Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 60

Chapter 178: Her Biological Father?

Michael frowned.

Who could she possibly even be? Wasn’t she just the daughter of a wealthy family with a bit of influence?

But if that was really the case, his mentor wouldn’t be speaking so solemnly.

Michael looked at Nora, and then back at Director Shaw, who asked him, “Who is the person you admire the most?”

Of course, it was…

In an instant, something seemed to click in Michael’s head. His head whipped around abruptly, and he looked at Nora in disbelief. His eyes suddenly widened big and round, and he swallowed hard. “Are you Anti…”

Director Shaw felt that his student was finally being smart for once.

Michael was too academic-focused and had a rather rigid character. He devoted all of his passion and energy to medicine. Director Shaw could protect him while he was still around, but he couldn’t help but worry whether or not Michael could make a name for himself in the field of medicine after he retired.

From the looks of it, he didn’t seem that stupid, after all.

… Or so he thought, because the next moment, he heard Michael say, “—’s first assistant, Lily?”

Director Shaw, “?”

He took back his statement from just now!

On the sofa, Nora, who was about to wait for Michael to worship her, “?”

An astounded Michael exclaimed, “Are you really Lily? My goodness, I’ve only heard that Anti’s first assistant was a young lady, but I didn’t expect her to be this young! If you’re Lily, then you’re really very impressive, Ms. Smith!”

The corners of Nora’s lips spasmed.

Director Shaw face-palmed.

Michael gave his glasses a push, looked at her seriously, and said, “I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Lily. You are so blessed to be able to work with Anti! Do you know that every medical student envies you the most?!”

“…”

Seeing that Michael looked as if he wanted to go on, Director Shaw interrupted him with a wave. He decided to do him a favor and let that protégé of his see and experience how disgusting and detestable society was, as well as teach him not to judge a book by its cover.

He said, “She’s not Lily. Alright, you can go out for now!”

Michael, “?”

She wasn’t Lily?

He’d thought that Anti was too busy to come over, so she’d sent Lily to take part in the consultation instead. But if she wasn’t Lily, then why did his mentor say that?

A confused Michael frowned. However, he obediently left the room after glancing at Nora again.

After he left, Director Shaw closed the door and looked at Nora helplessly. He said, “This student of mine has very strong comprehension ability in neurosurgery. You can say that he’s a genius. He’ll definitely become an even better surgeon than me in the future. It’s just that he’s a little thick-headed. I hope you won’t hold it against him.”

Nora waved carelessly, not bothered in the least.

Director Shaw was relieved.

Anti’s status in the medical field was too high. A single word from her could easily negatively affect Michael’s future.

He took out the list of personnel, handed it to Nora, and said, “This is the list of all the medical staff participating in the operation. Do you think it needs to be reduced?”

Although he had already signed off on it, he still needed her to personally confirm the finalized list.

Nora took a couple of looks at it. Her gaze swept across Tina’s name before she went past it.

Not only did Tina have the audacity to increase the live-stream’s popularity, but it must also have been because of Angela that Henry suddenly came to New York out of nowhere to kick up a fuss. It could only have been Tina who had instigated Angela to do so.

That woman was too irritating. Nora wanted her to disappear from her life. In that case, she would have to give her a legitimate reason and opportunity to do that, of course.

She smiled and kept her name there. In the end, she only added a name: Lisa Black.

Her little cousin… Oh, come to think of it, since she wasn’t related to Henry, then that meant that she and Irene Smith weren’t aunt and niece anymore, either.

However, Aunt Irene had always treated her pretty well, so she didn’t mind maintaining their familial ties even if they weren’t blood-related.

Director Shaw smiled when he saw what she did. “You’re surprisingly rather protective of your student.”

Nora yawned and got onto her feet. “She’s my student; of course I have to protect her.”

Performing operations was very exhausting. If she groomed and trained Lisa, it would be great if she could operate on her behalf in the future!

If it wasn’t for her health, she would have liked to save a few more people.

Director Shaw then hastily said, “You didn’t ask your assistant to come back this time, so I’ve arranged one for you.”

He smiled and suggested, “What do you think of Michael from just now?”

Nora glanced at him.

