Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 74

Chapter 220: Having A Date Behind His Back

Justin paused in his tracks.

Nora and Pete also stopped.

All three of them simultaneously thought—’It’s lucky that we left Cherry in the training gym.’ Otherwise, our family of four would have run into one another. I really won’t know what to do if that happens!

They stared at one another while facing one another. Due to their guilty consciences, all of them were rather awkward.

Justin was the first to come back to his senses. He asked, “Why are you here, Ms. Smith? Are you here to visit Pete?”

Nora breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah.”

Pete’s lip corners spasmed. From the looks of it, he wouldn’t be able to leave with Mommy anymore today.

Justin fell silent for a while. Then, he finally suggested, “In that case, how about having Pete go with you to the Andersons’ to play?”

Pete, “?”

The tyrant had always kept a very strict eye on him. No matter where he went, he would always be accompanied by a group of bodyguards. Why was he suddenly allowing him to go back with Mommy now?

Pete looked at the tyrant hesitantly, thinking that perhaps he had already sensed something. However, the man remained expressionless and no one could see through his thoughts.

Nora didn’t expect the problem to be resolved so easily. The two children could also bond with each other if they went to the Anderson's, so she nodded and replied, “Okay!”

She stroked her chin.

This was a rare opportunity. Should she just get a private jet and straight-up run away with the two babies?

Just as she was thinking about it, Justin chuckled and said, “It’s my fault.”

Nora, “?”

What mistake was he admitting to when everything was fine?

The next moment, Justin straightened his back, adjusted his tie, and said, “I was too busy lately, so I didn’t spend any time with you, causing you to have designs on Pete again.”

Nora, “!!!”

The corners of her lips spasmed. She was about to speak when the scumbag went on. He said, “It doesn’t look like Ms. Smith is very busy every day, either. Why don’t we have a date once every two days?”

“… You’re a very busy man, Mr. Hunt. We don’t have to go to such trouble.”

“Not at all.”

Justin leaned against the wall and overlooked the adult-child pair from the top. Nora’s almond-shaped eyes raised slightly and the corners of her lips spasmed a little.

Pete’s lip corners also spasmed and he looked at Justin with disdain.

Justin ignored the look in his son’s eyes and calmly said, “You and I have already reached this stage in our relationship. Wouldn’t I have lived the past twenty-odd years of my life in vain if I still allow work to chain down my freedom? I can just handle my work affairs every other day instead, just like how you only do two operations a month, right, Dr. Anti?”

Nora, “!!”

The corners of her lips spasmed. Left with no other reason to refute him with, she could only say resignedly, “If you say so.”

Then, she took Pete’s hand and got ready to leave.

She had only just taken a couple of steps when her cell phone suddenly rang.

It was an unfamiliar phone number. When she answered the call, a sinister voice said, “Long time no see, Ms. Smith.”

Nora, “?”

“Never would I have expected Ms. Smith to be Yanci, the famous international car racer. The last time we met, we were in opposing circumstances, which ended up in us separating on a sour note. I wonder if we can meet and talk about partnering with each other for the car racing club?”

Nora raised her brows. “Who are you?”

“…” The other party was clearly gnashing his teeth in fury. “I’m Winston!”

“Who’s that?” asked Nora.

Clearly, she had already forgotten who Winston was.

Winston, “…”

His voice became even stiffer. “I proposed to you before. Have you forgotten? My father is Jon Myers of the traditional medicine industry!”

At last, Nora recalled his insignificant existence and uttered a detached ‘oh’. Then, she yawned and asked, “Is something up?”

“…”

Winston felt as if he was about to crack. He could only force out word after word and say, “Stop pretending, Ms. Smith. I know you understand what I’m saying! Your fiancé is in my hands right now. You’d best come over and meet me for a talk right away. Otherwise, I won’t be able to guarantee his safety.”

Her fiancé?

Nora clicked her tongue and said, “I don’t have a fiancé.”

She hung up immediately after saying that, utterly nonplussed about how furious the man on the other side would be.

She had already broken off her engagement a long time ago, so how would she possibly have a fiancé?

She was just thinking about that when her cell phone beeped. She looked down to see that the unfamiliar number had sent her a short video.

In the video was a man who had been tied up. He was in a dimly lit room. Light streamed in through a small window and illuminated his face. The man was bespectacled and looked very polite and refined. He was actually… Caleb Gray?

