Book 2 : She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement

Chapter 55

Chapter 775: A Stranger!

It was pitch black inside the hall.

Nora turned on her cell phone immediately after she entered. On the screen was the layout of the bank.

Although her mother had deposited the things in the bank more than twenty years ago, the location of the safes was still the same despite the layout of the bank changing over the years.

Thus, her mother’s things were still there.

Nora remembered clearly that it was safe no. 06 and the password was her birthday.

She walked soundlessly towards the safe deposit boxes.

There was no staff inside, only security officers patrolling back and forth. However, it was very difficult for them to spot her.

Nora was in full black clothing, so she completely blended with the darkness.

Light-footed and nimble, she headed straight to the safe deposit boxes. But after she passed by two rooms, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

Nora’s pupils shrank and she suddenly darted into the corner next to her. When she looked behind her, she caught a shadow flashing past.

It seemed that it was very unsafe here tonight.

And she wasn’t alone here!

The thought made Nora bite her lip. Her first thought was that she hadn’t managed to avoid the people tailing her and had been followed!

Aside from professionals like Morris, the only ones who could follow her without her noticing were people more skilled than her in martial arts.

Someone more skilled than her in martial arts?! Was it Jude’s boss?

Could that person be one of the five children who had survived in the gene serum laboratory?

It could only be one of them!

Nora broke into a big frown.

Her mind ran at high speed. What should she do?

Since he had followed her here, he must already know by now that something was up with the bank. Even if she turned around and left, it would be difficult for her to dispel the other party’s suspicions.

Even if he didn’t know that the safe in question was No. 06, now that he had locked on to the bank, all he needed to do was just check all the safes and he would find the clue.

Therefore, she had no way out.

Tonight, she, Nora Smith, must retrieve the V16 that her mother had left behind. Otherwise, it was highly likely that she would be caught by the other party!

With that in mind, Nora took a deep breath.

Then, she suddenly stopped and went on the offensive!

She would test the black-clad man’s skills first.

Bam!

The moment she launched her attack, the two got into a fight. The other party responded very quickly. Before her fist could connect, he was already blocking her attack and counterattacking.

In just a single exchange of blows, Nora concluded that he was most definitely someone whose genes had been modified with the gene serum!

Because his physical strength was too great!

Nora had been practicing martial arts for a very long time. Since she was a child, she had been relying on her natural talent to come this far. On top of that, she even became the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ Big Sister.

This was the first person in her life to give her a foreboding pressure.

Her almond-shaped eyes were widened big and round as she stared at the person in front of her.

In the darkness, the man’s eyes shone green. He wore a baseball cap and a facial mask, revealing only his eyes. The way he stared at Nora was as if he had just spotted his prey.

When he was blocking Nora’s attack, the man chuckled and said, “Is that all you’ve got?”

He had an accent. It was obvious that he was a foreigner.

In this instant, Nora felt a little angry at herself for not training properly. If she had been a little more diligent, then she might have had a chance if she went at her opponent with full force.

She took a deep breath. “Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know that. Just hand over the V16 obediently and I will spare your life.”

The man moved toward her one step at a time. “Resistance is futile. All my genes have been improved and I have no flaws. I am the most powerful fighter on earth now. Without any firearms, you won’t be a match for me at all.”

The man spoke confidently and arrogantly.

How could she use firearms here, though? If she did, all the security officers would come running in an instant!

Nora was in a half-squat, ready to attack.

She knew that she was not the man’s match, but she couldn’t just go down without a fight.

The V16 was Xander’s, she would never relinquish it to anyone else!

She took a deep breath and sneered, “Try me.”

The man seemed a little surprised at her reaction. Nevertheless, he let out a low chuckle and said, “Trueman is right, you are indeed too stubborn. You hold out hope until you’re faced with the grim reality. In that case, I shall show you how strong I am!”

The man stepped forward abruptly and closed the distance between him and Nora!

Nora had just exchanged a punch with the man, so her fingers were still hurting. How would she possibly dare to still fight him head-on?

Thus, the moment the man got near, Nora tucked and rolled. A scalpel suddenly appeared in her hand, going straight for the man’s throat!

The scalpel was her weapon.

She had always been a tough woman who met challenges head-on. She didn’t believe that the man was really stronger than her!

