Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 52

Chapter 154: Sell It!

Nora leaned against the window and gazed at the campus scenery outside.

She had never experienced college life before.

Neither had she experienced life as part of a community much before. She found the sight of students walking about outside in twos and threes rather novel.

She picked up the call and said softly, “Hello.”

Lily’s voice reached her through the phone. “I’ve received the samples. I’ll do the DNA test myself. Results will be out in three hours at the earliest.”

For international express mail to be delivered the next day, it meant that they had already expedited the delivery process.

Nora said unhurriedly, “Okay.”

She hung up and glanced at Lisa, who was still surrounded by people, again. Despite what had happened, the girl remained neither arrogant nor anxious. Her eyes were still as innocent as before.

Nora smiled and turned to go to Director Shaw’s office.

Director Shaw was selecting postgraduate students in school today, so he hadn’t gone to the hospital. He was about to knock off from work when one of his postgraduate students suddenly said, “Director Shaw, Anti has actually taken a postgraduate student by their own initiative!”

Director Shaw was stunned. “What?”

“It’s true! My goodness, Anti was already a professor in name here two years ago. By right, they should have made time to conduct a lesson here, but for two whole years, we didn’t even see what they looked like. Yet they’ve accepted a postgraduate student the moment they appeared? I’m so envious of that student!”

“Sob, would I have stood a chance to be selected by Anti if I had taken the postgraduate entrance examination this year instead?”

While the few of them were talking, Director Shaw coughed and said coldly, “Hah, I see. So, none of you wanted to be my postgraduate students?”

The students, “…”

Director Shaw coughed again. In order to protect his dignity as a department head, he said, “Anti isn’t actually that amazing, either. What’s mainly impressive about Anti is that they have steady hands! If I had my current level of medical insight when I was their age, I could also do a few perfect operations!”

As soon as he finished bragging, he heard a soft and low voice saying, “Really?”

Director Shaw, “??”

His head whipped around. At the sight of Nora, the corners of his lips couldn’t help but spasm.

He hurriedly walked over and asked with a smile, “Why are you here?”

Nora couldn’t be bothered to continue the topic just now, so she shuffled toward his office.

Director Shaw wisely followed after her. After he closed the door, he asked, “Are you going to hold lectures in the school this year?”

Nora raised her eyebrows. “No.”

Director Shaw was surprised. “Then that means you’re intending to take on projects?”

“… No.”

Director Shaw was confused. “Then why did you accept a postgraduate student? How are you going to teach her and impart knowledge to her?”

That was exactly why Nora had come over. Her cat-like eyes looked at him calmly and she said, “Didn’t you say that you owe me a favor?”

Director Shaw looked at her, speechless for a moment.

Three years ago, when he was abroad for a medical exchange, Anti had utterly impressed him. He’d also been troubled by something academically related and hadn’t had any breakthrough in it for many years. It was Anti who had given him a few random pointers that had given him inspiration.

Director Shaw had stuck to her and refused to let her go ever since. He also insisted on giving her a titular professor position in the school.

Director Shaw said, “So?”

“Guide Lisa for me.”

Director Shaw, “…”

He just knew it wouldn’t be anything good!

He was actually very busy, so he recruited very few postgraduate students these days. He only accepted a token four or five per year. Additionally, it was mostly his assistants who were giving them lessons on his behalf and helping him to guide the newbies.

Having one more student to teach didn’t make any difference, though, so Director Shaw nodded and said, “Okay.”

Seeing that he had agreed to her request, Nora stood up and got ready to leave. She was about to walk out of the office when Director Shaw asked, “Why did you accept that young woman? Is it because she’s your relative?”

To be honest, if she was going to have him guide her like this, she might as well have just given him a phone call and asked him to accept one more postgraduate student. It’d have been more convenient that way.

Nora, however, lowered her gaze at his question. She suddenly curled her lips into a smile and replied, “No, it’s not because of that.”

She would never let anyone get in through the back door if their skills weren’t up to par.

The reason why she had accepted Lisa was that the research topic she proposed happened to be one that she had been thinking of tackling recently.

Besides, Lisa had pure eyes; people like that were great for academics.

She waved as she walked casually to the door, and said, “She’s my postgraduate student. I’m just letting you guide her a little for now.”

