Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Noelle, Don’t Be Afraid...

Noelle Sutton didn’t want to wait any longer. She raised her hand. "Let’s sign the agreement."

Tristan Lawson rose, picked up the agreement, and walked over to hand it to Noelle.

As Noelle took it and began reading, Tristan Lawson suddenly swept her into his arms.

The divorce agreement fell from her hands to the floor.

’He couldn’t be trusted at all!’

’So what if the divorce agreement said she would get half of all his assets?’

’Did he think he could trick her with that?’

Tristan Lawson strode toward the door, but even he was caught off guard when Noelle suddenly produced a dagger and pressed it to his neck.

The cold, sharp blade pressed against Tristan Lawson’s skin.

Her eyes held a resolve he had never seen before.

The man looked at her with gentle focus, his voice low. "Thinking of murdering your dear husband?"

She clenched her jaw and stared at him.

Even with a dagger at his throat, he showed no fear.

Tristan Lawson all but ignored her, continuing to stride toward the exit.

She couldn’t speak; she had to show him with her actions.

The tip of the blade pierced his skin.

The pain made him falter for a mere second before he continued on.

Noelle pressed harder, and blood beaded on his skin.

By the time they reached the car, Tristan Lawson said, his voice soft and gentle, "Put the dagger away for now. Later, you can stab me wherever you like. I’ll let you."

His long, elegant fingers hooked the handle and opened the passenger door.

Noelle was too weak to even struggle.

Tristan Lawson’s composure made her own resolve crumble.

After placing her in the passenger seat, Tristan Lawson got in, and the black Maybach disappeared from Westhill Villa.

’He had to get her away from here.’

’Too many unwanted visitors had been trespassing at Westhill Villa lately. He hadn’t had a single chance to sit down and talk with her properly.’

During the drive, Noelle clutched the dagger tightly.

Tristan Lawson didn’t dare speed, afraid a sudden stop might cause her to hurt herself.

The car traveled down a wide, paved road before turning onto a narrower street.

Noelle gazed blankly out the window, the surroundings growing increasingly familiar.

They were near Glenwater University.

The place where Noelle had lived for four years.

The rental apartments near the campus.

She hadn’t lived on campus because she wanted to go out at night to sell her paper-cuttings. In her early years, she had scraped by on scholarships and financial help from Director Ford, renting the cheapest place she could find.

Later, once she was able to take on commissions and her situation improved, she moved into a one-bedroom apartment with much nicer furnishings.

Tristan Lawson had been here once before—to pick her up to get their marriage license.

She had terminated the lease after they were married.

Tristan Lawson parked, walked around to the passenger side, and once again lifted Noelle out of the car.

They entered the elevator and went straight to the ninth floor.

It was the floor she used to live on. Noelle had no idea why he had suddenly brought her here.

was her old apartment number. The lock had been replaced with a facial recognition scanner, which let them in without a hitch.

The interior was furnished exactly as she had left it.

Seven years had passed, yet a sense of familiarity washed over her.

The space wasn’t large, only about four or five hundred square feet, with a small terrace, but to her back then, it had been a cozy little haven.

Tristan Lawson set her down on the small, cloth-covered sofa in the living room. He studied her face intently before speaking, his voice low and deliberate. "Seven years ago, I bought this place. It’s in your name. I figured you’d have an attachment to it after living here for four years. I only changed the lock. I didn’t touch anything inside."

On the wall behind the sofa hung several framed paper-cuttings of various sizes. They were artistic, with a lifelike, three-dimensional effect. Years ago, Tristan Lawson hadn’t paid them much mind, assuming they were just store-bought decorations.

Only now did he realize they were Noelle’s handiwork.

Noelle’s fingers tightened on the dagger’s hilt.

’What was the point of him saying all this now? Did he think it would move me?’

’Sorry. Not a chance.’

Seeing her listless expression, the dagger still in her hand, Tristan Lawson’s voice dropped to a low, hoarse rasp. "What happened last night... I’m sorry. I... I lost control."

He explained calmly, gently, even wanting to reach out and touch the cheeks he had bruised.

Noelle lifted her heavy eyelids to meet Tristan Lawson’s ocean-deep gaze, and a derisive smirk touched her lips.

’Our marriage is about to end.’

’And yet he keeps putting on these romantic charades, stabbing my heart until it’s raw and bleeding with each performance.’

Noelle’s cold smirk stung Tristan’s eyes.

’Last night, he’d gone too far.’

"It was my fault. I admit it, Noelle..." He suddenly grabbed her hand, using his free one to wrench the dagger from her grip and toss it aside. Then he knelt, taking her hand and guiding it to his own face. "Hit me. Keep hitting me until you’re not angry anymore, okay?"

Noelle put no force into it. Even as he pressed her hand against his cheek, her slightly curled fingers merely brushed his skin, completely limp.

She simply stared at him, her expression vacant.

As if she no longer cared about anything at all.

A wave of powerlessness washed over Tristan Lawson. He lowered his head, resting it on her lap, his voice choked with emotion. "We haven’t been together in so long. I just... I missed you so much I couldn’t control myself. I never meant to..."

’He never meant to treat her like that.’

’His desire for her had been a raging fire ever since she’d gone to shower the night before, all the way to The Orchidelle.’

’Nicotine couldn’t suppress it. Alcohol couldn’t suppress it. Even a cold shower couldn’t suppress it.’

’He had rushed over to her wanting to be gentle, to coax her into willingly giving herself to him.’

’He had no idea how things had ended up in such a state.’

Noelle couldn’t speak, her only response a profound silence.

He slowly lifted his head and gazed at the cut on the corner of her mouth. Remembering his own brutish behavior, his guts twisted with regret.

"Noelle."

The sound of him softly calling her name was sensual and melodious.

In the past, Noelle had loved hearing him say her name like that.

Normally, however, he just called her Noelle Sutton.

Only in bed, in the heat of passion, would he call her that.

Last night, he had murmured her name over and over again, but for her, there had only been pain.

Tristan Lawson’s hand, with its prominent knuckles, rose. It trembled as it moved toward Noelle’s face, wanting to soothe her, to ask her if she was in pain.

But Noelle flinched away like a startled animal, her body wracked with tremors. The focus in her clear, beautiful eyes shattered, her pupils dilating.

Her terrified, trembling recoil made Tristan’s heart clench. He had no choice but to withdraw the hand frozen in the air near her cheek.

Noelle then wrenched her other hand free. Without even taking off her shoes, she scrambled back, pulling her legs up onto the sofa and hugging them tightly to her chest. She curled into a ball, trying to shrink into the far corner of the couch.

’She was terrified he would touch her face again.’

’Last night, he had gripped her jaw just like that, cupping the back of her head, for over an hour. The muscles along her jaw still ached from it.’

’No matter how many tears she cried, no matter how many times she shook her head, he hadn’t let her go.’

Tears, like pearls from a broken string, streamed from her vacant eyes. They fell in fat drops onto the cloth sofa, staining the fabric as they spread...

She looked like a helpless child.

Every one of her small movements struck Tristan’s heart like a physical blow.

He rose and sat beside her on the sofa. He pulled her trembling body into his arms, pressing his face intimately against her cheek, nuzzling her gently as he murmured into her ear, "Noelle, don’t be afraid..."