But the next moment…

Clang!

Not only did the man evade her attack, but he even struck her wrist. Nora had always had a lot of physical strength, but her hand was in severe pain at this moment as she lost all the strength in her hand instantly.

The scalpel fell right onto the ground!

She really couldn’t beat him!

The thought flashed through Nora’s mind. By then, the man behind her had already come close again. When it looked like he was about to catch her, a contemptuous sneer flashed across Nora’s lips. At once, she turned back and brandished her hand!

A blast of white smoke erupted in the air.

It was a drug to knock one out!

The man froze for a moment.

However, Nora didn’t take the opportunity to attack. It wasn’t like she could beat him anyway. Also, her objective today was not to kill the opponent but to find the V16.

So… If she couldn’t beat him, then she would just run. There was no problem with that whatsoever.

She did a tuck-and-roll and slipped into the corridor next to her. Then, she raced forward.

She didn’t look back, but she could sense that the man was catching up to her.

The gene serum had improved his body, so his physical abilities surpassed that of ordinary people. The drug just now only had minimal effect on him. There was no way it would subdue him.

Therefore, Nora ran like the wind. The tables and chairs in the bank also hindered the man during the pursuit.

The man got closer and closer to her. Just as he was about to catch her, Nora dodged and ran into the room where the safe deposit boxes were.

Then, she locked the door!

At once, the sound of someone trying to break the lock rang out at the door. However, Nora’s objective was precisely psychological warfare.

She raced towards safe no. 06 to get her hands on the V16 before the man could rush in!

Chapter 776: The Moment of Farewell!

Click!

When Nora opened the safe, the sound of the door opening also rang out.

She looked behind her abruptly and saw the man in black entering. His hand was on the light switch, and with a snap, the room became as bright as day.

Nora’s eyes narrowed.

For the first time in her life, Nora, who had been leading in every field no matter what it was since she was a child, felt a sense of powerlessness.

The man was too strong.

To be honest, she didn’t get that feeling even when she fought with Justin. While she was thinking, the man said again in broken English, “Give me that thing. I spare your life.”

Nora didn’t move, keeping her hand in the same position ready to open the safe. She tried to stall for time. “You are only strong because you took the gene serum. Artificial strength like that won’t deter or intimidate anyone.”

The man sneered, “Justin Hunt can say that but what makes you think you can too? Haven’t you also been injected with the gene serum?”

Nora frowned.

His words didn’t mislead her, nor did she feel like she was not as strong as she’d thought herself to be, but was instead very annoyed because of what he said. Nora knew very well that what her mother had only injected into her a minuscule amount of IQ gene-improving serum. All her achievements to date were to her own credit!

She wanted to say more, but the man had come right up to her in a flash and delivered a kick right to her face!

His movements were ruthless, merciless, and icy-cold.

Should the kick strike Nora, she would very likely die on the spot.

She didn’t have time to look at the safe, she could only dodge.

She’d only just dodged the attack when the man’s other leg came at her with another kick. The look in his eyes was icy and carried disgust for Nora.

“I gave you a chance. Since you don’t cherish it, then forget it!”

He swung his fist again.

Nora dodged awkwardly and asked, “Do you have a grudge against me?”

She was trying to guess his identity by talking to him.

The man sneered. “Don’t bother guessing, you don’t know me. But I know your mother! If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be in this state today!”

Nora frowned. “Weren’t you only a few years old when my mother died?”

“Heh, if she hadn’t developed the gene serum, would we have become tools for their experiments? I hate sanctimonious hypocrites like you! You say that we are wicked and that the world should lock us up but in reality? Was it our choice that we became like this?!”

The man was speaking more, but every word of his was cold and frosty. He stared at Nora and said, “So, you all deserve to die!”

Almost as soon as he said that, he threw another punch!

Nora retreated again, only to find that her back was already against the wall. As the man attacked her again and again and she took step after step backward, she had been forced into a dead end.

Nora could only raise her arm to block his attack.

Even if she knew that the man was strong enough to break her arm! And crush it!

She closed her eyes and listened to the man coming nearer and nearer to her.

The moment the man was about to strike her, she suddenly opened her eyes.

The best form of defense was the offense.

