Chapter 720 I’m Here To Listen To The Story
The place suddenly fell silent.
Someone beside them, who didn’t understand what Nora meant, kindly explained, “Ms. Smith, Mrs. Hunt is saying that no one can imitate the essence of Orchidiance’s skill, not yours…”
She paused abruptly at this point. Only then did she finally realize something and she exclaimed, “Y-you are Orchidiance?”
Nora glanced at her and said nothing.
Iris lifted her chin and looked at her proudly. “That’s right, my daughter-in-law is Orchidiance.”
In an instant, it raised a huge furor in the entire exhibition. Everyone looked at Nora in astoundment. “Not only is she Dr. Zabe’s disciple, but also Anti the surgeon. I’m actually not surprised at all to hear that she’s also Orchidiance… Ms. Smith’s medical skills are truly amazing!”
“Oh my G.o.d, as it turns out, Orchidiance has always been right by our side. Isn’t she supposed to be staying abroad?”
“I heard that Ms. Smith only came back from overseas a few months ago…”
“Yes, now that you mention it, all the facts line up.”
!!
“
Amid everyone’s speculations, Lauren bit her lip tightly. She still couldn’t believe it, but she also knew that there was no need for someone like Nora to impersonate someone else.
After all, even if she was not Orchidiance, she was already popular enough in New York.
Nevertheless, she felt that she couldn’t admit defeat just like that, so she said, “Ms. Smith, since you are Orchidiance, then you should have known that the prescription given to the orchid was wrong from the moment you entered the exhibition. Why didn’t you bring it up and save the orchid then? Instead, you had to wait until it started withering to show off your medical skills? How much do you think the Ghost Orchids have suffered as a result?”
Nora: “?”
Iris sneered and stepped right in front of Nora. She said sharply, “Lauren, you’re being unreasonable. Didn’t my daughter-in-law already say so just now? What can we do when you refuse to admit that your prescription is wrong? Besides, my daughter-in-law has said that the flowers can still be saved!”
Lauren bit her lip. “But I didn’t know that Ms. Smith is Orchidiance. If I had known, I definitely would have agreed to it. I get it now, the two of you just wanted to use that to make a bet with me… so that I would admit my mistake. But why bother doing something like that? Wouldn’t you ruin Matthew’s Ghost Orchids by doing that? Iris, if you hate me, then you can just come at me. You are also an orchid lover, how can you treat a pot of Ghost Orchids like this?”
Her fallacious and heretic arguments surprisingly sounded like they made sense at first.
If Nora had revealed her ident.i.ty the moment she entered the hall, would they have stopped her from treating the orchids? Did she have to wait until the orchids became like this to highlight her abilities?
They were clearly using that pot of orchids to slap Lauren in the face, and also to make the bet with her!
Everyone looked at Iris and Nora.
Even Matthew, who clearly knew that he couldn’t blame the two of them-after all, he still had to rely on Orchidiance for help if he wanted to save the Ghost Orchids-couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable about the situation.
He didn’t like Lauren, because not only did she use the Ghost Orchids to threaten him into selling the Jade Orchids to her, but she even forced him to put his pot of Ghost Orchids on display in the exhibition.
He’d initially thought that Iris was different from her, but he didn’t expect her to actually turn out to be the same type of person in the end.
Matthew sighed. Even the way he looked at Iris had changed a little. An orchid lover beside him couldn’t help but say, “Mrs. Hunt… Everyone here is a flower lover, is there a need to do something like that?”
“Yeah, how can you make that pot of Ghost Orchids suffer such calamity just to vent your anger on someone? Even if it’s cured, it probably won’t be able to return to its former glory, right?”
“Lauren is not an orchid lover anyway, and was just using them to show off. We all despise her in our hearts, but Mdm. Iris, you are not supposed to be someone like that!”
Everyone was reproaching her softly, and their voices were so low that one couldn’t tell who was the one speaking. After all, no one dared to openly offend Iris.
