Nora was about to hang up when Iris suggested, “Why don’t you bring your son along with you?”
Nora thought for a moment. Then, she nodded and said, “Okay.”
She went upstairs, brought Pete down, and got in the car with him. She said, “I’ll take you to meet a friend of mine.”
Pete was very excited. “Okay!”
Even though he had known Mommy for a very long time by now, he only knew a few of her friends. Pete wanted to know what his Mommy was usually up to, since she was such an enigma.
Even though Mommy was always sleeping, she was so rich!
There was no way anyone could make that much money just by being a genius doctor!
He got into the car excitedly and sat in the backseat.
When Nora was walking to the driver’s seat, she looked at Melissa, who was still in a daze, and slowly said, “Please keep this… a secret for now, Aunt Melissa.”
“… Okay,” said Melissa.
After Nora left, Melissa finally entered the living room. Mrs. Anderson, who had been waiting all afternoon, stepped forward nervously at once. She held her hand and asked, “How was it, Melissa? Did Mrs. Hunt say anything?”
Melissa was in a daze. “No, she didn’t.”
Mrs. Anderson breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Sigh, I’m just afraid that she’ll bring up some kind of request or condition. If they want to treat Pete’s biological mother as family, then will Justin take Nora’s or the other woman’s side?”
Melissa: “…”
She looked at Mrs. Anderson hesitantly before she finally said, “Actually, it’s all the same.”
Mrs. Anderson glanced at her. “You don’t get it, do you? It’s not the same. If that happens, Pete’s biological mother will definitely cause Nora trouble. Also, what if Pete resents Nora even after she raises him into an adult? These things all have to be made clear in advance. Sigh, it’s just so troublesome when other people’s children are involved.”
“…”
—
In a villa on the outskirts of New York.
Mrs. Landis and Iris were happily preparing dinner.
Iris was in a very good mood. The woman, who looked as lithe as a teenager, hummed a little tune as she went back and forth the dining table and the kitchen joyfully.
Seeing her in such a good mood, Mrs. Landis laughed and said, “Ma’am, your mind must be at ease now, right? You’ve already asked around and found out that Mr. Hunt’s girlfriend is from the Andersons. The other Ms. Smith only has a daughter while your god-sister has a son instead! As it turns out, the two of them just share the same name! You don’t have to worry anymore!”
Iris nodded. “Yes, it’s fine as long as they aren’t one and the same. I was so scared that I had accidentally elevated Justin’s girlfriend’s position to one that was more senior than his, which would have made it awkward for the two of them!”
Mrs. Landis laughed again. “The fish and chips are fried especially nicely tonight, so they’ll definitely taste awesome. The children are gonna love it.”
“Yeah.”
Iris smiled and said, “I wonder how old Ms. Smith’s son is, and how far apart his age is from Pete’s. I don’t know if the two of them can get along or not.”
Mrs. Landis teased her and said, “You worry too much!”
Only then did Iris suddenly realize that she was indeed worrying too much.
For so many years, many people had tried to please her. There were even some that tried to pander to her interests and spoke knowledgeably to her about orchids.
All of them were trying to ingratiate themselves with Justin.
In order to reduce unnecessary troubles for Justin, she had rejected them all. Therefore, all the rumors outside claimed that she was difficult to deal with, and had a strange temperament.
Come to think of it, Nora was actually the only friend she had made all these years. Therefore, she hadn’t stopped Mrs. Landis when she also told Justin to come over after Nora was invited over for dinner.
This was just her selfish desire, but she wanted her son to help Nora out a little if he could.
After all, it wasn’t easy for a woman to bring up a child on her own. It reminded her of herself when she was taking care of Justin back then.
Perhaps because she had suppressed her feelings for too long, it led to her wanting to give the other party all the good things she could after she made a friend.
Moreover, what Nora said the day before had made Iris suddenly realize that she indeed didn’t understand Justin.
She was Justin’s mother. In situations that wouldn’t cause him any trouble, helping her friend out was something he should do, right?
… Even though Iris didn’t know what kind of help Nora could possibly need from her.
While driving to the villa in the suburbs, Nora received another call from Justin.
After she uttered a ‘hello’, Justin asked, “Are you free tonight? I’ll take you somewhere for a meal?”
Nora, who was looking ahead of her, replied, “I’m not free.”
Justin, who seemed to have heard some kind of sound, immediately asked, “You have an appointment? Who are you meeting that has actually made you abandon me? That’s not something that someone in love with me should be doing.”
He was afraid that she was going on a date with Caleb.
Nora’s lip corners spasmed a little. She couldn’t be bothered to explain that she was visiting her newly-gained god-sister, lest the guy says something like ‘Which is more important—meeting me or your god-sister?’.
Thus, she simply said, “I’m sleepy. I’m going home to sleep.”
“… Alright then,” said Justin.
In a rare moment, Nora asked, “What about you?”
Justin let out a low chuckle and replied, “I’ll sleep with you.”
Nora: “?”
Her voice turned cold. “Talk properly!”
Justin said, “We’ll sleep together after you go back to your house and I go back to mine. Is there something wrong with this sentence? Or did you get the wrong idea?”
Nora: “!!!!”
The corners of her lips spasmed, and she said, “I’m hanging up!”
On the other end of the call, Justin couldn’t help laughing after Nora hung up so fiercely.
He was in the car at the moment. The chauffeur was driving to the suburbs.
Cherry, who was sitting beside him, asked, “Are you planning to take Mommy to Grandma’s for dinner, Daddy?”
Justin nodded. “Yes. Your Grandma has some misunderstandings about her. I think she would be able to understand what she’s like after we sit down and have a meal together, but unfortunately…”
“Mommy definitely won’t go!” Cherry said, “She wants to sleep!”
Justin: “…”
Half an hour later.
Nora arrived at the suburbs.
It was already dark, so Pete didn’t notice where they were when they entered the residential area. Besides, he rarely came over in the first place. In the day, he could still tell that this was where his grandmother lived, but because it was too dark now, he didn’t manage to make out the surroundings until the car reached the villa entrance.
It was only after Nora took him out of the car and they entered the villa that Pete finally realized something. Unfortunately, it was too late!
“Ms. Smith!” Iris welcomed her into the house excitedly. “Let’s have dinner together tonight!”
Nora nodded. Then, she pushed Pete—who was hiding behind her and trying to say something all this time but didn’t have any chance to—to Iris. She said, “This is my son, Pete.”
Then, she said to Pete, “Say hi to your god-aunt, Pete.”
Mrs. Landis, who had sent the two into the living room, hurried out the door when she heard another car at the door. When she saw Justin walking over with Cherry, she smiled and said, “You’re here, Mr. Hunt!”
Justin noticed a car in the corner. As the place was dim, he didn’t make out what kind of car it was. He asked casually, “You have guests over?”
“Yep!” Mrs. Landis explained, “It’s Ma’am’s new god-sister! It’s just nice that you’re here, so you can also meet her!”