Beep.

Winston sent another text message, as well as an address. He wrote: ‘I’ll give you half an hour. Come over right away. For every minute that you’re late, I’ll sever one of his fingers!’

Nora, “…”

She massaged her temples. She knew that Caleb had likely been implicated by her.

Moreover, when Henry Smith went to the Andersons’ to kick up a huge fuss the other time, Caleb had produced an audio recording that her mother had left behind back then as evidence, and helped her to reverse public opinion. When one thought about it like that, the Anderson's actually owed the Gray's a favor.

She looked at Pete and ruffled his hair. Her voice was low and hoarse as she said, “Be good and wait for me here.”

Pete nodded.

Nora walked ahead right after that. After taking a couple of steps, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Justin following her. He said, “It’s not quite right of you to go and meet your ex-fiancé right in front of me, is it, Ms. Smith?”

Nora raised her eyebrows. “Oh. Then I’ll save him behind your back?”

“…” Justin fell silent but continued to follow beside her.

When the two of them exited the Quinn School of Martial Arts, Nora went straight to her car. When she opened the door and got into the driver’s seat, Justin also got into the passenger seat in a practiced manner.

The jeep was very big and spacious. Even at Nora’s height, she still looked petite in the driver’s seat. However, when Justin sat in the passenger seat, it made the car ultimately still seem a little small.

Nora was a little surprised. “Are you also coming?”

“Of course.”

Justin replied confidently, “How can I let you go on a date with your ex-fiancé?”

The corners of Nora’s lips quirked upward and she said unhurriedly, “Sit tight.”

At practically the moment she said that, she stepped on the gas pedal, causing the car to zoom forward with a whoosh. She drove to the address that Winston had given her at the speed of light.

Inertia threw Justin right against the seat, and he grabbed the handlebar at the top of the car door with his right hand. He looked at Nora—the woman seemed to be a completely different person when she drove. There was none of her usual laziness and carelessness, and her serious demeanor looked exceptionally charming.

Half an hour later.

Screeeeech!

The car tires emitted a harsh screech as they rubbed against the road. Together with the sound, the car stopped inside a dilapidated abandoned factory.

When Nora jumped out of the car, there was already someone waiting for her. Without even looking at Justin, the person said, “Come with me!”

Nora followed behind the person, took a couple of steps, and entered a room.

Caleb was seated on a chair, all tied up. His shirt was a little dirty and messy, and actually gave off a disheveled kind of beauty.

Winston jumped out at this point.. He said, “As long as you sign this contract to provide your services to the Quinlan Sect, Ms. Smith, I will let you guys go!”

Chapter 221: The Quinlan Sect Is Backed By The Quinn School of Martial Arts? Has She Agreed To

A contract to provide her services to the Quinlan Sect?

Nora frowned and looked at the document in his hand.

Winston sneered, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, but the car racing club will be the Quinlan Sect’s very soon. We, the Quinlan Sect

Im contract to provide her services to the Quinlan Sect?

Nora frowned and looked at the document in his hand.

Winston sneered, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, but the car racing club will be the Quinlan Sect’s very soon. We, the Quinlan Sect, warmly invite you to our team. I should think that with Yanci around, our team will always win!”

Nora, “?”

Her brows drew together. She asked puzzledly, “Has Mr. Hoffman agreed to this?”

Winston replied, “Of course.”

His eyes flickered and he added, “Would I dare to do something like this if he hadn’t?”

Nora didn’t care how exactly they carried out their dealings with each other, but… using Caleb to threaten her?

She cast her eyes down dispassionately. “I’m not interested in your club.”

She walked straight to Caleb after she spoke. She wasn’t intending to waste her breath and was planning to leave immediately after saving the man.

However, before she could walk over, Winston stopped in front of her again. He said, “I know you enjoy a lot of freedom when you race abroad, Ms. Smith, but it’s impossible to survive in the car racing industry in the States if you don’t have anyone backing you

up. Didn’t Logan also rely on Jordan Hoffman back then? The benefits you’ll enjoy will only be better than that if you join the Quinlan Sect! Do you know who the one backing up the Quinlan Sect is?”

Nora’s eyes were still downcast. “I’m not interested.”

