Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 53

Chapter 157: I Want The Company’s Shares

Those words of his were too shameless.

Simon and Melissa frowned.

Most wealthy families wouldn’t embarrass themselves like that when handling matters. People like him who hounded others so persistently were honestly a rare sight.

Yet, Miranda, who was next to him, spoke up for him. She said, “He’s right, Mrs. Anderson. No matter what, he’s still Yvette’s husband and Nora’s father, so that makes him family no matter how you look at it. Even though Yvette is no longer around, it’s not right to cut off family ties with them.”

Then, she smiled and said, “Isn’t there a family like that right in our circle? Mr. Walker’s first wife was from the Lanes. After she died, he married a Ms. Lopez. His second wife is very close to the Lanes, so the Lanes treat her like family. Mr. Walker’s son from his first marriage has now inherited his company, and he treats his stepmother pretty well.”

However, this was because the stepmother had really treated the child very well. That was why she was on such good terms with the child’s mother’s family. This was completely different from Henry’s situation.

Had Henry treated Nora even just a little better, the Anderson's wouldn’t have treated him like this, either.

Melissa sneered, “These are our family affairs, Miranda. If there’s nothing else you and Rachel need, then the two of you can leave!”

Miranda waved her off and replied, “We’re not in a hurry. Feel free to continue.”

“…”

Melissa was furious. How she wished she could rescind the call she had made to Farrell just now.

She took a deep breath and looked at Henry. “What are you trying to say, Mr. Smith? Why don’t you make things clear instead?”

Henry smiled and replied, “It’s actually very simple. If we’re family, then you should treat us like family and take care of us a little more. If you don’t see us as family, then it’s time that we properly split the profits between us.”

Simon was taken aback. “What profits are you talking about?”

Henry replied, “The profits from the Carefree Pills, of course! The Carefree Pills were developed by Yvette. Isn’t that something that everyone knows?”

He got up and said shamelessly, “Yvette is my wife, as well as Nora’s mother. Since she’s no longer around, her spouse and her children should be first-in-line to inherit the things she left behind, and not Mom, Simon, or any of you, right?

“If you treat us like family, then it’s not like we can’t provide the Carefree Pill’s formula for free. After all, it’ll just be family members helping each other out, right? But if you don’t, then Nora and I will split the formula equally between the two of us. Since you’re taking the formula and investing in it, then it should at least be split in the 7:3 ratio, no matter how you look at it, right? Since the formula matters the most here, then it should be worth 70% instead of 30%. In that case, you should give me at least 35%, right?”

He had already asked around before he came to the Anderson's.

As it turned out, the Anderson's had already fallen into decline long ago. However, they had reinvigorated the company with Yvette’s Carefree Pill.

That was why Henry was demanding such an exorbitant cut of the profits.

Nora let out an icy laugh when she heard what he said.

The formula that her mother had left behind didn’t allow them to mass-produce the Carefree Pill. It was just like how she had only produced five pills even after she threw hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medicinal herbs into it.

The one being mass-produced now was a formula that she had improved.

“You—!”

Simon became riled up. He felt that Henry must be daydreaming.

Melissa also frowned—she could tell that things had become a little troublesome now.

Henry’s claim was actually a reasonable one.

Although Yvette had died, without a will, her things were indeed the Smiths’.

At the sight of how the Andersons’ expressions had changed, Henry said cheerfully, “The Anderson's are a big family with a big business. Surely you won’t bully people like us who come from another part of the country, right?”

Next to him, a smiling Miranda said, “Of course not. The Anderson's are a scholarly family, and are well-known in New York as an extremely honest and sincere family.”

Henry smiled and said, “That’s great. In that case, when will you show me the accounts, Simon? We can settle this quarter’s dividends after that?”

Next to him, Wendy also piped up. She said, “Yes, that’s right. See, if we’re in-laws, then we definitely won’t make things so stiff and formal, and speak bluntly. But since you don’t want to acknowledge the marriage, then we can only adopt a ‘business is business’ stance. Sigh!”

