Clifford's temper exploded. "Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to tell me to leave? I was invited to this banquet by Divine Group. Nobody has the authority to chase me off!"
He was already disgusted by the fact that Noelle and Jude were together. He didn't expect that another man would come to her defense. He then recognized Hunter as the man who had declared he wanted to pursue Noelle in the bar.
Clifford scoffed, feeling a little pleased that he was about to deliver devastating news to Hunter. "Let me give you some advice, you little punk. The woman next to you isn't as pure as she seems to be. You have to be wary of her cheating on you if you get together with her."
Hunter's gaze turned glacial. He curled his hands into tight fists and was about to punch Clifford when Noelle stopped him.
Seeing how out of line Clifford was behaving, Eric used the most courteous voice he could muster and said, "Mr. Fuller, this is the national racing coach, Coach Haberkorn. He and the racers are my most esteemed guests tonight.
"If you refuse to treat them with courtesy and continue to disrespect them, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Clifford's face darkened. He originally wanted to use Noelle to form a connection with Eric. He didn't expect that his chances would fly out of the window in a matter of minutes.
He suddenly grew angry at Lola. She had refused to leave when he ordered her to. As a result, she had caused unnecessary trouble by staying. If Lola hadn't caused a scene, he wouldn't have gotten into an argument with Noelle at that moment.
However, it was much too late. With anger and regret kicking up a storm within his chest, he turned on his heel and left.
Sensing that the situation was going awry, Lola tried to follow him and make a quick escape, only for Alexis to grab her arm and stop her in her tracks.
"Don't you think you need to apologize to our captain, Ms. Perez?" she asked. "You were slandering her good name in front of other people."
Alexis couldn't control the comments on the internet that insulted Noelle, but since Lola had mocked Noelle right in front of her, there was no way she was going to stand idly by and let her get away with it.
Lola's face immediately flushed red from humiliation. She never imagined that she would be put on the spot like this. She mumbled, "I'm sorry, Ms. Quinn."
Alexis sneered, "Is that really your way of apologizing? Why are you speaking so softly? How can our captain hear you when I can't even hear you?"
Animosity flickered in Lola's eyes. She forced her words out through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry, Noelle! I shouldn't have run my mouth when I didn't have all the facts!"
Lola refused to admit that she had been spreading baseless rumors.
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