“…”

After leaving Professor Shaw’s office, she returned to where she had been just now and found that everyone was still discussing the subject as enthusiastically as before. Lisa had already become their favorite person.

Nora sent a text message to Lisa and asked her to meet her the next day for a talk. Then, she went home.

Having been held back a little today, it was already some time after six by the time she got home.

When she parked the car, she happened to see Logan coming out of the house.

The twenty-year-old boy had a stubborn and untamed look in his eyes. His fair and attractive visage was filled with irritability at the moment. He snapped, “I’ll just mortgage the car to you, okay? What are you pressing me so much for?

“That car’s original price was 18.5 million dollars. It’s not too much of me to lower it to 12.5 million, is it? What? Nine million? What you’re doing is no different from kicking me while I’m down, Winston!”

The other side then said something that made Logan so angry that he hung up on them right away.

When he lifted his head, he happened to see Nora. He glared at her, stormed straight into the garage, and drove the ugly poop-yellow sports car out.

Even though he had tried his best to hide it while he was walking, one could vaguely still tell that his sprained ankle from the other time still hadn’t recovered.

However, Nora didn’t give the matter much thought and entered the house.

Logan bore with the pain in his ankle as he drove, and he made another call.

“Spread the news for me. Aren’t a lot of people interested in my Ferrari? I’m willing to sell it…”

The person on the other side sighed and said, “That’s not a problem, but what are you going to do about your ankle? You still have another competition. If you also lose that one, you won’t have a car to sell anymore!”

Logan clenched his fists.

The few of them were unofficial racers and had set up a sportsbook.

He had been firmly ranked first in the country all these years, but a few days ago, someone had secretly assaulted him… He had broken his ankle in the process.

The doctor had said that he must undergo surgery in order for the bones to heal!

Yet, if he underwent surgery, they couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to maintain the same nimbleness in his ankle as before.

The person on the other end said, “You only have two options now. The first is to find the master surgeon Anti to operate on you and treat your injury; otherwise, you won’t be able to ever race again! The second is to find the international racer Yanci and get him to race in the competition on your behalf. Otherwise, you’ll really be finished this time!”

Neither of the options was achievable.

Logan lowered his gaze. A brief moment later, he took a deep breath and said, “Let’s just find a buyer first!”

“ Can you really bear to sell Little Yellow? You usually can’t even bear to let me touch the car. It’s one of the most notable limited edition sports cars in the world, you know. If you sell it, you may not be able to find another car that suits you in the future even if you have the money!”

Screeeeech!

Logan stopped the car at the roadside when he heard what the other party said.

He stroked the steering wheel and the seat.

Everything in the car was once what he loved the most. Selling it was no different from cutting the flesh off his body.

But there was no way he could implicate the Anderson's in his affairs.

Logan slowly closed his eyes and uttered, “Sell it!"

_

At the Andersons, Nora sat at the desk after she went upstairs. Her fingers tapped lightly on the desk as she waited for Lily’s DNA test results.

Chapter 155: He’s A Slave To His Daughter Alright

She had gone to the university that day, so she wasn’t free to pick up Pete from kindergarten. It was Melissa who picked him up.

Melissa entered the room nervously. After glancing outside the room, she came up to Nora, neatened her dress, and sat down gracefully in front of her. Then, she said unhurriedly, “I have something to talk to you about, Nora.”

“What is it?”

Melissa frowned and asked, “Do you find Cherry’s behavior a little strange lately?”

Nora, “?”

Melissa sighed and said, “Cherry used to be very lively and a sweet talker. She played with me all day and also loved eating. Lately, though, she’s become a lot quieter. When I picked her up from school and asked her what she wanted to do just now, she actually said that she wants to do gardening and play chess with Great-Grandma. The two of them have been in the garden for an hour and a half!”

Nora, “…”

Melissa said sincerely and earnestly, “I know you’re a good girl and that you treat your child very well, Nora, but you have to spend more time with your child when you have the time. Otherwise, she’ll easily develop psychological issues.”

Nora’s lip corners spasmed a little at the kind reminder from her aunt, and she replied, “Okay.”

Melissa breathed a sigh of relief. She stood up and got ready to leave. When she was about to step out, Nora suddenly asked, “By the way, is everything fine with Logan?”

The boy’s words just now had made her a little suspicious.

