Chapter 67
4224 Words
Chapter 199: Justin Hunt’s Daughter
“Yes, that’s right!” Mia anxiously took out her cell phone and looked at Pete. She said, “Cherry, what’s your father’s phone number? I’ll call him for you!”
Pete, “?”
He didn’t want to do it. After all, his parents hadn’t acknowledged each other yet. It probably wasn’t a good idea to just call Justin like that.
For a moment, he kept quiet.
Terence immediately laughed and said, “Hah, did you see that? He doesn’t dare to call him! Cherry, you’re just bragging! It’s impossible for your father to be Justin Hunt!”
“It’s true!” Mia’s eyes were red. Her father had told her that. There was no way there would be any mistake about it.
Besides, she was the one who said that Justin was Cherry’s father. It had nothing to do with Cherry at all. Even if there really was a mistake, it wasn’t because Cherry was bragging but because she was mistaken instead.
Yet, she didn’t know how to explain herself and ended up panicking.
Terence looked at her. “What are you being so anxious for? It’s as if you’re his wife. How would you know who his father is?”
“I just do!” Mia had always been a pushover. This was the first time she was being so aggressive. She insisted, “Cherry wasn’t bragging! Neither did she lie!”
Terence scoffed and said, “You little liar. You lie even about your own affairs. Your mother was rejected by your father, yet you insist that it isn’t true… Little illegitimate daughter, if you’re that impressive, then why don’t you get Cherry to give us the phone number?!”
Mia was about to cry. Just as she was about to say something, Pete stepped forward and said coolly, “212XXXXXXX.”
“…”
The place fell quiet for a moment.
Terence looked at Pete. “Cherry, what do you mean by that?”
Pete didn’t look at him but at Mia instead. “That’s my Daddy’s phone number. You weren’t lying.”
Mia finally came back to her senses. She hurriedly dialed the number on her cell phone.
“Toot… toot… toot…”
Mia and Brandon both held their breaths together with the dial tone.
Even Terence was keeping quiet. For a while, the atmosphere around them became very quiet.
However, after the phone rang three times, the recipient didn’t answer but rejected the call instead.
“Beep… beep… beep…”
“…”
Mia was dumbfounded.
Brandon was also stunned.
Terence, however, burst into laughter and said, “You saw that, right? You were just giving us some random number! The recipient didn’t even pick up! Cherry, you’re a wild child without a father! You don’t have a father at all!”
Mia, who was panicking, dialed the number again.
However, after it rang a few times, a message instead played: “The number you have dialed does not exist…”
Mia’s phone number had been blocked!
Mia, “…”
Brandon was also dumbfounded. He asked, “Cherry, what’s the matter with your father?”
Pete replied very calmly, “My father doesn’t answer calls from strangers.”
Brandon believed him immediately. “I see, so that’s how it is!”
Mia also nodded. “Oh, that’s true. My father doesn’t answer calls from strangers, either!”
People of Justin’s and Joel’s class all owned private phone numbers. It was standard protocol for them to reject calls from strangers on their private phone numbers.
Additionally, in the case of people like them, apart from their family and other people of the same class as them, others rarely were able to get a hold of their private phone numbers.
While they were talking, Terence sneered, “Of course, my father doesn’t answer calls from strangers, either. But why don’t you use your own cell phone to call him? Cherry, it’s because you know everyone has that habit that you deliberately said that, right? The number you gave us isn’t Justin Hunt’s at all!”
“212XXXXXXX,” said Pete again suddenly. Then, he asked, “Have you remembered it?”
Terence curled his lip disdainfully. “What?”
Pete said coolly, “Your father should have my father’s private phone number. You can go home and confirm it with your dad after you remember it. You’ll see after that.”
Terence, “?”
He was taken aback for a moment, but right after that, he sneered, “I get it now—you’re stalling for time! But even if you gloss it over today, you’ll still be a wild child without a father tomorrow! Hmph, I’ll go home and cross-check the phone numbers right now!”
Terence turned around and led the group of children away after he spoke.
To be honest, he was actually a little scared that Justin Hunt would really turn out to be Cherry’s father. If that happened, things would become troublesome.
