Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 31

Chapter 91: Is She Qualified to Be Mrs. Hunt?

Bob was in a constant state of anxiety during the entire meeting, and he glanced at the child sitting there quietly from time to time.

His hair was neither long nor short. He looked like a boy, but his delicate features and fair skin made it seem like he could also be a girl.

His hair was neither long nor short. He looked like a boy, but his delicate features and fair skin made it seem like he could also be a girl.

“… eighteen plots of land will have the best development prospects in New York in the future, but we simply cannot afford such a huge project.” The project manager who had come along with Bob looked at Justin respectfully and asked, “Mr. Hunt, may I know if you’re interested in working with us?”

Bob hurriedly retracted his gaze and looked at Justin.

He was leaning back on the chair the whole time while the project manager was talking, and his entire self exuded an air of indifference.

Although he didn’t say a word throughout the whole process, the project manager pretty much glanced at him every time he finished a sentence.

Justin didn’t do anything, yet the entire negotiation was under his control.

His eyes were as deep and bottomless as a well, and the beauty mark at the corner of his eye even added a bit of a mysterious aura to him, making it impossible for anyone to read his thoughts.

His slender fingers with distinct joints tapped lightly on the black marble tabletop, causing everyone else’s hearts to also pound along with the rhythm.

Bob was also a well-respected and influential man in New York, but in front of Justin, he nevertheless didn’t dare to even breathe a little louder than usual.

While his imagination was running wild, Justin slowly said, “No, I’m not interested.”

Bob and the project manager’s eyes widened suddenly and they looked at each other incredulously.

It was thanks to their investments in real estate that the Hunts had surpassed the Smiths to secure their position as the number one family in the States.

Over the years, the Hunt Corporation had also spread their net even wider and successfully purchased quite a lot of land.

Very few plots of land had been put up for sale in New York during the past two years. It really was no easy feat to get such a large plot of land.

Bob had used a lot of connections before he managed to purchase the plot of land. Even when the funds needed had exceeded what he could provide himself, what he had thought of was still to have others join him instead of giving up the plot of land.

In their opinion, Justin really shouldn’t refuse such a good deal.

Bob stood up. “Mr. Hunt, this piece of land is really something that only comes by once in a blue moon. Are you sure you don’t want to consider it further?”

Justin stood up, his tall and lean figure making even the entire office seem a little cramped. He neatened his suit and said, “See the guests out, Sean.”

Bob still wanted to say more even when Justin said that, but when his gaze met Justin’s expressionless countenance, he subconsciously closed his mouth.

Even after Sean saw them out of the office, Bob still couldn’t recover.

Why had the Hunts suddenly changed their strategy?

Next to him, the Lowe's project manager was chatting with Sean. He asked, “We’re old buddies, Sean. Can you give me some insight as to why Mr. Hunt rejected the partnership offer?”

The reticent Sean glanced at him and said, “Mr. Hunt is in a bad mood today.”

“…”

Even the project manager couldn’t help but fall silent.

Just because he was in a bad mood, he had rejected a huge project worth a few dozen billion dollars. Mr. Hunt sure was willful!

Tumultuous waves, however, churned in Bob’s heart. He asked tentatively, “Is it because of his child?”

Had Mr. Hunt caught wind about what had happened in the kindergarten?

Was that why he had rejected his offer?

While he was wondering, Sean nodded. “Yes.”

Bob, “!”

He wanted to ask further, but Sean refused to reveal any more.

Bob and the project manager didn’t dare to pester him further, either.

They could only ask Sean to relay their message to Mr. Hunt and ask him to reconsider carefully before they went downstairs.

On the top floor, inside the office.

After they left and the door closed, Justin walked over to Pete and stood in front of his desk.

Pete lifted his head and looked at him.

Father and son stared at each other for a long while before Justin finally asked, “Are you going to cut your hair or not?”

Pete replied simply and concisely, “No.”

Justin, “…”

His son’s hair had already reached almost under his ears. If he continued to let it grow, he would even be able to braid them soon!

Had it been before, he would definitely have held his son down and forced him to cut his hair. Now, though…

The family doctor had said that his personality switching back and forth was a sign of mental illness.

He mustn’t force him to do things he didn’t want to do during such moments.

Justin suppressed his anger and asked as calmly as he could, “What must I do before you’ll cut it?”

