“How did you get here so fast?” Noelle slumped against Sebastian’s chest as she asked.
Sebastian held the oil painting in one hand and Noelle in the other. “I’ll take you back first, then we’ll talk.”
Noelle spoke with the last bit of reason she could muster. “No, don’t take me home. If my mom sees me
like this, she’ll worry.”
Now that she was safe, she didn’t want Mary to be worried for no reason.
Sebastian could easily understand what she was thinking. “Do you want to go to my place?”
With no other option, Noelle nodded. “Okay.”
Sebastian’s car was parked under a sycamore tree not far from the Spencer residence. There were no streetlights in that area, so his car was hard to spot. He had actually been waiting there for an hour
because he wanted to make sure Noelle returned home safely.
At first, when Sebastian saw that she had come back in Conner’s car, he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. He never expected things would turn out this way. To him, Conner was nothing but a
bastard.
After he set the painting in the back seat, he carefully placed Noelle in the passenger seat and fastened
her seatbelt with care.
When Noelle looked down, she saw Sebastian’s thick, black hair. Even his hair carried a faint, soothing
scent.
As he leaned over to buckle her seatbelt, his cheek came close enough to almost brush against her chest.
Noelle’s breathing suddenly quickened, and a part of her instinctively wanted to press him closer. She clenched her teeth, forcing herself to resist the urge.
After he fastened her seatbelt, Sebastian noticed something was wrong with her. Her eyes were shut
tight, and her expression showed clear discomfort.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” he asked.
Noelle kept her eyes closed and her jaw clenched. She shook her head and forced herself to stay
composed. “I’m fine.”
Although Sebastian was still uneasy, he decided not to press her further.
After closing the door, he walked around to the driver’s side. Once all the doors were closed, the car fell
into heavy silence. Aside from the hum of the air conditioning, the only sound was Noelle’s slightly uneven breathing.
That sound was unusual, almost like she was aroused.
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Sebastian finally realized something was off. He furrowed his brows, unable to hide the fury simmering in his eyes. His voice trembled as he spoke. “That bastard drugged you, didn’t he?”
A silver of light slipped through as Noelle cracked her eyes open slightly. The strange scent had begun to take effect. Her face flushed as she nodded with effort.
Sebastian slammed the steering wheel in rage.
If taking care of Noelle weren’t more important right now, he would already be chasing down Conner’s car with the urge to kill him.
He’d always thought Conner was a scum, but he never imagined he was the worst kind. The fact that he could even do something like this was beyond belief.
Sebastian clenched his teeth and forced each word out. “I’m taking you to the hospital right now.”
Noelle tugged at her clothes in restless heat. Her neck was covered in red marks from her own nails.
Sebastian kept one hand on the wheel and held her hand with the other. His eyes were filled with anguish. “Noelle, stop scratching. You’re hurting yourself.”
Even with one hand restrained, Noelle couldn’t stop herself from tearing at her clothes with the other. Her movements were so rough that she still ended up scratching herself in several places.
Seeing those red marks bloom one after another across her skin, Sebastian felt an unbearable ache in his
chest.
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Chapter 86