His father had warned him several times not to mess with the two children from the Smiths in school. Additionally, he wasn’t to mess with children from the Hunts, either. It was just that the Hunts didn’t send their children to the school, so he wasn’t that worried about it.
After Terence left, Mia and Brandon looked at Pete. Mia asked timidly, “Cherry, did I cause trouble for you…”
If she hadn’t revealed Cherry’s father’s information in school, Terence and the others wouldn’t have known about it at all.
It was indeed troublesome.
Pete, who was a little troubled, glanced at Mia—only to see that the tiny little girl’s pointed, oval-shaped face and big eyes were filled with a look of tentativeness.
This made Pete calmly reply, “It’s not a big deal.”
After he said that, Tanya called out to him from a distance, “Cherry, come for your dance class! Stop dilly-dallying. You’re about to be late!”
Pete, “…”
He massaged his temples and walked toward the dance studio with a headache.
When exactly was Cherry switching back with him?
As he walked over, he suddenly looked back—sure enough, he saw a look of envy all over Mia’s face.
Tanya was also looking at Mia when Pete walked up to her.
The little fellow looked at her timidly, unable to conceal the longing in her eyes. It made an indescribable sense of acerbity well up at the depths of her heart.
Come to think of it, this was rather strange.
She was obviously Hillary’s daughter, yet she found her very lovable.
Was she really that much of a cheap woman?
After all, she was technically Hillary’s half-sister. Mia should actually be calling her Aunt Tanya.
At the thought, Tanya forced herself to look away.
She took Pete to the dance studio resolutely, leaving behind Mia with a longing look on her face, and disappointment and sadness in her eyes.
Next to her, Brandon said carelessly, “Cherry is really almighty. Not only is she great at solving Mathematical Olympiad problems, but she can even dance. Mia, do you want to learn to dance?”
Mia lowered her head and stared at her toes as she replied, “Yes, I do.”
Brandon said casually, “Then let’s ask Ms. Turner to teach you! She is the best dance teacher ever! Just tell your father; he will definitely agree to it!”
Mia heaved a sigh, turned around unhappily, and returned to the classroom.
_
After school.
Terence dashed out of the school and got into the car. As expected, his father, Paul Quinlan, had come to pick him up.
The six-year-old child was as stout and muscular as a bull. Paul, on the other hand, looked more refined. It was just that his eyes looked particularly sinister.
Terence whined, “Daddy, there’s a brat in the kindergarten who’s actually pretending to be Justin Hunt’s daughter!”
Paul was taken aback. “What?”
Terence suddenly thought of something and recited a series of numbers. Then, he said, “Quick, Daddy, can you check if this is Justin Hunt’s phone number?”
Chapter 200: The Phone Number
Paul frowned as he listened to what he said.
He picked up his cell phone, went to Justin’s private number, and took a look. Then, he said, “No, it isn’t. It’s quite the coincidence, though. To think he’s only off by two numbers.”
Terence curled his lip at once. “I knew she was a fake!”
Paul scoffed and said, “Someone is actually pretending to be Justin Hunt’s daughter? Now, that’s hilarious. After all, he has never had a daughter!”
The fact that Justin had a son was already kept a secret.
However, that was only in outsiders’ cases. Families like the Quinlans had to pay close attention to the changes among the wealthy.
Paul had also tried various ways and means to ask around over the years, but in the end, he only managed to find out that Justin had a five-year-old son.
Apart from that, he didn’t find out anything else at all.
Terence became even angrier when he heard that. He clenched his fists and said, “Hmph, how dare she lie to me! I’m going to punch her teeth out on Monday!”
It was Friday, so it was the weekend the next day. They didn’t have any classes on the weekends, so he could only take his revenge on Monday instead!
Terence then looked at Paul again and asked, “Daddy, can I go and watch the car race tomorrow?”
A smiling Paul replied, “Sure, no problem. We’re also part of the racetracks that Jordan Hoffman established, aren’t we?”
He fell silent for a moment at this point, and the look in his eyes became a little more sinister and ruthless.