Then, she looked at Nora again and said, “You, too, Nora. Why didn’t you inform your family when you brandished the formula? It doesn’t just belong to you, after all. We haven’t even decided on a good price yet.”

The look in Nora’s eyes turned cold.

Seeing that he completely had the upper hand, Henry smiled with satisfaction. He said, “Sigh, I’m actually also making us out to be strangers by wording it that way. I’m not in a hurry for the money, Simon. How about you do me a little favor? We can talk about these things again later.”

The Anderson's didn’t have much cash flow at the moment. It would take at least three months for them to produce the Carefree Pills, recover costs, and make profits!

Simon was surprised to hear that from Henry. He asked, “What kind of little favor is it?”

Henry smiled and replied, “I have another daughter who has been admitted to the New York University School of School of Medicine for her postgraduate studies this year, but her current mentor is relatively young and inexperienced. Can you help me pull some strings and get her a better mentor?”

The Anderson's held a weighty position in the pharmaceutical industry.

Had it been another university, perhaps they wouldn’t have been able to intervene, but Simon indeed was an alumnus of that school. Most of the university’s current leaders were his ex-classmates.

Simon’s knitted brows relaxed. “I can try. Which mentor does she want to switch to, though?”

If he and the mentor knew each other, then this matter would actually be a pretty simple one to resolve.

But as soon as he thought of that, Henry replied, “It’s Professor Anti.”

Simon was stunned.

“Who did you say it is?”

Anti?

That world-renowned big boss?

That was impossible!

He immediately waved and said, “Sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about that! We don’t even know who Anti is, let alone contact them!”

Henry beamed at them and said, “How can that be? You could do that for my niece, so why not for my second daughter?”

They had done that for his niece?

Simon became even more confused. “What are you talking about? When have I ever…”

However, before he could finish, a frosty voice suddenly interrupted them.

“Tsk.”

Nora hadn’t said anything all this time because she wanted to see how big Henry’s demands were going to be this time. Little did she expect that apart from finding a mentor for Angela, he had actually set his sights on the Carefree Pills?

She slowly straightened her back and yawned. Then, she said, “It’s a shame that you weren’t born in medieval times, Henry Smith.”

Henry, “?”

Nora curled her lips and said, “Otherwise, your skin could be used as city walls to defend against external enemies.”

Henry, “!!”

He became enraged at once. “You no-good daughter and bastard, how dare you insult me! I haven’t even held you accountable yet for taking out your mother’s Carefree Pill formula so thoughtlessly without my consent, yet you actually have the audacity to come at me?”

However, as he knew that this daughter of his was pretty good at fighting, he only dared to rant and rave but didn’t dare to go forward.

Nora pursed her lips. She had gotten sleepy.

She’d better get rid of those two quickly, then!

Chapter 158: The DNA Test Results Are Out!

In the middle of Nora’s thoughts, Henry suddenly swept the cups on the coffee table onto the ground!

The cups broke into pieces with a loud bang.

Henry, whose veins on his forehead were bulging, stood where he was and yelled, “Nora, I’m your father! This is something that’ll never change! You can forget about abandoning me and getting rich on your own! You’ll go to jail if you don’t take care of me!”

Then, he looked back at Simon and said, “The Anderson's have to give me an explanation regarding this today! Either you draft a contract for the Carefree Pills’ dividends and give me the money immediately, or get my daughter’s mentor change done first. Pick one!”

He sat back down on the sofa.

Simon frowned.

Henry flying into a rage all of a sudden, and his actions of slamming the coffee table and breaking the cups shocked Miranda and Rachel. However, Melissa and Mrs. Anderson remained as calm and steady as ever, seemingly used to such scenes.

Simon was about to say something when Nora’s frosty voice rang out. “I’d advise you to calm down a little. Otherwise, not only will you not get any money, but you’ll also have to pay for these cups!”

Henry sneered, “Why? Are you planning to become deadbeats and not give me any money? If so, I don’t mind making this matter known to the public! I’ll show everyone outside how the Anderson's are hogging the Smiths’ Carefree Pill!”