Had he encountered some kind of difficulty?

Melissa sighed when she heard her question. “That boy doesn’t tell me anything. I don’t know what he’s doing outside at all, sigh. But even though he seems a little stubborn and belligerent, he’s actually a very kind boy.

“Never mind. Let’s just leave him be.”

Melissa waved and went downstairs.

Beep, beep.

Nora’s cell phone beeped twice. When she picked it up, she saw a text message from Cherry: ‘Mommy, Princess Lucy sent me a picture of her new car. Isn’t this pink Ferrari adorable?!”

Little Lucy was a friend that Cherry had made when her aunt living abroad brought her to the UK.

The UK had a queen and a princess in the royal family.

Lucy, the second princess, had hit it off with Cherry right away. The two girls then added each other on f*******: so that they could chat with each other.

It should be noted that when Lucy asked for Cherry’s contact information, Cherry had told her that she only used f*******: Messenger. The girl had Messenger. The girl had then specially registered a new private f*******: account for her sake.

Princess Lucy only had one friend in the account, and that was Cherry.

Nora ignored the text message.

Perhaps because she saw that her mother hadn’t replied, Cherry sent another message after a while: ‘Mommy, Cherry also wants a sports car like that, yeah~’

She even added an emoji with a pitiful expression at the end.

Nora scoffed at the message.

She picked up the phone lazily and sent her a voice message: “If you want something, then buy it yourself.”

That sports car was the same model as Logan’s poop-yellow one. It was a limited edition that was already discontinued. Only a few dozen units had been produced in the country that year, and most of them had become part of someone wealthy’s collection.

One could say that it was priceless even though she did have ways to get one if she really wanted to.

_

In the hospital.

Justin, who was about to take Cherry back to the family home, overheard the lazy-sounding ‘If you want something, then buy it yourself’ voice message the moment he entered the ward.

He raised his eyebrows a little. Was the chance to please his daughter finally here?

Justin coughed and asked, “What do you want to buy, Pete?”

Little Cherry was pouting as she sat on the hospital bed. She was secretly complaining inwardly that it must be because Mommy was just too lazy to buy it for her. Upon Justin’s question, her big round eyes lit up and she replied, “Daddy, I want a Ferrari sports car like this! In pink, yeah!”

Justin took a look and immediately said, “Okay, we’ll buy it!”

Sure enough, the little fellow immediately broke into a grin and said, “Daddy, you’re so awesome, yeah!”

“…”

Upon hearing his daughter’s praises, Justin was as pleased as punch.

The corners of his lips curled upward. He sent the model of the sports car to Lawrence and instructed him to buy one, no matter the cost. Then, he scooped his daughter up with one arm and said, “Let’s go to the family home and visit your Grandma and Great-Grandma today!”

Her Grandma and Great-Grandma?

Cherry became excited at once. “Okie-Dokie!”

_

At the Anderson's.

After dinner, Nora stood up and got ready to go upstairs to work.

That’s right, work.

Prior to an operation, in order to prevent accidents from happening, she had to make a list of every possible situation she might encounter during the operation.

This was her professionalism.

However, a pair of uninvited guests arrived at the door at this moment —it was Miranda and Rachel Wood.

As soon as she walked in, Rachel, who resembled Melissa somewhat, frowned and looked at her. Her jaw tensed up, and a look of displeasure filled her face.

A hesitant Melissa asked, “What’s the matter?”

Miranda’s eyes were all red. She was in tears as she said, “I was blind to pick on you all the time in the past, Melissa. I was wrong, okay? Forgive me!”

Ever since the real estate investment failed, the Sonnet's hadn’t been able to get their money back. With housing prices controlled now, people were all adopting a wait-and-see approach, and no one dared to buy any property.

They suddenly ran into trouble with recouping their capital.

The Lowe's could barely even keep themselves afloat at the moment, so why would they possibly care about the small shareholders who had invested a bit and were waiting to make money?

The Sonnet's became resentful toward Miranda as a result and drove her out.

She then went home in embarrassment, but the Wood's refused to let her in and even told her that she had to apologize to Melissa first.

Miranda had no choice but to come over.

Melissa cast her eyes down.

When she thought of how Miranda had humiliated her over the years, she said, “To be honest, does it really matter whether I forgive you or not, Miranda? Let’s just lessen contact with each other in the future.”