The Hoffman's and the Quinlan's were of equal standing in the underworld.
However, everyone knew that Paul was fiercer and more ruthless than Jordan, so they were more afraid of him. This was because even though he looked polite and refined, deep down, he was actually much more vicious and violent than Jordan.
That guy had a scary face, but he had a lot of reservations and boundaries in the way he did things.
The two families had been competing with each other all this time.
Therefore, he had agreed to it when Winston wanted to make things difficult for Logan. After all, Jordan had made a lot of money through Logan—The Racing King!
Winston had used his name to threaten people in New York, such that they wouldn’t dare to buy Logan’s sports car.
However, someone had actually refused to show him courtesy in the end.
When he asked who they were, he learned that it was the Hunt's.
Paul let out an icy laugh. What a small world, huh.
However, he wasn’t going to mess with the Hunt's if he could help it. After all, should they back up Jordan, he would become even more difficult to deal with!
With that in mind, Paul said coldly, “Stay away from the Hunts’ children if you encounter them in the future, no matter what kind of occasion it is. Don’t mess with them.”
Terence had always relied on his father backing him up to carry out his misdeeds, so he knew especially well who he could mess with and who he couldn’t. Thus, he hastily nodded.
_
Elsewhere.
Pete went home with Tanya as usual.
After the two got into the car and Tanya drove away in the jeep, Joel finally reluctantly retracted his gaze.
Brandon and Mia came out together and got into Joel’s car.
As soon as he got in the car, Brandon asked, “Uncle Joel, is Cherry’s father Justin Hunt?”
Joel nodded. “Yeah.”
He then looked at his daughter. Mia was hanging her head—obviously, she was not in high spirits.
Joel looked at her gently and dotingly and ruffled her hair. He asked, “What’s wrong, Mia?”
Mia glanced at him and hung her head again. “It’s nothing, Daddy.”
When Joel wanted to ask further, Brandon piped up and said, “I know what’s going on, Uncle Joel! Mia wants to dance, but Ms. Turner won’t take her in!”
Mia hurriedly raised her head and waved her hands while she said, “N-no, that’s not true. I… I don’t actually like dancing that much.”
Mia didn’t want her father to force Ms. Turner to teach her. If that happened, Ms. Turner would suffer too much injustice.
Besides, her mother didn’t like her dancing, either.
Joel’s eyes flickered. He ruffled Mia’s hair again and said comfortingly, “Okay, I see.”
Brandon had a restless look in his eyes and was unable to sit still the whole way home. It was as if he was holding in a little secret. Joel saw it all but did not interfere.
When they got home, Joel saw Brandon making an excuse and dragging Mia off to play.
Joel gave the nanny a look. She immediately nodded and followed after the two.
Less than half an hour later, the nanny came back and reported, “Brandon is trying to get Mia to go and watch a car race tomorrow afternoon.”
Joel, “…”
The nanny lowered her head and asked, “Do you want to stop them?”
Joel thought of the timid look in his daughter’s eyes. Then, he thought of how gutsy Brandon was to take a knife to cut off his little willy so that he could become a little girl. He held his forehead.
He wanted to encourage his daughter to become more cheerful, but he couldn’t help but be worried about Brandon’s presence.
Thus, he said, “Let them go, but get a few people to protect them secretly.”
“Yes, sir.”
_
The next day at the Andersons’.
Nora slept all the way until the time to watch the race. After she got up, she lazily put on a black baseball cap, a black shirt, and trousers. Without bothering to dress up, she took Pete out with her.
As soon as she exited the bedroom, she saw Logan walking out of his room.
He had an especially awful look on his face, and it seemed like his foot injury hadn’t healed yet, causing him to limp as he walked.
The sight made Nora frown. She asked, “Are you still going to take part in the race today?”
Logan let out an annoyed grunt.
Yanci hadn’t replied to his email at all. Jordan had also called and said that he hadn’t managed to contact him. Thus, he could only brace himself and go for it today.
Losing meant that he would have to pay back 50 million dollars.
The profits from the Carefree Pills probably wouldn’t amount to that much even if the Anderson's were to receive them now.