There was, however, a straightforward person who stepped forward. She pointed at Iris and sighed. “Mdm. Iris, you have always been a fairy-like person all these years, and your love for orchids is also a role model among our peers. All these years, how many potted flowers have you saved from the hands of people who have no love for flowers? Why have you lowered yourself so much that you would fight with someone like her?! And for the sake of fighting, you even used a pot of Ghost Orchids to vent your anger! Sigh!”
Lauren’s countenance alternated between being pale and being sullen as she listened to the remarks.
She’d originally thought that everyone would see her in a different light after she came to the orchid exhibition, but little did she expect that they had never thought highly of her before!
They must have been polite to her only because they were afraid that if they offended her, they wouldn’t have anyone to ask for help when their orchids fell sick, right?
So, now that they knew that Nora was Orchidiance, and knew that her medical skills were not as good as hers, they were starting to voice their real thoughts?
When Lauren saw everyone attacking Iris, she secretly felt very happy.
What kind of person was Iris?
One must know that Iris had been a beauty who was equally famous as Yvette in New York back then.
Yvette owed part of her fame to her looks and the other part to her talent. After all, her amazing talent and brilliance had indeed shocked and astounded many.
But Iris was different.
When one spoke of her, everyone would only marvel at and admire her for her beauty and her ethereal character. She was just like a celestial maiden. Anyone who had seen her wouldn’t be able to describe her negatively.
She was lively and cheerful.
Her voice was as beautiful and pleasant as a bird’s.
Her nimble movements made her look even more like a celestial maiden from the heavens.
Therefore, when Herman and Iris divorced, out of everyone in New York, half of the men had insulted Herman and called him blind while the other half was secretly happy that their G.o.ddess was single once more.
In addition, Iris wasn’t fond of disputes. Unlike Yvette, who had made enemies everywhere and become the women’s imaginary enemy, she had a good personality. Moreover, she was simply so beautiful and on top of that, her beauty was not the aggressive kind. Even women were amazed by her beauty. No one would be jealous of her beauty; instead, they would only want to defend and protect her beauty.
But hadn’t she brought Iris down from her exalted position all the same?
In order to fight Iris, she had ended up being criticized by others. When she thought of it that way, Lauren felt a sense of accomplishment again.
She could work with this, too!
At the very least, not everyone would be biased towards Iris anymore whenever the two of them were mentioned.
While she was thinking about it, Nora said, “You’ve misunderstood Aunt Iris.”
She took a step forward and spoke to Matthew. She said, “When I told Aunt Iris yesterday that there was a problem with the prescription, she had wanted to contact you right away. I was the one who stopped her.”
Lauren said, “Ms. Smith, there’s no need for you to shoulder all the responsibility just to protect Mdm. Iris’ reputation.”
Nora looked at her. “I’m not trying to shoulder anything. It’s because it has to be done that way.”
Lauren was taken aback.
The people around them also all looked at her.
Nora lowered her head and said dispa.s.sionately, “Matthew said yesterday that the prescription had already been used on the Ghost Orchids, so it was already too late to stop him at that time. Therefore, it was necessary that we wait for the medicine to take effect before further treatment can be carried out. Otherwise, if I use any more medicine on it, the Ghost Orchids won’t be able to handle it, and will end up dying.”
Everyone was taken aback.
Nora looked at Lauren. “Therefore, there is no need for you to slander Aunt Iris here. It is only on Aunt Iris’ account that I’m even here to treat that pot of Ghost Orchids.”
With that, everyone looked at Iris.
Iris stood where she was, her back straight.
In spite of how she was nearly fifty years old, one couldn’t see any signs of age on her at all. She was slim and graceful, as though she had always been that youthful celestial maiden from back then all this time.
Matthew was very ashamed of himself. He hung his head at once and said, “To think I’ve misunderstood you, Mdm. Iris. I am so despicable! All these years, you are the only one who has shown true love for orchids!”
The others also apologized.
Iris was a distant and unemotional person, and she didn’t feel much for relations.h.i.+ps in the first place. She usually didn’t interact much with them, either, so she merely said dispa.s.sionately, “It’s fine.”
In any case, she wouldn’t be taking it to heart at all.
