The Sway and Slide of Love

Chapter 204

"Ms. Swanson, are you sure it's a good idea to have dinner alone with Mr. Carter? I mean, he "Her assistant, Oliver Shaw, hesitated, leaving the rest unsaid.

Noelle, of course, understood their concern. Ethan's reputation in Vinton City was far from stellar. His insistence on having dinner alone with her tonight naturally set off Oliver's alarm bells and rightly so, "It's fine. It's just dinner," Noelle replied calmly.

After that, she opened the car door and stepped out onto the pavement. She had chosen the restaurant herself and, to avoid any potential "surprises", arrived half an hour early to order the food in advance. Ethan arrived just as Noelle finished filling up her glass with water.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Ms. Swanson."

"No worries. I just got here myself," Noelle replied with a smile.

Their first interaction was smooth, and everything seemed normal so far.

After a few glasses of red wine, the conversation began to shift.

"Ms. Swanson, you've been here for several months now, right?"

"Three months to be exact," Noelle answered with a smile.

"How have you been adjusting?

"Quite well, thanks to your help."

As Ethan reached out a hand toward her, Noelle subtly avoided it by raising her wine glass and saying, "This one's for you."

Ethan didn't rush to respond with his own wine glass. Instead, he simply smiled and said, "It's all your own effort: The help from others is just a little extra touch."

Noelle gave a slight smile. "Well, then, thank you for adding that touch."

This time, Ethan didn't refuse. He raised his wine glass and clinked it with hers. "You're too kind."

The dinner was quite pleasant. Even though Ethan tried to lean closer to her several times, Noelle managed to skillfully avoid him without making it obvious.

As the evening went on, Ethan grew somewhat displeased, but Noelle quickly shifted the conversation to another topic to divert his attention.

An hour later, the dinner finally came to an end.

"Isn't there a new resort hotel opening in the outskirts of the city? If you have time, Ms. Swanson, maybe we could go check it out sometime?"

"Sure."

Noelle didn't outright refuse invitations that had a timeframe of "sometime"-after all, rejecting it could

always be postponed to "another time". Thus, she agreed readily, and Ethan's expression softened a bit. Just then, his driver arrived with the car.

"It's raining. Let me give you a ride home," Ethan offered.

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Chapter 204

"I couldn't possibly trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all. Get in. Where are you staying now?

"It's getting late. Mrs. Carter must be anxiously waiting for you at home. You should head back early." Noelle's words hit him squarely where it hurt.

Ethan fell silent, and after a while, stiffly nodded before getting into the car.

"Do keep in touch, Mr. Carter," Noelle said with a bright smile, standing by the car window.

Ethan gave a perfunctory nod before instructing the driver to leave.

The smile on Noelle's face disappeared the moment the car was out of sight, replaced by an overwhelming exhaustion. She rubbed her temples and glanced at the endless drizzle ahead.

Originally, she intended to take out her phone to call for a ride, but in the next moment, she spotted a woman stepping out of the restaurant. The woman was bundled up tightly-sunglasses, a mask, and a scarf.

Noelle didn't know her personally, but at that moment, she immediately connected her appearance to the news she'd seen earlier that day, along with the accompanying photo.

The woman didn't notice Noelle looking at her. She kept her head down, speaking sweetly into her phone.

"I'm at the entrance. When will you get here? Yeah, I know