Book 2 : She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement

Chapter 31

Chapter 703: Nora, You’re The Only One I Have Left Now

Justin stared into the distance as he hung up the call.

There was a tinge of loneliness in his eyes.

To be honest, he had never believed that his mother had suddenly stopped loving him. When he was a child, he had been so stubborn that he had fainted in rain. When he woke up, he had known right away that it would be useless to approach her again.

Later, as he grew up, he suddenly discovered one day that a servant at home was filming a video of him. After that, the servant had sent it to someone.

At first, he’d thought that the servant must be scheming something, so he’d constantly stayed on guard against him. However, even as time passed, the servant didn’t take any action.

After he grew up, Justin quietly studied and learned hacking techniques without anyone knowing. He had then hacked into the servant’s phone and discovered his secret.

As it turned out, all the videos of him-from when he was a child all the way until he turned into a young adult—had all been sent by the servant to his mother, who had never shown any concern for him!

He took the opportunity to hack into his mother’s cell phone, only to find all the videos of him stored within. Every video of him from when he was a child until he became a young adult-was in there. None of them had ever been deleted. And every night, before going to bed, she would watch the videos of him over and over again.

Justin had been thirteen years old then.

Since then, he became certain that his mother was hiding something from him, and that she had her reasons and difficulties for doing so.

It could be said that he had never held any grudge towards his mother.

However, this did not mean that he was not angry about it.

He was indeed furious.

When he was young, he couldn’t do anything. Thus, for his own good, his mother had kept those secrets from him. But even as he grew up, was his mother still unable to believe in him?

Besides…

It was undeniable that feelings and relationships were built and developed through daily contact and interaction with one another. The twenty-year-long separation had left him and Iris with nothing much to say to each other.

Thus, later on, he only occasionally visited her at the villa, and never without reason.

He was waiting.

He was waiting for his mother to take the initiative to tell him the truth. But judging from her behavior, was his mother planning to keep it from him for the rest of her life? Just because it would bring him trouble?

Justin lowered his head.

To be honest, there were times when he felt like giving up on the investigation.

So what even if he found out what had happened?

Since she hadn’t been by his side as he grew up, why should he accompany her as she grew old? Besides, sometimes habit really was something awfully scary—he had already grown used to not having her at home.

If there came a day where he suddenly found himself with a mother nagging at him, he might not be able to get used to it either.

Yet when he heard from Sean that she had cried, his heart softened again.

No matter what, they were still mother and son. Even if he was indifferent by nature, and even if he might only care about a few people; the woman was still among the few he cared about.

Moreover-and also the main reason-Nora seemed to share a very good relationship with her.

Upstairs.

Nora entered the room to see Cherry pulling a long face. Although she was sitting on the sofa and playing games, she was not happy.

Pete glanced at her. “What’s the matter? Is something troubling you?”

Cherry killed an enemy in the game and then looked up at him. “Is it that obvious that I’m upset?”

“You didn’t rant at anyone while playing your game today,” replied Pete with the corners of his lips spasming. The little girl was pretty much just short of blatantly writing the words “I’m unhappy” on her face.

Even Princess Lucy asked, “Cherry, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you? I’ll get the bodyguards to beat them up!” As she spoke, she even waved her tiny little fists. She looked just like a Barbie doll.

Cherry sighed quietly. “Don’t beat her up, Lucy. You don’t understand.”

A puzzled Lucy asked, “What don’t I understand? Is this some kind of rule in America? Why should you put up with it when that person is upsetting you?”

“Because it’s my grandma we’re talking about!”

Cherry rested her chin on her hand and said, “Grandma was really nice to me in the past, I don’t know why she suddenly changed today. She must have a reason for doing so! Do you know why she did that, Pete?”

Pete shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Cherry was a little disappointed. “You are so stupid~”

Cherry sighed quietly. “Forget it, it’s time for my live-stream!”

After speaking, she sat on the sofa and opened the live-stream app.

Seeing the little fellows chatting so happily, Nora didn’t go in to disturb them and left instead.

Cherry was not someone to dwell on things, so she would never take such small matters to heart. Neither did she need Nora to comfort her. In her opinion, Justin was simply overthinking things.

