Book 2 : She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement

Chapter 18

Chapter 664: Birthday

Nora drove straight to Justin’s villa.

The moment she entered, someone had notified Justin of her arrival. So when Nora stopped the car, Justin was already in the parking lot waiting for her.

When Nora got out of the car, she saw Justin looking a little serious. She subconsciously asked, “What’s wrong?”

After a short silence, Justin replied, “I’m thinking of celebrating Cherry’s birthday.”

Celebrating her birthday…

Nora was taken aback for a moment. It was only then that she realized that it would be Cherry’s birthday in five days.

Even though that day was Cherry’s birthday, it was also the day she had lost Pete. Thus, she rarely celebrated Cherry’s birthday in the past.

Besides, when they were abroad, they had very few relatives with them. Every time it was Cherry’s birthday, her aunt would just prepare a small gift for her and buy her a cake.

Going by what Justin had said, surely he wasn’t planning to hold a grand birthday party for her, right?

What had happened?

Nora looked at him hesitantly, only to see Justin sigh and quietly say, “I want to host a good birthday party and formally introduce Cherry and Pete to the public.”

In the past, he had kept Pete very well-protected and avoided letting outsiders know what he looked like in order to prevent him from being kidnapped.

But now that Pete was five years old, there was no longer a need to continue hiding him. At the very least, it was time to let the New Yorkers familiarize themselves with Pete and Cherry.

Just like Fatty said, the way he kept hiding them was as if he had no intention of acknowledging the two children.

Nora didn’t know what had happened, but she would never object to something that was dispensable to her but could put Cherry on cloud nine.

That’s right, Cherry loved excitement. She had always envied how lively and exciting Princess Lucy’s birthdays were. Princess Lucy even had many people visiting her to give her birthday gifts, whereas she didn’t have any friends.

She also wanted to wear a beautiful princess dress like a princess, and gracefully thank everyone for attending the party.

Now, her father could finally make that wish come true for her.

Nora asked, “Are you going to hold it at the Hunts’?”

Justin nodded. “Yeah. I’ll let the butler handle it, you don’t need to worry about it.”

Then there would be even less of a problem.

Nora agreed to it at once.

While the two talked, they started walking to the living room.

When they entered, they were just in time to see the three children sitting in the living room and playing with building blocks.

Pete was arranging the blocks while Cherry and Xander were directing him from either side.

“Pete, it seems like that block should be placed here.”

“Hey, it’s obviously supposed to be placed here, isn’t it?”

Pete kept a gentle expression on his face and looked at Cherry. He said, “I think Xander is right.”

Cherry thought for a while and then said, “I think so too.”

Xander: “?”

Just as he was confused as to what was happening, Nora and Justin walked in.

What landed in their eyes was the sight of the three little fellows having fun together.

Both Nora and Justin were a little surprised.

Both of them knew very well what the children they had raised were really like.

From Nora’s perspective, Cherry was a man with the appearance of a girl who would never tolerate someone else taking her place. She would undoubtedly be full of hostility towards Xander.

From Justin’s perspective, although his son was taciturn, he was, in fact, a very scheming boy. Coupled with his insecurities, he was very territorial.

The two children had only accepted each other so quickly because they simply looked so much alike, and also because they had the common experience of switching places with each other.

But they were definitely not people who could easily accept another child!

Justin and Nora looked at each other. Justin asked, “What are you guys doing?”

Cherry immediately raised her little head. “Daddy, we’re playing together. Pete and I both like our little brother Xander very much-“

Xander frowned at once. “I told you, I’m older!”

Cherry sighed helplessly. “In that case, when were you born? I was born on September 8. It will be my birthday in five days- Oh, yes, it will also be Pete’s birthday! We are twins, so we have the same birthday! What about you?”

Chapter 665: Pete’s Little Sneaky Thoughts

When Cherry asked the question, Nora immediately looked at Xander.

Birthday?

That’s right, she wondered when Xander was born? If he shared the same birthday as Cherry and Pete… then would that also explain a little something?

But when Xander heard Cherry asking about his birthday, he was slightly taken aback.

Then, he lowered his head, coughed, and said, “I don’t have a mother, so how would I know when my birthday is?”

Cherry blinked.

Pete walked over and said, “Then why don’t we celebrate our birthday together? I have never celebrated my birthday before either.”

Xander immediately looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

Xander’s eyes lit up at Pete’s answer.

He raised his chin and said proudly, “Okay then!”

Pete then looked at Justin. “Daddy, can the three of us celebrate our birthday together this year?”

Seeing how the three children seemed to be having fun, Justin narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled. “Sure.”

After agreeing to the children’s request, he went upstairs with Nora.

After all, he and Nora still had things to talk about!

It seemed that Nora had wanted to ask him about someone just now?

