Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 12

Chapter 34: Poor Relatives?

When the thought formed, Melissa, whose eyes were shining brightly, looked at Justin. “I may have to trouble you with something, Justin. Can you help me look up some information about Miss Smith whom we met just now?”

An unaware Simon asked, “What’s going on?”

A smile formed on Melissa’s face. “If I’m not wrong, your niece is probably the one that saved your life!”

“…”

When Justin heard this, he said to Lawrence who was standing behind him, “Bring a copy of Miss Smith’s information to Uncle Simon and Aunt Melissa.”

After Lawrence brought the investigation report over, both parties cross-referenced the data. An overjoyed Melissa exclaimed, “It really is her!”

Simon’s eyes were all red. “Nora… What a nice name. Call her over and let me have a look at her…”

If it wasn’t because he had just had an operation and couldn’t get out of bed, he would have raced over right away.

Unfortunately, when Lawrence went to the VIP ward next door to look for Nora, she had already left after giving Irene a checkup and ensuring that she was fine.

However, he managed to get Henry’s number.

Justin’s help wasn’t needed anymore after that, so he returned to the hotel to spend some time with his son.

On the top floor of Hotel Finest.

Pete was in the study and talking to Cherry on the phone.

Cherry was as sweet as honey when she spoke. “You’re so smart, Pete! If Mommy does that, she’ll be able to clear your name!”

Praised by his sister, Pete, who had never openly shown his emotions, blushed. “You’re great, too.”

Cherry grinned. In a sweet and cute voice, she then said, “You went off while wearing Little Pink yesterday, Pete. Remember to return it to me next time, okay?”

Pete, who was holding some books, paused. “Little Pink?”

“Uh-huh! You know, the pink princess dress!”

His sister even gave her clothes names. What an adorable little princess she was.

As soon as the thought formed, he heard Cherry saying adorably, “Wait a second, Pete. I gotta tell my teammate something, okie?”

Pete nodded. “Okay.”

Then, he heard Cherry go on a sudden rampage: “Do you really know how to play as a support? Have you used your ultimate skill correctly even once? And, the open world fights! Do you have a feud with the wild monsters or something? Why are you staring only at that patch of grass there?! Do you even know what support is… Also, ##%¥%&*@…”

Pete was dumbfounded. “…” That really came out of nowhere.

After dissing her teammate for a whole two minutes, Cherry finally turned off the game voice chat and said, “Don’t forget Little Pink, okie? It’s my favorite dress!”

“…”

After hanging up, Pete immediately placed his books down, got up, and went to the bedroom to search for the dress.

He remembered taking it off the day before and tossing it on the sofa. Why was it gone?

While he was looking for it, the door opened and Justin strode in. The tall figure stopped in front of him. “What are you looking for, Pete?”

Pete replied casually, “The princess dress.”

Justin stiffened in the midst of taking off his jacket. With mixed emotions, he replied, “Oh. Don’t bother anymore. I might have tossed it.”

Tossed it?

Pete thought of his sister’s verbal might and panicked. “Why did you throw it away without asking me?!”

Justin frowned. A resolute look flashed across his deep-set eyes and he said solemnly, “You’re a boy. Don’t ever wear dresses again!”

This was his absolute limit!

Pete’s face tensed up and he said angrily, “You’re such a despot and a dictator! No wonder Mommy hates you!”

Justin handed his jacket to the nanny, walked over to his son, and squatted gracefully.

He always looked at Pete at his eye level whenever he talked to him. This way, the child would feel like they were being respected. Seeing how his son was glaring at him with his big round eyes, he suddenly asked, “Did Miss Smith say she hates me?”

Pete replied, “Yes!”

Justin let out a low chuckle. Even the mole at the corner of his eye exuded a bit of charisma as he said, “Women sure are creatures that say one thing but mean another.”

If she really disliked him, why would she approach his son again and again?

Pete was perplexed.

He took a silent step back. “Have you seen a psychiatrist, Daddy?”

“…”

Justin got up and said, “I have a dinner appointment with a family friend tonight. Let’s go together.”