Pete lowered his head and returned to his homework. He replied, “You’re a man, Daddy. Why do you keep staring at my hair? If you’re that free, why don’t you think about how to woo Mommy instead?”

He needed to switch places with his sister once in a while. If he cut his hair too short, wouldn’t they be exposed?

He wanted to let Cherry grow out her hair, so even though the grown-out hair was uncomfortable, he would just grin and bear with it until they acknowledged one another.

Justin, “??”

Wasn’t the only reason why he had become such a naggy father—the unpredictable changes in his behavior?!

Besides…

Justin frowned and said seriously, “You got it the other way round, Pete. Your Mommy is the one who’s wooing me. I’m in the midst of considering whether she’s qualified to become Mrs. Hunt.”

Pete, “…”

He looked at his father, who had always been very strong, powerful, confident, and in control of everything. However, his baseless confidence in this instant instead rendered him speechless.

If Mommy were to really make a move on him, he would definitely be very easy to woo and would fall for her the moment she did.

Sigh. Men were just so contrary.

Someone knocked on the door at this point.

Sean walked in and said, “Mr. Hunt, the Golden Sunshine Kindergarten has sent you an invitation to their 50th-anniversary celebrations. May I know if you want me to reject the invitation?”

The Golden Sunshine Kindergarten was founded abroad.

The founder had very high EQ, so the branch in New York had nearly gathered all the children of the wealthy families.

The Hunt's children never attended kindergarten, but the school nevertheless wisely took the initiative to ask them every year and even offered them a few places.

In addition, they never left them out during celebratory occasions like this, either.

Justin had never participated in previous years, but this year…

He thought back to the time when Nora made up the excuse that he was the one who had given her the recommendation letter for her daughter’s admittance into the school. In an uncharacteristic move, Justin suddenly said in a stuck-up manner, “I’ll go if there’s nothing scheduled on that day.”

Sean said, “You have a video conference in the morning that day, Boss.”

“Then cancel the meeting.”

Sean, “??”

At the Golden Sunshine Kindergarten.

It was time for dance lessons again. Ms. Lynn was still sighing while she sent Cherry to the dance studio.

She said, “I don’t know whether I’m right or wrong in bringing you here, either. But since your mother has managed to ask Ms. Turner to speak up for you, no matter how strict Mrs. Lowe is on you,don’t give up, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Ms. Lynn! Cherry won’t cry, yeah!”

Cherry’s young, tender voice made Ms. Lynn’s heart melt.

She kept looking back as she left the dance studio as if it was her own child she was seeing off.

Whitney stared at Cherry. When she thought of how she had fled the scene earlier that day, she said coldly, “You don’t have any dancing foundation, Cheryl Smith. Go to the side to do your stretching and practice your splits! You can only join the practice after you’re done!”

Cherry didn’t refute Whitney this time because what she said made sense.

She walked over to the wall in silence.

A triumphant smile formed on Whitney’s face as she watched her from the back.

At this moment, her cell phone suddenly rang.

Chapter 92: A Little Sidekick

Whitney never answered phone calls during lessons. However, she had set this particular unique ringtone for her husband.

Whitney was a professional dancer, and the Lowe's treated her very well after she married Bob. This was also what gave her the confidence to be so arrogant.

When she realized that it was her husband who was calling, she told the children to stay where they were and play for a while. Then, she walked to the side, took out her cell phone from her bag, and answered the call.

Cherry had grown up being pampered and had never suffered any hardships before. She did indeed find actions like barre rises, splits, and stretching exercises very difficult.

Her leg was propped on a small stool while her chubby little arm tried hard to stretch forward to touch her toes…

Children were rather flexible, after all. Moreover, her physique was indeed very suitable for dancing, so she succeeded in one go.

She stood up straight excitedly. When she saw that the other children were all playing, she also decided to take a break.

However, it was at this moment that she suddenly heard a loud and sharp shout.

“Cheryl Smith!!”

Cherry jumped in shock. She looked over to see Whitney glaring at her. The white part of her eyes was bigger than other people’s, so she looked a little scary when she was glaring at someone like that.

Whitney had reprimanded Cherry because she noticed that she was slacking off. Before she continued, she pressed the button to pick up the call. Right away, she heard her husband’s anxious voice coming from the other end.

