Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 58

Chapter 172: A Discovery

Henry had done some illegal business in California over the years. Although he had made a loss in the end, it was a fact that he had broken the law.

Should Wendy really report him, Henry would have to go to jail!

Henry was successfully deterred.

Wendy then said, “We were married for so many years, after all, so I didn’t just leave you with nothing. There is a small bag in the left pocket of the suitcase with your ID card and $30,000 in it. You can take that as my way of paying homage to our friendship during all these years.”

Henry panicked. He shouted into the phone, “Get off the plane, Wendy! Get off the plane now! I want to see you! You can’t just leave me behind!”

His eyes were red, and he suddenly found himself in a total panic.

Never had he thought that he would end up betrayed and abandoned at midlife…

His voice choked as he said into the phone, “Wendy! Wendy, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have made those mistakes when I was young. I’ve really realized how wrong I was. Come back to me! Come back!”

Wendy’s voice was very soft but determined. She said, “The plane is about to take off, Henry. Goodbye.”

She hung up on him right away after saying that.

Henry stared at his phone and frantically called her back, but all he could hear on the phone was “The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later.”

Henry then rushed over to the side.

Through the windows, he was just in time to see the plane bound for California taking off.

How he wished he could go through the glass and jump right into that plane!

Wendy had taken care of him and taken charge of everything at home all these years. Henry had always thought that the woman loved him.

After all, back when he made the deal with Yvette in his youth, he actually had a girlfriend. However, for the sake of wealth and glory, he had made Wendy wait for him.

Yvette had said that she didn’t want someone with a girlfriend because she was afraid that it would set them back in life.

Thus, he had never made any mention of Wendy.

But Wendy didn’t want him anymore.

This wasn’t just physical abandonment but also spiritual betrayal!

Henry flung himself onto the window and cried his heart out like a child who had lost his way home.

No, he absolutely mustn’t let Wendy off just like that. With his ID and bank card in hand, he ran to the counter to buy a ticket for the next flight to California, so that he could go after her.

However, the tickets for the earliest flight were sold out.

While Henry was panicking, someone walked over from the side and asked, “Are you looking for a ticket for the flight that departs in an hour? I have one here.”

Henry was taken aback.

The man said, “I’ve booked one. Let’s go online later. If you book the ticket immediately after I cancel it, you’ll be able to buy it…”

Wendy had always been the one who booked the flight tickets whenever they went out of the city, so he wasn’t clear about details like these. This made him believe what the man said, without thinking twice.

The two went to the bathroom and busied themselves on their phones for a while inside. A hesitant Henry asked, “Does this mean I’ve successfully booked the ticket?”

However, when he looked up, the man from just now had already disappeared. His ID and bank card had also been stolen.

Henry, “!!”

He left the bathroom in a panic, but he could no longer see where the conman had gone or where he was in the crowd!

Henry was in a total panic.

Not only was he stranded in New York with his money and bank card stolen, but he had even lost his ID! What was he going to do now?! Surely he couldn’t beg on the streets, right?!

_

Outside the airport.

The man who had just conned Henry got rid of his wretched appearance, stood up straight, and made a call. He said, “All done, Boss.”

Justin’s voice reached him from the other end of the call. “Okay. You’re in charge of keeping an eye on him after this. I want him… to wish he were dead instead.”

The man shivered all over and silently said a prayer for Henry. He didn’t know how that man had offended Boss to make him give such ruthless orders, but he nevertheless answered obediently, “Yes, sir!”

At the Hunts’.

Murderous intent burst forth from Justin’s deep, bottomless eyes after he hung up.

During the last few days, through his own investigations as well as from sounding Cherry out, he had roughly gotten an understanding of what had really happened back then. Nora hadn’t Pete—it was Henry Smith who had buried him alive!

He thought back to that day. If he hadn’t been afraid when he heard what the other party said; or if he had been just a little more conceited—and felt that he had never bedded any woman, so there was no way he would have any children—and ended up not rushing over… Pete would no longer be in the world now!

Therefore, it was very easy for him to make the decision to kill Henry.