Pete didn’t answer, but Chester, who was sprawled on the sofa and playing games as if no one had noticed his presence, said, “Okay!”

Meanwhile, Nora just received a call from her father. Her eyes widened. “My uncle? Really?”

Henry sneered, “They even know your mother’s name is and what she looks like. How can it be fake? They’ve arranged to come over at 3 pm today. Come back and receive them.”

Nora frowned after hanging up.

To be honest, her mother was quite a distant concept to her. Ever since she could remember, the only impression she had of her mother was her last words to her. It was a voice recording. The person had a gentle voice, and had told her to stay low-profile…

However, her family had never had any contact with her mother’s family. Even her aunt abroad was just her mother’s god-sister.

The sudden mention of her uncle today made her very curious—what kind of person was that mysterious mother of hers, exactly?

She took a cab back to the Smiths.

As soon as she entered, she heard Wendy ask, “Did Nora’s mother ever mention her family, Henry?”

Henry replied disdainfully, “I asked her about them before. She said that her family lives in the mountains and is very poor. She escaped from there, so she never made any contact with them after that.”

When Wendy heard that, she hesitated for a moment before asking, “What? Will Nora’s uncle pester us after he comes, then?”

Henry was also troubled over the same thing. “Just now, they specially mentioned that her uncle was sick and hospitalized, so her aunt will be coming by herself. She won’t ask to borrow money for medical expenses as soon as she enters, will she?”

Wendy curled her lip. “Do we lend it to her if she does?”

Henry immediately sneered, “That’s Nora’s uncle. What does he have to do with the Smiths? If there’s anyone who should be lending them money, it’s her!”

Outside the door, Nora, who was listening to their conversation, cast her eyes down. Her clenched fists suddenly loosened and she let out a scoff of laughter. Only then did she finally step forward and enter the house.

Angela was leaning on Henry’s shoulder and acting like a baby. The family of three looked happy and blissful.

At the sight of Nora, Angela curled her lip and said smugly, “Tsk, no wonder you’ve never mentioned anything about your mother’s family. So, it’s because they’re such an embarrassment! But Nora, you shouldn’t forget your roots. They are your mother’s family; surely you should still acknowledge those penniless relatives of yours?”

With her eyes down and as if she didn’t hear her at all, Nora walked over to the one-seater sofa and casually took a seat. She ignored them completely.

Despite that, Angela spoke with a sense of superiority and said, “My uncle just bought me a handbag some time back. I wonder if your uncle will buy anything for you, Nora? Oh dear, I forgot. He’s currently sick and hospitalized, so he probably can’t even afford his own medical expenses. Mom, Dad, let’s show them some pity later and give them a few hundred dollars.”

After saying that, she frowned again and called out, “Mrs. Lane, get the disinfectant and air purifiers ready. I heard that people from the countryside smell!”

At this moment, Mrs. Lane called out, “They’re here!”

Chapter 35: The Andersons from New York?!

Nora stood up and got ready to head out to receive the guest.

However, after she took a couple of steps, she saw that Henry and the others were still seated with their noses in the air and putting on an arrogant display. It was obvious that they didn’t care about the guest.

She ignored them and went straight out. At once, she saw an elegant and presentable middle-aged woman standing at the door.

The woman was well-maintained and wore a classy long-sleeved dress. It seemed as if a beauty had walked straight out of a painting, and there was a kind of serene and composed charm around her that was found only in a scholarly family.

Mrs. Lane, who was holding disinfectant spray, originally thought that she would see a meek and dirty country bumpkin entering. Little did she think that the guest would actually look like that instead. For a

moment, she didn’t even dare to spray the disinfectant she was holding anymore.

Melissa Anderson smiled gently and said, “We meet again, Nora!”

Nora didn’t expect to meet her here. Rather surprised, she said, “You…”

Melissa came forward a couple of steps quickly and grabbed her hand. “This is fate, child! It was your own uncle who you saved!”

Inside the house, Angela, who was dying to mock them, couldn’t wait anymore. When she saw the two of them speaking at the door, she walked straight toward the door while saying, “Have you disinfected the place, Mrs. Lane? We mustn’t just let any random person into the h—”

Her words came to an abrupt end when she saw Melissa!