Nora asked lazily, “Who says the Carefree Pill belongs to my mother?”

As soon as she said that, everyone looked at her in shock.

Simon wanted to ask something, but Melissa held his hand and shook her head lightly.

Henry turned and glared at her menacingly. “What did you say?”

Nora looked at the cups on the floor and said, “The Carefree Pill belongs to the Anderson's. What does it have to do with the Smith's?”

Henry jumped onto his feet. “How can that be? It obviously belongs to your mothe—”

“If my mother was the one who developed it, then why didn’t you open a pharmaceutical factory all these years? Wouldn’t you have made a fortune a long time ago?”

Nora spoke slowly and coolly, but her argument was a convincing one.

Both Simon and Melissa also looked at Henry hesitantly.

She was right. Why did Yvette hold on to the pill formula and keep it a secret from Henry?

Henry’s expression changed a few times.

How would he know anything about Carefree Pills or whatever it was called?

The books in the study upstairs were all Yvette’s. She had a lot of writings and drawings to do with a lot of different topics in there. After she had died, he couldn’t be bothered to take care of them at all, let alone know what they were.

Besides, even though he and Yvette were husband and wife in name, nobody knew that they had never consummated their marriage before. He was more like a nominal father that Yvette had given her daughter!

He didn’t understand why Yvette had taken a fancy to him, either.

Later, Yvette died. It should already be considered a blessing that he hadn’t taken all those things as rubbish and thrown them away. How would he possibly know that they were actually so valuable.

In the middle of Henry’s thoughts, Nora said, “I obviously found the formula at the Andersons’.”

Henry understood now—Nora was planning to push him away!

He immediately shouted, “Nora! You unfilial daughter! How dare you lie!”

Nora looked as calm as ever. She said, “I’m the one who took out the formula, so naturally, I have the final say as to where I took it from. You claim that the formula belongs to the Smith's. In that case, do you have any evidence to substantiate your claim?”

Henry, “!!”

He had immediately gone upstairs and entered Yvette’s study when he learned about the Carefree Pill. It was only then that he realized that it had long been cleaned out.

All the books had been burned.

Thus, he didn’t have any evidence at all!

If he had the Carefree Pill’s formula, he would’ve sold it to the Andersons’ competitors a long time ago. Why would he still have to come all the way here to beg others for money?!

Henry said angrily, “That’s just pure sophistry!”

“Really?” Nora took out her cell phone. “In that case, we can only call the police. Also, allow me to remind you that the cups you just broke are antiques from the 1600s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have to pay for them.”

What she said daunted Henry. He frowned and said viciously, “Nora! You’re blackmailing me!”

Nora raised her phone. “So, shall I call the police?”

Henry, “!!”

He felt exactly as aggrieved and frustrated in this instant as how smug he had been just now!

Simon and Melissa had also recovered and caught on. Simon stood and said, “The Carefree Pill is said to have been developed by Yvette, but we, the Anderson's, actually developed it ourselves. Mr. Smith, you have to provide evidence when you come straight here to snatch things from others. Do you have any evidence? If not, what you’re doing is tantamount to slander!”

Melissa’s voice was gentle but stern. She said, “If you continue to pester us, we’ll call the police, Mr. Smith.”

At the sight of them becoming aggressive, Henry found himself at a loss at once. He exchanged a look with Wendy.

The wealthy families in New York were ultimately still a lot classier.

Henry was scared.

He coughed and said, “No matter who the Carefree Pill belongs to, we’re ultimately still family. What’s wrong with helping my second daughter to change a mentor?”

He looked at Nora again and said, “You’d rather help your cousin than your younger sister? Nora, how can you be so narrow-minded?”

Nora yawned as if she didn’t hear him.

She pointed at the door. “Are you going to leave by yourself? Or do you want me to send you away?”