Director Shaw smiled openly and said, “I’m not trying to help my student. Rather, in terms of overall ability, he is the most suitable candidate. Moreover, his admiration for Anti is endless and boundless, so he definitely won’t be a hindrance to you.”

Nora thought of the notes that Michael had written just now. The writings were densely packed and written very seriously. Moreover, it was obvious at a glance that the man himself was the stiff and rigid type, which made him very suitable to be a doctor.

She nodded and said, “I’ll let you make the decision.”

She turned and stepped out of the office after that.

Unexpectedly, Michael was standing right outside the door. When he saw her exit, he looked at her hesitantly and asked, “Who exactly are you, Ms. Smith?”

The corners of Nora’s lips quirked upward into a smile, and she said, “Make a guess?”

After that, she left straight away without giving Michael another chance to speak.

She went downstairs and headed to the car park. While on the way there, students around her were leaving a class one after another and a lot of people were walking toward where she was.

Her cell phone rang at this point. When Nora picked up, Cherry’s voice came from the other end. She asked, “Mommy, can you look up someone for me?”

Nora raised her brows. “Who is it?”

Cherry sounded very down. She replied, “It’s my Sponsor Grandpa. He hasn’t been on Messenger for 36 hours and 7 minutes. Can you find out who he is for me? If it’s possible, can you tell him to log on to Messenger? Our spark of friendship is about to extinguish!”

Nora, “…”

She was aware of some of the ongoings in Cherry’s live-streams. Sponsor Grandpa and Sponsor Daddy were both her big fans.

However, Nora couldn’t be bothered to do it. She said, “I’m sleepy, and I have to sleep.”

“I’ve already asked Pete, Mommy. You’re not in bed right now! If you don’t help me, I’ll have to ask Grand-aunt for help!”

Nora, “!”

All she knew was to use that trick.

Her aunt was very busy abroad. In spite of that, she had helped her look after her child all these years, so she’d better not bother her with such trivial matters.

A resigned Nora said, “Just this once!”

“I know, I know! It won’t happen again, yeah~”

Cherry hung up after giving her an excited reply.

With her cell phone in hand, Nora was about to check Sponsor Grandpa’s identity using the Messenger account that Cherry had sent her when a male student suddenly passed her by. He seemingly unintentionally bumped into her shoulder before he apologized sincerely, “Sorry…”

Just as he was about to slip away, a slender hand grabbed his arm. The young man wanted to break free from her hold but found that he couldn’t.

The girl might look petite, but she was surprisingly strong.

Nora lowered her gaze and stared at the two strands of hairs that he had plucked off her head by taking advantage of the chaos just now. A sharp glint flashed across her cat-like eyes as she demanded, “Whose orders are you under to take DNA samples from me?!”

Could it be… her biological father?

Chapter 179: We Can Do A DNA Comparison Now!

There was actually another reason why Nora had deliberately revealed in Roxanne’s live-stream that she wasn’t Henry’s daughter, and that was—the man who had shared an intimate relationship with her mother back then would surely become suspicious, right?

With the existence of a daughter like her, he would surely give himself away at some point. Therefore, she had been extra vigilant the last few days.

The pain in her shoulder during the collision just now was clearly used to disguise the pain from plucking out her hair. Unfortunately for them, her senses were very keen.

As everyone would know, the hair itself was useless in DNA tests. Rather, the part that was used in DNA tests was the hair follicle attached to the strand of hair.

The young man currently had two strands of her hair carefully pinched between his fingers as if he was afraid of contaminating the hair follicles. Obviously, he was intending to use them in a DNA test.

At her question, he seemed to panic and started to struggle.

Nora looked at his face—he was a plain-looking man whom one might not even notice in a crowd.

Even his age was very strange.

At first glance, he seemed like a 20-year-old college student, but if one were to observe him carefully, he might also pass as a 30-year-old…

In the midst of Nora’s thoughts, the man suddenly reached out his other arm and thrust it at her heart with speed and precision!

Nora’s eyes widened a little. The man showed no mercy whatsoever in his attack. Had she reacted even just a little slower, she would almost have been stabbed.

Additionally, because she had to let go of him when she was dodging the attack, the man took the opportunity to run. Nora paused for a brief moment before she went after him once more.

