No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric) novel Chapter 1144

Laura followed Mike to the lounge. She began, "Mr. Coal, you don't need to worry about this—Ah!"

Just as she spoke, she was suddenly slapped across the face.

Mike's face was dark with anger, and he snapped, "Ms. Merlock, what a fine mess you caused!

"Everything was going smoothly, but thanks to you offending someone from the Greene family, those investors got cold feet and backed out of the deal. This entire dinner was a waste.

"If the big boss finds out about this, do you think you'll be spared? If not for them, you'd be begging on the streets right now."

Laura clutched her cheek. "I'm sorry. I made a mistake this time."

Mike said, "Good. You'd better understand that we took you in out of goodwill. You need to prove your worth; otherwise, what's the point of keeping you around?"

Lowering her head, she murmured, "I understand."

"Glad to hear it. I know you and Ms. Liddell have a grudge, but we're in the middle of negotiating a partnership with Maple Enterprise for an international project.

"Until the deal is sealed, we can't afford any more tension. So you're going to apologize to her."

"You want me to apologize?" Laura's eyes widened in disbelief.

Just moments ago, it was Mike who suddenly suggested making peace with Noelle, which clearly offended her and triggered the fallout. Yet now, he expected her to clean it up?

Mike's tone turned icy. "What, you don't want to?"

"But I didn't want you to be wronged," Cedric replied as he took her hand, gripping it tightly in his palm.

Noelle gritted her teeth. "I just didn't expect Mr. Coal to be that kind of manipulative snake. I couldn't stomach the way he acted back there."

She wasn't the kind to stay silent when someone tried to walk all over her. Staying quiet would've made her look weak.

Cedric smiled. "You handled it well. No one gets to mess with you. Besides, this makes the collaboration even trickier for them. If we make it look too easy, they'll get suspicious."

Noelle thought it over and nodded. "That actually makes sense."

With that, her heart settled. She looked up at him and asked, "So what do you think PZ Group's next move will be?"