Chapter 527 Karl Is Troubled
It seemed like Trueman wasn’t looking at his phone, so he didn’t reply right away after Nora sent the message.
After staring at the phone for a while, Nora tossed it aside and went to take a bath.
Cherry and Pete came together. There were identical frowns on their little faces. Cherry said with dissatisfaction, “Pete, Grandpa is introducing boyfriends to Mommy again! Sigh!”
Pete was about to comfort her and tell her that it was okay when Cherry remarked enviously, “When will my Daddy find me a bunch of young men?”
Pete: “?”
He’d thought that Cherry was worried that their parents would be separated, but as it turned out, she was just being envious of Mommy?! She was simply hopeless!
The corners of Pete’s lips spasmed and he looked at the bathroom.
Then, he put down the book in his hand and slowly walked out the door.
—
“Mr. Smith, before I came here, my husband said that he didn’t manage to beat you when he was fighting for Yvette back then, so your daughter has to show my son some courtesy this time! At the very least, let them meet and try to get along with each other!”
Seeing that Melissa simply refused to say anything, someone s.h.i.+fted their target to Ian instead.
Ian’s usually lifeless countenance was filled with smiles and pride at the moment.
In the past, everyone would deliberately ban any mention of Yvette Anderson in front of him. None of them had dared to mention her name. However, the mention of her name instead filled him with pride now.
He smiled and replied, “Of course!”
Justin: !!
Suddenly, he felt very upset that he didn’t have any elders who could speak up for him. He glanced at Mrs. Hunt resentfully. The elderly woman looked very awkward and embarra.s.sed. She stood there with her hands on her walking stick, looking like she wanted to speak with Ian, yet didn’t know what she should be saying
Justin lowered his eyes and sighed inwardly.
His father had run away from home with his mistress when he was only five. His mother had also moved out and never returned. His grandmother was the one who had brought him up, so he had great respect for her.
Thus, he couldn’t adopt aggressive measures against his grandmother.
Moreover, should his grandmother continue to be dissatisfied with Nora, given her skill in infighting within the household, he was afraid that she would keep making trouble for Nora.
That was why Justin had allowed her to keep making trouble for the Smiths—so that she would keep being rebuffed.
It was only after she had been rebuffed and realized how strong and powerful Nora really was that she would be truly convinced. This way, when Nora married into the Hunts in the future, at the very least, she wouldn’t make things difficult for her.
Thus, he did not rescue her from her predicament.
He simply stood there without saying anything. Suddenly, someone pulled his sleeve. Justin lowered his head to see Pete standing by his leg and gently tugging his arm. When he looked over, the boy asked in his young and tender voice, “Daddy, aren’t you worried that someone will s.n.a.t.c.h Mommy away?”
Justin: “?”
He raised his eyebrows. Only then did he realize that everyone around them had stopped talking and were looking at both father and son in surprise.
Mrs. Lovell didn’t quite understand. “Daddy… Mommy… Mr. Hunt, what does he mean by that?”
Pete blinked and replied, “My Mommy is Nora!”
Everyone: “??!”
Everyone looked at Ian and Mrs. Hunt with puzzled looks on their faces.
Only then did something click in Mrs. Hunt’s head. She came back to her senses and said with a smile, “Tsk, look at me, I’ve forgotten to announce something to everyone! Ms. Smith is our little Peter Hunt’s biological mother. Peter and her daughter are twins! In other words, Cherry is a child of the Hunts! So, we won’t bother you guys to take care of her anymore!”
Everyone: “!!!”
Everyone looked at Justin. “So, Mr. Hunt and Ms. Smith are in a relations.h.i.+p? How far has the relations.h.i.+p gone?” Mrs. Lovell asked.
Mrs. Hunt nudged Justin. Justin knew what she meant, but he nevertheless looked at Ian subconsciously. Sure enough, the man had broken into a frown. As such, Justin lowered his gaze and replied, “I am still trying to woo her.”
His words made Ian’s frown relax. Mrs. Hunt, however, was a little mad. “Justin!”
Justin glanced at her but said nothing.
The others remarked, “Oh, you’re still wooing her? Then that means we still stand a chance! It’s just that… I wonder what is your stance towards the matter, Mr. Hunt?”
Mrs. Hunt took a step forward. She was about to say something domineering such as “Whoever tries to woo Nora would be going against the Hunts”… Once she said that, it would definitely force some of them into retreating.
Unexpectedly, before she could speak, Justin replied calmly, “It’s a fair compet.i.tion.”
His one-liner made Mrs. Hunt feel as if her breath was caught in her chest. She couldn’t get it out, nor could she force it back down.