Her speed was very fast, but he was even faster. With the dagger in his hand, he yelled, “Get out of the way!”

Some students started to scream while some took out their cell phones and called the police.

Soon, a security officer in the school rushed over.

Unfortunately, the man seemed very experienced. He weaved through the swarm of college students that had just left their classrooms when classes ended, and ultimately disappeared.

“Don’t move, everyone!”

The security officer calmed the terrified students and said, “I’ve already called the police. The police on patrol nearby will be here soon!”

Nora stood where she was with her gaze lowered.

She’d originally thought that the man was sent by her biological father for the purpose of having a DNA test done, but why did it seem like he was full of hostility toward her?

It was just like it didn’t matter even if she was killed.

In that case, it definitely wasn’t her biological father.

But if it wasn’t her biological father, then who was it?

Nora suddenly thought of how Yvette had instructed her to keep a low profile because if she didn’t, it would bring her trouble.

Her eyes flickered.

Soon, the police on patrol nearby arrived. As everyone had seen that the assailant with the dagger was originally intending to kill Nora, the police approached her straightaway.

Nora, however, was surprised when she saw the officer that approached her.

“Captain Ford?”

Morris Ford nodded. Dressed in plain clothes, his big and tall figure made one feel very secure. He had an upright air around him, and his demeanor was solemn and awe-inspiring, making everyone around him subconsciously regard him with profound respect.

His voice was very deep and he was expressionless as he asked, “Do you know who the assailant is, Ms. Smith? Why does he want to kill you? Is there any feud between the two of you?”

Nora cast her eyes down and remarked, “Tasks like patrolling don’t seem to suit you very well, Captain Ford.”

The police had arrived as soon as the incident happened. It was so fast that it made one wonder if he had been nearby the entire time. Moreover, Morris had a special identity. There was no way he would be carrying out tasks like that.

In that case, there were only two possibilities—either Morris was tracking the assailant from just now, or he was tailing her!

Additionally, the second possibility was likelier because he had simply appeared too quickly.

Nora narrowed her eyes a little. If Morris really was tailing her, then that would make him very impressive, indeed—after all, she hadn’t noticed anything despite her keen senses!

Morris, however, didn’t exhibit any awkwardness or embarrassment at being discovered. Instead, he said coldly, “As far as I understand, you have been shut away in a room ever since you were a child, Ms. Smith. It doesn’t seem like you should be a doctor, either.”

“…”

His words made Nora choke for a moment there.

However, she broke into a smile the next moment and retorted, “Is it against the law for me to be a doctor, Captain Ford?”

“Well, no.”

Morris didn’t make any effort to conceal the fact that he had looked into her background. “After all, you have saved many lives over the years.”

Nora shifted the topic to the man from just now. She said, “I don’t know who he is, but perhaps Captain Ford does?”

“I do have a clue or two.” Morris said, “You’ll be in some danger the next few days. I’d advise you to avoid crowded places.”

Nora raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t it a rather bad idea to let small risks stop us from doing what we have to, Captain Ford? Besides, I have an important operation scheduled tomorrow.”

Morris kept quiet for a while before he nodded slightly at her and said, “I will try my best to ensure your safety, Ms. Smith.”

“Feel free to do what you have to.”

The man’s identity wasn’t an ordinary one; even if she were to reject their protection, it probably wouldn’t work anyway, right?

Nora got up and walked over to her car. Before she got in the car, she looked at him and asked, “Do you want to check the car, Captain Ford? Just in case it’s been tampered with.”

Morris kept quiet for a moment. Then, he actually really stepped forward and inspected the car from the front, back, left, and right. After that, he said, “It doesn’t seem like that man was really after your life, Ms. Smith. What exactly did he do to you just now?”

Nora lowered her gaze when she thought of the man plucking out her hair. However, she intuitively chose to hide the truth. She held her hands up in a shrug and replied, “I don’t know, either.”

She didn’t know whether Morris believed her or not, but he turned and stepped aside.

Nora left the New York University School of Medicine in her car after that.

When she returned to the Andersons’, she glanced at the back while she parked the car. It seemed like there were quite a few groups of people following her while she was on the way back.

_

Quentin Smith felt like he had just encountered the equivalent of the Battle of Waterloo in his career!