“…” Winston became anxious. He said, “The one backing up the Quinlan Sect is the Quinn School of Martial Arts! You should have heard of them before, right? They are very well-known in the pugilistic world! As long as you sign the contract, both the Quinlan Sect and the Quinn School of Martial Arts will back you up in New York in the future, no matter what happens!”

Nora was dumbfounded. “The Quinn School of Martial Arts?”

Her reaction made Winston heave a sigh of relief. He replied, “Yes, the Quinn School of Martial Arts! Mr. Quinlan is their unofficial disciple. This is something that everyone knows. It’s exactly because of the Quinn School of Martial Arts that even Jordan Hoffman doesn’t dare to mess with Mr. Quinlan.”

Nora, “…”

What the heck was this mess?

Were all of the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ unofficial disciples this arrogant outside?

She broke into a frown.

Winston tried painstakingly to convince her. He said, “You must be scared at the mention of the Quinn School of Martial Arts, right? Then sign this obediently. I can even promise you that as long as you sign the contract and maintain a good relationship with me, I will let your fiancé’s pharmaceutical factory open smoothly in New York!”

Winston gazed at Nora greedily when he said that.

That woman was Yanci. She had looked so beautiful and sassy when she was racing, making him itch for her even more. Conquering a woman like her would give him an even bigger sense of accomplishment.

Especially in bed.

His smile turned lewd.

A mellow and gentle voice reached them at this point.

“So, it’s your doing that my application to establish a pharmaceutical factory keeps getting rejected?”

Nora looked at Caleb.

Despite being tied up, he remained calm and collected in the face of danger, which gave him an additional sense of frail beauty. That visage of his didn’t look like a thirty-year-old at all; he like a prince—oh, one that was in distress though—walking out of a comic instead.

His words pulled Winston back from his daydreaming to reality. He looked back at him and said with a grin, “Oh my, so you’re finally aware of the reason now! The Gray's may be something in California, but you’re nothing in New York. So, you want to expand your business in New York? Have you asked us, the Myerses, for permission yet? Heh, New York is our turf, with the pharmaceutical industry particularly so. Without the Myerses’ permission, there’s absolutely no way your family’s pharmaceutical factory can ever be established here! Even though you’ve already decided on the factory site, you just keep failing the license application, right? Hahaha!”

Realization dawned upon Caleb. “I see. So, that’s why.”

Winston glanced at Nora again. “Of course, if Ms. Smiths signs this contract, then that will make us family. Your affairs will also be the Myerses’, so I’ll definitely take good care of you! We can mutually benefit each other. You should know what I want, right?”

His gaze swept up and down Nora as he spoke, his intentions obvious.

The eyes of Caleb and Justin, who had just entered the room, darkened at the same time.

Caleb cast his eyes down, his long eyelashes casting silhouettes on his cheeks. His glasses were already close to falling off his nose bridge. His eyes were icy-cold as he said, “That’s impossible. You don’t have to compromise for my sake, Nora…”

Winston flew into a rage when he heard him. He stepped forward and slapped Caleb across his cheek, causing Caleb’s head to turn to the side. He looked even more like a meek little woman being bullied now.

A handprint soon formed on his fair cheek.

After slapping him, Winston snapped furiously, “Shut up!”

Only then did he turn back.

He was about to speak when he instead saw Nora’s expression turn cold. She said, “You must have a death wish!”

Just as she was about to take action, the guard at the door finally discovered Justin’s presence. He bellowed angrily, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Nora looked back to see the men at the door walking toward Justin.

For a moment there, she didn’t know whether she should save Justin or Caleb first.

In the midst of her hesitation, she saw Justin stride forward. He headed straight for Caleb, kicking away whoever blocked his path on his way there.

His long legs delivered accurate and ruthless kicks, while his punches were quick and unpredictable. Before anyone could even see his moves clearly, Justin had already dropped them all.

Winston had brought more than ten men with him, but all of them were lying on the ground at the moment. Some had outright fainted while some were groaning in pain.

Frightened witless, he stared at Justin in disbelief. He swallowed and asked, “M-Mr. Hunt? Why are you here? I… I’m from the Quinlan Sect. Our boss is from the Quinn School of Martial Arts. Y-you…”

Justin went right up to him and kicked him right at the crotch!

Bam!