“You mustn’t do anything to that little girl!”

Before Whitney could ask why, he went on and said, “I know who she is now! Her father is Justin Hunt!”

Whitney, “??”

Her eyes widened in astonishment.

Bob continued and said, “No wonder they could get Tanya Turner to make a trip specially for her! Also, he rejected our partnership proposal today because of his child!”

Whitney, “!!”

“Alright, I’m hanging up. I have to check if there’s anyone else who wants to be part of the project. Sigh!”

Bob hung up without giving Whitney any chance to speak at all.

In the distance.

Cherry was frozen in place after Whitney’s yell. Sinead took the opportunity to walk up to her. She made a face at her and said, “Hmph, how dare you slack off! Mommy will definitely punish you!”

The other children also chimed in anxiously and said, “Cheryl, hurry and continue practicing. Mrs. Lowe is very, very fierce!”

“Ah! Mrs. Lowe’s coming over!”

Someone yelled, causing everyone to immediately disperse.

A triumphant Sinead stood beside Cherry and made another face at her. “Hmph! Mommy’s here to lecture you now! You’re gonna cry very soon!”

Cherry, “?”

The little fellow frowned. Just as she was wondering how she could get out of the situation if Whitney were to start scolding her, she noticed Whitney standing in front of her aggressively. She said, “C-Cherry…”

Using a nickname felt like it would make their relationship feel a little closer.

Next to them, Sinead made faces at her and taunted, “The calmer Mommy is, the more miserable you’ll be later!”

As soon as she said that, however, the expression on Whitney’s face turned awful. The corners of her lips twitched forcefully and she forced a smile that looked even fiercer than if she were crying. Then, she asked stiffly, “Do you want to be in the center?”

Sinead, “??”

Cherry, “??”

Both kids were dumbfounded.

Before Cherry could answer, Sinead suddenly burst into tears with a loud wail.“Mommy, you’re a bad person! The center position is mine!”

Cherry, “…”

Well, that was rather sudden.

And Mrs. Lowe, too. Could she refrain from smiling? It was really pretty scary.

Cherry tilted her head and thought for a while. Then, she replied happily, “Yes!”

Whitney forced another smile. “Okay. You’re in the center position from today onward. Don’t practice splits anymore. You can return to the team now.”

Then, she started to lecture Sinead. “Stop crying. You’ll be standing next to her, so it’s no different from being in the center!”

*Wail*

Sinead, who refused to listen to her, started crying even louder.

Cherry ignored the two of them.

She ran to the center of the children and stood in the position that originally belonged to Sinead.

Hmph.

Originally, she wouldn’t have had any interest in the center position if Sinead didn’t create any trouble. After all, she was a newcomer!

However, Sinead had bullied her. In that case, she would make life difficult for Sinead!

Mommy had taught her that one could take anything they want except the short end of the stick!

After some time, Whitney finally got Sinead to stop crying and they resumed practice.

Cherry had an undisciplined lifestyle. As her IQ was very high, she had little patience.

However, now that she was in the center position, she didn’t dare to slack off or take a sloppy attitude anymore.

After half an hour, she had already memorized most of the dance moves. Her talent alarmed even Whitney.

No wonder Tanya said that she wanted to take her as her student!

After the dance lesson, everyone returned to the classroom.

“I want to sit with Cheryl Smith!”

“Me, too!”

“Go away! I’m the one who’s gonna sit with Cheryl!”

Several children carried their little stools over to sit with Cherry.

For a while there, she became the class favorite person.

Ms. Lynn sighed at the sight of them quarreling, her head hurting.

Cherry was just too popular!

She squatted down and said, “Alright, stop arguing, everyone. Cherry, who do you want to sit with?”

Cherry carried her stool, ran into the crowd, and sat down next to a handsome little boy. She said, “I wanna sit next to Seth Walker!”

“Why?” Ms. Lynn asked.

Cherry replied loudly, “Because he’s the most good-looking one here! Good-looking people play only with good-looking people!”

Sinead burst into tears with a loud wail again. “No wonder Seth has been ignoring me! So, it’s because I’m not good-looking enough!”

Everyone was speechless.

After class, everyone ran over to Cherry to play with her again. Not only did she have a good temper and often came up with a lot of fun ideas,but the teachers also liked her very much. Most importantly, even the dance teacher whom everyone feared didn’t dare to bully her. She was simply too amazing!