He, the great Quentin, a Smith and even the nephew of Ian Smith himself, had always been very reliable when it came to handling shady affairs and dealings. However, he had actually met his downfall at the hands of a little girl this time!

Why was it so difficult to get her DNA sample?

He hadn’t rested for a whole 48 hours since he received his mission, causing him to even have dark circles under his eyes now.

After much difficulty, he had finally waited until she left her home.

He followed Nora all the way to the New York University School of Medicine and even changed into a student-like outfit, planning to bump into her later and collect some samples along the way.

But unexpectedly, some guy had actually swooped in out of nowhere!

Quentin stared at the fleeing man in anger. There were serious consequences to be had when he got mad!

He stopped following Nora, put on the hood of his black hoodie, and went after the man.

As Nora was afraid that she would accidentally bump into the students, she hadn’t gone after the man. However, Quentin happened to be right in the direction in which the man had escaped, so he easily followed after him.

The man was obviously a professional, turning at several corners along the way.

Quentin sneered. When it came to things like tailing someone, he was definitely the number one in New York!

How dare he play such tricks in front of him! He was totally underestimating his abilities!

Quentin, who didn’t take his gaze off the man even once, followed him out of the school. At last, when they came to a quiet corner, the man breathed a sigh of relief, and carefully placed the two strands of hairs he had just tugged off Nora’s scalp into a plastic bag.

The next moment, Quentin darted over like a hurricane and snatched the hair samples.

At last, he had completed his mission!

They could do the DNA comparison now!

Chapter 180: A Slap In The Face!

An excited Quentin placed the bag of hair into his pocket. By the time he looked up again, the man had already escaped!

Quentin smacked himself on the head in annoyance.

Since Joel, the head of the Smith's, had asked him to get Ms. Smith and Uncle Ian’s DNA compared, that must mean that he suspected that they were father and daughter.

Should they really be father and daughter, then that would make Nora his cousin.

That man actually had the audacity to attempt to kill his cousin just now. He should have caught him and handed him to Uncle Ian! However, one must admit that the man was indeed agile.

Although he didn’t have much physical strength, he excelled in nimbleness.

Quentin cast his eyes down. When did someone like that appear in New York? It seemed that it was time they ought to check it out!

He took out his cell phone and called Joel.

“I got the samples.”

Then, he gave him a brief report of the process.

Upon being informed that someone was targeting Nora, Joel’s voice became a little grave. He said, “Protect her for the time being. Don’t let anything happen to her, just in case she’s really our cousin.”

“Okay.”

Joel then asked, “The samples didn’t get switched, right?”

“No way.”

Quentin was very sure. He was also exceptionally confident in himself. He said, “I watched him the entire time after he got the samples. He didn’t have any time to switch them in between.”

“Good.”

_

The careless Nora didn’t feel any lingering fear at all even after she returned to the Andersons’. Neither did she feel any pressing sense of crisis.

Instead, she took out her laptop and started to look up Sponsor Grandpa’s identity for her daughter.

But in the end!

Someone had encrypted his Messenger app. While she could indeed decrypt it and locate him, forcibly breaking through the firewall would expose her identity as the hacker, Q. However, if she were to bypass it without breaking the firewall, it would take her some time.

Nora hesitated for a moment before she silently quit the program. She sent a message to Cherry: ‘I only found out that he is a New Yorker. I didn’t find anything else.’

Cherry replied very quickly: ‘You must not have tried your best, Mommy! With your invincible skill, there is absolutely no way you would have any problem investigating what you want!’

Despite the few days of separation, the little fellow was still as much a flatterer as ever!

Nora sighed. “I’m going to bed for now. I’ll look him up for you again after the operation tomorrow.”

“Okie-Dokie! I knew Mommy’s the best! Cherry loves you~”

Nora couldn’t be bothered with her crazy bouts of flattery. She stopped the voice messages and went to bed.

The child’s operation was scheduled the next day, so she had to have a good sleep today.

_

The operation was held in the New York Hospital.

Director Shaw was the head of the Department of Neurosurgery in the hospital. It was also a big hospital on par with Hospital Finest in reputation.

Nora drove to the hospital and reached the car park on time. Then, she entered the exclusive elevator and went upstairs.

