Chapter 56 - Seven Days Later!
Mrs. Anderson took a deep breath. With a blank and empty look in her eyes, she looked in the direction where Sheena was and said, "I"m telling you to get out instead!"
Sheena was stunned. A moment later, her eyes widened and she turned to Mrs. Anderson and exclaimed, "What did you just say? Mom!"
The old lady clutched her chest and said, "You have no respect for your sister, nor are you kind or loving to the children. You"re not welcome here!"
"Sis again! It"s always about her!" A furious Sheena said, "Ever since we were children, you"ve always been partial to her! But Sis is already gone! All these years, I"m the one providing for you instead!"
Mrs. Anderson clutched the white cane tightly. Her lips trembled as she said, "No matter what, Nora was just trying to help!"
Sheena sneered, "Mom, do you really believe a stray child like her can cure your eyes? We"ve approached so many doctors over the years, but none of them could do anything. Why would she be able to? Do you really trust her that much?"
Mrs. Anderson was lost for words.
To be honest, she didn"t really believe it, either. However, Nora meant well, so she didn"t have the heart to refuse her.
Seeing that she didn"t reply, Sheena continued and said, "You can"t see, so you have no idea how red and swollen your eyes are! How is that supposed to be a medical treatment? She"s obviously torturing you instead!"
Mrs. Anderson"s eyes were completely red and the area around her eyes was swollen as though she was having an allergic reaction.
However, this was actually a sign that the ointment was working.
She hadn"t been using her eyes for too long, so all the muscles there had already loosened and sagged. Without a more potent ointment, how would she be able to recover quickly?
Nora was about to explain when Mrs. Anderson said, "You don"t have to say any more. I"m willing to let Nora give it a go. She said that my eyes will recover and I"ll be able to see again in seven days. If I don"t try it out, how would I know whether she can really do it or not?"
"You—" Sheena was so angry that her eyes were all red. "That"s how much trust you had in Sis back then, too. She said she would be gone for a week, but in the end, she never came back! And now, you"re also putting your trust in her daughter? You"re so stubborn!"
She picked up her bag and walked straight to the door. When she pa.s.sed by Nora, she looked at her repugnantly and said, "So, seven days, right? Okay, I"ll come back in seven days, then. If your grandma"s condition doesn"t improve even after so much torture from you, I"m throwing you out of the house even if she kills me!"
"Aunt Sheena."
When Sheena was about to step out, she suddenly heard a woman"s cool voice calling out to her and she stopped and looked back. The look in Nora"s eyes was a little cold. The expressionless woman said in a low voice, "If I successfully cure Grandma"s eyes, I hope you will apologize to my mother."
The way she spoke as she stood there put Sheena in a bit of a trance. She felt as if she had time-traveled and returned to a time over twenty years ago. That familiar and resolute figure…
Sheena reined in her thoughts and sneered, "Since you"ve inherited your mother"s gift of the gab, I hope you"ve also inherited her talent in medicine… Otherwise, don"t hold it against me if I show you no mercy!"
After saying that, she turned and left.
After she left, Mrs. Anderson sighed and said, "Don"t hold it against her, Nora. She respected your mom the most back then, and this remains true even now… Sigh!"
Mrs. Anderson went back to her room as she spoke.
Melissa walked over and asked softly, "… Is it really okay for the area around her eyes to be so red?"
Nora patiently explained, "Yes, it"s normal. It"ll worsen during the next few days but will gradually fade after seven days. To be honest, it actually doesn"t hurt."
Melissa was relieved to hear that.
Nora then yawned and entered her room.
After that, Melissa went downstairs, where she saw the nanny returning with Cherry. When she thought of how Cherry had made Sheena eat her own words the other day when she mocked her for being unlearned, she smiled and beckoned to her.
Cherry obediently ran over. "What"s wrong, Grand-aunt Melissa?"
"Cherry, can you say something in Arabic to me again?"
Cherry had a huge question mark above her head. She replied, "But Grand-aunt Melissa, I only speak English. I don"t know any Arabic!"
Melissa was taken aback. Was Cherry just acting that day?
She asked hesitantly, "What about your Mathematical Olympiad studies, calligraphy compet.i.tions, art compet.i.tions, and so on?"
A puzzled Cherry tilted her head and asked, "I"ve never even attended any kind of interest cla.s.ses, so why would I partic.i.p.ate in compet.i.tions?"
Melissa: "!!"
Seeing her hesitation, Cherry patted her little chest and said, "I"m not completely useless though, Grand-aunt Melissa! I know a lot of historical facts!"
Melissa looked a little better. She asked, "What kind of facts does our little Cherry know?"
"I know a lot!", Cherry triumphantly said.
"Who discovered America? Michael Fa.s.sbender!"
"…"
"Who invented the airplane? Tom Hanks and Colin Hanks!"
"…"
Half an hour later, Cherry waved and said, "Don"t get too excited, Grand-aunt Melissa. I also know I"m super awesome, yeah! Take your time to calm down. I"ll go play some games first!"
It was only after she skipped her way upstairs that Melissa finally reacted!
The corners of her lips spasmed as she glanced upstairs.
In the end, she could only heave a huge sigh!
It was all Sheena"s fault for saying such mean things the other day anyway. Moreover, she even showed off her daughter"s achievements, so Nora and Cherry weren"t really to blame for lying to get themselves out of a pickle. It was just that their boasting was a little too exaggerated…
Also, if what they said about Cherry"s education was a lie, then was Nora"s claim about being able to cure Mrs. Anderson"s eyes just now also a lie?
Suddenly, she wasn"t so sure anymore.
Upstairs.
Nora took a nap after she laid down on the bed. When she woke up at night and played with Cherry, she suddenly missed her son very much.
He didn"t respond even when she sent him a text message.
Nora became a little worried, so she decided to send Justin a text message: "Mr. Hunt, are you asleep?"
Justin had just come out of the shower. When he saw the message, his lips corner curled upward and he quickly replied: "No."
"Oh. Is your son asleep?"
Justin glanced at Pete"s tightly shut bedroom door and replied: "Yes, he is."
He supposed that she thought they would only be able to chat after his son had gone to bed. Otherwise, he would have to take care of his son, right? That woman was surprisingly rather considerate.
Sure enough, after he sent the message, his cell phone beeped again.
He opened the message with one hand while toweling his hair with the other. Right away, his expression froze—the cell phone screen reflected only a single icy-cold word: "Oh."
And then?
Shouldn"t they be looking for a conversation topic and continuing the chat instead?
Was she… being shy?
Justin coughed and sent a cold reply: "Something up?"
Three minutes pa.s.sed. He didn"t receive any reply.
Another five minutes later, he still didn"t receive any reply.
Justin thought that perhaps his cell phone was broken, so he sent a message to Lawrence: "Lawrence?"
Lawrence, who was far away in some remote corner of the earth, replied: "Yes, boss? Are you allowing me to return?"
Justin replied: "No."
"…"
At the Andersons, Nora had already muted her cell phone and tossed it aside after she learned that her son was asleep. With Cherry in her arms, she fell asleep happily, completely unaware that a certain someone was tossing and turning in bed with a million thoughts running through his mind that night.
Seven days later.
Sheena came to the Andersons early in the morning. When the nanny told her that Nora was still asleep, she sneered, "Let her sleep, then. After all, she"s going to be thrown out of the house once she wakes up!"
"Who do you think you"re throwing out of the house?!"