Pete was in a huge panic. It was simply too difficult to find a reasonable answer!
Just as all three other people in the room were staring at him, and while Cherry was frantically giving him looks, Pete suddenly thought of the bossy CEO-type romance novels that he’d chanced upon in the past. Thus, his next few words came easily to him:
“It’s because she ‘couldn’t help it’, and because she ‘couldn’t control her feelings’…”
His words were rather hesitant in the beginning, but the more he spoke, the brighter his eyes shone, and the more certain he sounded. He said, “It’s because Mommy likes you! Yes, it’s exactly because of that!”
Nora: “??????”
She was about to refute him when Cherry rushed over and grabbed her hand. She looked at Justin and said, “Daddy, it’s because Mommy likes you so much that she had to do something like that. You won’t stop us from seeing Mommy in the future, right?”
Nora: “…”
Although they had made her the scapegoat, she did indeed want to know Justin’s opinion on the matter.
If that scumbag took a step back as a result, it wasn’t like she couldn’t just roll with it, either…
While she was thinking about it, the cold aura around Justin gradually subsided. He looked at her amicably and asked, “Is what they say, true?”
Nora: “…”
She felt that since they had already addressed the matter, she might as well say it all.
But before she could say anything, Cherry nodded repeatedly and said, “It’s true, it’s true! Mommy really likes you, Daddy! Mommy kept singing your praises before we met you! She even said that you look so cool, handsome, and tender! You’re the world’s number one hunk!”
Nora: “!!”
When had she ever said anything like that?
“Cough.” Cherry’s words seemed to have given Justin quite the shock, too. He let out a low cough, looked at Nora, and said, “That’s a little too explicit of you.”
Nora: “…”
Never mind.
She would just bear with it.
She had only just quietly suppressed her annoyance when Justin asked, “But since you like me so much, why don’t you believe in marriage?”
Nora: “?”
Was there no end to that man’s questions?
Her brows drew together, and a sharp look flashed across her eyes. She sneered, “There’s no correlation between liking someone and getting married, is there, Mr. Hunt? Who says non-believers of marriage can’t date?”
Upon hearing her sarcasm and the sound of her gnashing her teeth, Justin knew at once that they had to end it here for today. Otherwise, once he angered her for real, the chances of them getting together would become even lower.
This was the very first time in all these years that he had fallen for a woman. He mustn’t let her run away.
Justin feigned sudden realization and said, “I see.”
Suddenly, Nora asked, “Since you claim that I had pestered you back then, where did I do said pestering, Mr. Hunt?”
Justin raised his eyebrows.
How would he know?!
He didn’t even know how she became pregnant!
That night didn’t even exist in his memory at all, alright?!
Regardless, even if he did know, he didn’t know what the woman was thinking at that moment, so he had deliberately lied.
However, he absolutely mustn’t give her the impression that there were loopholes in his words. Thus, he smiled and suddenly replied, “In California.”
“Which hotel in California was it?”
Justin gave her a seemingly amused look. “Are you thinking of reliving the moment, Ms. Smith?”
Nora: “!!”
She took another deep breath and tried her best to tell herself, ‘Remain calm, remain calm. Don’t get angry.’
At last, she said, “Just asking.”
Justin, however, stepped forward. “The past is in the past, we have to look to the future. You don’t have to keep reminiscing about that night five years ago, Ms. Smith. If you find it necessary, we can consummate right away.”
Consummate?
Pete and Cherry’s eyes lit up at the same time. But as soon as they wanted to speak, Nora said coldly, “No, it’s fine.”
She gritted her teeth and spat out word after word—”I don’t find that necessary, my! God! Nephew!”
Justin’s face instantly turned green.
Upstairs.
Iris and Mrs. Landis popped their heads out and tried their best to listen to the voices downstairs.
Unfortunately, their voices were too low, so they couldn’t hear what they were saying at all. Iris looked at Mrs. Landis. “Why does the situation downstairs feel kinda weird?”
“… It feels kinda weird to me, too. Surely there wasn’t some kind of dramatic love-hate relationship between Mr. Justin and Ms. Smith back then, right? Have they reconciled now? Ma’am, don’t you feel that what happened to Ms. Smith sounds like a tale of a pretty little wife running away with a babe in her belly?”
“Don’t spout nonsense! Their story is much more exciting than a novel!”
Mrs. Landis: “…”
The two listened to the voices downstairs again. Seeing that nothing seemed to be happening anymore, Mrs. Landis asked, “Should we go downstairs and get ready for dinner, Ma’am?”
Iris nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go down and take a look.”
However, as soon as they went downstairs, they saw Nora sitting on the sofa triumphantly with her arms folded. There was a small smile on her usually cool and distant countenance.
Justin, on the other hand, looked livid.
Clearly, Nora seemed to have won the confrontation just now.
Mrs. Landis coughed and called out, “Ms. Smith, Mr. Hunt, and the two little misters. Shall we have dinner?”
Nora got up. “Sure. I just so happen to have gotten hungry.”
After speaking, she looked at Iris and asked, “Let’s have dinner, Sis?”
Iris: “?”
Why did it suddenly feel like the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees when she said the word ‘Sis’?
She looked at Justin, who was pulling a long face, and the corners of her lips spasmed. She coughed and said, “Um, I didn’t know about your relationship with Justin previously. Considering the situation now, we…”
“These are two separate matters,” Nora replied casually but surely, “We’ll keep the terms of address separate in the future. Mr. Hunt won’t mind, right?”
Justin replied, “… No, I don’t.”
Iris: “…”
The group settled at the dining table.
Pete and Cherry sat next to each other. When they looked at the tyrant and Mommy sitting at the same dining table, they suddenly felt much more blissful than usual!
Unfortunately, the adults didn’t feel that sense of bliss at all.
After they finally finished dinner and the group left, Justin asked coldly, “So, Pete goes with you? And the daughter comes with me?”
Nora breathed a sigh of relief at his words.
At least that guy didn’t ask for both children.
Otherwise, she would really explode.
What kind of horrible evening was this? She felt so frustrated!
She had never felt this frustrated in her entire life!
She nodded. “That works.”
She took Pete’s hand after she spoke. When she was about to leave, she paused and looked back at Iris. “Don’t tell anyone else about this for now, Sis.”
Justin paused. He was also about to tell Iris that, but unexpectedly, Nora had done it a step ahead of him.
Thus, he decided not to say anything.
It wasn’t convenient for so many people to protect Pete while he was with Nora. Therefore, the children’s identities indeed had to be kept secret.
Iris nodded.
While on the way home with Pete, Nora suddenly received a text message on her cell phone.
She glanced at it when she reached a red light, but the moment she did, she suddenly froze.
The text message read: ‘Do you wanna know how exactly you became pregnant back then?’