After a three-second pause, her voice instantly became much louder and she exclaimed sharply, “You’re Nora’s aunt?!”

Upon hearing her reaction, Wendy and Henry also stood up and walked toward the door.

Wendy whispered, “Angela is still too young and inexperienced. It’s because she’s never seen a country bumpkin before that she’s overreacting so badly. Sigh.”

With a look of smugness all over her face, she straightened her back quietly.

When she married Henry back then, everyone had said that she wasn’t as pretty as his deceased wife, so she had been holding a huge grudge all these years. But now, she could finally hold her head up high when it came to the family background!

She would show Nora’s poor relative what she was made of!

The next moment, she immediately spotted Melissa.

Wendy came from an average family. When she married Henry, she was considered as having married someone of a higher social status. During all these years of socializing with rich men’s wives, she had worked hard to learn and copy their style and mannerisms.

She had originally thought that she was doing pretty well, but little did she think that the air around Melissa and her presence when she was merely standing there would already give her a crushing defeat!

For a while, none of them spoke.

Melissa had grown up in a wealthy family. Her emotions had overwhelmed her when she first saw Nora, but now that she had calmed down, she immediately sensed something amiss.

The corners of her lips curled up into a smile. She ignored Wendy and looked at Henry instead as she asked, “You must be my brother-in-law?”

Henry had already recovered from his surprise by then. The arrogance on his face had completely disappeared. Instead, he gave her an ingratiating smile and asked, “You’re…?”

Melissa cast her eyes down and said, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m an artist.”

After glossing over the topic, she said, “It doesn’t look like I came at a good time, Nora. Let’s find somewhere else to talk instead.”

Nora nodded. “Sure.”

She took the lead. Her voice sounded a little deep as she said, “Slow down.”

Angela only dared to speak again after the two of them got in the car and left. She asked, “Dad, Mom. Who is she?”

During the emergency at Hotel Finest the other time, Melissa hadn’t looked her usual self because she was crying very badly due to worry, so Angela didn’t recognize her just now.

Wendy gritted her teeth. Then, she immediately took Henry’s arm and said, “Oh you know, artists. No wonder she looks so classy. But I’ve heard that there aren’t many artists who are making money nowadays. Instead, there are a lot of people that

try to scam others by calling themselves artists.”

Angela curled her lip. “So that’s what it is. I thought she was from a wealthy family because of how she had behaved! That makes sense, though. If Nora’s mother’s family were rich, her mother wouldn’t have been so down and out!”

Henry, however, was staring at the doorway and looking very distracted.

All the outsiders thought that Nora’s mother was destitute and had only managed to survive because she married him. But actually, she had a company under her name back then…

While he was lost in thought, Wendy spoke up and said, “Nora’s mother’s last name is Anderson, right? That’s an unusual last name in our circle. There isn’t any distinguished family with that last name apart from the Andersons in New York.”

Her words made Henry come back to his senses.

She was right. Apart from the Andersons in New York, all the other businessmen with the last name Anderson weren’t important people.

He snorted and said, “They are probably just putting on an act. I’m just afraid that Nora is stupid enough to let them trick her!”

Wendy smiled and said, “Alright, that’s enough. Don’t we have a dinner appointment with the Grays tonight? Let’s get ready, lest we be late.”

Henry nodded. “Yes, that’s more important.”

Angela grumbled, “Someone has already reserved Hotel Finest’s VVIP room. Otherwise, how nice would it be to have dinner there? Sigh!”

Outside the house.

Nora saw an understated black Cayenne parked there.

The car was a high-end model and its estimated value in the domestic market was around $700,000.

For her aunt to be able to afford such a car… Was she really just an artist?

However, she didn’t ask about it and just followed Melissa into the car. Melissa instructed the chauffeur, “To Hotel Finest.”

After the car started, Melissa observed the girl next to her. Her cat-like eyes were downcast and she had long eyelashes. Although she was beautiful, she was unusually pale.

She sighed and said, “You must have suffered a lot all these years, Nora.”

