No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

Noelle heard those words and turned to grab an exquisitely decorated ornament from the table. Then, she smashed it onto the floor right next to Xenia's feet.

Standing beside Donovan, Xenia chimed in, "Look, Donovan. Noelle's never been satisfied with my planning. Now she's even throwing things on the floor."

Donovan frowned. "The event is just a few hours away, Noelle. Why are you making a scene now?"

"Making a scene? I'm cleaning up Xenia's mess!"

Noelle stepped forward and yanked his tie. "Are you out of your mind? This is a charity sales event, not some extravagant or luxury dinner party. If people see this, they'll mock us, Liddells!"

Donovan's expression darkened as he finally realized something was off. Xenia hurriedly explained, "I didn't use that much expensive stuff, Donovan. The guests attending today are influential, and I just wanted to make sure the food and decorations are top-tier so they won't look down on us."

"Idiot!" Donovan rubbed his temples in frustration and could barely say a word.

Seeing his reaction, Xenia turned to Noelle. "See? Donovan is on my side."

Before Noelle could respond, Donovan exploded. "Xenia, is there anything in your brain besides vanity?

"Noelle's right! This is a charity sales event, and it's inappropriate for you to make it look like some luxurious dinner party. Change everything!"

Xenia's expression stiffened as she mumbled, "I was only thinking about the Liddell family's reputation."

Noelle sneered. "No, you were thinking about your vanity. You planned this whole event and spent millions on it, but the charity sales event might not even make that much money back. Are you dumb?"

"Millions?" Donovan was shocked. He turned to Xenia and gawked at her. "Is that true?"

"N-No... Not millions. Just two million. But those are necessities, you know..." Xenia started feeling guilty.

Donovan clenched his fists and nearly lost control. But with so many guests present at the site, he forced himself to hold back.

Xenia was startled by his fury. Wasn't that just a small amount of money? Why was he making such a big deal out of it? She couldn't teffif there was anything wrong and concluded that Donovan must be biased toward Noelle to say so. Cóntent

That was when Frank finally spoke. "Donovan, this is exactly why I wanted to kick Xenia out, and that has nothing to do with Noelle. Stop blaming her for everything and get your facts straight before shouting at her."

Even Frank, who was usually easygoing, was calling Donovan out.

Though the latter knew he was at fault, he rebuked, "Noelle's temper is getting worse by the day. How is that my fault?"

Noelle didn't waste her breath on them and coldly instructed, "Change everything. We will not let this event turn into a joke. Also, Xenia is not allowed to interfere in anything."

"What gives you the right to do that?" Xenia immediately snapped.

"Enough! Xenia, you really screwed up this time, and it's a good thing Noelle caught it early, or the Liddell family would've ended up getting humiliated. Change your outfit and have Noelle handle the rest."

Regardless of how unwilling Xenia was, she had no choice but to obey.

Noelle turned to Donovan and declared, "I wouldn't have bothered fixing this messnoveldrama

if this wasn't something our parents left behind. I won't allow Xenia to tarnish their legacy."

With that, she turned and got to work.

Donovan was livid. He turned to Frank and snapped, "Did you hear that? Does Noelle even think of me as her brother?"

Frank signed. "Be honest with yourself, Donovan. Have you ever treated Noelle like a sister? You can't blame her for how she acts."

He could see how biased Donovan was toward Xenia and was sure that the latter would regret it one day. But by then, it'd be too late.

Noelle worked tirelessly in reorganizing the venue. She wouldn't have bothered if it weren't for the foundation's reputation and their parents' legacy.

By the time everything was ready, the event had begun. Guests started arriving one after another.

Xenia had changed into a plain white dress. She was clearly unhappy as she muttered, "The venue looks so plain. People are just going to think the Liddell family is cheap."