After she left, she looked downstairs again and saw that there was no one in the living room. However, there was a figure on the balcony.

Although Nora was very sleepy and wanted very much to look for someplace where she could sleep, when she thought of how hurtful Iris’ words earlier in the day had been for Justin, she nevertheless went down the stairs and walked towards him.

As she went over, she saw the man standing there with his back to her.

The moonlight cast a silver glow on him, making a smooth silhouette of the dark and overcast figure. He exuded a sense of alienation and indifference, yet at the same time, he looked as though he had been forgotten in a corner.

He seemed so sad and lonely that it made one feel sorry for him.

This was especially when the man, who had never smoked, actually had a cigar held in between his fingertips at the moment. The smoke from the cigar curled upwards, making him look even lonelier.

Nora felt like they could pretty much make a movie with the scene.

The corners of Nora’s lips twitched a little. She hadn’t expected the man to be so deeply hurt.

She walked over and stood behind him. Just as she was about to speak, the man suddenly turned around and embraced her tightly. His chest was very hard and solid. It felt rather uncomfortable when he held her so tightly.

Yet Nora did not dare to push him away at a time like this, for fear that he would become even sadder–because the man happened to whisper into her ear, “Nora, you’re the only one I have left now.”

_

Nora kept quiet for three seconds, but in the end, she still couldn’t stop herself from saying, “You still have Cherry, Pete, Xander, Brenda, and also Sean and Lawrence. There’s also…”

Justin: “…”

He really shouldn’t have allowed the woman to speak. The moment she opened her mouth, she would absolutely become the insensitive girl who ruined the atmosphere!

The corners of Justin’s lips spasmed. Seeing that Nora was actually planning to continue listing the rest, he promptly and decisively lowered his head suddenly and caught the woman’s lips.

He could see the girl freezing suddenly. Then, her almond-shaped eyes widened and she looked at him in astonishment. It seemed like her first reaction was to push him away, yet she held back.

Justin closed his eyes. He could sense that the girl was being extra-tolerant today, so he pushed his luck and invaded her mouth.

The crisp smell of tobacco on the man rushed into Nora’s nostrils bossily, making her feel like the smell was actually quite pleasant?

To be honest, she hadn’t thought of pushing him away.

If the man needed a hug and a kiss to reinforce his sense of security, then she didn’t mind giving them to him.

Besides, he really was exceptionally pitiful today. Thus, not only did Nora not resist, but she even stretched out her arms and circled them around his neck tightly, and started responding to his kiss.

The atmosphere gradually turned amorous.

It seemed like all the air at the balcony had been sucked away. In the narrow space, the man and woman’s chests heaved up and down. After some time, Justin suddenly picked up Nora and carried her like a newly-wed bride. He said, “Let’s… go to the bedroom upstairs.”

The suggestiveness in his words were very apparent.

When he stared hard at Nora, he saw the girl, whose cheeks were scarlet and her eyes misty, reply, “Okay.”

Chapter 704: She’s Asleep

To be honest, Justin hadn’t expected her to agree.

He’d long discovered that the woman had always been relatively indifferent in her feelings. It hadn’t been that long since the two of them confirmed their relationship, either.

The woman’s chest was heaving up and down intensely at the moment, and her eyes contained a faint hint of womanly charm and shyness. When she agreed with her cheeks all red, he was instead stunned for a moment.

But right after, he regained his senses.

Seemingly afraid that the woman would go back on her word the very next second, he turned around at once and strode up the stairs.

Nora, whose head was buried into his chest, could see that his eyes were as deep and bottomless as the ocean. The way his eyes were staring at her so closely was as though he was looking at his prey, which made one feel daunted and timid.

But unfortunately, who did he think Nora was?

She had always been the hunter, not the hunted. When had she ever allowed herself to be in a disadvantageous position?

So, the next moment, she yawned. The two went up the stairs and entered the bedroom. With her in his arms, Justin rushed straight towards the bed. However, he had only just taken two steps when Nora said, “Let’s take a bath first. Who’s going in first, you or me?”