There were some things that couldn’t be made up for with just an apology.

Miranda’s apology was too insincere.

Melissa didn’t want to forgive her.

Miranda, who understood what she meant, tugged on Rachel’s sleeve. Rachel immediately frowned and said, “Why don’t you forgive my mother, Aunt Melissa? Otherwise, we’ll lose our mother if Dad doesn’t let her go home! If you’re still not agreeable to it, then shall I get down on my knees in front of you?”

She started to get down on her knees as she spoke.

Melissa hastily grabbed her and said, “What are you doing, Rachel?”

Rachel said, “Why don’t you call Dad and tell him that you aren’t angry anymore? Otherwise, he’ll never let Mom in.”

So, that was what they were up to.

Melissa looked at the mother and daughter putting on a show in front of her.

One was pretending to be weak while the other was pretending to be pitiful.

They were just forcing her to do what they wanted!

She lowered her gaze and said, “Okay, I’ll call him.”

The way Farrell did things was just so unreliable. Why ask them to beg her for forgiveness? He obviously couldn’t bear to part with his children, so he had to bring Miranda back home even if he didn’t want to.

Miranda brightened. “Call him now.”

Melissa had no choice but to call Farrell.

Miranda watched her from the side with her fists tightly clenched. She would remember how Melissa had humiliated her today!

The mother and daughter pair left after Melissa made the call.

However, as soon as they reached the door, they suddenly heard violent knocking at the door.

Knock! Knock!

In the middle of the night, the sound was rather ear-piercing in the high-end residential complex.

Chapter 156: Acknowledging Them As Family

Nora frowned.

The nanny went to the door. She asked, “May I know who you are?”

A loud voice immediately came from outside. “I’m Nora’s father!”

The words made the few people in the room look at Nora.

Simon and Melissa were also taken aback, and they looked at Nora together.

Nora raised her pretty eyebrows. Just as she was about to say that it wasn’t necessary to open the door, Miranda nudged Rachel and said, “Oh, it’s a relative? Quick, go and open the door.”

Rachel frowned, but the next moment, she realized what Miranda was trying to do. There was clearly a doorbell at the door, yet the man had knocked so loudly as if he was afraid that they wouldn’t open the door.

This showed that the two families were definitely not on good terms.

She jumped up as if she was about to watch a show, and ran toward the door. As she did, she said, “Oh, I’m the youngest here. I’ll go and open the door, then.”

Nora, “?”

She had no choice but to follow Rachel at the back.

When she walked out of the living room, Rachel had already opened the door. Henry was cursing angrily, “Why did you wait so long to open the door? Is it because we’re not welcomed here?”

Rachel stepped aside and said, “Why wouldn’t you be? Please come in!”

Henry was a little surprised, but he nevertheless walked in with Wendy. The two were about to enter the living room when someone blocked their path.

Henry frowned. “What is the meaning of this, Nora? Are you stopping us from going in?”

Nora stood in their path at the living room entrance. Her voice was low and deep as she said, “If you have something to say, then let’s talk here.”

She didn’t want to cause the Anderson's any trouble.

Henry sneered, “Is this what the Andersons’ manners are like? Are they actually stopping their family members from entering the house?”

Nora retorted, “Are you even family?”

Henry yelled into the living room, “I’m the Andersons’ son-in-law. I haven’t even met my in-laws ever since your mother and I married! I heard that Mom is still around, so I think I should pay her a visit!”

He tried to squeeze his way into the living room after saying that.

Unfortunately for him, Nora stood in his path like a bouncer. Henry wanted to push her aside and enter, but even though the girl was clearly very thin and shouldn’t weigh much, Henry simply couldn’t even make her budge even after he tried pushing her aside.

It was as if her feet had been nailed in place as she stood there.

Henry was furious. He narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, he shouted into the room, “Mom, your son-in-law is here to visit you!”

As soon as he said that, Mrs. Anderson, who could no longer sit still, walked out of her room.

Her daughter had given up the amazing and brilliant Ian Smith and ran away from home. Later, she had married Henry. Even though Mrs. Anderson had never asked anyone about it, she was ultimately still very curious about what he was like.

The old lady opened the door. “Nora, let them come in and talk.”

Only then did Nora step aside.

