Chapter 715



Iris was very nervous. Although she was trying to appear calm and collected, her tightly clenched fingers, as well as her dilated pupils, had exposed her emotions. Justin’s gaze fell on the unknown number and he said, “Your phone is ringing.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s probably a sales call.” said Iris as she rejected the call again. Then, as if she was afraid they would call back, she turned the phone off. She even tried to overlook the issue and said with a smile, “They are so annoying. There are simply so many such sales calls these days. It wasn’t easy for us to have lunch together.”

Seeing her like that, Justin just nodded.

Nora and Justin exchanged a glance, neither of them exposing her lie.

Afterwards, although Iris did her best to pretend that she was very excited and happy about the meal, the two could tell that she was a little distracted.

After all, Nora and Justin were more perceptive than most ordinary people and had an uncanny ability to observe.

After the meal, the two said goodbye to Iris.

Before they left, Nora looked back at Iris and asked shyly, “See you tomorrow at the orchid show?”

Iris looked a little hesitant. It must have been because of those phone calls.

However, she only remained quiet for a second before raising her head. “Yes.”

Her voice was firm.

It proved that she wasn’t going to change her mind again.

She was really taking a chance. If Nora succeeded in curing the pot of Phantom Orchids, then she would tell them the truth. If she failed, she would take the truth to her grave and never cause trouble for the children.

Seeing her like this, Nora and Justin looked at each other again and left.

Nora and Justin were in the same car. Justin was driving. As they rounded the corner across the street, he stopped the car.

By then, Nora had already put his phone number as an unknown caller. Then, she keyed in the string of numbers that had appeared on Iris’s phone just a moment ago.

She had a photographic memory, so she had memorized the phone number at a glance.

Nora passed the phone to Justin.

Justin dialed the number without hesitation.

The other party quickly answered. A man’s voice came through the phone, “Hello?”

A quick and determined Justin asked, “Who are you?”

The other party was silent for a while. Then, he let out a low chuckle and hung up without another word.

Justin: “!!!”.

Inexplicably, what Herman had said about Iris cheating on him flashed through his mind.

He frowned.

Nora frowned, too. “He kept the time of the call to fifteen seconds, I can’t track his location.”

Justin took a deep breath. “Don’t bother anymore.”

Nora looked at him.

Justin said, “I won’t ask anymore. I’ll wait for her to tell me everything herself.”

He didn’t want to investigate further.

He had suddenly realized something: since there were always people trying to sabotage his investigations, there would inevitably be unnecessary misunderstandings.

Nora knew what he was thinking. She gave him an immediate nod of approval and said, “Yes, that’s the way to go. They’re family, so they shouldn’t harbor suspicions about each other. Besides, from what I just saw, Iris? I mean, your mother hasn’t changed her mind just because of that phone call.”

Justin nodded.

Iris wasn’t a wimp or a pushover.

She had taught Justin to be strong and aggressive since he was a child. That was also why Justin hadn’t believed Herman’s nonsense.

How could Iris be someone who easily accepted fate?

If she really had a lover, no doubt she would have tried to think of a way to spend the rest of her life with him instead of wasting her youth here.

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

The next day.

Nora headed to the suburban villa first thing in the morning.

Iris had dressed up for the occasion and was wearing an elegant and pretty white fitted dress. She got into the car after leaving the house.

The woman didn’t look nearly fifty years old. After dressing up, she looked stunning and elegant. Her figure was curvaceous, and along with her fair skin, only when one looked closely did one see any wrinkles on her face. With the way she looked there, some people might think she was only twenty years old. Nora raised her eyebrows and formed a heart with her hands in front of Iris.

Iris climbed into the car and the two of them headed straight for the orchid show.

Lauren’s orchid show was being held at a hotel in downtown New York. The orchids she had borrowed from several families were all arranged on shelves.

At a glance, there was every type of orchid one could imagine.

In the most conspicuous position was Matthew’s Ghost Orchid.

Ghost Orchids were very rare, so they had taken the center position in the orchid display.

When Nora and Iris got out of the car and entered the room with the invitation, they immediately noticed the pot of Phantom Orchids.

When Iris saw the orchids, she exclaimed, “Lauren has really curated that pot of Phantom Orchids. They look so full of vigor.”

Only then did Nora reveal something, “There’s a problem with her recipe.”

Iris, who was a bit puzzled, looked at Nora.

Nora whispered, “Your recipe has one more ingredient than mine. That herb is too potent. It may quickly make orchids appear energetic and full of vigor, but in time even greater problems will appear. It’s like when humans suddenly become very energetic before they pass away. Considering the time elapsed since the medicine was administered to the Phantom Orchids yesterday, the Phantom Orchids will wilt after another half hour. First of all, there are many restrictions when it comes to using medicines on plants. Those who are not experts at it should not do it.”

Iris gasped. She couldn’t help but say, “Orchidiance has also said that before, and told everyone not to imitate her. However, aren’t you also imitating Orchidiance?”.

Nora raised her eyebrows. Suddenly, her lips curved into a smile and she replied, “Who says I’m imitating Orchidiance?”.

Iris: “?????”

Then, as if realizing something, she looked at Nora in astonishment.

Could it be… that Nora was none other than Orchidiance?

Just as she was about to speak, Lauren entered the room and said with a smile, “Iris, you’re here! Did you bring any orchids today?”

Iris immediately restrained the complicated look she was giving Nora. She looked at Lauren and replied, “No.”

“You didn’t?”

Lauren was surprised. “It is written on my invitation that everyone who comes to the orchid show must bring a pot of flowers, so that everyone can appreciate and admire each other’s flowers.”

After speaking, Lauren sighed quietly and said, “Iris, surely it’s not because you can’t bear to show us your flowers, is it? I hear you’ve collected a lot of rare orchids in your private collection over the years. I celebrate this orchid show precisely because I hope that orchid lovers can get together and share their joy with each other. In fact, an orchid show like this is long overdue – what’s the point of hiding away and keeping all the good stuff to yourself? Everyone here is an orchid lover, it’s not like they’re going to spoil the flowers, right? Iris, you’re being overly cautious.”

Although she said she was being overly cautious, she was actually implying that Iris was too stingy and mean, just so she could emphasize how generous and capable Lauren was, instead.

A group of people from wealthy families was gathering around her. They all looked at Iris.

Iris, however, scoffed.

Was he trying to compete with her in terms of eloquence?

She was not a person who accepted the mockery of others.

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