At this point, Nora, who didn’t care about what the others were saying, had taken out a bottle that she had prepared in advance and handed it to Matthew. She said, “This is the medicine that Aunt Iris brewed last night using my prescription. Rub the leaves gently with the solution and water it with 0.1 ounces a day. The flowers will recover in half a month.”
A very grateful-looking Matthew took the solution from her with both hands.
At this time, someone looked at Nora and said, “Orchidiance… Ms. Smith, there is a small problem with my orchid. Can you…”
Nora cut the other party off. “Sorry, but if you want a medical consultation with me, then you’ll have to follow my rules.”
The man was taken aback.
Nora said, “I only accept two patients a month. You can contact my a.s.sistant to get an appointment and queue up.”
Everyone: “??”
Everyone knew that it was hard to book a medical consultation with Nora. The dates were already full for as long as five to six years in the future. Humans could still afford to wait, but how could flowers afford that?
When they were about to speak, Nora looked at Iris and said, “Alternatively, I visit Aunt Iris on the 15th of every month to check on her flowers for her. You can try then.”
Everyone looked at Iris again as if they had found a savior.
Iris: “…”
Nora was completely pus.h.i.+ng her out as a s.h.i.+eld.
However, Iris also understood that Nora had blown her own cover in order to intimidate Lauren for her. Additionally, she was also probably making them visit her in order to alleviate her loneliness.
At this moment, Nora looked at Lauren, who was about to walk aside, and stopped her. “Mdm. Lauren, have you forgotten our bet?”
Lauren paused and turned around.
Nora pointed to Iris. “Please apologize for wrecking someone else’s family back then!”
Lauren: “!!!”
She bit her lip hard and looked at Iris, her expression extremely awful. But in front of so many people, she had to take responsibility for her actions.
Thus, she took a deep breath and bowed to Iris. She said, “Iris, Herman and I couldn’t help ourselves from falling in love back then and ended up betraying you. We are truly in love with each other, and we also know very well that we have let you down; that was why Herman had left the family without taking a single cent. If you feel that we still owe you something, then I solemnly apologize: I’m sorry!”
By putting a hidden message in her words and mentioning that Herman had left the family without taking any money from them, she wanted to tell everyone that she and Herman had already paid the price for their actions.
Still, no matter what, she had admitted to wrecking someone else’s family!
As a result, she had thoroughly embarra.s.sed herself in front of everyone.
She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. Then, she forced a small smile and said, “Alright, it’s okay even if you resent me or dislike me, but since I’ve gathered everyone here, then why don’t you guys enjoy and admire the orchids? I suddenly remembered that I have something to do, so I will leave first. You can direct all matters about the orchid exhibition today to the manager.”
After saying that, Lauren turned and left.
Nora narrowed her eyes as she looked at her from the back.
Lauren’s final move had been very graceful, and she also spoke elegantly. Her words really didn’t seem like something a vicious side character pretending to be a pure and innocent woman would say.
For her to be able to s.n.a.t.c.h Herman away from the top beauty Iris back then, it seemed that she did indeed have a trick or two up her sleeve.
She lowered her eyes.
For some reason, she couldn’t help but feel that Herman and Lauren’s sudden return to America was a little fishy.
Nora strolled around the orchid exhibition with Iris. The people there were simply too enthusiastic towards the two of them. Unable to bear it, they found an excuse and slipped away.
On the way back to the villa after leaving the orchid exhibition, Iris looked at Nora again and again. However, she didn’t say anything at all. After thinking about it, she refrained from making conversation.
Soon, the two returned to the suburban villa.
As soon as they entered the gates, Iris spotted Justin’s black Maybach parked outside the door. She took a deep breath and entered the house.
Justin stood up. As he stood there and looked at her, Iris asked, “Did you know that Nora is Orchidiance?”
Justin shook his head.
He didn’t know who Orchidiance was-after all, he wasn’t knowledgeable about orchids.
However…
The corners of Justin’s lips curled into a smile and he said, “I believe in Nora’s capabilities, so I waited here to listen to your story.