Chapter 237 - What"s That?
The glamorous woman sighed. "The sight of the flower makes me want to do my absolute best to save it. How am I supposed to refuse entry to Ms. York and leave the flower to die when she comes again? I might as well just throw the pot of flowers away, then. Out of sight, out of mind!"
Mrs. Landis" heart ached as she looked at her. Even her eyes had reddened.
The glamorous woman"s name was Iris Hunt, and she was originally the eldest daughter-in-law of direct lineage in the Hunts, the most influential family in New York. By right, she should have been the most dazzling and enviable person.
But unexpectedly, after the marriage…
For Justin"s sake, she was adamant about not having excessive contact with him. She had been living here ever since she moved out of the Hunts" residence, and had put all of her sentiments for Justin and Pete into the flowers and plants here.
The pot of A Glimpse of Blood was the first pot of orchid that she had taken care of back then.
Perhaps even Justin himself didn"t remember it anymore, but it was one of the first few potted flowers and plants that he had given her.
Iris had treated it very delicately all this time and even personally taken care of it. Therefore, the potted orchid wasn"t just Iris" treasure, but it also contained all of her sentiments for her son and grandson.
But perhaps the potted orchid had gotten old and reached the end of its lifespan, it started to wilt this year and even became infested with worms at the roots.
Iris had tried many ways, but she simply couldn"t cure it. To make matters worse, this pot of orchid was very hard to take care of. Just as she was feeling troubled over it, Tina had visited, claiming that she was there to give Iris a routine health checkup.
Doctors went to the Hunts regularly to conduct physical examinations for them every month.
The attending physician had suddenly changed to Tina this month. No one suspected anything initially, but when Tina saw the flowers, she suddenly started talking about orchids. This made Iris sit up in attention. After it caught her interest, the two of them started chatting.
Mrs. Landis had never heard Iris talk that much all these years.
Many of Tina"s opinions with regard to orchid care gained Iris" approval, making her nod frequently. Mrs. Landis had thought that Iris had finally found someone whom she could talk to.
But who would have thought that Justin would come over?
The sight of Justin had immediately made Tina timid and fainthearted. When she thought of the sudden change of doctors this month, Mrs. Landis understood everything right away.
Given how clever Iris was, how could she possibly not understand when even Mrs. Landis had figured it out?
That was how it had led to the conversation the day before.
To be honest, it didn"t actually really matter even if they allowed Tina to stay. What could she possibly make use of Iris for? Besides, she could also keep her company and chat with her.
However, despite saying all those selfish things, Iris had thrown the pot of flowers away the very next moment.
Her love as a mother made Mrs. Landis feel like crying.
"Tsk, it"s just a worldly possession. What"s the big deal?"
Seeing that Mrs. Landis" eyes were all red, Iris pretended to be alright and waved at her. She got up and said, "Throw it away. I"ll go to the front and look around the place there."
She was clearly reluctant to part with the flowers, yet she still said that.
It was exactly this behavior of hers that made Mrs. Landis" heart break.
Mrs. Landis lowered her head. Suddenly, she hid the potted orchid behind some tall rocks.
Iris might have made a temporary misjudgment, but she mustn"t make the wrong decision too. She would find an opportunity to tell Justin about it instead. Given how influential he was, wasn"t curing a pot of orchid something as easy as pie for him?
Iris didn"t want to tell Justin about it, lest it displeased that woman and caused trouble for Justin as a result.
But the pot of orchid mustn"t be thrown away!
Mrs. Landis made up her mind. She wiped the corners of her eyes and went after Iris.
When the two got home, Iris immediately said listlessly, "I"m going upstairs to rest. Don"t disturb me if there"s nothing important."
"Yes, ma"am."
Mrs. Landis knew that Iris ultimately still couldn"t bear to part with the potted orchid, so she had become sad.
Mrs. Landis sighed. The doorbell rang at this point.