However, that would be letting him off too easily!

Since he had tried to kill his son, he would make him spend the rest of his life in pain and agony!

After putting his cell phone in his pocket, Justin walked out of the room, his footsteps relaxed. Since he had done something good, he had to claim the relevant credit, of course.

For example, he had found out that two people had paid to make the live-stream trend on social media. One of them was Miranda, whom he had already talked to the Wood's about.

The other one was at the New York University School of Medicine—Tina York. She was a woman, so he would let that woman decide what to do with her instead!

Of course, there was no need to tell her Henry’s fate.

Justin exited the manor’s gates and got in the car to go to Nora.

That woman would surely be very sad now, right?

He should go and comfort her a little.

However, as soon as he got in the car, his phone rang again. His subordinate’s voice reached him from the other end of the call when he answered. “Boss, as it turns out, we aren’t the only ones whom that Smith fellow had offended! I just saw someone secretly beat him up.”

Justin raised his eyebrows. “And then?”

“Heh, they took him away after that. I’m tailing them now. Try guessing who they are?”

“Who are they?”

“The Smith's.”

The Smith's?

In all of New York, the ones calling the shots were either the Hunts or the Smith's.

Even Justin would show the Smith's a bit of courtesy on the surface when he was going about things. That was why he hadn’t bypassed the Smith's to directly pressure the kindergartenduring the Tanya incident back then—that would have been discourteous to the Smith's!

The Smith's didn’t have any feud or grievances with Henry, though. Why did they kidnap him?

Could it be that…

Justin didn’t say any more.

On the phone, his subordinate asked, “Boss, should I catch up to them and save him? It would be terrible if the Smith's tortured him to death.”

Justin stayed silent for a while before he said, “Forget it. We’ll show the Smith's some courtesy.”

If the situation really was like what he was guessing it was, then he’d better maintain a good relationship with the Smith's!

_

At the Anderson's.

Nora went upstairs lazily after she came back from the police station. However, she simply couldn’t get to sleep anymore after lying down on the bed.

What Morris Ford had said in the police station made her frown.

Why exactly had her mother run away from home for no rhyme or reason back then?

She placed her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling, thinking about how she could hide herself to sleep in peace and quiet… and stay away from all these ridiculous affairs altogether.

At this moment, her cell phone suddenly rang.

She picked it up and glanced at it. She only chose to answer because she saw that the caller was Lily.

Lily’s voice reached her from the other end. “Have you settled all of your domestic affairs, Anti?”

Nora let out a ‘yeah’.

Only then did Lily say, “Then I can tell you a piece of news now. Guess what I discovered when I was doing the DNA tests for you?”

Chapter 173: I’m A Female Hooligan

Nora couldn’t be bothered to make any guesses, so she said coldly and mercilessly, “If you’re not going to say it, then I’m hanging up.”

“Hey, don’t! Don’t!”

Lily understood her boss very well, so she didn’t dare to keep her in suspense anymore. She said, “Anti, you should know that the eight pairs of genes that determine a human being’s intelligence are located on the X-chromosome. When I was testing your DNA, I discovered that your eight pairs of genes differ from other people’s! No wonder you’re so smart!”

Nora, “?”

She’d never once thought that she was smart. She merely found everything rather simple and was able to master anything right away. This led her to feel that life was quite boring. Fortunately, she was in poor health and needed more sleep than others. Otherwise, how bored would she be if she were awake all the time every day?

She yawned. “Is there anything else?”

Lily answered, “You should also know that because the IQ genes are located on the X-chromosome, the reason why you are so smart must be that both your mother and father are also smart!”

Nora stared at the ceiling, her mind already wandering.

As everyone would know, females have two X-chromosomes while males have one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome. The Y-chromosome comes from the father, which means that a son inherits 100% of his intelligence from his mother.

It was no wonder that Pete was so good in his studies and so smart at such a young age. When she was five, she was still fretting about filling her belly, yet the little fellow had already started to learn how to solve Mathematical Olympiad problems that ordinary people would only learn when they were in middle or high school.