How could Nora possibly sit around and do nothing?!

Without even thinking about it, she put all her strength into her leg and kicked the man’s abdomen!

The man had only two choices-either he pulled back his arm, thereby allowing her to dodge the bullet, or continued to attack and she fought him to the death, even if it meant that she would suffer an even more serious injury herself!

Now that the lights were on, the security guards would discover the situation here in no time. If she stalled for enough time, someone would eventually come. As long as the V16 did not fall into the man’s hands, Justin would still have a chance of obtaining it for Xander.

Nora narrowed her eyes, but little did she expect that the man would choose the second option without any hesitation.

Thud!

Nora’s leg connected with his abdomen.

In spite of that, the man didn’t stop and his fist went straight for Nora’s arm!

Thud!

Another thud rang out.

However, the pain of having an arm broken didn’t come, which took Nora aback. When she regained her senses, she realized that someone’s leg had intercepted the black-clad man’s fist from the side.

The blow made the man in black finally take a step back.

Before Nora could see who her rescuer was, she was pulled back by her shoulders. A solid and strong figure then stood in front of her, blocking her from the man in black.

Nora stared at the person in front of her.

Even though he was dressed in black clothes, suitable for moving around in the dark, and a baseball cap, she still recognized at a glance that he was Justin!

The man in black had put all his strength into the punch just now. Although Justin kicked at his fist, it stood to reason to he shouldn’t have been able to withstand the punch, yet it seemed like Justin’s leg was completely fine.

Nora suddenly thought of how Justin was always forced into fleeing around the room whenever she fought with him.

Now that she thought about it again, though, the man had been going easy on her all this time!

He was obviously stronger than her!

Nora looked at the man in black again. Even though he had been kicked by her and had also exchanged a blow with Justin, the man merely took a few steps back as if he was completely fine.

The man looked at the two of them and chuckled softly. “Hah, you overestimate yourselves.”

Then, without saying anything else, he stepped forward without hesitation. Justin and Nora looked at each other. The two of them tacitly took a step forward and fought with the man.

Despite fighting two-on-one, the man still seemed to be having an easy time.

They mustn’t continue fighting with him like this.

The thought had only just flashed past Nora’s mind when Justin grabbed her arm and pushed her to the safe.

“Hurry!”

Justin had only uttered a word but Nora immediately understood what he meant. At once, she reached towards the safe.

The man was infuriated when he saw this. He bypassed Justin and attacked Nora.

Nora didn’t care. With full assurance, she entrusted Justin with her safety and opened the safe!

The man wanted to rush over, but Justin kept him occupied.

However, the moment Nora opened the safe, her pupils shrank!

Because!

Inside the safe was nothing but a bomb!

The bomb was triggered the moment she opened the safe, and it instantly started to display a countdown of twenty seconds!

Next to the bomb was a tiny box!

Was this… the trap that her mother had left her?

Had it been someone else who did not know the password, the bomb would probably have gone off the moment the door was pried open. Only when she used the password to open the door would she have time to escape.

Her mother had really… considered every possibility.

Even so, she probably never thought that her daughter would be trapped here, right?

Without any hesitation, Nora picked up the tiny box, turned around, and shouted, “Run!”

As soon as she shouted, the man in black rushed right up to her. He reached out to grab the box in her hand.

Nora dodged and shouted, “If we stay any longer, we will all die here!”

Despite that, the man stood right at the door and sneered, “You two can forget about leaving if you don’t give me that!”

The countdown reached ten seconds!

The walls of the room with the safes were forged from steel to prevent people from breaking in and stealing things. There weren’t any windows but only a metal door.

With the man standing guard at the door, it was impossible for the two of them to escape!

At the critical moment, Justin suddenly snatched the metal box from Nora and threw it to the left of the door. He shouted, “Here, you can have it!”

The man stepped aside without any hesitation to grab the box.

Nora frowned.

The timing was too tight, she didn’t have any time to swap the box’s contents at all. The metal box was still the one that she’d just taken out and the V16 might be in it.

She didn’t dare to take any chances!

Just as she was about to rush over to grab it back, Justin grabbed her arm and she was thrown out the door with great force.

Thud!

By the time Nora fell to the ground, Justin had already grabbed the metal box before the other man. He flung it out the door without any hesitation!