Upon seeing that being aggressive and unreasonable wasn’t going to work anymore, Wendy decided to take a soft approach. She grabbed Nora’s hand and said, “Nora, I know there are issues between us, but Mom treated you very well too. You can’t just ignore your sister! Blood is thicker than water, Nora. The two of you are family!”

Nora, however, didn’t bother listening to what she said at all. Instead, she held her wrist with a backhand and then, with a forceful pull, threw her out the door!

Then, Nora dusted off her hands and looked at Henry. There were a few gigantic words clearly written in her cat-like eyes: ‘It’s your turn now.’

Henry, “…”

In order to avoid being thrown out in such an embarrassing manner, Henry snorted and walked out himself. When he was passing by Nora, he stopped and said angrily, “I have legs; I can go by myself! Don’t be too smug about this though, Nora! I’m your father. Just by this relationship alone, you’ll never be able to get rid of me!”

The look in Nora’s eyes was icy-cold.

She didn’t say anything. Instead, she popped her wrist joints loudly, causing a frightened Henry to quicken his footsteps. Before he exited, he nevertheless couldn’t stop himself from saying, “I won’t give up so easily!”

After the two detestable people finally left, Nora went upstairs.

As soon as she entered her bedroom, her cell phone rang.

She looked down and saw that it was Lily. When she answered, Lily said, “Anti, the DNA test results are out!”

Nora looked up. Lily laughed and asked, “Is it you who’s not your father’s biological daughter, or is it your younger sister who isn’t?”

Chapter 159: A Second Test!

Nora was taken aback by Lily’s words.

She was already mentally prepared prior to the DNA test that she might not be Henry’s daughter, but… When the truth was truly presented to her, apart from feeling a little surprised, she was actually more relieved than anything else.

Nora cast her eyes down and looked out the window.

She suddenly felt rather relieved.

It was human nature to want to be close to your parents.

Her mother had died early, so her father was her only kin in the world. In spite of that, her father had never hugged or kissed her even once in her entire life.

There were times where she found herself very envious when she looked at Henry carrying Angela dotingly.

In fact, she would even become very depressed and shut herself off from the world for a while during that time.

The little Nora couldn’t help but wonder at that time if it was because she was too unlikeable. Was that why her father disliked her?

Later, she had closed off her heart and never opened it to outsiders ever again.

Everyone who knew her said that she was callous, but that was because no one had ever taught her what love was.

In her world, she had always been alone.

But as it turned out, it had never been her fault. It wasn’t because she was not likable enough that Henry didn’t like her; rather, it was because he wasn’t her father.

Nora raised her eyes. Suddenly, she lowered her head and looked at the strands of hair that she had tugged off Henry’s head when she was kicking him and Wendy out just now.

The corners of her lips suddenly curled into a smile.

“In that case, let’s check them all.”

Although it was already confirmed, it was still better to have her DNA compared with Henry’s, just in case.

Perhaps because she knew that she was eager to know the result, Lily replied, “Okay. I’ll arrange for someone to pick it up right away.”

Even the fastest express courier wouldn’t be as fast as someone actually doing it themselves.

She had always had all her DNA tests done outside of the States.

Ten minutes later, someone came and collected the hair samples. They took the earliest flight overnight and went straight to where Lily was. Ten hours later, the samples reached Lily.

She forwent sleep to do the DNA test. Another four hours later, she had gotten the DNA test results!

_

Henry and Wendy stood outside the Andersons’ villa after they were kicked out. They glared furiously at the villa and stamped their feet.

Wendy couldn’t stop herself from provoking Henry. She said, “Honestly, Nora is so… How can she do such an about-face the moment she made it big?”

Henry, who was red in the face with anger, gnashed his teeth in fury. The veins on his forehead were bulging as he said, “That unfilial daughter! I… I’m going to sue her!”

Wendy frowned. “Will the authorities really do anything about it, though? Also, do we still have the money to hire the best lawyer?”

Henry was irritated by her questions.

At this point, Miranda and Rachel also left the Anderson's. The Woods’ car was parked outside the villa, but Miranda and Rachel didn’t get in the car after they exited the villa. Instead, they went over to Henry and Wendy.

