Nora was about to answer when Iris went on.
“Do you know how my pot of A Glimpse of Blood came about? It was actually my son who gave it to me on my birthday… I know he did it so that I could pour all my sentiments into the flowers, but what he doesn’t know is that I actually didn’t have any love for orchids in the past. I found gardening really annoying, but in order to take care of that pot of flowers, I bought a lot of orchids to learn and gain some experience. Over the years, I’ve killed a lot of orchids while trying to take care of them. I still remember that the first pot of flowers I killed was…”
Nora: “…”
She shut up and listened quietly.
She knew that what Iris needed at the moment was a listener—she needed to vent some of her emotions.
She talked about a lot of things, and Nora gazed at her seriously.
She didn’t find her annoying. After all, she simply couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed when faced with such a lovely visage. She could look at her all day without any issues.
Iris spoke mostly about bits and pieces of her life with her son. Through her words, Nora more or less got to know what kind of situation she was in.
For some reason, she and her son were living separately.
In addition, they weren’t on very good terms with each other, and her son seldom visited her. She realized this because she only spoke about how her son grew up, but never about how they spent time together.
Iris talked for a whole two hours. At last, her throat became parched, and Mrs. Landis brought them some fruit tea. She took a sip and said hoarsely, “Would you dislike me for being so long-winded, Ms. Smith? It’s been a really long time since I’ve spoken this much.”
“… No, I won’t. Feel free to go on,” replied Nora.
Iris, “…”
She had never seen such a quiet and beautiful girl with such a casual attitude before. In particular, whenever she mentioned how she had accidentally killed an orchid, Nora would always chime in with a sentence or two, and teach her methods that she could’ve used to save the flowers at that time…
She also learned a lot about taking care of orchids during the chat.
The more they chatted, the better they got along with each other. At last, Iris suggested, “I find that we simply hit it off very well, Ms. Smith. Why don’t we become a sworn family?”
Iris was about to suggest taking her as her goddaughter when Nora replied, “Sure, God-sis.”
Iris, “?”
She was stunned for a moment. Then, she burst into laughter and said, “I’m almost fifty. How can you call me God-sis?”
Nora was taken aback for a moment. She looked at the charming and pretty visage in front of her—the years didn’t seem to have left any marks on her face. She couldn’t help but say, “You look too young.”
Needless to say, Iris was delighted at the compliment. She touched her cheek and said, “You’re also very young, aren’t you? Are you twenty yet?”
Nora laughed. “My son is already five this year.”
… Son?
Iris was dumbfounded. “But you’re so young! Yet you already have a son?!”
Nora nodded.
Iris asked, “Where is he?”
Nora nodded at Villa No. 10 with her chin and answered, “He’s at my friend’s.”
Iris got up at once. “Really? Why don’t you take me to him? As his god… aunt, I should visit him, too!”
Nora, “…”
She thought of how Pete kept trying to hide, and knew right away that he might know the lady in front of her, and didn’t wish to meet with her just yet. Thus, she said, “Forget it. He’s shy.”
Iris didn’t force it, either. “Alright. I’ll let you meet my son the next time you’re here, God-sis!”
Nora smiled and got up. “Sure. It’s getting late, I have to go back.”
Iris sent her off.
When the two reached the door, Nora suddenly stood still and looked back at her. She said, “Sis, sometimes, what matters the most between two people is actually trust. You may be protecting your son in your way, but what if your son doesn’t need you to protect him anymore?”
Iris froze in place, stunned.
The girl in front of her was simply so perceptive. She hadn’t mentioned even a word about what had led to the current situation at all, but only talked briefly about how she interacted with her son, yet she had actually guessed it!
She stared at Nora blankly.
Nora lowered her gaze, nodded at her, and left.
Iris balled up her fists tightly as she stared at the girl’s thin and frail form.
At some point, Mrs. Landis came up behind her and said, “Ms. Smith is right, Ma’am… You have already made such sacrifices for so many years. It’s time to tell Mr. Justin the truth! He now oversees the Hunts, and is no longer the boy who needed your protection back then…”
A dazed Iris turned around and looked at Mrs. Landis. In the end, she heaved a sigh. “Even if I tell him now, would he be willing to believe me?”
Mrs. Landis was stunned.
In order to keep her distance from Justin, Iris had always treated him very coldly and distantly for the past two decades.
How could two decades of estrangement possibly be easily explained with just a few words?
Mrs. Landis sighed.
Iris turned and went back to the room. “I’ve already spent more than twenty years like this. Why bother creating trouble for him now?”
Mrs. Landis stayed silent for a long time as she stared at Iris from the back.
To be honest, Ma’am also yearned for Justin’s forgiveness, didn’t she?
It was just that she wasn’t willing to tell him about it, nor did she know how to. In fact, she had already become accustomed to speaking coldly over the years and didn’t know how to speak warmly to anyone anymore.
Mrs. Landis lowered her head.
—
Nora brought Pete into the car after she returned to Tanya’s.
Tanya saw the two of them off reluctantly. “Don’t go, guys. This place is so big, but I’m the only one here… I’m scared.”
Nora raised her brows. “How about coming to the Andersons’ with us, then?”
Tanya, “?”
She had officially moved in today, why would she move out again and follow them back?
The corners of her lips spasmed a little, and she finally let go of the car door. She looked at Nora and said, “Damn, you’re so heartless! Besides, what’s so good about the Andersons’ that you simply have to go back?”
Nora yawned. “The bed there is pretty good.”
“…”
After seeing the two of them off, a very resentful Tanya went back to her villa.
After watching Tanya enter the villa in the rearview mirror, Pete finally asked, “Mommy, how was your chat with Gr… with the lady living next door?”
Grandma was really weird. Surely she didn’t bully Mommy, right?
As soon as he thought so, Nora replied, “Well, we hit it off really well. We are now god-sisters, so she’s your god-aunt from now on.”
Pete was full of question marks when he heard her: ????
How did Grandma become his aunt?!
What had happened between Mommy and Grandma?!
While Pete was filled with self-doubt, the car returned to the Andersons’.
After parking, Nora got out of the car with her cell phone. She completely ignored Pete at the back, who was hopping off the tall car and then tiptoeing to close the door.
She was replying to her newly-gained god-sister’s text message: ‘I am home.’
Iris: ‘Good to know you got home safely. I’m very happy to meet you.’
Nora paused.. Then, she suddenly smiled and wrote: ‘By the way, my name is Nora Smith.’