Seeing that Nora had chosen him, Justin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at Caleb and suddenly said, "It's going to be a long talk. How about you rest somewhere, Mr. Gray?"
Caleb glanced at Nora with his deep and slightly melancholic eyes. Then, he cast his eyes down and sat on a random chair in the hallway. "No, it's fine. I'll wait for her here."
Justin, "…"
How were they supposed to calm down and have a good chat with him waiting here?
Unfortunately for him, Nora found it a good idea to make everything clear today, so she nodded and said, "Okay."
Then, she entered the private room with Justin..
Club Prism was the best club in New York.
A lot of people chose Club Prism for their business talks, and the soundproofing in the rooms was also very good. The noise outside was shut out after they entered the private room.
Nora sat on the sofa in the private room and looked at Justin. She said, "Mr. Hunt, you—"
Before she could finish though, Justin frowned and asked, "Shouldn't you explain the marriage agreement first, Ms. Smith?"
Nora was taken aback. "What?"
Justin lowered his gaze. His earlobes were a bit red, but he nevertheless bit the bullet and said, "Considering how invested you are in my affairs, you must be interested in me, right? In that case, I can't just allow the woman, whom I'm giving a chance to, to two-time me."
Nora, "????"
She was about to refute him when Justin spoke again. He said, "Ms. Smith made frequent contact with my son when we were in California. After coming to New York, you also kept trying to approach me and ask about my affairs. All of these are what I think it is, right? After all, apart from that, there shouldn't be any other reason, right?"
Nora, "!!!!"
She had already known a long time ago that Justin was a narcissist who thought that every woman who approached him was in love with him. However, he felt different to her today.
It was as if he was presenting facts to her and reasoning with her so that he could convince her that her actions were indeed sending the message that she was in love with him?
Nora frowned.
She thought back carefully to all the recent events. Assuming that he didn't know that his son was also hers, her recent actions were indeed rather inappropriate.
She had paid too much attention to him.
Besides, if she denied it now, wouldn't it seem a bit too strange?
Nora didn't speak for a while.
Justin stared at her with his dark eyes.
He had to seal the case right at the start of the talk. Otherwise, that woman might just run off with that fiancé of hers!
The beauty mark at the corner of his eye seemed to sway a little. Justin lowered his gaze and went on. "Silence means consent, Ms. Smith. I was right, wasn't I?"
Left with no other choice, Nora, who could only acquiesce to it, replied, "… I suppose so."
She glanced at Cherry.
Cherry also cast a silent glance at her. Sigh, little did she expect that someone like Mommy, who only knew how to sleep, would also have to contribute to the family one day. How rare.
Seeing how she looked somewhat reluctant, Justin picked up his cell phone and sent Lawrence a text message: 'Check Caleb Gray's background.'
After sending the message, he put down the phone and spoke seriously.
"Okay. On account of how you're in love with me and that I'm also willing to give you an opportunity, I will answer your questions truthfully and tell you everything you want to know. Go ahead, Ms. Smith."
"…"
The corners of Nora's lips spasmed as she stared at him with a speechless look in her eyes.
The opportunity hadn't come easy, though, so she immediately asked, "Do you know Pete's mother, Mr. Hunt?"
Justin looked at her calmly. His dark and bottomless eyes wavered a little before he answered, "No, I don't."
Nora was puzzled. "Then why do you hate her so much?"
Justin clenched his jaw.
His expression turned somewhat serious as he looked at the coffee table in front of him. To be honest, he had never brought up what happened back then to anyone—because doing that would expose the scars in his heart. However, he knew that it would probably be very difficult for them to acknowledge each other if he didn't make things clear now.
With that in mind, he said dispassionately, "On April 7th, five years ago, I received a call. The other party claimed to be my son's mother. She asked me to prepare 1.5 million dollars for her. If I did as she asked, she would tell me where my son was."
1.5 million dollars…
Nora frowned and asked, "And then?"
Justin's voice was very low. "Of course, I didn't believe her. Apart from one night that I can't remember anything about, I've never touched any woman."
Nora's hand subconsciously balled up into a fist. The anxiety in her heart made her repeat, "And then?"
Justin, who noticed that her voice was shaking, slowly went on.
"I hung up after that. Maybe because she realized that she wasn't going to get any money from me, she straight-up sent me a set of GPS coordinates and said that the child was at that location. If I didn't go and pick him up, then the child would suffocate to death."
'Suffocate to death'…
Despite knowing full well that Pete was safe and sound, Nora still found herself having difficulties breathing.
She suddenly thought of what Henry had said when she monitored his cell phone the other time. He said that he had buried the child with his own hands…
At this point, the look in Justin's eyes turned cold and he said, "I happened to be passing by California that time. Thinking that it felt a little weird, I made an extra trip. Sure enough, I saw Pete who had been buried in the ground shortly after he was born."
Nora stood up abruptly. She clenched her fists tightly, and even her arms were trembling. She asked, "How was he?"
Justin looked up at her. "He wasn't breathing anymore at that time."
Nora's eyes widened in horror.
Justin's voice was still as low and somber as before. He said, "I dug him out of the ground. His mouth and nose were full of dirt. Luckily, I had brought a family doctor with me that time, so he managed to perform CPR on the baby in time. The doctor said that he had been in the ground for about twenty to thirty minutes… Had we come a few minutes later, it wouldn't have been possible to save him anymore."
His mood also became dreary at this point and a wave of irritability and resentment welled up in him. He said, "Pete was later diagnosed with mild autism. The psychiatrist said that it was caused by the events back then. Even though he doesn't remember anything, he had felt too insecure during that time."
Justin looked straight at Nora when he spoke.
Pete had been weak and frail ever since he was a baby. Every time he fell sick, Justin's resentment toward his mother would grow a little. That woman had really disregarded her son's life just for the sake of money.
How he wished he could kill Pete's mother.
However, when he realized that Nora was Pete's mother, doubts about the events back then started to form in his mind. He looked at Nora and asked, "What's the matter, Ms. Smith?"
Nora looked at him.
After she knew the truth, while her heart ached for Pete, she also breathed a sigh of relief. She finally knew the reason why Justin hated Pete's mother now, in which case, everything would now be open for discussion!
She looked straight at Justin and said, "His mother had her difficulties back then!"