The two adults went upstairs. After they disappeared from the corridor, the smiles on Pete and Cherry’s faces instantly disappeared and they looked at Xander hostilely.

Cherry asked, “Pete, why are you letting him celebrate his birthday with us?”

Pete replied softly, “If I don’t invite him, Daddy will sympathize with him because he looks so pitiful. Once he does, Daddy will become biased! And this will be unfair to Mommy!”

Cherry was enlightened. “No wonder you told me to be nice to him in front of Daddy! If we bully him, Daddy will also feel bad for him, right?”

Pete nodded. “Yeah.”

The little fellow was very sensitive. This was the strategy he had devised.

After the two spoke, they both looked at Xander.

Xander was pointing at a block. “Put this one here.”

“Okay.”

However, Pete instead tossed the block in his hand onto the table and said, “This is so boring. You can play by yourself.”

Xander: “??”

He touched his nose.

Tsk.

What was that brat being so arrogant for? If it weren’t for Cherry, would he be playing such childish games with him?!

–

Elsewhere, after going upstairs, Justin was still afraid that Nora would think too much, so he explained, “Pete is very sensitive. Although he seemed to be defending Xander just now, he probably had some sneaky little plan in mind. I could only agree to it. When the time comes… I can find an excuse to trick Xander into leaving the house and we can just celebrate Cherry and Pete’s birthdays instead.”

He didn’t want Nora to feel uncomfortable, nor did he want her to think that he was already putting Xander on the same level as Cherry and Pete when they hadn’t even confirmed the boy’s identity yet.

To be honest, Justin still had conflicting emotions even now.

He had deliberately lessened his contact with Xander at home precisely because he was afraid of developing feelings for him.

Should Xander’s mother turn out to not be Nora, he felt that he might just raise the child but would never really accept him.

He knew that this was very unfair to Xander.

But if he treated Xander like his own and kept him by his side, the one suffering injustice would then end up being Nora.

There was no way to have one’s cake and eat it too.

Neither would he throw the problem to Nora. Therefore, he would make the choice himself.

When Nora heard this, she was silent for a moment.

To be honest, she did not actually feel much hostility towards the boy.

Besides, even though Charles said that she had given birth to twins, she couldn’t help but keep feeling like Xander was also her child.

This feeling was becoming more and more intense with each meeting.

If they only celebrated the twins’ birthday and neglected Xander.

Nora lowered her eyes. After they went upstairs, the first thing she did was to take out her cell phone and call Lily.

Lily answered very quickly. “Boss, what’s up?”

“When can you complete Xander’s DNA restoration?”

Lily replied, “In a week at the latest, and that’s if I work overtime. And Boss, you can’t ask me to do anything else within the week.”

Nora kept quiet for a moment before she said, “Alright.”

Then, she suddenly asked, “When will Charles wake up?”

Lily heaved a silent sigh. “See, Boss? This is already another task. For now, it seems that he may wake up within the week.”

Nora said, “Okay, either you finish restoring Xander’s DNA within five days or you get Charles to wake up within five days.”

Lily: “…”

If Xander really was her son, then she couldn’t celebrate only the twins’ birthday. Therefore, this must be confirmed before their birthday.

Chapter 666: The Same Birthday

After hanging up the phone, Nora followed Justin into the study.

Justin closed the door thoughtfully and looked at her with a smile. “What do you want to ask me?”

He was very happy.

He felt that Nora was finally willing to talk to him when she met with a problem. This feeling of being needed gave him an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Nora didn’t understand what he was smiling at. Instead, she looked at him.

Suddenly, she asked, “Do you know Eagle?”

Justin was taken aback for a moment. He asked hesitantly, “What?”

Nora was also a little surprised seeing his expression.

Justin had always been very relaxed in front of her, but when she said the codename ‘Eagle’ just now, Justin did not react?

Wasn’t he Eagle?

During her hesitation, Justin asked again, “What Eagle? A codename ‘Eagle’? What organization is he from? That codename is too common. There are a lot of…”

Although there was an Eagle in the Imperial League, the codename was simply too common. He needed to ask and properly clarify.

However, his reaction made Nora even more certain that he was not Eagle.

Nora kept quiet for a long while.

When they joined the Imperial League, they had sworn that they would not tell outsiders about its existence. They were allowed to use the information they got from the organization to help their relatives, but they were not allowed to reveal the source of the information.

Outside, they were not allowed to mention the Imperial League.

Earlier, she had thought that Justin was Eagle, that was why she had told him that she wanted to ask him about someone.

But if Justin was not Eagle, then she was not allowed to talk to him about anything regarding the Imperial League, let alone ask him who King was.

Nora had always been a rule-abiding person.

Therefore, in the end, she chose not to ask about it anymore. She said, “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

Justin: “?”