Cherry was playing with building blocks when a little boy suddenly walked over. He asked, “Hey, are you Cheryl Smith?”

Cherry looked up to see a handsome little boy with fox-like eyes standing in front of her. The boy said, “I’m the boss of this kindergarten! Become my underling, and I’ll take care of you in the future!”

Cherry pouted and replied, “I’m the boss here!”

“Hmph!” The little boy said, “How dare you try to snatch my position as the boss! On account of how good-looking you are, I shan’t beat you up! Hurry up and call me Boss!”

Cherry blinked. Next to her, Seth said, “He’s Brandon Smith. The Smiths are the most powerful among everyone here, so you’d best not offend him.”

Cherry, “?”

She placed her hands on her hips and said, “What’s so great about using your family background to compete with others? If you’re that great, then let’s compete in other things! The winner will be the boss!”

Brandon immediately puffed up his little chest and said, “Only boys can be bosses! How can a little girl be the boss? If you can become a little boy, then I’ll acknowledge you as my boss!”

Cherry’s eyes lit up. “Okay! You gotta keep your word!”

“Hahahaha!”

Brandon laughed. “So, you’re actually a little dummy! My Mommy said that there’s no way anyone can change their gender, yeah! If you can’t become a little boy, then you’ll have to listen to my commands in the future and become my sidekick!”

Chapter 93: The Photo From The Live-Stream

Seth tugged on her sleeve again. “Cherry, a girl won’t be able to become a boy. You’ll definitely lose, so don’t agree to it!”

In a soft and tender voice, Cherry replied, “I have a way around it, yeah!”

Brandon touched his hair and snorted again. Only then did he walk away with his hands in his pockets.

After he left, Sinead rushed over to Cherry. She lifted her chin and said, “Cheryl, you’re in trouble! Your life will definitely be very hard now that Brandon has set his sights on you! He loves making his sidekicks bark like a dog the most! You’re gonna be Cherry the Doggy tomorrow!”

In the midst of her gloating, puzzlement flashed across Cherry’s big round eyes and she asked, “But how does one bark like a dog?”

Sinead immediately bent over, held her hands up like little paws, and said, “Woof! Woof!”

Then, she stood up straight and said, “Like that!”

Cherry asked again, “Like how?”

Sinead frowned and said, “Why are you so stupid?!”

Then, she did the same pose again and imitated a dog again. “Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Cherry grinned and exclaimed, “I see! So, you’re Sinead the Doggy!”

Sinead, “…”

When she realized that Cherry was mocking her, she burst into tears with a loud wail again.

“…”

Classes for the day ended very quickly. In the afternoon, parents came one by one to pick up their children.

When Cherry left home in the morning, she already knew that Tanya would be the one picking her up after school because Mommy would definitely slack off.

Sure enough, when she went out, she spotted Tanya standing there.

She skipped over, got into the car with Tanya, and went home together with her.

At the Andersons.

The kindergarten took care of all three meals a day for the children, so Cherry, who’d already had her dinner in school, usually didn’t eat any more after she went home.

Thus, while the rest of the Andersons were having dinner, she secretly hid upstairs and gave Pete a video call.

As soon as the video call connected and she saw her brother, Cherry immediately smiled sweetly and said, “I missed you, Pete!”

Pete was currently doing his homework seriously and the background of the video was his study.

He picked up his earphones, put them on, and said, “I miss you and Mommy too.”

Cherry asked, “In that case, can we switch for a while?”

Pete, “??”

He was a little hesitant. “Haven’t you already started to attend school? It seems like the kindergarten uniform is a skirt?”

“But…” Cherry lowered her head and twiddled her thumbs. A grimace appeared on her adorable little face and she said, “Someone’s bullying me in school. He wants me to be his sidekick.”

Pete panicked the moment he heard that. He said, “I’ll switch with you!”

His younger sister was only allowed to follow after him and be protected by him. Who was the little brat that was so daring as to bully his younger sister?

Cherry’s eyes lit up immediately and she threw her brother under the bus without any hesitation. She said, “We have dance lessons every day for the performance during the celebrations, so you’ll also have to practice.”

Pete, “!!”

He didn’t want to wear a skirt or dance, but for his sister’s sake… He could only grin and bear with it.