Logan had never wanted to cause the Anderson's any trouble. He gritted his teeth and walked out.
Nora followed behind him.
When they went out, Logan’s friend came over to pick him up.
He got into the car and left.
As for Nora, she drove off in the jeep after Pete sat in the backseat obediently and fastened his seatbelt.
The race was held in an abandoned factory in the suburbs. A professional racetrack had been built inside. The abandoned area was relatively big, so it was impossible for one to tell from the outside at all that there was a racetrack inside.
Jordan had actually already bought the whole plot of land there.
The security there was very good, and everyone going in had to go through strict inspections and show their admission tickets!
The car stopped. When Logan got out of the car and was about to enter, his friend tugged on his sleeve and asked, “Logan, isn’t that your cousin and niece?”
Logan, “?”
He turned around to see Nora parking her car behind theirs. The woman got out of the car without paying any attention to the person in the backseat.
His little niece unfastened the seatbelt herself and pushed the car door open. Then, the little fellow hopped off the thick chassis, jumped, and closed the car door strenuously herself.
Logan frowned. His friend asked, “Did you get them tickets?”
Logan, “…”
His friend went on and said, “It’ll be very difficult for them to get in without tickets. Mr. Hoffman has strengthened the security for today’s race.”
Logan became even more irritable.
They should have told him in advance if they wanted to watch the race. Instead, they had followed him like that! How troublesome!
Just as he was about to walk over, he instead saw…
Chapter 201: Justin Hunt Is Here!
Nora actually bypassed him and walked straight toward the entrance.
Logan, “?”
He was a little surprised. Then, he walked over and asked, “Do you have tickets?”
Nora replied casually, “Yeah.”
Logan let out a sigh of relief. He said, “Alright, you can just queue up to go in, then. I’m heading over to the racers’ area.”
The racers and the audience had different entryways. They still had to queue up, so Nora waved and said, “Go ahead.”
Logan went to the racer’s passage and went straight backstage to warm up and get ready.
Nora held Pete’s hand and stood in line leisurely.
She let out a lazy yawn.
Of course, she had something as simple as admission tickets.
As Yanci, wasn’t it just a matter of saying the word if she wanted admission tickets to such races?
Besides, she already had people rushing over to give her tickets a long time ago.
It had been really long since she last participated in a race, so she was somewhat itching to race. She wondered if she could look for Jordan and ask him to let her drive a couple of rounds around the tracks after the race.
While she was musing, Pete, who was next to her, was sending a text message to Cherry with his head down: ‘Where are you guys?’
Cherry replied very quickly: ‘We’ll be there in a moment!’
A relieved Pete wrote: ‘Remember not to give anything away.’
‘Okie-Dokie! Don’t worry, Pete! I, Cherry, will definitely get everything done right!’
Pete, “…”
He was about to give her another couple of reminders when two children suddenly dashed over and knocked against his arm.
Pete put down his phone and looked over—it was actually Brandon and Mia?
The two children didn’t expect to see Pete here, either, so they immediately called out excitedly, “Cherry!”
Pete, “…”
He had especially worn unisex clothes today because he didn’t want to be mistaken as a girl. However, the people around them must have realized his gender the moment they shouted that name, right?
He fell silent for a while. Then, he asked, “What are you guys doing here?”
Mia glanced at Brandon timidly and replied, “We’re here to watch the race! Brandon said that car racing is very fun.”
What was so fun about it?
Pete looked around the two children but didn’t see any adults with them.
He, who usually didn’t make any requests or trouble, looked at Nora and asked, “Mommy, why don’t we let them come with us?”
Nora, who sounded as if she didn’t really care one way or another, uttered an ‘okay’. She stood by them and watched the three children talk among themselves.
To be honest, her son should try and make more friends. During her observations of him recently, she found that Pete’s mild autism was actually slowly getting better.
As a result, the people in the line went from two to four people.
The queue moved very quickly—after all, those who could get their hands on tickets were no ordinary people. The people at the entrance didn’t dare to make things too difficult for them, either.