Doctors used different routes from patients’ family members. Michael and the others were already waiting for Anti in the sterile zone.

Lisa, who was wearing a sterile surgical gown, stood at the back of the crowd with her eyes bright and shiny.

She was finally going to meet Anti. Even though Anti had taken her as her postgraduate student, this was the first time Lisa was going to meet Anti.

The thought of it alone made her rather nervous.

While she was thinking about this, the people next to her were also talking to one another with their voices lowered. One of them said, “Oh my god! I’m actually going to be part of the same operation as Anti!”

“I also feel so lucky! But the happiest has gotta be Lisa. I heard that she originally wasn’t on the list. Moreover, this operation is so important that even doctoral students and professors want to come in and observe. Lisa is the only graduate student among them!”

“What’s the big deal about that? In my opinion, Lisa will definitely be able to take part in all of Anti’s operations in the future!”

Lisa, who was a little embarrassed by the praise, lowered her head shyly.

Tina, however, frowned and reprimanded them. “Stop gossiping and get ready to enter the scrub room for disinfection.”

Tina could be considered the leading teacher, as well as the second surgeon, in the operation. Apart from the important parts that she would do herself, Anti would be assigning some of the other tasks to her.

Therefore, one could completely consider them as operating side by side.

Upon being lectured, the others stuck out their tongues at one another, entered the scrub area for disinfection, and also put on their masks, scrub hats, and so on.

Lisa followed behind them. She was about to go in when Tina suddenly sneered and said mockingly, “You’re just Anti’s student, that’s all. What’s there to be so proud of? Everyone knows that Anti has always been based abroad and won’t be returning to the States to develop their career. You staying within the country sure puts you in a rather awkward and embarrassing situation!”

Lisa frowned when she heard what she said.

She wanted to say something, but when she thought of how the other party was a professor, she could only shut her mouth.

After they disinfected themselves, Tina looked straight at her and ordered, “You’re in charge of looking after the surgical tools and the surgical sponge supply!”

Lisa was taken aback.

Surgical tools and surgical sponges in the operating room were supposed to be handled by the accompanying nurses, but Tina was actually assigning the task to her?

She was clearly oppressing her.

Lisa bit her lip, but could only give a resigned nod in the end.

The few of them then went out and waited for the chief surgeon’s arrival.

It was at this moment that Tina suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure through the windows outside the door.

She was stunned.

Nora Smith?

Why was she here?!

Could it be that she still hadn’t given up and was intending to enter the operating room?

“Professor York, what are you looking at?” asked a doctor.

Tina withdrew her gaze at once. Her eyes swept across her side and she spotted Michael, who was nervously familiarizing himself with the things he needed to pay attention to during the operation. He looked very serious.

She pretended to walk over inadvertently and asked, “Dr. Lange, did you see Ms. Smith?”

Michael was taken aback. “What?”

Tina immediately said, “She just walked past. It seems like she has entered the changing room.”

The changing room?

Michael was stunned.

Tina went on. “Anti should be in the changing room now, right? Will Ms. Smith cause any trouble to Anti if she enters the changing room like that?”

Michael rushed over practically right after she said that.

Anti didn’t like to reveal their face. This was something that all of them already knew before they came for the operation. Thus, Director Shaw had specially prepared a changing room for Anti. Anti was the only one who was allowed to go in.

Only one person would be seeing what Anti really looked like today, and that was Michael—because he was Anti’s assistant today!

When Michael reached the changing room, he was just in time to see Nora pushing the door open and about to enter.

He took a step forward in alarm and grabbed Nora’s arm. “What are you doing? Do you know what this place is? This is a changing room that was prepared for only Anti!”

Nora raised her eyebrows and looked at him calmly. “I know that.”

Michael frowned and said angrily, “Then why you are still going in? Can you afford to take the responsibility if you disturb Anti and end up affecting the operation today? I know you want to enter the operating room very much, but those shameless pestering tactics used for job hunting aren’t appropriate here. You…”

Before he could finish, Nora withdrew her arm from his grasp. The seemingly amused woman asked dispassionately, “How am I supposed to operate if I don’t change?”

Michael’s eyes abruptly widened at her words. “W-what did you say?”