Justin’s eyes instantly turned even darker. “Let’s go in together?”

“Get lost.”

Nora sat upright and jumped out of his arms. “I’ll take a bath first.”

She took out an unused bath towel from the side and walked into the bathroom.

Mr. Hunt, who had stayed outside, was so anxious that he was going around in circles. He hurriedly made the bed; then he checked whether the big bed was sturdy enough and whether it would make any noise if people jumped on it.

After that, he swallowed again and smoothed his hair.

If Lawrence or Sean were to see him like this, they would probably marvel in amazement. Was that really their boss, who had never even frowned a little in the face of business transactions worth billions, or even dozens of billions?

Splash

The sound of water stopped. Justin stood up straight, his eyes fixed in the direction of the bathroom. The door opened, and Nora walked out.

The bathrobe was wrapped around her, and she was toweling her hair. Because of the hot bath, her cheeks had become even rosier and moist. Her almond-shaped eyes glanced at him shyly and she said, “It’s your turn.”

His Adam’s apple shifted a little. “Okay.”

He picked up the bathrobe and rushed into the bathroom like an eager child.

He washed himself seriously and carefully during the bath, for fear that Nora would notice if he didn’t clean any part of himself well. Even so, he took only two minutes in the bath and ran out again.

Then, he saw Nora already lying on the bed.

He slowed down, his breathing becoming heavier and heavier. He walked up to the bed where Nora was. As he thought of what was about to happen that night, he became rather excited.

But the next moment, his excitement died down.

Because! The mouth of the woman on the bed was slightly ajar, and her eyes were closed. This… Was she asleep?

Justin: “??”

How would he know that when they were downstairs just now, as they kissed and kissed, Nora had also been getting sleepier and sleepier?! This continued until the man finally suggested going to the bedroom, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Would she finally be able to go to sleep?

Therefore, with her eyelids droopy, she had replied sleepily, “Okay.”

It wasn’t the shy and bashful reaction that Justin had imagined on his own at all!

The corners of Justin’s lips spasmed a little. He wanted to lift the quilt but realized that the woman had wrapped it tightly around herself, and was refusing to let him in.

Justin took another deep breath. In the end, he stood up in silence, went into the bathroom, took out the hairdryer, and quietly started drying her hair for her.

He hoped beyond everything that perhaps the noise would wake the woman?

Unfortunately, even until her hair was all dry, she didn’t wake up.

On the contrary, seeing her unintentionally exposed shoulders while drying her hair, the fire in Justin’s heart started to burn even more strongly.

In the end, Justin took another cold bath that night.

Nora did not wake up until noon the next day.

She stretched comfortably. But when she turned her head to the side, she was instead faced with the man’s dark and gloomy face, which gave her a huge shock.

Justin asked quietly, “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.”

Nora yawned. Then, she got out of bed and went to wash up.

Justin could only sigh helplessly. As he got up, he heard movement outside the door. He went over and looked through the peephole to see the three children and Brenda standing outside.

Brenda was asking nosily, “Did your Mommy really sleep in there last night? That’s why your father is sleeping in for once?”

Cherry replied, “Uh-huh, uh-huh! It seemed like Mommy’s legs felt a little weak last night, so Daddy carried her upstairs!”

Pete said, “It’s not that Mommy’s legs were weak.”

Cherry was puzzled. “Then was it because Mommy couldn’t walk anymore? So she was acting like a baby?”

Pete: “?”

At the side, Lucy covered her mouth and giggled.

Brenda’s eyes, however, were gleaming in an extremely gossipy manner. She said, “Cherry, you are so dumb! They are making younger brothers and sisters for you!”

Cherry: “?”

Justin: “??”

What kind of nonsense was she saying? What was she teaching his daughter?

Justin opened the door angrily. His voice deepened and he reprimanded, “Brenda!”

Brenda got a huge fright. But when she looked over at him, she received an even bigger fright. She swallowed and asked, “How hard were you guys going at it last night, Justin? It gave you dark circles under your eyes?”

Justin: “?”

