Chapter 4 Kneel

• If Sharon complained about this to her godfather, Noelle would be in hot soup. They were more than capable of doing despicable things to her.
• Speak of the devil. The moment Sophia finished speaking, Sharon strutted out of the studio with her nose in the air.
• “You wanted to challenge me, right, Mistress Hooper? Sure. Let’s see who’ll get eliminated first!” With that, she took out her phone to call the producer.
• Sophia hurriedly stopped Sharon and offered her a flattering smile. “Ms. Puttnam, please don’t. Noelle is proud but ignorant. Please overlook this matter and spare her just this once?”
• “Spare her?” Sharon glanced at the women condescendingly. “Fine, but she has to kneel and apologize to me first!”
• She pointed at Noelle with a smug look on her face.
• This time it wasn’t just Noelle who was infuriated. Rather, Sophia couldn’t take it anymore, either.
• “Ms. Puttnam, you’re funny. But don’t worry, I’ll get Noelle to apologize to you.” She motioned at Noelle with her eyes. “Noelle, what are you waiting for?”
• Apologize to her? Noelle furrowed her brows. As if!
• However, Sophia’s tone was final. Noelle had been at the lowest point of her life in the past year. Even so, her manager didn’t abandon her but she even helped her in making ends meet. Indeed, Sophia had done more than enough for her.
• Noelle bit her lip as she walked toward Sharon.
• “I’m s...”
• “Kneel!”
• Sharon’s arrogance completely enraged Noelle. Kneel in front of her? Who does she think she is?
• “What’s up with the murderous glare? Don’t you want to keep your role? Well, kneel and grovel at my feet!” Sharon felt smug at having the upper hand and wanted so badly to step all over Noelle.
• Just then, the elevator doors opened. Eight men in black surrounded a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses as they filed out of the elevator.
• Holding a briefcase in one hand, the man looked gentle and competent. He swept his gaze over the three women, perceiving the tension that was hovering in the air.
• “May I know which one of you is Noelle Hooper?”
• “Uhm... And you are...” As Noelle’s manager, Sophia spoke up first.
• “I am Clinton White from Pierce Group. I’m here under Mr. Pierce’s orders to discuss some matters with Ms. Hooper,” Clinton replied in a professional manner.
• When his eyes swept over Noelle, Clinton was slightly taken aback for a moment. Nevertheless, he quickly recovered and went back to being his professional self.
• Pierce Group!
• In J City, only an idiot wouldn’t know about Pierce Group.
• Pierce Group was well-known amongst the elite circles in J City and even in the entire country. It was an honor to be acquainted with the Pierce family.
• In addition to that, Dominic Pierce, the successor who had recently taken over Pierce Group, had a mysterious and noble existence, too.
• Rumor had it that the first day that he took over as President, Pierce Group’s stock price jumped up by a great margin. He was said to be disciplined and preferred to keep a low profile. He wasn’t attracted to women and he was an eligible bachelor of the highest quality. Rumor also had it that he was so handsome that he could give Adonis a run for his money.
• In short, Dominic Pierce was the perfect Prince Charming in every woman’s fantasy.
• When Sharon heard what Clinton had uttered, her eyes lit up with excitement.
• Sophia wasn’t stupid, either. She immediately pushed Noelle toward Clinton as she hurriedly blurted out, “This is Noelle!”
• Through the glass windows of a VIP room, Noelle could be seen sitting on a leather chair with her arms crossed and an icy expression on her face while she stared at the men in black and Clinton White across from her. She looked like a queen in her own right.
• Once Clinton shed some light on the reason for his sudden visit, Noelle realized that they were here to talk about the demolition.
• The small courtyard where she was currently living at was the only thing that her late mother had left for her.
• Memories of her mother were embedded deep within that courtyard, so there was no way that she would allow them to demolish it.
• In the stalemate, the door opened and Sophia entered with some coffee. She courteously handed a cup to Clinton. Due to Noelle’s obstinance, all of Clinton’s gentlemanly manners had flown out the window; he had even forgotten to thank Sophia for the coffee.