Soon, it was their turn.
Nora handed over the admission tickets.
The security officers took a look at the tickets and then glanced at the three children. Only then did he look at Nora and say, “You can go in, but the three children can’t.”
Nora raised her brows.
Brandon was already shouting. “Why?”
The security officer coughed and replied, “Children are not allowed to go in.”
Children weren’t allowed to go in?
Nora was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected such a restriction. When she was abroad, she had easily taken Cherry to the races.
Perhaps it was due to cultural differences?
While she was thinking about it, she saw Terence running over with three children from the kindergarten behind him. Without queuing at all, they went straight into the venue.
The security officers didn’t stop them.
Nora, “?”
She raised her eyebrows. She was about to speak when Brandon spoke ahead of her and asked, “Then why are they allowed to go in?”
Terence stood inside and made faces at them. He said, “Because my father is Paul Quinlan! So, I can bring in as many people as I want!”
Brandon, “?”
He got angry and said, “Even my uncle and Mia’s father is Joel Smith! Why can’t we go in?”
The security officers looked at one another at the mention of Joel’s name.
Needless to say, it was Terence’s idea to stop the children from entering. Although this was Jordan’s turf, they nevertheless had to show Paul some courtesy.
Little did they expect the two children to be from the Smith's, though?
They looked at Terence, who waved magnanimously. Then, he pointed at Pete and said, “Of course, the Smith's can enter. The two can come in, but she can’t!”
“Why not?”
Brandon and Mia were up in arms. Brandon even shouted, “She is Justin Hunt’s child!”
Justin Hunt???
The security officers at the entrance became even more astonished. What was going on today? Had all the big families in New York come together to watch the race today?
While they were hesitating, Terence scoffed, “Justin Hunt’s child? What nonsense. She is a fake!”
Terence shouted, “The phone number she gave me yesterday is wrong! I already asked my father! Cherry, how dare you pretend to be Justin Hunt’s daughter! Hmph! You liar!”
Brandon shouted, “That’s impossible! I asked my uncle. She really is Justin Hunt’s daughter!”
Mia also nodded. She said earnestly to the security officers, “Aren’t you afraid that Uncle Justin will get mad if you don’t let Cherry in?”
The security officers at the entrance were rendered speechless. Oh, we’re totally trembling with fear here.
Nora’s brows drew together as she listened to the children’s conversation.
That boy named Terence totally looked like he needed to be taught a good lesson. He was likely very naughty and mischievous.
Also, he was actually making things difficult for Pete?
Was Pete being bullied in school?
The look in her eyes turned sharp. She was about to speak when a voice that made others feel terribly uncomfortable reached them.
“She’s Justin Hunt’s daughter? Here, let me take a look!”
Nora turned to see a man dressed in a suit approaching.
He seemed like an amiable person, but his eyes had a sinister look in them that discomfited others. As soon as he came over, Terence also ran over while calling out, “Daddy!”
The security officers stood up straight and greeted him respectfully. “Mr. Quinlan!”
Paul ruffled his son’s hair and then, he looked at Pete and Nora. His gaze swept across Pete to fall on Nora. He smiled and said, “How audacious of you to use Justin Hunt’s name to do whatever you want outside. Are the two of you sick of living?”
Nora narrowed her eyes.
She had never been one to allow herself to suffer any injustice. Should she deny that Pete was Justin’s child in a situation like this, it was highly likely that Pete would be hurt.
He was a sensitive boy and wasn’t as hardy as Cherry.
Thus, Nora only hesitated for a brief moment before she countered resolutely and said, “And how would you know this child isn’t Justin’s, Mr. Quinlan?”
Paul gazed at the gorgeous woman in front of him. She carried herself in a manner that was neither lowly nor overbearing. Her pretty face was peerlessly stunning, and the aura around her didn’t seem like it had been suppressed by his. Paul narrowed his eyes.
Terence shouted, “She’s not! She’s a fake! Cherry, you’re not going to be able to get in! Hmph!”
At this point, a commotion suddenly broke out in the distance.
Someone said, “Mr. Hunt is here!”
- Writer