Compared with him, Cherry’s case, however, was kind of a long story.

Nora suddenly asked, “Surely Cherry’s reluctance to study wasn’t inherited from her father, right?”

Lily, “?”

Nora’s cell phone suddenly rang at this point—another call had come in. Clearly displayed on the screen was a certain name: Narcissist.

After glancing at it, she said to Lily, “I’ll hang up for now.”

After ending the call with Lily, she picked up the other call. Justin’s low and deep voice reached her from the other end of the call. He said, “I saw the live-stream, Ms. Smith.”

He saw it?

Nora raised her eyebrows.

Most wealthy people were particular about their reputation and didn’t like live-streams. In addition, Henry had behaved like a shrew and kicked up a huge fuss in someone else’s live-stream earlier in the day. People had even started to attack Harmonia Pharmacy in the comments.

If she didn’t clarify the truth in front of everyone, Harmonia Pharmacy would definitely have been affected.

That was why she hadn’t requested that the reporter shut down her live-stream right away. Instead, she had publicly announced the truth in the live-stream in front of the camera, and in front of all the viewers nationwide.

Nora raised her eyebrows. “Does it have anything to do with you, Mr. Hunt?”

Justin coughed and replied, “Of course it does. After all, you are one of the candidates in consideration for the position of my fiancée.”

“?? What?”

Justin slowly spoke again. He said, “Didn’t you say you’re interested in me, Ms. Smith? I also have a rather good impression of you. Therefore, you are among the candidates in consideration for my fiancée.”

“…”

Nora fell silent, the corners of her mouth spasming a little.

In order to defend that onerous lie, it was necessary that she continued to cooperate with his narcissism.

Seemingly because she had fallen silent, Justin spoke again. He asked, “Do you want to know who the candidates for my fiancée are?”

“… ”

No, she didn’t.

Nora took a sip of water from the glass at the table beside her. She was about to speak when the other party—as though afraid that she might misunderstand—said eagerly, “You’re the only one.”

Nora, “!!!”

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

His words caused her to choke on the water. Why was she suddenly feeling like his words didn’t sound narcissistic anymore but a little like a confession instead?

She put down the glass and held her forehead with her hand a little as she leaned against the headboard. All of a sudden, she felt like she might have accidentally overdone things.

Justin then asked dispassionately, “Do you think 26 years old is too old?”

“What?”

For the first time, her IQ couldn’t keep up with the conversation!

Justin replied, “Getting married at the age of 26, I mean… After all, that leaves us with only less than a year to prepare for it. We should make our wedding a grand one.”

Nora suddenly sat up straight. She was utterly astounded!

She swallowed. “Huh?”

“Do you find it too late? But if we hold it at the end of the year, it’ll be too rushed…”

The few good wedding locations required advanced bookings.

On top of that, they had to choose an auspicious date, too.

“Stop!” said Nora.

Justin was taken aback. “What’s the matter?”

Nora took a sip of water to calm her nerves, feeling as if she was being forced into marriage. She suddenly said, “Actually, I’m a female hooligan.”

Justin, “?”

“A great man once said that engaging in romantic relationships without any intention of progressing to marriage is an act of hooliganism.”

It was the other party’s turn to fall silent this time.

Nora coughed and went on. “Mr. Hunt, I don’t think I’ve ever confessed my feelings to you, right? Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t believe in getting married.” Nora easily made up a lie. To be honest, it wasn’t really a lie, either. Given her trouble-averse character, she liked being alone the most. Free of all constraints and worries, she could sleep for eternity.

Nora went on. “Even though I admire you very much, Mr. Hunt, I don’t want to waste your time. I will keep my distance and won’t give you any more trouble in the future.”

Justin, “…”

Had he failed in his proposal and gotten himself rejected?!

After falling silent for quite a while, he finally said, “Let’s talk face-to-face instead, Ms. Smith.”

Nora, “?”

I’m outside the Andersons’ now.”