And then…

Before Nora could get back up, both the man in black and Justin raced madly towards the door.

Justin looked at Nora.

They were out of time.

The countdown turned from one to zero.

Boom!

The room exploded.

Waves of heat spread swiftly from the metal safe to the door…

All Nora could see was the heat waves hit Justin and the man in black from the back. The two of them were only one step away from the metal door!

He wouldn’t be able to get out in time…

Upon realizing this, Nora sprung off the floor and rushed straight to the metal door!

With the door in between them, she and Justin looked at each other.

Suddenly, the corners of Justin’s lips curled upward. At the last moment, he suddenly slammed the metal door shut!

“Noooo!”

Nora screamed!!

Justin… He was still in there!!!

He wasn’t out yet!!

But the only thing that she heard was the was the click of the lock that came from beyond the big metal door, as well as the rumbling explosion inside.

Chapter 777: Whose Corpse Is That? Is Justin Dead Or Alive?

A metal door separated the two worlds.

Nora used all her might to kick and stomp at the door, but she simply couldn’t open it. She could only watch helplessly as the fire in the room got bigger and bigger.

The explosion also finally attracted the security officers’ attention, who immediately called the firefighters.

Nora stared at the door.

Her countenance remained calm and collected the whole time. Even when people started rushing to the scene, she rationally slipped the metal box into her pocket.

Soon, the fire was put out. The firemen finally pried open the door and rushed in.

Everything inside had been blown up and burned to ashes. On the ground lay a charred, unrecognizable corpse with only the bones left.

There was only one corpse… This filled Nora with hope.

The man in black and Justin had both been inside, so how could there be only one corpse?

Right away, she looked at Morris, who had come over upon hearing the news, and said, “Do a DNA check.”

Morris didn’t have Justin’s DNA data.

However, Nora did. In order to do a comparison with Xander’s DNA, she had even retrieved samples again. Thus, Lily had accurate data of his DNA.

Morris nodded at her request.

Some people also came to investigate why they were in the bank late at night and even bombed it.

However, Sean promised to compensate the bank for all their losses while Morris also said that Nora was the special department’s legal adviser, so it was perfectly normal for her to come over and conduct investigations.

With that, news of the incident was suppressed.

Nora went straight to the special department together with the dead body.

When she returned once more to the familiar place, all the people around her who had once wronged her felt so guilty that they didn’t dare to face her.

When Brenda heard the news, she rushed over and looked at her in disbelief. “Nora, i-is that Justin?”

“No, it isn’t.”

Nora sounded certain, but she didn’t know whether she was saying that to Brenda or to herself. She said, “There’s only one corpse, it can’t be him…”

Brenda also nodded when she heard this. She said, “That’s right, that’s definitely not Justin, Nora. Justin has always been mysterious, and he’s always so secretive about everything he does. Also, ever since he was abducted when he was five, he always brings more than twenty bodyguards with him. There’s no way anything would happen to someone who fears death as much as he does…”

Despite saying that, her voice gradually became choked up.

Even Brenda didn’t quite believe what she was saying

If that wasn’t Justin, then where did he go? Didn’t he know that Nora and his children were waiting for him to come back?

Why hadn’t he shown up yet?

But she couldn’t say that, much less did she dare to. In fact, she was just holding out a glimmer of hope that the body was not Justin’s!

Upon hearing this, Morris glanced at Brenda.

The woman, who had always been exquisitely dressed, looked a little like she was in a mess at the moment, which went to show how flustered she was due to her involvement with the matter.

He took a deep breath and sent the bones to the lab.

While waiting for the result, in order to relieve some of the pressure on Nora and Brenda, Morris asked, “Nora, you said just now that the two of you met a man in black when you two went to the bank to take something. In order to save you, Mr. Hunt locked himself in the room with the man in black, right? If so, then why was there only one dead body at the scene?”

Nora looked at him.

Morris explained to her cautiously, “This can only point to one thing—there must be other passages out of that room! I have already gotten my men to look into it. If other passages exist, then Mr. Hunt should be fine.”

Nora nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”

Seeing that she looked somewhat flustered, Morris let out a soft sigh. Suddenly, he asked, “So, did you get what you wanted to take from the bank?”

