Simon swirled the wine in his glass, taking confident strides toward Noelle. "Ms. Shaw, it's been a while," he greeted her.

Noelle was surprised to see Simon in such a setting. Her astonishment was evident in her eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Simon and said, "Mr. York!" Frankly, she had not expected Winter to invite Simon to her birthday.

Noelle's impression of Simon was far from positive; her previous encounters with him had led to some dangerous situations. His presence at this event only heightened her suspicions about why Winter had insisted on her attending. Frowning slightly, she asked Simon, "Are you close with my sister?"

Simon raised an eyebrow in return. "No. To be precise, it's you and I who are more familiar with each other, no?"

He gave her a suggestive look, his eyes lingering over her in a way that made Noelle uncomfortable.

Seeing the clear disdain on Noelle's face, Simon's eyes briefly flashed with something unreadable before he quickly masked it. "You seem rather unfriendly toward me," he remarked. "You're overthinking it, Mr. York," Noelle responded with a forced smile.

Nonetheless, Simon found her discomfort amusing and continued to gaze at her. "You know, Ms. Noelle, it seems we share a bit of fate."

Noelle scoffed inwardly, feeling she could no longer sit there. She stood up, nodding slightly. "Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom. Please enjoy yourself, Mr. York."

Simon simply watched her as she hastily distanced herself from him. His smirk deepened as he swirled his drink, replaceing the situation increasingly entertaining.

As Noelle left the hall, Annie quickly followed her.

Noelle had a growing sense that someone was trailing her. When she sped up, so did the person behind her; when she stopped, they did too.

She pressed her lips together and quickened her pace, rushing into the restroom and attempting to close the door quickly, only to have it blocked.

Looking up, she exclaimed in surprise, "It's you?"

Annie nodded, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. "Yes, it's me," she confirmed, glancing around the small space.

"I don't have much time, so I'll get straight to the point. Winter brought Simon here today, and you can guess why. She's planning to drug your drink, and I'm supposed to keep an eye on you.

"I'll swap out the drink, but you need to pretend to be drunk and out of it. After that, I'll lead you to a private room, but you need to replace a way to ditch me."

"And what about you?" Noelle asked,

taken aback by Winter's repeated

in

use of this tactic. She had not expected Winter to try the same trick again. "What about Simon? Does he know about this plan?"

Annie shook her head. "He doesn't know either, which is why Winter has Suzy watching him. She'll drug his drink as well. I've heard bad things about Simon, so I'm not sure what his intentions are toward you. Just be careful."

After speaking, Annie opened the door and checked to make sure no one was around before she relaxed slightly. "I have to go now. Be careful." "Annie!" Noelle called after her. Annie turned back, asking, "Is there something else?"

"Thank you," Noelle said sincerely. Despite Annie's past behavior, her willingness to help now for whatever reason was something Noelle appreciated.

Annie forced a smile. "You don't

need to thank me. I didn't like you before, but it's not like you ever did anything terrible to me. I've already paid for my mistakes. I'm doing this for myself as much as for you. I really have to go now."

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