Before he could speak, Brenda spoke again. “I understand, I understand it all. After all, this is the first time you guys were doing it after such a long time. It’s very normal that you wouldn’t be able to hold yourself back. But you guys still have a long future ahead of you, you know? You have to…”

The corners of Brenda’s lips curled into a smile as she spoke. With an alluring voice, she said, “… take it easy a little~ After all, Nora is frail and unable to take care of herself. You mustn’t be a beast to her, Justin.”

Justin retorted angrily, “What nonsense are you saying?”

“What do you mean ‘nonsense’~?” But after she spoke, something suddenly occurred to Brenda and she became terribly alarmed. “Surely not? The two of you, a lone man and a lone woman sharing the same room, you know? Could it be that you have some kind of undisclosed condition, Justin? If so, then you mustn’t keep it to yourself. Nora’s a doctor, hurry up and have her give you a checkup!”

Justin’s expression turned even darker. “No, I don’t!”

“That’s more like it!” Brenda breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest. “Otherwise, you’ll be worse than a beast.”

“…”

Justin felt like he was about to get a heart attack from anger.

Who was she calling worse than a beast, goddammit?!

Bang!

Justin shut the door.

–

In the suburbs.

At noon, Iris stood in the greenhouse and took care of her orchids in boredom.

The door was suddenly pushed open and Herman strode in. When he saw her, he entered the greenhouse.

Iris frowned at the sight of him. “Get lost, you are not welcome here.”

Herman said, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to rekindle old relationships with you. It’s just that… how were you taking care of our son at home? Your relationship with him is terrible. I was not by Justin’s side when he was a child, yet you didn’t stay with him?!”

Iris balled up her fists tightly. “You’re asking why my relationship with Justin is so terrible when you already know the answer to that question?! Isn’t it all because…”

Chapter 705: An Unfaithful Woman?

“Because…”

Iris had hidden the secret about what happened all those years ago in her heart for twenty years and had never mentioned it to anyone. Everyone in this world could criticize her, scold her, and hate her.

In fact, it was okay even if Justin refused to acknowledge her as his mother. However, the man in front of her was the only person who was not worthy of speaking about her relationship with her son!

She stared at Herman, though, there wasn’t any anger in her. She merely felt that the man couldn’t get any more thick-skinned than he already was. She sneered and slowly said, “It’s all because of the fantastic things you did back then!”

Herman frowned when he heard this. “What does it have to do with me? You were obviously the one who was unfaithful!”

“You—!”

Iris really found his words ridiculous to the extreme. She stared at Herman. A short while later, she sneered, “It’s been twenty years. Your ability to reverse right and wrong and twist the truth has really improved!”

Herman wanted to speak again, but Lauren walked in through the door and interrupted their conversation. She said, “That’s enough. Dear, Iris, don’t argue anymore. I know you still hold a grudge against Herman, but it’s already been twenty years now, so what’s the point of doing that to yourself? Justin has already grown up. What Herman did for you back then is already good enough. He has already given up all of his inheritance to the family assets for the two of you. He practically left the family penniless.”

Lauren sighed. “You don’t know how difficult it has been for us to start from scratch when we were abroad all these years.”

Iris: “?”

What a clever way of phrasing things. Those who didn’t know better might really have thought that Herman was a good man!

Iris was not a woman of forbearance. She said eloquently, “How come I don’t remember Herman leaving the Hunt's penniless back then? Weren’t the company shares from back then his father’s? Just because his father had chosen Justin over him as the heir to the family, it somehow ended up becoming him giving the assets to me and my son?”

A sharp look flashed across Lauren’s eyes. “Sigh, you don’t understand. It was Herman who took the initiative to withdraw from the fight because he felt that he had let the two of you down. Otherwise, why would the old sir have chosen a child, who was only five years old, over him?”

Iris was really rendered speechless by her shameless remark. She sneered and said, “So, am I supposed to be thanking the two of you then?”

A sullen Herman said, “You can skip the words of gratitude! What was that way of bringing up the boy, though? Just because I was forced into leaving and couldn’t see Justin anymore, you really left him to fend for himself?! And ended up causing that boy to become so perverse and domineering?!”