As Winston flew through the air, the pain at his crotch made his vision blacken. He felt that that particular place had likely broken…

Everyone else that was still conscious subconsciously clamped their legs together tightly, suddenly feeling a little worried for their family jewels.

Nora didn’t have the opportunity to do anything, nor did she have such worries, so she walked straight to Caleb and untied the ropes around him.

Caleb got to his feet after he was freed. He was about to thank Nora when his legs suddenly gave way, seemingly from having been tied up for a little too long.

Nora was about to subconsciously grab him when another arm held up Caleb faster than she could.

Her line of sight followed the sturdy and powerful arm to see Justin staring straight at Caleb while pulling a long face. He said, “You’re welcome, Mr. Gray.”

The subtext: ‘I was the one who saved you just now, so don’t try to get close to Nora on the pretext of thanking her.’

Caleb: “…”

He moved his ankles a little. After he steadied himself on his feet, he finally looked at Winston and the others, who had collapsed on the ground. A dark glint flashed across his eyes as he stroked his cheek, but he lowered his gaze the next moment, concealing the glint within.

Seeing that he was fine, Nora took out the contract that Winston had wanted her to sign. After giving it a rough skim, she took out her cell phone and said, “I’ll ask Mrs.Hoffman what exactly is going on with the Quinlan Sect’s acquisition of the club.”

Chapter 222: Going To The Quinn School of Martial Arts!

Nora called Mrs. Hoffman, but perhaps she was busy at the moment, she didn’t pick up.

She was about to call again after hanging up the first time when Mrs. Hoffman called. She sounded obviously tired as she said, “Sorry about that, Ms. Smith. I was busy just now, so I wasn’t paying attention to the phone.”

Nora raised her eyebrows and asked, “Is Jimmy having a relapse?”

“No, it isn’t about that.”

Mrs. Hoffman said, “Jimmy is doing pretty well. He’ll be discharged from the hospital and will be able to go to school soon. It’s because something has happened at home.”

“Is it about the car racing club?” asked Nora.

Mrs. Hoffman hesitated for a moment before she said, “Have you also heard about it? Sigh, it’s really giving us a headache.”

Nora was a little taken aback. She asked, “Do you need me to help with anything?”

Mrs. Hoffman, however, declined her offer. “No, it’s alright, Ms. Smith. It’s better that you don’t get involved in the matter. After all, you’re not in our line of business.”

Nora was an excellent doctor who had nothing to do with underworld forces.

Mrs. Hoffman was afraid that she would be implicated if she were to become involved.

After all, the Quinn School of Martial Arts had disciples all over the country. It was as easy as ABC for them to take care of a mere doctor.

Nora didn’t make things difficult for her. She nodded and said, “Alright. Let me know if you need anything.”

Mrs. Hoffman uttered an ‘okay’ before she finally sighed and said, “Only one person can help us with this. We’re currently looking for her.”

Seeing that Mrs. Hoffman was reluctant to say more, Nora nodded and hung up.

Only then did she turn back and look at the men from the Quinlan Sect on the ground.

Nora ignored the rest and looked only at Winston. He had suffered a serious injury to his crotch and passed out from the pain, only to wake up again from the pain. He was currently rolling about the ground all curled up, which easily showed just how hard Justin had kicked him just now.

Nora walked over and stood right in front of him.

Cold sweat trickled down Winston’s forehead, and he was as pale as a sheet. He said, “Send me to the hospital… The hospital…”

Nora squatted down and sneered, “Did you say just now that the Quinlan Sect is being a menace outside because they have the Quinn School of Martial Arts backing them up?”

Winston looked at her viciously at once and replied, “Yes, that’s right. The Quinlan Sect and the Quinn School of Martial Arts—it’s obvious that the two are a family the moment you hear their names. Mr. Quinlan is the top male disciple among the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ unofficial disciples, and even ordinary official disciples have to treat him with courtesy when they see him. How dare you all beat me up… All of you are finished!”

Nora raised her eyebrows and slowly got back up. “Is that so?”

Winston stared at her. “Just you wait! The Quinn School of Martial Arts will find you! They won’t be scared even if you have Mr. Hunt protecting you!”

Nora scoffed. “Sure, I’ll wait for that to happen.”

She dusted off her hands and walked over to Justin and Caleb. “Let’s go.”