Melissa was talking to Miranda when they entered. She said, “Why don’t you go back with Rachel first, Miranda? We have guests.”

However, Miranda replied cheerfully, “I know, Nora’s father, right? Come to think of it, he can also be considered our relative. I should also meet him, lest we end up unacquainted in the future.”

As a result, the living room suddenly became rather crowded.

Mrs. Anderson, Simon, and Melissa sat on the main sofa while Miranda and Rachel sat on one of the sofas at the side. Both of them looked like they were watching an entertaining show.

Sitting on the sofa on the other side were Henry and Wendy.

Nora didn’t take a seat. Instead, she leaned lazily against the wall without much of an expression on her face.

At the sight of how distant and indifferent everyone was, Henry took the lead to stand. He bowed at Mrs. Anderson and said, “This is the first time we’ve met all these years, Mom. This is all Yvette’s fault. She never mentioned the Anderson's, causing us all to be so distant from one another despite being family.”

Practically as soon as he said that, Melissa said neutrally, “You’re too polite, Mr. Smith. Not only is Yvette no longer around, but you’ve also remarried. We’re no longer family.”

Henry’s eyes flickered. Then, he heaved a sigh and said, “Speaking of remarrying… Sigh! This is all Yvette’s idea! She lost a lot of blood during childbirth, causing her health to deteriorate badly. She was in poor health ever since. Before she died, what she was the most worried about was that there wouldn’t be anyone to take care of Nora, so she forced me to remarry and find someone to take care of Nora. Had she not forced me to, I definitely wouldn’t have remarried. Yvette and I were so in love back then.”

He lowered his head and wiped the non-existent tears at his eyes. Then, he raised his head again and said, “Even if Yvette is gone, Mom is still my mother-in-law. That’s something that’ll never change.”

Wendy also hurriedly said, “Yes, that’s right. I’ve also met Yvette when she was still alive. We don’t have many members in our family, but if you’re alright with me, you can treat me as your daughter in the future, Mrs. Anderson! Breaking off ties after someone’s death isn’t a popular way of thinking in our family. See, didn’t Nora also move into the Anderson's? We’re all very supportive of that!”

She looked at the elderly lady and said, “We also intend to be filial to you in the future!”

The elderly Mrs. Anderson, however, stared hard at Henry. Her eyes reddened again as she asked, “Are you saying that Yvette already arranged for you to remarry before she died? And she’s even met that woman?”

Mrs. Anderson felt her chest tighten the moment she thought of how her daughter had to find a wife for her own husband and a stepmother for her own daughter when she was clearly already on her deathbed.

Yvette had always been stubborn ever since she was a child. When she was with Ian back then, she had once even said something about how all rich men liked having mistresses. If Ian dared so much as to think like that, she would definitely break his goddamn legs.

At that time, she had persuaded Yvette to take it easy. After all, profit was the most important in the wealthy circle. How many of them were truly in love with each other?

However, Yvette had raised her chin and said proudly, “Mom, never in this lifetime will I, Yvette Anderson, ever make do when it comes to love. Even if I die, I won’t let Ian remarry. Be it in life or death, I will be vigorous and exciting.”

The young woman at that time had been full of energy and high-spirited, yet also incredibly bossy.

How many men’s hearts had Yvette Anderson, a single woman, stolen in the wealthy circle?

What exactly must such aproud woman like her have experienced for her to be willing to choose a second wife for her husband during the last leg of her journey in life?

Wendy’s eyes flickered. She hastily smiled and said, “Yes, that’s right. That’s why I’m very grateful to her. Mrs. Anderson, we’re family.”

The tears in Mrs. Anderson’s eyes were close to falling. She moved the walking stick in her hands. Her eyelids drooped downward and she said, “We’re not related by blood, so we aren’t family.”

The sense of alienation from her was very obvious.

Simon also got onto his feet. He pointed at Henry and said angrily, “You already found your next wife when my sister wasn’t even dead yet? Are you still human? We don’t have a family like you here!”

Henry had originally thought that the Anderson's would accept Wendy if he worded it like that, but unexpectedly, his plans had backfired.

Seeing how worked up they were, his eyes flickered and he smiled and said, “Mom, Simon. Whether you recognize me as family or not, I’m still Nora’s father. This relationship between the two of us will never be severed.”