue out at him.

She grinned like a little kid that had just pulled off the perfect trick. “Ha! You totally panicked! I knew you cared about me! Don’t even try to deny it!”

Damon just stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Then it clicked. She had played him.

The embarrassment hit first, then frustration. His face darkened as he snapped, "Noelle!"

But she only laughed harder. “Aww, now you’re shy!”

“Noelle, I’m so…” Damon gritted his teeth. He had a short temper, a bad attitude, and normally, he had no problem letting people know exactly how pissed off he was.

But with Noelle, somehow, he just couldn’t bring himself to yell at her. She was infuriating, yet at the same time, he felt relieved. And that only annoyed him more.

In the end, he could only sigh in defeat, watching her bask in her little victory.

He swore to himself, next time, even if she actually collapsed in pain, he wouldn’t give a damn.

When they got back to the Anderson family’s house, the whole family was huddled together in the living room, deep in conversation.

They were talking about the new song by “The Legend” that had just shattered records.

Stanley’s voice was already iconic, and with Noelle’s composition, it was pure gold. The song had dominated the charts in just a week, climbing straight to number one.

Meanwhile, Radiance Media had been going all-in on promoting Noelle. She hadn’t even made a public appearance yet, and she was already being hyped as the next big thing.

Naturally, the Anderson family was over the moon. They turned to Charlie, their go-to for entertainment industry insight, and bombarded him with questions.

Charlie didn’t sugarcoat it. He flat-out said Noelle’s commercial value was already approaching top-tier status. That sent the whole family into celebration mode.

So, when Noelle and Damon walked through the door, they were met with a room full of expectant, eager faces.

Noelle blinked. “Uh… why is everyone lurking at me like that?”

They never hated her.

She wasn't used to this kind of attention. A month ago, the only one who ever got this much enthusiasm from the family was Leia. And back then...

Noelle let out a…

Karma sure works fast.

Eli practically bounced over to her, his excitement through the roof. He clapped a hand on her left shoulder, grinning. “Noelle, you’re a celebrity!”

Being too excited, he didn’t hold back, not even a little. The slap landed hard.

Noelle’s face twisted in pain. Her body healed faster than most, but she was still human.

Her wound had only just stopped bleeding, and the seal was still fresh, way too fragile to take that.

No matter how tough Noelle was, the slap was too much for her to handle.

Chapter 120

Eli finally noticed something was off. “Noelle? What's wrong?” His excitement dimmed as he frowned at her.

Before she could say a word, Damon was already there. He shoved Eli back, glaring. “Hey, are you out of your damn mind! Who told you to hit…"

Without wasting a second, he turned to Noelle, his voice tight. "Noelle, are you okay?!"