Yvonne bit her lip when she heard him.
She looked at Joel.
The man sat leisurely behind the desk with his hands on it. However, his eyes, which were always smiling, were deep and bottomless.
He stared at Yvonne, making her feel as if all her clothes had been stripped off. Those eyes seemed to be able to see right through one, yet others couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Yvonne lowered her head. “I admit that I made a mistake, Joel. I shouldn’t have bought a pill like that and left it in the room, thereby giving Mdm. Florence a chance to steal it. But I really didn’t break the law. Surely you can’t say that I broke the law just because someone stole the pill I bought and poisoned another person with it, right?”
Joel narrowed his fox-like eyes.
He sneered, “Yvonne, do you think I asked you here to force you to admit to your mistakes? You’re wrong.”
Yvonne was taken aback. Then, she heard the man’s rich and mellow voice. He said slowly, “I’m not a police officer who needs evidence in order to convict someone of a crime. Neither do I need you to admit to anything. Both you and I know that very well.”
His voice was gentle, yet it also seemed like a voice straight out of hell, causing Yvonne’s heart to sink little by little.
Joel stood up. “Since there isn’t any evidence, I won’t hand you over to the police. Besides, you’re Uncle Ian’s daughter. How you should be dealt with will have to wait until Uncle Ian wakes up. However, you don’t have to manage the family matters anymore during this time.”
His words made Yvonne suddenly look up at him.
As Ian’s one and only lawful daughter, Yvonne had always enjoyed a very high status in the family.
In fact, legally, she had a closer relationship with Ian than what Joel, Ian’s nephew, had with him.
Therefore, while Joel managed the company’s affairs, Yvonne was in charge of the family’s affairs. Even Florence, the housekeeper in charge of the family’s internal affairs, was just her helper.
Why did Louis keep suffering in her hands despite loathing her so much? It was thanks to the fact that she was the one in control of the finances!
Yet, Joel was going to deprive her of her authority?
Yvonne couldn’t stop herself from retorting, “Who do you intend to put in charge of managing the family’s affairs, if not me? Nora? You can’t do that. I’m Dad’s only daughter while she’s nothing more than a shameful product of that woman’s betrayal of Dad. Aren’t you embarrassing Dad if you do that?”
Seeing that she was still arguing even now, Joel slowly cast his eyes down and said, “You can go now.”
Yvonne wanted to argue some more, but she knew that Joel never changed his mind once he made a decision.
She clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and walked out of the study.
After she left, Quentin popped out of somewhere, went to Joel, and asked, “Are you really going to let her off just like that, Joel?”
Joel rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
He sighed and said, “Uncle Ian is still in a coma. As his only daughter, it’s best that nothing happens to her for now. If Uncle Ian pulls through, he will deal with her himself.”
Joel, who had been brought up by Ian himself, knew Ian’s character all too well.
He hated schemes and conspiracies like these the most.
Besides, he felt that Uncle Ian didn’t really seem to dislike Nora that much…
Quentin couldn’t help asking, “What if Uncle Ian doesn’t make it?”
The look in Joel’s eyes suddenly turned cold. “Then it’ll be the time that she gets married once she finishes two years of mourning for Uncle Ian.”
As for who she’ll marry and how much money to give her once she does, Joel had the final say!
Quentin nodded.
He and Joel were of the same opinion with regard to Nora—neither of them liked her very much. After all, he was someone constantly in the shadows. Nora’s thoughts were just like his—unfit to be brought into the light.
While he was thinking about it, Joel asked, “Has Nora woken up?”
The sensitive Quentin discovered that Joel’s term of address for Nora had changed. From the distant and alienated ‘Ms. Smith’, it had now become ‘Nora’… Ahem!
Quentin straightened his back and replied, “I don’t know. She was still asleep when I left. She had looked so lazy, didn’t even work, and only knew to sleep every day in the past. But unexpectedly, she’s actually the famous Anti… Thinking about it again, it’s no wonder she’s so rich!”
“… Rich?”
Quentin nodded. “Yeah. Don’t you know? Louis has already become her fan just because she’s rich!”
Joel couldn’t help remarking dryly, “What a promising future that fellow has.”
“I know, right?”
Quentin curled his lips disdainfully. “I, for one, won’t bend over just because she’s rich. If she wants my recognition… only if she’s the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ Big Sister!”
Joel: “…”
Quentin looked at him again. “What does our little cousin have to do in order to gain your recognition, Joel?”
Joel glanced at him, picked up company documents from the table, and said, “What a meaningless question.”
Quentin curled his lips disdainfully.
Joel’s phone vibrated at this point. He glanced at it and found that it was a text message from Tanya: ‘Please let me know when Nora returns.’
Joel sent her a question mark.
Tanya immediately replied. As if she was eager to distance herself from him, she wrote: ‘Nora isn’t picking up my calls, so I reckon she’s still being detained! Cherry misses her mom. Tell her to pick up her daughter once she returns.’
At the sight of the message, Joel immediately got up, picked up the car key, and walked out.
Quentin was taken aback. “Where are you going, Joel? Aren’t you going to wait for our little cousin to come home?”
Joel didn’t stop. He replied, “I’m picking up the child and bringing her home.”
Quentin: “?”
‘Child’?
Wasn’t it the weekend? It didn’t seem like Mia had gone to school, though?!
—
Nora only came out of the room after she was done talking to Florence.
She didn’t really blame Florence. In fact, her loyalty to Ian made her sigh in admiration. What kind of age were they already in? Yet there were still people who could go to that extent for their masters.
No wonder Joel hadn’t driven her away after he took over the family.
Morris asked, “How was it, Ms. Smith?”
Nora gave him her serious feedback. “The interrogation room’s soundproofing is indeed pretty good. You can try using it if you ever have insomnia in the future.”
Morris: “…”
He was asking if Florence had said anything! He wasn’t asking about the interrogation room!!
1
But as he watched the unaffected woman in front of him, he fell silent for a moment before he finally said, “I apologize for my actions previously, Ms. Smith. I’m sorry.”
Nora raised her eyebrows when she heard him.
Her lips curled into a smile and she suddenly said, “Apology accepted, Captain Ford, but I’d still like to ask you to do me a favor.”
“What is it?”
Nora cast her eyes down and asked, “Can you tell me just what kind of case am I involved in?”
Her head had cleared up after she woke up.
Morris kept quiet for a while. He looked up and stared at her for very long, seemingly considering whether he could tell her about it. At last, he stepped aside and said, “Let’s talk over there, Ms. Smith.”
There were indeed some things he didn’t need to hide from her anymore.
Nora nodded.. She gave Justin a comforting look and followed Morris into the confidential room next door.