Nora thought to herself, … Actually, it wasn’t that bad. After all, it makes no difference where you sleep.

When Melissa saw her keeping quiet, she knew immediately that she didn’t want to talk about the Smiths.

The report that Justin had sent them was more detailed than what they could see on the surface. She felt sorry for her niece, so she changed the subject and said,

“By the way, your uncle is still in the hospital. The reason why we were able to find you was because someone helped us greatly, so your uncle wants us to treat them to dinner tonight as thanks. Is that alright with you?”

Nora didn’t mind, so she nodded. “Okay.”

Melissa breathed a sigh of relief.

When they arrived at Hotel Finest, Melissa said, “Don’t you have a daughter, Nora? Can I meet her?”

Nora could sense that Melissa was a kind person, so she agreed. She called Mrs. Lewis and told her to bring Cherry to the restaurant on the third floor.

The two headed to the restaurant first, intending to have a good chat with each other after entering the private room.

Half an hour later, the Smiths arrived just in time to see a distracted Anthony coming over to pick them up. After meeting up with them, he said, “I heard the Andersons from New York are in the VVIP room. Let’s see if we can talk to them later.”

The Andersons from New York?

An indescribable feeling suddenly arose in Henry as if he had just let something slip by him.

At the same time, at the elevator hall on the third floor.

The presidential suite on the top floor had an exclusive elevator while the rest of the floors used public elevators.

Ding!

Ding!

The doors to both elevators opened at the same time.

Justin, together with Pete and Chester, came out of the presidential suite’s exclusive elevator.

The other elevator’s doors slowly opened to reveal Cherry standing inside.

Chapter 36: Two Petes?!

The presidential suite’s exclusive elevator and the normal elevator were built side by side. The former was slightly more toward the inside, so Justin and the other two would have to walk past the normal elevator to reach the restaurant.

Justin’s movements were very purposeful, so he always kept his gaze straight while walking. He stood straight and tall like a tower and had a chilly air around him when he walked. His countenance was covered with a layer of frost and that iconic mole of his exuded nobility and alienation toward others.

Next to him, Pete, who was a miniature of Justin, had the exact same expression. It was just that that he was too young, so his young visage looked a little cuter.

Overshadowed by them, Chester, who was a little less dazzling, walked beside them energetically. He was overjoyed that he could tag along with his leader and freeload.

He was a cheerful and animated person and looked around when he walked. When he glimpsed at the person in the elevator, he suddenly froze. When he looked again, he saw the face that was identical to Pete’s!

He swallowed hard and slowly looked down, only to see his nephew right next to him. He was so shocked that he exclaimed, “Justin!”

Justin turned and looked at him unhurriedly, his deep and bottomless gaze landing with dissatisfaction on the person making a ruckus. Chester pointed to the normal elevator and said, “There are two Petes!”

Chester looked at the elevator again after his exclamation. This time, however, he only saw a few adults inside. The child that he saw just now was nowhere in sight.

He rubbed his eyes and looked over again, but there still wasn’t any child in the elevator. Puzzled, he said, “I really saw Pete in the elevator just now. Why is he gone…”

A look of worry appeared on his face. “Oh no, has my condition gotten worse? Should I get my eyes checked?”

He was actually seeing things…

Justin said coldly, “You should be getting your brain checked instead.”

Chester looked aghast. That was such a harmless but insulting comment!

After the three of them walked past the elevator and turned into the hallway to the restaurant, Cherry, who was hiding behind a few hotel guests, finally peeked out and patted her chest in relief.

She had almost been discovered!

She darted out of the elevator and secretly ran over to the corner. She was just in time to hear the service staff saying respectfully, “Good evening, Mr. Hunt. The VVIP room is this way.”

The VVIP room?

That was exactly what Mommy had told her to go when she called just now!

If Pete went in, wouldn’t everything be exposed?

They had already reached the door to the VVIP room and were about to open the door. It was too late even if she called her brother now!

Cherry hurriedly shouted, “Hey!”

Pete was about to follow the tyrant into the room when he suddenly heard her voice. His heart suddenly skipped a beat and he hurriedly turned around. The corner of his mouth spasmed a little when he saw the little runt running toward him.

