When Love Is a Lie (Whitney and Damian)

Noel noticed Whitney's gaze on him and looked over. But by then, Whitney had already shifted her eyes away.

"I have things to handle at the institute. You all carry on," Noel said, his tone unreadable. He then left the ward.noveldrama

"Since there's nothing else, I'll head out as well. I've got some personal matters to take care of," Thomas said, standing up. He remembered Elena's message and added, "My mom wants you to come over for dinner tomorrow."

"Do you want me to go over?" Yvette asked impulsively, immediately regretting it. She felt embarrassed-it was beneath her.

She had decided to stop harboring feelings for him. Had all those years of secretly liking him become a habit she couldn't break?

"Does it matter if I want you to come? Your legs don't belong to me," Thomas replied, his hands in his pockets. "If you're planning on coming, I'll let my mom know."

Yvette thought about how he'd been there for her these past few days, and her expression softened. She even allowed a smile.

"I'll think about it."

Thomas didn't say anything further and left the ward.

"Whitney, you were right. Maybe I misunderstood him. This whole experience hasn't been entirely bad," Yvette said, a bit moved.

"So, after all this, you're seeing that Thomas isn't so terrible?" Whitney raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that."

Just then, Yvette noticed Thomas had left his phone on the couch. She grabbed it and ran out to return it to him.

Whitney chuckled to herself. This was the duality of life-sometimes, hardship revealed unexpected truths. But only a couple of minutes later, Yvette returned, her face pale and her eyes red. "Didn't you go to return his phone? What happened?" Whitney asked, surprised.

Yvette angrily wiped her face. "Some dogs never change. I'll never trust him again!"

"What happened?" Whitney took out a tissue and gently wiped Yvette's tears.

"I just saw him taking another woman to a prenatal appointment," Yvette said, her voice shaking with anger. "Do you know how big her belly is? She's practically ready to give birth!" When she chased after him to return his phone earlier, she saw him downstairs with his arm around a heavily pregnant woman. All the joy and hope she had felt vanished in an instant. Now, she realized how foolish her earlier thoughts had been. On her way back, she tossed Thomas' phone straight into the trash.

Whitney tried to comfort her. "Are you sure you didn't misunderstand?"

"That's just the kind of person he is. If that woman had nothing to do with him, why would he be accompanying her to a prenatal appointment?" Yvette replied, refusing to discuss Thomas any further. Whitney knew her own romantic life was a mess, so she didn't feel qualified to give advice. She simply patted Yvette on the back and said nothing more.

After a while, Yvette suddenly looked at her thoughtfully. "Earlier, I noticed you were pretty cold to Noel. He came in, and you didn't say a word to him. You were acting all secretive around him." Whitney's comment earlier had clearly been directed at Noel.

'Keeping things under wraps' meant it was inconvenient... Wasn't that because Noel was a Howard too?

"You know, he's not the type to go tattling. Besides, if he really wanted to side with Jenny and Rachel, he wouldn't have helped us. He wouldn't have helped you either."

Whitney let out a bitter laugh. "Help me? He wouldn't go that far."

The thought of him taking Rachel's side and defending her felt like a thorn lodged in her heart. Especially when he mentioned earlier that he had just come from Rachel's hospital ward. It felt like a heavy stone pressing down on her chest. "What do you mean? Hasn't he helped you?" Yvette looked at her seriously. "Remember at the banquet, when I was about to expose Damian and Rachel's relationship, and Noel stopped me? Do you remember that?"

"Yes, I remember. I thought... he was just trying to help you by speaking up for Rachel."

Whitney's tone was resigned. She remembered every word he said that night. "Help me? No, he was helping you!"

Yvette's expression was a mix of frustration and exasperation. "Whitney, how can you be so blind at a time like this? I thought you understood what he meant."

Whitney was completely stunned.

"When he said no to 'dragging in people who shouldn't be involved,' who do you think he was talking about?" Yvette asked pointedly.

"Wasn't he talking about Rachel?"

Yvette rolled her eyes. "No, he meant you. If I had exposed Damian and Rachel, it would've dragged you into the scandal. It would've humiliated you, and the whole of Seabourke would've been laughing at you. "He was trying to stop me for your sake. Think about it. With my personality, would I have let it go so easily if he was really just defending Rachel?"

Whitney thought about it. With Yvette's fiery nature, she would've fought back with everything she had if she had truly believed Noel was siding with Rachel. But Yvette had stayed silent after Noel's comment that night. Whitney was speechless.

So... she had completely misunderstood Noel?