Miranda sighed and said, “That younger sister of mine is just so cruel! The Anderson's are indeed too unkind about this!”

Rachel pursed her lips and said, “Exactly. Does Nora really think she’s a daughter of the Anderson's? A woman who has no shame and became pregnant before marriage is even abandoning her father now? That’s unforgivable!”

Henry and Wendy, who weren’t expecting them to say that, were momentarily dumbfounded.

Wendy was the first to recover. She stepped forward, took Miranda’s arm, and said, “The two of us are really pitiful. Not only did we painstakingly raise her into an adult, but Nora was in poor health when she was a child, so we even frequently sent her to the hospital… I didn’t expect her to be so rebellious. We only reprimanded her a little after she made us sad, but she’s become so distant and alienated! Sigh!”

Miranda immediately replied, “That won’t do.”

Next to her, Rachel also chimed in. “Look at how pitiful the two of them are, Mom. Why don’t you help them out?”

Miranda hesitated when she heard her suggestion.She said, “But that’s your aunt, after all…”

Rachel straightened her back and said, “It’s only right to be on the side of justice rather than one’s family, Mom. You know that, right? C’mon, help them out!”

Miranda sighed. “Oh, alright. I happen to have a friend here…”

_

The night passed peacefully for everyone.

Melissa was still worried before she went to bed. She said, “Your father seems like a real piece of work to me, Nora. Will they kick up another fuss?”

Nora, however, replied openly, “There’s always a solution to a problem, Aunt Melissa. Don’t worry.”

Melissa nodded and went downstairs.

She complained to Mrs. Anderson, “Yvette was such a proud woman back then. Why did she have to pick such a shameless scoundrel like him?”

Mrs. Anderson heaved a huge sigh. “Everything is predestined in one’s life!”

Simon also heaved a deep sigh.

The three of them looked at each other and then, they raised their heads and looked at Nora’s bedroom upstairs in the end.

Melissa sighed. “Not only did her mother die when she was young, but her father doesn’t love her, either. The most pitiful one here is actually Nora. Her father embarrassed her so badly today and even ranted at others. Nora must be very sad!”

Simon nodded. “Yeah. How was she when you talked to her just now?”

Melissa replied, “Nora is a sensible girl. She has always been one who’s afraid to report anything but good news. Even when you ask her how she’s doing at home, all she says is that everything is fine. How would she possibly show us her pain? She’s probably crying upstairs now.”

Simon and Mrs. Anderson’s hearts ached for her at once.

However, Nora, whom the trio had mistaken to be secretly crying, had already taken a shower and was asleep in the bed with her son in her arms.

The night passed peacefully.

It was the weekend the next day, so Pete didn’t have to go to school.

Nora was also finally able to sleep in. However, she was awakened by the noise downstairs.

She frowned and got up. As soon as she stepped out of her room, she heard Simon’s angry shout from downstairs.

“We’re not accepting any interviews!”

Melissa was reprimanding the other party. She threatened, “I’m calling the security guards if all of you don’t leave!”

A female stranger was talking to them. “Hello, good day. An attitude like that won’t solve anything at all. I’m Roxanne, a reporter. Ms. Smith’s father called me and told me that she’s refusing to acknowledge them as family after a wealthy family took her in. We’re here to mediate!”

Simon shouted, “Turn off the camera first!”

Roxanne said, “Don’t be so agitated, sir. This is a live broadcast; the more agitated you are, the more people will feel that you’re in the wrong! Let’s calm down. Why don’t you tell me what has really happened first? All of you are family. There’s no grudge or feud among family that cannot be mediated.”

Melissa frowned. “We don’t need mediation.”

Roxanne spoke calmly and unhurriedly. “You’re not Ms. Smith, so you cannot represent her. May I know where Ms. Smith is?”

Henry’s voice came over at this point. He said, “She must be still sleeping! That daughter of mine has been fat and lazy since she was a child. She never gets out of bed until the sun is shining brightly in the sky!”