“…”

Nora had no choice but to get off the bed. She slipped her feet into a pair of slippers and shuffled downstairs. With her cell phone in hand, she glanced at the full-length mirror in the living room before she went out. Although the woman reflected in the mirror was wearing pajamas, and her long hair was loose behind her and looked a little messy, she—in an unusual move—didn’t put on a baseball cap but instead neatened her hair a little before she went out.

Justin’s black Hummer was parked nearby. He leaned against the car, his big, tall, and slender figure complementing the large Hummer beside him.

Nora slowly walked over. “Why are you here?”

Justin observed her with his deep, bottomless gaze, his heart feeling a little heavy.

She couldn’t even be bothered to change before she came out. This showed that she really wasn’t interested in him, right?

He cast his eyes down a little disappointedly before he slowly said, “I was worried that you would be unhappy and your mood would be affected by what had happened, so I came over to check on you.”

Then, he started to ask for credit. He said, “Henry Smith and his family aren’t the only ones behind the incident today. There were also others helping to encourage it. One of them is Miranda Wood; I’ve already talked to Mr. Wood about it for you. The other one is Tina York, a newly-appointed professor at the New York University School of Medicine. What do you want to do with that woman?”

Tina York?

Why was it her again…

Nora lowered her gaze and replied, “You can leave it to me.”

“Okay.”

Justin watched as she let out another sleepy yawn—it was already past her usual bedtime. He couldn’t bear to see her like this, so he said, “Alright. Why don’t you go back for now?”

He turned to leave after he spoke. However, he then heard the woman ask, “Can I borrow something from you, Mr. Hunt?”

Chapter 174: Is Narcissism Hereditary?

Justin’s gaze suddenly became scorching hot.

He had thought of a set of lines between lovers:

‘Can I borrow something from you?’

‘Why?’

‘So that I can owe you a lifetime.’

Could it be that… that woman was also into things like that?

After all, Cherry was really good at talking…

Justin, whose imagination was running wild, curled the corners of his lips up slightly into a smile. He stood up straight and asked with a smile, “What would you like to borrow?”

“Two strands of hair.”

Justin, “???”

He gazed at Nora with a bit of confusion but saw her looking at him seriously instead. She said, “Mm, as a memento, I guess.”

Justin, “!”

He stared at the woman in front of him. Suddenly, he bent over a little, placed his hands on his knees, and lowered his head. “Okay. Go ahead and pluck them, then.”

The man’s actions, when he suddenly lowered his head and came close to her, gave Nora a shock.

Then, she looked at the man’s hair.

His shampoo was vanilla-scented, which smelled very refreshing. There wasn’t any greasy smell, either. The man’s hair texture, like him, was distinct, black, and hard.

Nora stretched out her hand, located a spot where it wouldn’t hurt as much, and plucked out two strands of hair.

His hair jabbed her skin a little. When the man’s head was lowered, his slightly curved neck and Adam’s apple were exceptionally obvious. He looked up slightly—the deep and bottomless look in his eyes, as well as his obedient and docile appearance at the moment, made him look like a little puppy… waiting for its owner to adopt it… Cough. Her imagination was running a little wild.

Nora took a couple of steps back after she was done. She said, “Okay, I’m done.”

Justin chuckled. “Do you need some more?”

“Aren’t you afraid of going bald?” Nora retorted. Right after she said that though, she felt that the remark sounded too intimate, so she withdrew her gaze again.

again.

Justin slowly stood back up. When he saw her carefully putting the strands of hair into a bag, he seemingly finally understood something.

He let out a low chuckle and said, “In that case… Goodbye, Ms. Smith?”

“Mm. Bye.”

Justin only got in the car after he saw Nora turn around and enter the villa. After getting in the car, he felt even more amused.

That woman must be planning to do a DNA test with his hair, right?

After all, her son was with him, so she must want to confirm it one last time.

It looked like she indeed cared a little about his identity as the child’s father… This at least showed that she did care about him, right?

After consoling himself a little, Justin turned and left contentedly.

Unbeknownst to him…

Nora went upstairs and called Lily immediately after she entered the villa. When Lily picked up, she said, “I have the children’s father’s DNA sample here. I’ll send his and the children’s DNA samples to you later.”