Cherry had a scarf wrapped all around her head and was wearing a pair of sunglasses, which made her look very comical.

However, Cherry didn’t have the luxury of caring that much. She grabbed Pete’s hand and said, “You’re the boy that stays upstairs, right? Is your father here to have dinner with Mommy? Let’s go and play at the playground!”

It was only when Pete heard what she said that he understood why his sister had suddenly appeared.

It was fortunate that he hadn’t entered yet, otherwise, everything would have been exposed!

He reacted very quickly and nodded. “Okay.”

Justin, who was about to open the door, looked down. His eyes narrowed when he saw the child who had wrapped the scarf all around her head.

So, she’s that woman’s daughter?

Sure enough, she was just as weird as her.

After seeing his son silently asking for permission with his eyes, Justin, who had never liked Pete associating with outsiders, paused. At last, he said, “Go ahead.”

He didn’t know why, but he subconsciously felt that it would be nice for the two children to play together.

There was a small children’s playground inside the restaurant that was specially meant for the restaurant’s young guests. There was also special service staff there that watched over the place.

There were absolutely no issues with Hotel Finest’s service and safety standards. This was also the reason why Nora dared to let Cherry come downstairs by herself.

After the two children ran off, Justin opened the door to the private room and strode in, leaving only Chester who was still standing there and staring at the two children from the back.

It seemed like the child he saw in the normal elevator just now who looked identical to Pete was wearing that exact same Spider-Man outfit?

When he thought of that, Chester said, “Go on inside, Justin. I’ll go and look after Pete.”

He quickly walked toward the children’s playground after saying that.

Inside the private room.

Although there was a door separating them, Nora could still hear what was happening outside. That young voice just now was probably Cherry, right?

Nora stood up. She was about to go out and take a look when the door opened to reveal Justin outside.

The man’s exquisite facial features were flawless. His deep-set eyes narrowed slightly upon making eye contact with her. The corners of his thin lips quirked slightly and the icy aura around him slowly melted. He said, “We meet again, Miss Smith.”

Nora looked down nonchalantly. Was he the person that her uncle wanted to treat to a meal?

The boy that Cherry invited to play with her just now was his son?

Judging from that man’s numerous warnings to her, it was obvious that he was very protective of his son. Cherry was mischievous and had an unforgiving tongue. She’d best not thoughtlessly make the boy cry and bring them more unnecessary trouble.

In a slightly deep voice, Nora said, “Let me go over and talk to Cherry a little, Mr. Hunt.”

After she spoke, she went past him and then straight out.

With his eyes downcast, the smile at the corners of Justin’s lips widened. So, her daughter’s name was Cherry? His son’s name was Pete. If one connected the names, it would sound like… What a coincidence!

In the hallway.

Anthony paced about anxiously with his hands behind his back as he thought about how he could create a chance to meet with the Andersons and make their acquaintance. But while he didn’t meet any of the Andersons, he did spy a familiar figure.

The girl wore a simple T-shirt and jeans and was dragging her feet lazily as she walked. She looked half-asleep, but even that raw and unpolished appearance couldn’t hide how attractive she was.

It was actually Nora!

Anthony clenched his fists. During these past few days, her form had kept popping up in his mind. Upon meeting her again, his gaze continued to subconsciously be captured by her.

It was then that Anthony finally realized that he had really fallen in love with her.

He took a step forward and stood in front of Nora. “Why are you here, Nora?”

Nora, who found her path suddenly blocked, frowned. The look in her eyes was a little cold when she saw Anthony. She replied, “Surely I don’t have to explain my whereabouts to you?”

Seeing how distant she was being, Anthony suddenly lifted his chin and said arrogantly, “Do you know what I’m doing here, Nora?”

His words puzzled Nora. She wasn’t interested in knowing.

However, without waiting for her response, Anthony continued and said, “The Andersons from New York are also here today. I’m here for a business meeting with them! When the Grays form a connection with the Andersons, we’ll definitely

become even bigger and become the wealthiest family in California. If you do what I say, I can choose to forgive you.”