Cherry hopped off the chair and moved her phone a little further away. “Let’s practice the dance moves, Pete!”

“… Okay.”

At the Hunts’.

Justin had an important and mysterious meeting later, so he finished all his work early. After dinner, on the way to his study, he passed by the door to his son’s small study.

He was currently on the phone with his son’s psychiatrist. “… Yes, it’s been quite a long while since his last relapse. He’s been pretty normal during the last few days. His behavior and so on aren’t as weird as before anymore.”

The psychiatrist replied, “In that case, Pete’s condition has likely stabilized. If there’s no relapse after a few more days of observation, then perhaps he’s recovered.”

Justin heaved a sigh of relief.

After hanging up, he sneaked into his son’s study to check up on him and see whether he had encountered any difficulties in his studies.

While personally supervising Pete’s studies recently, he found that his genius son had returned.

As expected, his utter ignorance in history and mathematics when they were in California were due to psychological reasons!

He gently opened the door to the small study. He had originally thought that he would see the usual sight of his son sitting at his desk and reading seriously, but unexpectedly.

Cherry’s adorable voice rang out in Pete’s earphones: “Twist your hips, Pete!”

Pete stuck his hips out and twisted them.

“Pete, do this action when the flowers bloom! After that, you must smile!”

Pete’s fingers curled into a dainty pose and he held his chin with his hands before he gave a sweet smile. After that, he asked, “Is this okay?”

“Pete, you should say, ‘Is Cherry doing okay?’ instead! That’s how I talk, yeah!”

With much difficulty, Pete said, “… Okie-Dokie! Cutely, yeah! Adorably, yeah! …”

After saying that, he turned and immediately spotted Justin who was at the door.

The man’s and the boy’s eyes met, and for a while, it was dead silent in the study.

Five seconds later…

Bam!

Justin shut the door. It must be because he didn’t open it the right way just now!

He turned around, picked up his cell phone, and called the psychiatrist. “It seems like Pete… is having a relapse again.”

“…”

At the Andersons.

When Cherry saw that Pete wasn’t moving, she asked anxiously, “What’s wrong, Pete?”

Pete stood up straight and went back to his usual expressionless self. He replied, “The tyrant came just now.”

Cherry said, “Really? I’ve not seen handsome Daddy for so long! I miss him so much!”

Pete changed the subject. He asked, “Is there anyone whom you’re particularly good friends with in the kindergarten?”

“Yes, yes!” Cherry became excited at the question. “I’m great friends with Seth Walker! He’s really good-looking, and he can even do Mathematical Olympiad questions!”

Pete, “??”

He glanced at the Mathematical Olympiad worksheets on his desk. A contemplative look flashed through his big eyes that looked identical to Cherry’s. He said, “I’ve mastered the dance. Let’s hang up for now?”

“Okie-Dokie!”

After hanging up, it was now time for Cherry’s live-stream.

She started a live-stream. Sure enough, she saw that her number one fan, Sponsor Grandpa, was already there.Cherry immediately greeted him and said, “Hi, Sponsor Grandpa!”

Ian’s response was: ‘Grandpa has sent you 999 airplanes’

Cherry giggled. Suddenly, a message popped up on the live-stream interface: ‘The Mid-Year Live-Streaming Contest is accepting applications now! Come and sign up!’

The live-streaming platform she used held two live-streamer contests every year.One was held in the middle of the year while the other was held at the end of the year. In the contest, two live-streamers would be pit against each other, with the winner progressing to the next round. The top ten finalists would win promotional resources and even become part of the Top Trends on f*******:.

Without even taking a good look at the pop-up message, Cherry immediately tapped ‘Join’.

Every live-streamer was required to fill in their personal information during the registration process. As a result, the applications were accepted by default.

Cherry didn’t think much about it and immediately switched on the game interface.

Thus, she didn’t notice that a customer service staff member had sent her a private message: “Hi sweetcherry, this is customer service staff Kay at your service. I noticed that you’ve signed up for the live-streamer contest. I’ll need a photo of you for registration purposes. Can you send one to me, please?”

After a few minutes, when the customer service staff saw that she wasn’t replying, they sent another message: “Please note that if we don’t receive any reply, by default, we’ll have to use the photo of you during your live-stream.”