• “Ms. Hooper, Mr. Pierce has offered you some very good terms. Please reconsider it.”
• “No!”
• “Or perhaps you could tell us what your terms are? Money? A house? As long as they’re within Mr. Pierce’s capabilities, he’ll agree to them!”
• “Let me repeat this, the door is over there. Kindly see yourself out!”
• Noelle pointed at the door with an aloof expression. Upon sensing the imminent disaster, Sophia whipped around to shoot her a warning glare.
• Has this girl gone mad? Is she really going to let such a rare opportunity go?
• Since Noelle entered the room, Sharon and many nosy girls who had heard about it came running over, craning their necks and pricking their ears to listen to the conversation that was going on inside.
• This was expected, because the person who had come looking for Noelle was Dominic Pierce’s direct subordinate. This in itself was groundbreaking news, and the lofty stance that Noelle had taken up was making their imagination run wild.
• Sharon began to harbor ridiculous thoughts to herself. Seeing as that b*tch dared to challenge me earlier, don’t tell me that Dominic Pierce is her backer?
• The same thought ran in Sophia’s mind. She couldn’t stop herself from entering the room under the guise of serving coffee in order to quell her curiosity.
• “Ms. Hooper...” Clinton’s pride was hurt after he was continuously turned down by Noelle.
• “Send the guests...” Before Noelle could finish speaking, Sophia twisted her arm slightly and forced a smile at Clinton, taking on the voice of a typical brownnoser. “Mr. White, you know girls can get too shy for their own good and they always say things that they don’t mean. Why don’t you go back first and allow me to speak to Noelle for a bit? Don’t worry, she’ll definitely give you a satisfactory answer.”
• “Thank you! I shall wait for the good news then!” Clinton wiped the sweat off his brow. Ms. Hooper seems to answer to this woman. Furthermore, this woman looks like a smart person. Since I can’t get through to Ms. Hooper, it won’t hurt to let her give it a try.
• Just after Clinton left, Sophia spread her arms and gave Noelle a bear hug.
• Noelle was gasping for breath with how tightly her manager was hugging her; she could not break free.
• “What is the meaning of this, Sophia?” The courtyard was the only place that Noelle had at the moment. She couldn’t give in, not even if Sophia were to pressure her to do it.
• Filled with joy and excitement, Sophia was about to speak when the door to the VIP room was pushed open. The crowd of gossipers that had gathered outside poured in.
• “Noelle, you can call us impressed! I mean, you and Mr. Pierce? Quickly, tell us! How did you manage to tackle Mr. Pierce?”
• “Yeah! Mr. Pierce has never accepted interviews. What does he look like? Is he really as handsome as the rumors say he is? Is he as handsome as Adonis himself?”
• “Do you even need to ask? Even his subordinate is good looking. Noelle, do you have a photo of Mr. Pierce? Let us have a peek at it!”
• Noelle was rendered speechless.
• What the hell? What do Mr. Pierce and his subordinate have to do with me?
• “Ha...” Sharon who had been quiet all this while sneered all of a sudden. “You guys should stop fantasizing. Dominic Pierce has yet to appear in public ever since he returned to the country a few months ago. Who knows? He could be an ugly monster who is too ashamed to meet people! It’s either that, or he has a serious case of erectile dysfunction! Not attracted to women? Yeah right. I bet that it’s because he can’t get it up!”
• “Tsk, tsk. Well, well. If it isn’t the green-eyed monster rearing its head.” Sophia was no longer courteous to Sharon like she had been before and boldly called her out on her jealousy. “Alright, alright. Don’t you all have scenes to shoot? The show is over. Get back to work!”
• The busybodies left one after the other, but Sharon remained where she was.
• “Don’t think that you’ll be able to escape retribution just because you have a powerful backer, Noelle. It isn’t over between us!” Sharon was still skeptical about the possibility that Noelle and Dominic Pierce were involved with one another. She believed that if they truly were together, his subordinates wouldn’t have left before settling the scores for Noelle.