Chapter 711



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When Nora arrived at the villa, Iris was sitting in the conservatory with a tea bar in front of her. She was sipping a cup of tea, but her eyes were fixed on the greenhouse.

Hearing footsteps, she turned and looked over. Seeing Nora, she pointed to the seat in front of her and asked absently, “Can you save them?”

“I can try.” Nora had never been one to make absolute promises.

After all, the Ghost Orchids were terribly delicate. A little carelessness could easily lead to trouble.

Iris took a sip of tea and sighed quietly. She looked at Nora. “Do you really want to hear that story?”

Nora nodded.

Iris was silent for a while. Then she asked, “Even if it gets them into a lot of trouble?”

Nora nodded again.

Still, Iris remained concerned. She went ahead and asked, “Have you asked Justin about it? Is this what he wants, too?”

Before Nora could speak, Justin’s voice came from the door, “Yes, it is.”

Seeing that he was here too, Iris was stunned.

She stared at her son.

Justin had already grown to a height of just over six feet tall, and he was a head taller than she was. Her small, thin son of twenty years ago had already grown into a man with an indomitable spirit.

Iris clenched her fists.

She asked suddenly, “Don’t you hate me? No matter what my reasons are, in the end I’ve been absent in your life for so many years.”

Justin’s jaw was tense, and the beauty mark in the corner of his eye glinted in the light. After a brief silence, he replied, “I did when I was a kid, but not anymore.”

Iris was taken aback.

Justin turned his head to the side and looked away. Aside from being able to say sensitive things to Nora, he actually felt a little uncomfortable saying those things to others.

The man stood up. As if talking about work matters, he said to Iris, “When I was a kid, everyone had a mother but me. When I got into arguments with Roger, his mother would get in front of him for no reason and push me around, but I didn’t have anyone like that. Not only did I not have a mother, but even my father had disappeared. At the time, I did hate you for being so cruel.

But it doesn’t matter now, because that’s all in the past. I know you have your own difficulties and reasons for doing so.”

Justin’s voice was really very calm and dispassionate. There was no emotion in it.

It was as if he was merely narrating something that had happened in the past.

But his words painted a very lucid picture in the minds of Iris and Nora.

Little Justin had been bullied. His father had been kicked out of the family. His mother was evidently still in New York, but she was not coming home. He evidently had a father and mother, but he was orphaned at the Hunts.

Perhaps the child had cried in private. Perhaps, many nights, he had run to this very villa and looked at the person inside, expecting Iris to open the door and give him a hug.

But she didn’t.

Just like that, just like that, he had become an adult….

Nora took Justin’s hand and held it silently.

Iris felt as if her heart was being squeezed. She was used to the pain by now, though, because every night he came, she knew he was there.

What she didn’t know was that she had also been watching him from upstairs. Only she couldn’t come downstairs.

The most intimate relationship in the world was that of a mother with her child.

The love of children for their mothers was purer than that of their mothers for their children.

For in the children’s world, their mother was all that mattered.

But in their mothers’ world, there would always be things to weigh and evaluate, as well as concerns and reservations.

Iris’s eyes reddened. She lowered her head and said, “Justin, I’ll give you another chance. You have children and a wife now. If I tell you those reasons, your days in the future may no longer be peaceful. But if I don’t…I only have a few days left to live. Isn’t it better the way we are now?”

That was how Iris had always seen the situation.

Wasn’t it good that they were still as they were now, where mother and son didn’t meet, and each kept each other at peace?

When Justin heard her mention that he now had a wife and children, he looked at Nora.

Nora held his hand tightly, with a firm, determined look.

Justin could feel her encouragement toward him. He nodded to Iris and said, “We have made our decision.”

Iris’s jaw tightened.

After a while, she finally sighed and said, “All right, in that case, let’s take a chance. If Nora really can save that pot of Phantom Orchids, then I’ll tell them the truth.”

Orchidiance’s way of curing orchids was really quite miraculous. Also, since they were giving a medical treatment to the orchids, the dosage was even more difficult to control.

Not all alternative medicine practitioners could do that.

Even Orchidiance would probably find it quite difficult, not to mention Nora.

It would be nothing short of a miracle if Nora could cure the Phantom Orchids.

Iris didn’t want to lead such a boring life either. She didn’t want to pretend she was calm and unaffected. She could harden her heart towards Justin because he had grown up, but she also wanted to have fun with Cherry.

Thinking about this, she looked at Nora with light in her eyes.

This was the mentality of a player.

When Justin saw her reaction, he knew that Iris had already given in a little. To be honest, if he gave her another push at this point, she would tell him the truth.

But he didn’t want to use such trickery against his mother.

Therefore, he looked at Nora.

Nora felt a great pressure from the look in both of their eyes. The corners of her lips tightened and she looked at Iris. She said, “Iris, you can start thinking about how to tell the story.”

He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Iris. “Here’s the recipe.”

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