Chapter 289



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Florence Stone, the housekeeper in charge of the Smiths’ internal affairs, was a staunch fan of Ian. She was absolutely loyal to the Smiths and had great respect and admiration for Ian.

She had witnessed with her own eyes how Ian had gone from being astute and capable, vivacious and active, as well as someone who loved to talk and smile, to the zombie he was today, all because of Yvette.

He hated Yvette with every fiber of his being.

Therefore, he always looked at things from Ian’s perspective. He chided, “Even if Miss Nora becomes Mrs. Hunt in the future, she’s still just Miss Smith now! Lord Ian’s daughter is the noblest of them all! Even though Miss Yvonne is adopted, she’s Mr. Ian’s adopted daughter. Can’t you realize which one matters more?”

The nannies ducked their heads as they were reprimanded, neither daring to speak further.

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When Nora went to Mia’s room, both girls were already sound asleep.

It wasn’t the first time Cherry had slept next to a friend. The little girl was carefree and sleeping very soundly. Mia, on the other hand, was relatively restrained. Her arms were tucked tightly to either side. Even though she was asleep, her face made one want to cuddle her.

Nora covered the girls and went outside.

As soon as she did, she ran into Joel, who had just returned home from work.

Nora raised her eyebrows as the two crossed paths.

Joel was also a little surprised, although he reacted quickly. He said, “I’ve come to take a look at Mia.”

Nora nodded.

As she turned away and prepared to leave, Joel suddenly said, “By the way, please tell Mr. Hunt that he can ask us directly if there’s anything he wants to know. Isn’t it a little rude to break into the Smiths’ computer system without permission?”

Nora: “?????”

She was stunned for a moment before realizing that Joel had misunderstood. Because she had been too anxious to know Ian’s itinerary at the time, she had not covered her tracks in the afternoon. This was tantamount to blatantly hacking into the Smiths’ computer system.

She coughed but did not explain. Instead, she calmly replied, “I’ll let you know.”

Joel stared at her. He couldn’t help but sense that something wasn’t quite right with the woman after she said that, but he couldn’t pinpoint the reason. So, he nodded and went into Mia’s bedroom instead.

Nora returned to her room with a feeling of guilt. She had barely taken two steps when her phone rang.

She picked it up and glanced down the silent hallway: it was from Justin.

Perhaps because she felt too guilty, she answered the call immediately. He asked, “What’s up?”

Justin said dispassionately, “We’re changing the kids tomorrow.”

Nora’s voice was low as she asked, “Does Pete miss me?”

“… Yes, you could say that.” Justin said, “Shall we have lunch at noon with the kids and then change them back?”.

Nora replied very sincerely, “I won’t be able to wake up in time.”

“How about in the evening, then?”

Nora nodded without much care. “Okay.”

After the two agreed on the time, Nora was about to hang up when Justin asked, “Was dinner okay?”

“It was fine.” After Nora answered, she thought about the lineup when the partner sent the food earlier in the day and said, “You don’t have to go to all that trouble.”

“It’s your first day there,” Justin explained, “I was afraid they’d look down on you. After all, there are too many people in this world too blind to tell the good people from the bad.”

Scorned…

Nora thought unconsciously of Florence, and the corners of her lips curved into a smile. “What’s the problem?”

Since she didn’t depend on the Smiths for food or living expenses, that meant she had a lot of freedom here. At worst, she could move out. She didn’t need anything from the Smiths.

Other than speaking with a bit of sarcasm, the housekeeper didn’t really do anything, so she couldn’t be bothered to hold it against her either.

Nora yawned and went to her room to sleep.

The next morning she was awakened by her alarm clock. She had to send Cherry out to the garden. When she yawned and went downstairs, she saw that Mia and Cherry were already awake and sitting at the dining room table.

Florence signaled the servants to bring the food. Cherry’s eyes lit up when she saw that they were going to have pancakes for breakfast. She said, “I want pancakes!”

She reached out her little hand after speaking, intending to take the plate of pancakes from the nanny.

However, Florence took the plate of pancakes and gave it to Mia. She said to Cherry, “Miss Cherry, this is from Miss Mia. If you want some, I’ll have another plate brought to you.”

Cherry’s expression turned cold immediately. She was about to say something when Mia pushed the plate of pancakes toward Cherry. “You can have them first. You can give me another plate of pancakes when they’re done. I can have the scrambled eggs first, yes!”

Cherry was distracted, plus now she had her pancakes too, so she ignored Florence and asked, “Do you eat the eggs first? I always eat the pancakes first, otherwise I’d choke!”.

Mia replied, “… I like to eat the side dishes first and then the main course.”

The two girls hit it off very well and both started eating their breakfasts happily.

Florence’s expression turned cold as she watched them. She looked down and said, “Well, that’s nice too. It’s very polite of Miss Mia to yield to a guest.”

It was a pity that the two girls were very innocent, so they thought nothing more of it, despite her sarcasm.

In fact, Cherry even nodded and said, “Yes, Mia is the polite one, unlike Brandon. He doesn’t have any manners at all.”

Mia blushed. She lowered her head and said softly, “Thanks for the compliment Cherry.”

“You’re welcome! We have to compliment each other a little more every day, okay? That way we’ll be happy every day, yeah!”

“Okie-Dokie!”

The two girls started munching on their respective plates of food again when they finished talking.

Florence: “…”

She could only turn back to the kitchen.

Seeing that Cherry was undeterred, Nora’s lips curved into a smile of amusement. The girl took everything but the short end of the stick. Besides, she was flamboyant and eccentric. There weren’t many in the house who were her competition.

As she was about to go downstairs, she heard the door open next to her. Joel, who had probably stayed up late the night before, came out. He had some shadows under his eyes and was frowning, which dimmed his usually smiling face and made him look a little more serious.

But when he saw Nora, his frown gradually softened, and the kind look returned to his countenance, making him look perfect and flawless. “No need to get up so early, Miss Smith. I can take Cherry with me when I send Mia into the garden.”

Nora was not formal at all. She turned around, started up the stairs and said, “I’m counting on you then.”

Joel: “…”

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When Nora woke up again, she had finally made up for her lack of sleep.

The groggy feeling in her head finally disappeared, and her whole being seemed reborn.

She loosened her muscles and went outside, intending to see if Cherry had returned yet so she could take her out to dinner with Justin.

However, the moment she stepped out of her room, someone suddenly pounced on her. He looked old and aged, but since he had burns on his face, his original appearance was no longer discernible. He stared at Nora for a long time before finally saying, “You’re Ian’s daughter!”

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