Seeing that he was criticizing her again, Iris was so furious that she actually laughed. “I have never stopped you from visiting him, but have you ever taken the initiative to contact him all these years? Your son had probably already stopped existing in your eyes when he was lost back then!”

Herman frowned. “How can you say that, Iris? Isn’t it obvious that I didn’t contact him because I was afraid that you would feel uncomfortable about it? If I contacted him frequently whereas you, his mother, stayed here like a widow, then he would have hated and resented you even more!”

Iris gave a low laugh. Suddenly, she really couldn’t be bothered to say anything to him anymore. He was simply so capable of twisting all her words.

For Iris, her son was what mattered to her the most.

All these years, because she hadn’t been able to stay by his side, the child had lacked mother’s love. She had been counting on Herman to stay in contact with him frequently. After all, a father played a very important role in a child’s growth!

But he hadn’t.

Herman rarely ever contacted Justin. In fact, he had only called Justin twice during the past twenty years.

She took a deep breath and pointed to the door. “This is my home. Please leave, otherwise, I’m going to call for someone to send you out.”

Justin had told her before that he’d stationed some bodyguards for her nearby.

Due to certain reasons, Iris had agreed to it. The bodyguards were standing right outside the door at the moment. However, they hadn’t come in to stop Herman.

To be honest, this made Iris a little uncomfortable.

The son must still resent her. That was why he hadn’t protected her despite the circumstances.

While she was thinking, Lauren continued adding fuel to the fire and said, “Well, no matter what happened in the past, now that Justin has grown up, you’ll have to interact with Justin in the business market, Herman. Iris, we came back to America this time partially to expand our business into the domestic market. It just so happens that we can deal more with the Hunt's for some of our operations. They are father and son after all. They will eventually get in touch with each other once they work together, and will slowly make up for the regrets from the

past.”

After saying that, she looked at Iris. “Also, Justin’s kids are really just too adorable! You don’t know how funny Cherry is. She loves the princess dress I brought over to her this morning.”

Iris’s heart tightened.

Her granddaughter was having fun with Lauren?

But when the thought formed, she felt like she was being narrow-minded again.

That’s true, even though she and Herman were divorced, it did not mean that Justin had to sever all contact with him. The Hunt's were Herman’s family, and the elderly Mrs. Hunt was his mother.

She had only just thought of that when Lauren spoke again. She said, “By the way, we don’t have a place to stay during our temporary return to America, so we will stay at the Hunt Manor for the time being. You won’t have any objections, right? Cherry is very welcoming of us, she even said that she likes me, her grandmother, very much.”

The two of them had stayed at the Hunts’ the previous night.

Iris’s heart felt even heavier. Then, she heard Lauren sigh and say, “Iris, we will be part of the same family in the future. I hope you can let go of all your grievances from the past so that we can all live in peace with one another. This way, Justin won’t feel awkward being caught in the middle either, right?”

Iris clenched her fists. “We won’t interfere with each other’s lives as long as you people don’t come over and bother me!”

Lauren took Herman’s arm. “Why would we bother you?”

With a big smile, she said, “Herman, since there’s nothing else we need with Iris here, then let’s go back. We just need to inform Justin that he needn’t worry about Iris being unhappy about it! Let’s go back, Cherry is still waiting for me to play dolls with her!”

Herman nodded, and the two turned and left.

As she stared at them from the back, Iris felt as if there were needles pricking her heart.

Even though she couldn’t approach her son or her grandchildren before, she could still live with it somewhat. But why should Herman and Lauren be able to stay at the Hunt Manor? Why should they be able to play with her granddaughter every day?

Iris eyes reddened.

Mrs. Landis came over. She heaved a quiet sigh and said, “Ma’am, if you still keep the truth of what had happened back then to yourself, that scumbag and that cheap woman will take Mr. Hunt away from you! Look at how the bodyguards didn’t even stop them from going in and out of here. These must have been Mr. Hunt’s instructions!”

Iris felt even worse.

At this moment, Cherry’s voice suddenly rang out from Mrs. Landis’ cell phone.

Cherry should be live-streaming at this time.

Iris suddenly took the phone from her. She would see how Lauren was going to interact intimately with Cherry!