No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

When Noelle saw Frank being interviewed by the reporter, a sly glint flashed in her eyes. Frank was caught entirely off guard by the reporter's questions and stood there stunned.

What did they mean by the family's involvement helped Noelle improve her grades?

Noelle had moved out well before the exams and barely came home. Her rapid academic progress had nothing to do with them.

In fact, back then, Lucas had insisted that Noelle take a leave to train with the esports team, and Xenia had pushed her in the same direction, which had actually harmed her grades, causing them to drop significantly.

In short, the Liddell family had contributed nothing to Noelle's success as the top scorer-if anything, they had been a hindrance.

Had Noelle not insisted on moving out and refusing to participate in the esports training, her chances of becoming the city's top scorer would have been almost nonexistent.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Frank instinctively glanced at Noelle.

It dawned on him that Noelle had done this on purpose.

She had set this up to deliberately mock the entire Liddell family.

Noelle knew none of them would have the courage to claim this honor for themselves.

He had to admit, this was a hard slap across the face-one that left him deeply ashamed. He couldn't deny that he had failed as a proper brother. Frank's expression turned awkward, his discomfort clear.

He cleared his throat and said hoarsely, "Actually, we didn't really do anything. The truth is, my sister is naturally intelligent, diligent, and hardworking." The reporter seemed disappointed by this response.

However, Lionel understood the backstory and suspected that Noelle's earlier words were a sarcastic jab at her family.

Bruce said to Frank, "Congratulations, Mr. Liddell. Your family has produced a top scorer."

Frank couldn't bring himself to smile. He felt utterly humiliated.

Noelle's remarkable achievement had nothing to do with him, and hearing others congratulate him only made him feel more uncomfortable.

He couldn't bring himself to look at Noelle, especially after the things he had just said.

Lionel quickly tried to ease the tension. "Alright, let's stop standing around and head to the restaurant for the banquet."

Noelle hung back for a moment and turned to Frank, "You should leave."

"Nelly!"

Frank looked at her retreating figure with a complicated expression but no longer dared to speak as he had before.

As Noelle got into the car, she glanced back at Frank standing by the roadside. Bruce's earlier congratulatory remark amused her.

Soon, everyone arrived at a restaurant near the school.

Frank followed them there-he couldn't bring himself not to go.noveldrama

As he stepped out of the car, his phone rang.

It was Lucas.

"Frank, what's going on? Xenia's already at the hospital, so why haven't you brought Noelle over yet?"

Frank took a deep breath before replying, "Maybe after lunch."

"What lunch could possibly be more important than dealing with the Parham family right now? Justin's exam results were terrible, and Mrs. Parham has already called several times. "Justin had even rejected her video calls. If she sees he's at the hospital, all our efforts will be wasted."

Frank's voice trembled as he said, "This is Nelly's celebration banquet. I can't leave."

Even though he hadn't contributed to Noelle's success, he still felt he had to be there as her brother, especially for today's banquet.

"What celebration banquet? Did

Noelle become the city's top scorer

or something? She didn't even do that well right? Stop messing around and come back to deal with the Parham family. Do you know how hard I've been working to

build

a good relationship with Mr. Parham since last night?"

"Nelly is the city's top scorer. She is the top student."

"What?"

Lucas nearly lost his balance hearing the news. "You're saying Noelle is the city's top scorer? How is that possible? Didn't they say her language score suffered because of the faulty stationery?"

Even if the issue with her language exam hadn't held her back, her grades shouldn't have been enough to claim the top spot in the entire city, right?

"I thought the same, but the school

has already put up a banner, and reporters are here interviewing the top scorer. It's true-Nelly is the one. I'm already at the restaurant with them now." en