Did she get it?

Nora raised her head slightly and stared at Morris. A while later, she shook her head lightly and replied, “It was taken away by the man in black. He was waiting at the bank precisely because he wanted to take it from

us…”

Her voice became softer and softer toward the end. One could hear dejection in her voice.

At this moment, Morris’ cell phone rang.

After he answered, a touch of joy came over his expression. He looked at Nora and said, “They really found a tunnel in the room! So, Mr. Hunt really may have left from that tunnel!”

However, Nora’s heart instead sank when she heard him.

Sure enough, there really was a tunnel in the bank. In that case, who had dug the tunnel?

While she was contemplating, chaotic footsteps suddenly came from the door of the lab. Herman’s furious roar then came over.

“What’s going on? What exactly has happened to Justin?!”

Before Nora could speak, Lauren said reproachfully, “Ms. Smith, why did the two of you go to the bank in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Why was there an explosion? I heard that this only happened to Justin because he wanted to save you? Who exactly have you offended? Why did this happen?!” Herman’s eyes were all red. It was obvious that he was heartbroken and devastated over what had happened to Justin. He stared at Nora and demanded, “C’mon, talk! What’s going on?!”

Nora clenched her jaw.

She did not explain, but Sean, who was next to her, said, “It’s Mr. Hunt who invited Ms. Smith to the bank. He wanted to show her some of the things he’d prepared for their wedding, but he did not expect to encounter a robber…”

Sean also lowered his head. “Ms. Smith has nothing to do with any of it.”

“She doesn’t? How can it have nothing to do with her?!” Lauren yelled furiously, “If it wasn’t for the wedding, would he have gone to the bank in the middle of the night? And end up giving the robbers a chance? In my opinion, Nora jinxes the Hunt's! Ever since she appeared, the Hunt's have been really unlucky!”

Her words made Herman feel even worse.

Nora’s eyes were still lowered and she did not speak. She was still re-enacting in her mind everything that had happened earlier.

Everything had been such a blur that even now, she still hadn’t figured out what exactly had happened.

The man in black had only appeared at the bank because he followed her there. In that case, how come Justin also showed up at the bank? On top of that, he even happened to be in the room where the safe-deposit boxes were?

Had he done the same thing as her? Because he knew that it was dangerous, he didn’t want to drag Nora into it?

While she was thinking, Herman sat on the bench next to her.

Lauren supported Herman by the arm. “Herman, you must hang in there. Justin is no longer around. If something also happens to you, what are the Hunt's going to do?”

Upon hearing this, Herman immediately understood something. He straightened his back abruptly and said, “You’re right, I mustn’t collapse. Now that Justin is gone, I’m the only one who can handle the Hunt's now…”

Lauren nodded. “A kingdom mustn’t go without a king for a day. Similarly, the Hunt's mustn’t be missing a president either. Now that Justin’s fate is unknown, you have to bear responsibility for the family and the company!”

They were clearly planning a coup d’état!

The sight filled Sean with anger.

It hadn’t even been determined whose charred corpse it was, yet those two were already starting to think about the family inheritance? They didn’t have a conscience at all!

He looked at Nora angrily, only to see the woman say coldly, “Justin’s fate is not unknown. He’s definitely still alive!”

“If he’s alive, then why didn’t he come back to look for us?” Lauren countered. “To be honest, we all know deep down that the corpse is most likely Justin! Nora Smith, it’s all your fault, so stop pretending like you’re that loyal and in love with him! Do you really think I don’t know what you’re thinking? You’re just concerned about your position as Mrs. Hunt and how Justin’s assets will be distributed, right? I’ll tell you this—your children are still young, so don’t even think about taking over the company! Herman is the most rightful successor to the company now!”

Nora clenched her fists.

She took a deep breath. Just as she was about to speak, the door to the lab suddenly opened and the doctor in charge of the DNA lab came out.

Nora went toward him at once while Brenda and Lauren also rushed over anxiously. The group of them surrounded the doctor.

Herman wanted to go forward, but he didn’t dare to. Instead, he stood behind the crowd in a daze.

Before Nora could say anything, an anxious Lauren asked, “Doctor, the charred corpse, who is it? Are the results out? Is it Justin?"