Mrs. Landis walked over to the door and opened it. Tina was standing outside. She said with a big smile, "h.e.l.lo, Mrs. Landis. Mrs. Hunt must be waiting for me, right? I racked my brains after I went home last night and thought of something that we can try! To be honest, orchids are just like human beings. We—"
Before she could finish, though, Mrs. Landis interrupted her. "I"m sorry, Ms. York, but Ma"am is tired today, so she"s resting at the moment. She won"t be seeing any guests today. As for the pot of flowers you mentioned… Sigh, it unfortunately withered this morning, it"s already dead."
Tina"s pupils shrank. "What? That… That"s impossible…"
Mrs. Landis sighed and said, "Yes, Ma"am is very sad because of it. I think you"d better come back another day instead."
Tina asked, "How about I go in and comfort Mrs. Hunt a little?"
"No, it"s alright. She needs rest."
Mrs. Landis didn"t give Tina another chance to speak. She closed the door right after saying that.
Outside, Tina clenched her fists in anger as she stared at the door.
She had already asked around—Mrs. Hunt loved orchids the most, and was someone that regarded her flowers as her very life itself!
So, why was she adopting such an att.i.tude instead? What a letdown!
But…
If Mrs. Hunt refused to meet her today, then she would just come again the next day.
With that in mind, Tina turned and left.
Upstairs.
On the balcony, Iris watched Tina leave with an awful look on her countenance. She said, "Did you see that? That woman is not as harmless as she looks."
Mrs. Landis scoffed, "That bit of skill is nothing in front of a sly old fox like you. To be honest, though, it doesn"t really matter even if you let her spend some time with you and chat with you, Ma"am."
Iris stretched. "Forget it. I only had a good time chatting with her yesterday because some of her opinions are the same as Orchidiance"s. You can say I"m half a fan of Orchidiance. That"s why I enjoyed the chat."
"Orchidiance? The master orchid breeder?"
"Yes." Iris sighed. "If only I could talk to her about taking care of orchids."
Mrs. Landis said, "If we can ask her for advice, maybe there"ll be hope for that pot of orchid!"
Iris was a little taken aback to hear that.
She had already become accustomed to dealing with everything herself and had never thought of asking others for help. Even Tina"s offer to help was something that the woman had delivered to her doorstep on her own.
She suddenly regretted her actions a little. "Why didn"t you tell me that earlier? If we hadn"t thrown that pot of flowers out, I could"ve asked Orchidiance for advice on the Internet!"
Mrs. Landis laughed. "I knew you would regret it! I didn"t throw it away! I"ll bring it back for you right away!"
"Go, go!"
—
"Look over there, Nora! There"s a stream there! And even a rockery!"
Tanya tugged the sleepy Nora"s arm excitedly. Nora yawned and said, "Oh, the place is pa.s.sable, I guess."
She yawned again after she spoke.
She had rarely woken up this early in her entire life!
Tanya, however, didn"t seem to have any idea what sleepiness was. She broke into a smile and said, "Right? I intend to buy a villa here! You and Cherry can also move in in the future!"
Nora raised her eyebrows. "Hm? You"re moving out of the Andersons"?"
Tanya smiled and replied, "You"re part of the Andersons, but I"m not. It doesn"t make sense for me to keep on staying at the Andersons". Besides, I"m not planning to leave anymore. If I stay, I"ll have to find someplace to live and settle down eventually."
Nora was surprised. "You aren"t leaving anymore?"
"Yeah, I"m not leaving anymore." Tanya walked ahead of her and said, "I"ll look for my child in the States! I have a feeling I will find the child someday!"
At the mention of searching for her child, Nora dropped her perfunctory act for once and said with certainty, "You"ll definitely find the child."
She and Tanya had met when they were searching for their children abroad.
Therefore, she and Tanya understood each other especially well.
In the midst of her thoughts, Tanya suddenly pointed at a pot of orchid behind the tall rocks in front.. She said, "Hey, look at that. What"s that?"