He wanted to say something, but the butler was knocking on the door. He had to let him in.

The butler asked, “Sir, did you need something?”

Justin thought for a while and replied, “I will hold a birthday party for Pete and Cherry to celebrate their fifth birthday in five days. Make the necessary preparations.”

His words made the butler bewildered.

For wealthy families like the Hunt's, if they wanted to hold a birthday party, they would have to make reservations and other arrangements in advance. After all, it would be too late for them to custom-make anything now.

But since Justin had said the word, then even if it was too late, they had to make it happen in time.

The butler asked, “Is it a grand party or a small one?”

Justin replied, “Send an invite to all our friends and family.”

It wasn’t necessary to invite his business associates. He was indeed planning to introduce Cherry to everyone, but there was no need to invite that many people.

Even so, after inviting all of his friends and family… It would still be a medium-sized party.

For the Hunt's, they could expect almost a thousand guests for a medium-sized party.

Although the butler was troubled, he nevertheless immediately lowered his head and said, “Yes, sir.”

He was in a hurry to leave after saying that, so he asked, “Do you have any other orders, sir?”

“No.”

“Okay, then I will go and make preparations right away.”

He would have to busy himself with preparing the party invitations, the menu, as well as all the servants’ deployment. Moreover, as there would be a lot of guests on that day, he would also have to prepare sufficient parking space and arrange for security personnel.

The Hunt's would probably be very busy soon.

Justin’s one-liner had quite literally put the butler up to his ears in work!

Before leaving the room, the butler suddenly stopped and looked back at Justin. He asked, “Is the birthday party for Mr. Pete and Ms. Cherry?”

“Yeah,” replied Justin with a nod.

With that, the butler understood and went out.

Elsewhere, after Nora was done dealing with her affairs, she didn’t stay any longer. After all, she had ended up wasting some time giving Charles medical treatment. Thus, she was going home to sleep.

The strange thing, though, was that Pete, who usually followed her everywhere, had actually taken the initiative to say that he wanted to stay at the Hunt's, saying that if he went with her to the Smith's, he might affect Nora’s rest.

Nora could only agree to his request. After thinking about it, she asked Pete to the side and said earnestly, “Pete, don’t bully the boy, okay?”

Pete fell silent for a moment when he heard her. Then, he tilted his head and asked, “But what if he bullies Mommy?”

Nora smiled and ruffled his hair. Her voice was very low but reassuring as she said, “I know Pete is a filial boy, but no one is capable of bullying Mommy. Okay?”

Pete looked up at her.

Nora was very tall. He was only as tall as her waist at the moment. In his eyes, his Mommy was gentle and strong.

Pete had never needed anyone or anything to give him cover, but in front of his mother, he abandoned all his sneaky thoughts and conspiracies, wanting only to be the most well-behaved child in front of her.

He relaxed and nodded. “Okay, Mommy!”

After she left, Pete and Cherry came together again.

Cherry asked, “Pete, are we still going to drive Xander away?”

Pete kept quiet for a long while before he finally replied, “Let’s put all our plans on halt for now. We’ll take action only if Xander bullies Mommy, or if Mommy suffers injustice because of him! We absolutely won’t tolerate his existence in the family!”

“Okie-Dokie!”

Cherry clapped. But then, she suddenly realized something-why was she so happy that they weren’t driving Xander away anymore?

It must be that she found Xander really pitiful because he didn’t have a mom!

She would never ever admit that she did like Xander a teeny-weeny little bit! After the two children spoke to each other, they went up the stairs hand in hand to play in the room upstairs.

Neither of them saw Xander walking out from the side.

He stared angrily in the direction where the twins had left.

He was even holding his favorite book about human anatomy, as well as a doll detailing a human’s body structure.

Initially, for Cherry’s sake, he had wanted to make friends with Pete. Even though Pete said that it was very boring playing building blocks with him, he had gone back upstairs to fetch his favorite toy.

But he hadn’t expected to hear such conversation.

They wanted to drive him away?

They were too much!

They were all Daddy’s children, and this was also Daddy’s home. Why should he be driven away just because he didn’t share the same birthday as them?

The little boy clenched his fists. Suddenly, he turned and went back upstairs.

After entering his bedroom, the angry Xander threw the doll in his hand onto the floor. At once, the doll broke into pieces.

A hostile look flashed across Xander’s eyes.

At this moment, his cell phone rang.

Xander picked up the call. Trueman’s somewhat evil and slightly shrill voice came from the other side. “My dearest Xander, how have you been?”

“Fine. By the way, Dad, when is my birthday?”

When Trueman heard this, he paused. Suddenly, he chuckled and replied, “September 8. Why?”

September 8! His birthday was the same as Cherry and Pete’s!