Chapter 369



“You…”

She scorned Yvonne to the point of speechlessness.

Could it be that all the information was true?

She turned and stormed up the stairs angrily.

Louis curved his lips disdainfully behind her and said to Lisa, “Don’t bother with her. She’s spoiled.”

Spoiled?

Lisa bit her lip. “She seems pretty graceful to me, though.”

Louis ground his teeth angrily and said, “It’s quite an act. I know that woman best, we grew up together. She does one thing in front of others and another behind their backs, she’s the most hypocritical person ever. She has no blood relation to the Smiths. She wouldn’t be anything if Uncle Ian hadn’t adopted her.”

“… Oh,” Lisa said.

After saying that, Louis realized it wasn’t appropriate for him to badmouth his family to a stranger, so he said, “You keep waiting here. I’ll go upstairs for now.”

He had a room in the Smith mansion. When Louis had heard that Yvonne was no longer taking charge of the house, he had come back excited, expecting to see her down and out.

He had made up his mind: he was going to move into the Smiths’ house from that day forward!

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

New York suburbs.

Tanya was playing with Pete in the villa. She had specially purchased a puzzle intended for children twelve and older, which had a higher level of difficulty, so she could keep Pete company.

But unexpectedly, two minutes later, Tanya looked at the finished puzzle on the floor and then at Pete, who sighed and said, “It’s too easy.”

Tanya: “…”

He asked sheepishly, “Shall I buy you an adult puzzle next time?”

Ga ln ovels . com fuels your imagination “… Godmother, do you really like puzzles?”

Tanya: “…”

Pete sighed and said, “I’ve already played with you for a long time, can I go do my Olympiad homework now?”

Tanya: “!”

So, for Pete, doing puzzles with her was really a waste of his time and energy?!

The corners of Tanya’s lips tightened. “Go ahead.”

Only then, a satisfied Pete walked to the desk next to her and pulled the Math Olympiad notebook out of his backpack. Before he started working on the problems, he suddenly looked up at Tanya and asked, “Is Mom really okay?”

Tanya was taken aback.

The day before she had driven Pete out of the garden. Pete had followed her home without saying anything at the time. She had thought he wouldn’t ask about her, but unexpectedly, he was a very perceptive boy.

Tanya said, “She’ll be fine.”

Pete was quiet for a while before asking, “Mom’s coming to pick me up, right?”.

Tanya: “…”

The way he asked those questions so seriously and with such a tense look on his face broke Tanya’s heart.

It was then that Tanya realized that even though Nora had found Pete, and even though she was sleeping in the same bed as her mother these days, in reality Pete was still very insecure deep down.

She reached over, hugged Pete and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll come. Your mother loves you very, very much. When we were looking for our children overseas back then, she was really crazy about it.”

Her words suddenly piqued Pete’s interest. He asked, “How’s that?”

Tanya: “????”

Pete put the workbook down in his hand and looked at her seriously, his eyes full of interest. He really wanted to know all the details!

The corners of Tanya’s lips tightened. She had gotten him so many toys, but none of them had piqued Pete’s interest at all. Instead, one simple sentence from her had brought something to his attention unexpectedly.

All he could say was, “Your mother was in poor health when she first went abroad. Still, she insisted on coming to our meetings every week and listened to us share our experiences in searching for our children. Afterwards, she would try again and again to return to the United States. At that time, she was falling into a coma almost every day, so your Great Aunt never allowed her to return. So, she got people to look for her on the spot.

I remember once there was a liar who called your mother and told her that he had found clues to your whereabouts. We all knew he was a liar, but your mother believed him. I tried to dissuade her when I gave her money, but she said, ‘I know he’s a liar, but what if he really has news about my son? I’m not going to let myself lose any chance.’

There was also another occasion when someone told her that she might hear from him. At that time he had a fever, but he still forced himself to go. In the end, it also turned out to be fake news, but she fainted in the wilderness and was almost eaten by wild dogs…”

Tanya’s eyes reddened as she spoke.

It hadn’t been easy for her and Nora all those years.

Nora’s suffering had come to an end, but what about her?

There was still no news of her son.

Tanya lowered her head. She didn’t notice Pete’s eyes twinkling.

Even though Pete now had a mother, he had continued to feel insecure all this time. After all, his family was incomplete, and Mom always found Dad too much trouble.

In fact, he’d had nightmares several times.

He dreamed that Mom had gone abroad with Cherry and that she didn’t love him anymore. He kept chasing them, but he couldn’t reach them at all.

His feet were very heavy in his sleep.

He was afraid that one day Mom would split up with Dad and leave him.

Listening to Tanya talk about how Mom had searched so hard for him back then distressed him, but also relieved him at the same time.

What Cherry was saying was true: Mom had never given up on him.

After Tanya had talked about the past for a while, the doorbell rang suddenly.

Pete got up immediately. “It must be Mom!”

Tanya stared at him, between laughter and tears. Only at times like this did Pete look like what a boy his age should look like.

She smiled and went to open the door. “You’re finally here! Your brat has had enough of me by now!”

He opened the door as he spoke intimately, only to see Joel standing outside in his place.

Tanya was stunned. “Why are you here?”

Joel’s foxy eyes, which easily made one feel she was deeply in love with them, were fixed on her.

But Tanya knew exactly how ruthless the man was.

Seeing her expression turn from mirth to distrust, Joel lowered his gaze, acerbity filling his heart.

He said quietly, “Nora is fine now. I’ve come to take the little girl home.”

Tanya was a little taken aback when she heard his manner of addressing Nora. Then, she looked away and uttered, “Oh.”

Then she looked at Pete and asked, “Has she gone home yet?”

“No, but he’ll be home soon.”

Tanya looked very suspicious. She said, “You can’t take the girl if she’s not home. Let’s wait until she’s home.”

“Okay.” Joel unexpectedly agreed. He asked, “Are you planning to make me wait outside, Miss Turner?”.

Tanya: “…”

Seeing that Joel was about to enter, Tanya stopped him at the door and said, “It’s not very appropriate for a man and a woman to be alone together at this time of night, is it, Mr. Smith?”

Joel was quiet for a moment before he said, “Isn’t the girl home too?”

The way he spoke it sounded as if the child was his.

Tanya scoffed and said, “The child is still small, so it’s still inappropriate. You’d better go back to the car and wait there, Mr. Smith. I’ll let you take the child when Nora gets home, have her phone and confirm things with her.”

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