“What for? Do you want to check whether they are parent and child?”

“No.”

It wasn’t like Justin was an i***t. If he hadn’t already confirmed that Pete was his son, why would he take care of him all the way till now?

It wasn’t like he had a hobby of raising other people’s kids for them.

It was just that…

A disdainful Nora said, “Check his IQ genes and see if it’ll lower Cherry’s IQ. After all, my daughter inherited half of her IQ from him!”

“…”

“Also, check whether the narcissism gene is hereditary or not.”

“…”

“By the way,” Nora, whose gaze was lowered, her expression calm, and her eyes cool and clear, asked, “Did you immediately destroy all my DNA data after the comparison?”

“Yes, I did!” A resigned Lily said, “Anti, your IQ genes are indeed a bit peculiar, but such mutations exist in ordinary people too. Why must you always keep yourself under wraps so securely? No normal person would check your genes. I suspect that you have a serious case of persecution complex!”

Nora didn’t pay any attention to her teasing.

To be honest, she actuallyalso wanted to complain about the whole situation. She wasn’t the one with a persecution complex; rather, it was her mother, Yvette! That audio recording was also constantly reminding her to be careful at all times!

Therefore, she would just stay low-profile as much as she could.

Lily then asked, “About the suddenly arranged operation you mentioned, does it need our professional team to go over?”

Surgery wasn’t as simple as just making a few cuts with a knife. One must make various preparations before the operation, carefully consider all the situations that might occur during the operation, and come up with corresponding strategies for them.

Generally speaking, assistants who had worked with the chief surgeon for many years would be able to understand the chief surgeon’s intentions better.

Lily was Nora’s assistant during most of her operations. She was her most capable assistant.

At her question, Nora suddenly thought of something.

Her lip corners curled into a smile and she replied, “No, it’s fine. I’ve looked through the medical records that Shaw sent. It’s just a minor operation that he can even do himself. It’s just that his hands aren’t stable enough, that’s all.”

Operations were a piece of cake for Anti. Seeing her confidence, Lily didn’t refute her and she hung up.

At night, Nora mailed Justin’s DNA sample out.

When she went to bed, she saw a new text message on her phone. It was from Justin The Narcissist: ‘I actually don’t believe in getting married, either, Ms. Smith. I was originally very troubled that I couldn’t take responsibility for you despite your feelings for me. However, after talking to you and interacting with you earlier this evening, I discovered that you and I coincide in opinion on this. It seems that we both only like to date but not to get married.’

‘After my inspection, you have passed my review. From now on, we can start dating.’

Nora, “??”

She couldn’t help but wonder if she was reading the messages right!

What kind of messages did that scumbag just send her?

Dating? When did she ever say that she was going to date him?

Justin The Narcissist: ‘You were the one who said earlier today that you only want to date and didn’t want to get married. I’ve agreed to it. Since we’re dating, then doesn’t that make you my girlfriend?’

Nora: “…”

She stared at her cell phone and was silent for a very, very long time. For some reason, when she saw the word ‘girlfriend’, she actually felt a teeny-weeny bit of sweetness in her heart?

She replied: ‘I’m not free tomorrow.’

In four days, she would have to operate on the child that Director Shaw had mentioned. Thus, she needed to get enough sleep for the next three days, and also get all the plans ready.

After sending the message, she lay down, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Pete, who had finished his homework, entered the room quietly and covered her with a quilt. Then, he climbed up the other side of the bed, lay down, and picked up his cell phone.

The little fellow stared at the ceiling. What he was thinking, however, was that he had dance lessons again the next day. When exactly was the tyrant going to send Cherry to the Quinn School of Martial Arts? When exactly would he be able to switch back with her?!

He didn’t want to dance anymore!

Also, didn’t they say that Mia had already recovered from her allergic reaction? Why was she still not in school yet? If she didn’t attend classes again the next day, should he call and ask about her?

_

A day later at the Smith's.

Joel stared at his subordinate, who was wearing a black hoodie, and asked, “Have you gotten Ms. Smith’s DNA sample?”