Too Good for You The Ex-Wife You Lost novel Chapter 201

Noelle only exchanged a few words with Simon before slipping away to grab some food.

She had little interest in socializing, and she certainly didn't feel the need to curry favor with him. But her choice drew discontent from some of her teammates.

"Ms. Quinn, Mr. Quinn came here just to celebrate with us. Isn't it a little rude for you to leave him and eat by yourself?"

Cassandra's tone was sharp. "You're the champion. If you don't entertain him, do you expect the rest of us, who are just side characters, to do it? He wouldn't care about us anyway."

Noelle rolled her eyes inwardly, but before she could reply, Hunter's cold voice cut through the room. "Oh, so you do remember she's the champion? I almost thought you all forgot this banquet was held for her in the first place."

At that, Cassandra's face went pale.

Jody, who had been about to chime in, instantly shrank back. "Mr. Haberkorn, we didn't mean it like that…"

"Ms. Quinn's the champion, not here to pour drinks for your so-called VIPs. If you want to chase after Simon, then go chase him yourself. Don't bother her.

"Have I been too lenient with you all? Is that why you've grown so arrogant, thinking that being a useless mascot for the team means you can do whatever you please?"

His words cut like knives.

Cassandra's eyes welled with tears, and the staff watching nearby secretly sneered.

She had it coming. Everyone knew Noelle wasn't someone to mess with, yet they still tried. What were they thinking?

Seeing Hunter lose his temper, Jody didn't dare stay any longer. She grabbed Cassandra's arm and kept apologizing to Noelle and Hunter. "Ms. Quinn, Mr. Haberkorn, we're sorry. Cassandra spoke without thinking. Please don't hold it against her. Don't lower yourselves to her level."

Noelle cast her a cold, indifferent glance. She didn't buy Jody's act. In her eyes, the ones who stood by and let others stir up trouble were often worse than the troublemakers themselves. But she had no interest in wasting time with pawns.

Her stare was cutting enough to make Jody flinch. Jody dragged Cassandra away in a hurry, shaken by the feeling of being completely exposed.

With the noise gone, Noelle went back to her dessert.

Hunter stood beside her, still bristling. "They came right to your face to provoke you, and you just let it go?"

Noelle bit into her dessert, unfazed. "Suppose I punish them. Then what? Do you think they would suddenly drop their grudge and start respecting me? I don't believe that."

The ones who disliked her wouldn't change their minds because of a scolding.

To her, Arthur was strictly a business partner and nothing more.

Even though she knew Hunter wouldn't overthink it, she still felt the need to clarify. "Because he knows that without me, no one else could push the team into the top ten."

As long as she was on the team, Arthur's value would continue to rise. So how could he possibly tolerate anyone dragging him down?

...

Because the next race was in Musgola and there were only a few days between events, the team decided to stay in Emberfield to train, then depart directly from there.

It was during this time that Noelle received a call from Raymond. "Ms. Quinn, will you be coming back to Brindley after the race? Flying Speed Racing needs your guidance!"

Noelle nearly laughed. With her schedule, she barely had time to breathe, let alone fly back. "I can talk to Lucy and see if she can assign another coach to help."

Ever since Raymond became manager of Flying Speed Racing, the team had been pushed harder than ever—early mornings, late nights, double the training load, race after race with no breaks.

They were living a kind of misery they had never experienced before.