The three of them left the dilapidated warehouse. The moment they reached the entrance, they saw a man in a black suit standing there respectfully. At the sight of the three of them, he stepped forward in a panic at once. “Mr. Gray!”

Caleb nodded. The frail man let out a cough and took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth. After holding his assistant for support, he looked at Nora and said, “My assistant has come to pick me up, Ms. Smith. I’ll head off first.”

Nora nodded. In the end, she still said, “Sorry, I didn’t expect that it would implicate you.”

Caleb smiled. “It’s not your fault. I would like to ask you for a favor, though, Ms. Smith.”

“What?”

Caleb coughed another couple of times, causing the handprint to become increasingly obvious on his fair complexion. He said, “My application for a factory license keeps getting rejected. I’d like to ask the Anderson's for help with giving the relevant parties a heads-up about it.”

Both the Anderson's and the Myerses held a certain status in New York’s pharmaceutical industry.

Although the Anderson's had fallen into decline, they now had the Carefree Pills. Added to that their status in the past, it was still a cinch for them to just say the word.

Nora nodded. “No problem.”

Since she was the one who had caused the problem, she had to resolve it. Otherwise, she would end up owing Caleb a favor.

Caleb smiled, “This way, we won’t owe each other anything and you won’t have to feel guilty about it anymore.”

Nora was surprised.

She hadn’t expected the man to actually be so perceptive and see through her thoughts. She nodded. “Okay.”

She hated trouble the most, and also hated owing people favors the most.

Caleb coughed again. Nora glanced at him and suddenly asked, “Do you need me to take a look at your illness?”

Caleb waved at once. He smiled and said, “I’ve been sick for many years. It’s tuberculosis. It won’t kill me. Even if you give me a checkup, you’ll just be prescribing me herbal remedies in the end, so it’s fine. If not, I’ll end up owing you a favor again, Ms. Smith.”

Nora, “…”

She didn’t press the matter and nodded instead. “Okay.”

Right after she spoke, Justin said dispassionately, “If there’s nothing else, we’ll go and pick up the children now, Mr. Gray.”

Caleb, “…”

Nora, “…”

Why did his words sound like they were going to pick up children that the two of them had from school? Even though they were indeed children born to the two of them.

Caleb smiled. “No, there’s nothing else.”

“Let’s go.”

Nora followed Justin into the car. The two went straight to the Quinn School of Martial Arts to pick up Pete and Cherry, and take them home.

_

Caleb waited until the black jeep left before he coughed twice again. However, by the time he lowered the handkerchief, the look on his face had already turned cold. The mellowness and gentleness in his eyes had all but disappeared, leaving behind only icy coldness.

The assistant behind him asked, “What should we do with that group of people, Mr. Gray?”

The look in Caleb’s eyes turned even frostier at the question.

How would he possibly not know about Winston’s handiwork? He had merely gone with the flow and couldn’t be bothered to pay any attention to it, that was all. Little did he think that he would be so bold as to kidnap him.

His assistant, Shadow, had been with him at that time. Given his moves, even fighting solo against a hundred men wouldn’t be a problem. However, he wanted to see what that man wanted, so he had given Shadow a look and made him lose on purpose and follow them here.

But unexpectedly, that daredevil had actually had the audacity to hit him?

He touched the wound on his cheek and cast his eyes down detachedly. “Dispose of them.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Shadow.

Caleb opened the car door and got in the car. A short while later, a burst of flames shot straight into the sky in the distance.

Shadow returned to the car silently. When he started the car to leave, he reported, “I severed his arm and leg tendons before letting him go through the pain of being burned alive.”

This was revenge for Winston slapping Caleb.

Caleb let out a nonchalant sound of acknowledgment. Then, he closed his eyes and leaned against the backseat.

Shadow shut up at once.

_

At the Quinlans’.

Paul got up furiously. “What did you say? Justin Hunt killed Winston?”

His subordinate, who had escaped and returned from the fire, nodded. “The place caught fire after he rushed there to save the man, so he must be the one who killed them! What do we do, Mr. Quinlan?”

One must know that that was Justin Hunt!

Paul paced around in a circle. Suddenly, he headed out and said, “Let’s go to the Quinn School of Martial Arts! They won’t just sit by idly after someone bullies their unofficial disciple!”