After she finally sent away all the people who had come over to propose marriage, even Melissa heaved a huge sigh of relief.
When Pete saw Justin off, the little fellow sighed, looked at Justin contemptuously, and said, “Daddy, you are so useless.”
Just now, he had deliberately come downstairs and called them Mommy and Daddy loudly just to help him out, but little did he expect him to be so useless.
Justin, however, raised his eyebrows. The beauty mark at the corner of his eye s.h.i.+mmered as he said with a smile, “It’s useless to drive them all away. It’s pointless even if they curry favor with Mrs. Anderson or your grandfather.”
A puzzled Pete asked, “Then what is useful?”
“The most effective method is to snag your mommy.”
Justin always focused only on the crux of the matter. As long as Nora was willing to be with him, even if Ian opposed to them being together, would there be any use?
Pete: “??”
As he watched Justin leave, he suddenly felt like his father was still the more scheming one after all!
When Pete returned upstairs, Nora had already taken a bath and was lying on the bed reading a medical book. She was still having a headache over how to cure Quentin.
At this moment, her cell phone suddenly rang.
Thinking that Trueman had replied, she picked up the phone and took a glance. However, she instead saw a text message: “I will do my best to woo you. Even if you don’t accept me, I won’t use the children to hold you hostage.”
Nora: “…”
Her lips curled into a smile. Her anger and frustration at finding out that she had fallen victim to someone’s ploy seemed to have disappeared for the most part when she saw the message.
The next day.
When Nora woke up and went downstairs, she saw Karl in the living room. He was following behind Tanya and asking with a smile, “Can your wedding be brought forward by two days? How about holding it tomorrow?”.
Tanya felt a little helpless. “The hotel and everything else has already been booked. We can’t change the date just because we want to. Besides, the schedule is already very tight now. Is there something wrong?”.
Karl looked a little anxious, but he nevertheless replied, “No, it’s fine, it’s fine…”
He scratched his head. “I just feel a little nervous, so I want to get everyone done and over earlier!”
Tanya became a little angry when he said that. “If you’re busy with something, then you can leave. To be honest, it doesn’t matter even if you don’t attend my wedding!”
Karl had never fulfilled his duties as a father in Tanya’s life during the past two decades. The relations.h.i.+p between Tanya and him was inherently conflicting right from the start.
Karl hurriedly waved and said, “No way! I’m really fine. I will definitely be there at your wedding! I’m your father, Tanya!”
He broke into a grin and looked at her ingratiatingly.
Tanya snorted at the sight and continued to prepare for the wedding. However, deep down, she still felt rather uneasy.
She suddenly looked at Karl and asked, “Is something the matter with your company?”
In order not to make Tanya worried, Karl and Joel had come together and made up a story. They told Tanya that Karl was the CEO of a listed company abroad. They did not intend to let her know about all those things in the underworld.
Karl said seriously, “Nothing’s wrong, really! Besides, what can be more important than my daughter’s wedding? Don’t think too much into it! If you don’t want to change the wedding date, then we won’t change it! You can just be in charge of taking good care of your skin and sleeping for the next few days. All you need to do is to turn up like the beautiful bride you are on the day of the wedding!”
Tanya breathed a sigh of relief and uttered an “okay”. Then, she continued to fill out the invitations.
Seeing her busying herself with her tasks, Karl sat on the sofa next to her. A gentle smile formed on his rough face.
At this moment, Karl’s phone suddenly vibrated.
When he answered, his expression instantly changed. He stood quietly and walked out. Nora happened to be taking out bread and milk from the refrigerator at this moment. She was about to eat them when she noticed his reaction. After thinking about it, she followed him out.
Karl had a very serious look on his face. His voice was very low as he said, “No! I can’t leave now! I promised Tanya that I would attend her wedding, so I have to be there! You don’t have to say any more. You guys can go back first. Don’t worry about me!”
He hung up after he said that. When he looked back, he was shocked to see Nora there.
Nora frowned. She looked at Karl steadily and suddenly asked, “Have you met with some kind of trouble?”
Karl laughed. “No way. Don’t think too much into it, hahaha.”
After saying that, he walked back into the room. As he did, he sent a message on his cell phone.
As Nora stared at him from the back, she suddenly thought of something. She picked up her cell phone and switched to Black Cat’s account. Sure enough, she saw a message from Karl: ‘Sos! Help, Black Cat!’
Nora replied: ‘Just come straight to the point if you have something to say.’
Karl sent another message: ‘If something happens to me in the future, please do me a favor.’
Nora’s pupils shrank: ‘What is it?’
Karl: ‘Protect my daughter, Tanya.’
Nora: “What happened? If you don’t tell me, I’m not going to help you.”