The taste of the roast duck was still lingering in Nora’s mouth when the man invaded her territory aggressively.
His crisp and cool breath instantly overwhelmed her sense of smell.
This wasn’t Nora’s first time kissing Justin, yet her heart still felt like it was racing a little. Perhaps it was because the situation this time was different than before?
While she was distracted, she was bitten on her lower lip, which made her snap back to reality. The man let go of her.
His voice was very low and deep. “What’s on your mind?”
There seemed to be displeasure in his voice.
Those deep-set eyes of his were terribly deep and bottomless as if the vast universe was contained within them, which made one unable to see through or guess his thoughts.
Nora seldom found her presence suppressed by others, yet at this moment, his had somewhat suppressed hers, putting her at a disadvantage. It seemed like her spacing out just now was a form of disrespect toward what they were currently doing
The thought took her by surprise a little and she said, “Sorry…”
She wanted to say more, but Justin had already leaned over and sealed her lips again.
The atmosphere in the room became amorous.
The room was clearly very spacious, yet Nora still felt like there wasn’t enough air in the room.
She felt like she was about to suffocate.
She gave Justin a light push… but the man instead held her hands, completely taking control of the situation and taking the lead.
For a moment, Justin felt a little foreign to Nora in this instant.
He had always been cooperative and obedient in front of her, but in this moment, it felt like the man was pushing her down. Even his kiss had become a little more aggressive than before…
This made her feel like she was about to be conquered.
Her fingers, which were holding Justin’s shoulders, curled slightly and she grabbed his shoulders tightly…
Suddenly, Justin put his arms around Nora’s waist and pulled her on his lap.
Nora: “!!”
The position felt a little shameful.
She wanted to protest, so she said, “I’m not Cherry… Mm!”
It was just a pity that the rest of her words were once again swallowed by Justin.
A waiter stood there at the door with a dish in his hands as he listened to the suggestive sounds inside the private room. His cheeks turned red, and he didn’t quite know whether he should go in or not.
At the Smiths.
Ian sat in the living room, craning his neck and looking outside the door. Joel and Tanya had dinner with Mia and Pete. When they saw what he was doing, they couldn’t help but ask, “Dad, what are you looking at? Nora has only been out for an hour!”
“… You can do a lot in an hour!”
Joel: “??”
What Joel had meant was that, given how bad traffic was in New York, driving out for a meal would take at least half an hour. Added to this another half an hour to order and get the food served, Nora would only have just started eating at this point.
What on earth was Ian thinking instead?
The corners of his lips twitched and he walked up to Ian. Thinking of how Ian had told him earlier in the day that Justin wasn’t to be offended, he suddenly said, “Actually, I think Nora may not like Justin as much as you think she does.”
Ian: “?”
His eyes instantly lit up and he looked at Joel. “Tell me more.”
Joel: “…”
That expression of yours is too obvious!
The corners of his lips twitched again. He sat opposite Ian and said, “Nora seems to like Y, the hacker from the Hunt Corporation. That’s what she said the other time.”
News of how Q hacked into the special department and told them that she liked Y had already made its way to him.
Then, he thought about the other time when he had gone to the hospital… Quentin had hinted that Nora seemed to have someone she liked, but it wasn’t Justin. On top of that, the two of them even addressed each other as husband and wife.
When he thought about it that way, even Joel was a little confused. “Who exactly does Nora like?”
Ian was also stunned to hear that. He felt that this was the most baffling question in the world.
Pete, who wasn’t aware of anything, silently appeared beside the two of them. He hadn’t heard what they were talking about.
Instead, he only heard them saying that Mommy seemed to be entangled with three different men…
He suddenly asked, “Are those three men handsome?” Both Joel and Ian were taken aback. Joel thought about his question. Quentin had said that the man Nora liked was a pretty boy… so he likely was…
“He probably is, I guess!”
Joel replied hesitantly.
When he said that, Pete heaved a silent sigh and said, “It’s all over.” “What’s wrong?”
Pete replied, “I finally understand why Cherry is such a philanderer. As it turns out, it’s because she inherited it from Mommy.”
To think Mommy liked so many people. Would the tyrant still stand a chance, then?
Both Ian and Joel were stunned at his words. Joel hesitated for a moment before he looked at Ian. “So… Nora has cuckolded Justin?”
Ian: “…”
Oh no, why was he suddenly feeling so excited?!
He hurriedly coughed and pressed down and tried to hide his beaming smile. He said, “What do you mean she cuckolded him? The two of them aren’t engaged yet. Nora is just making a few friends and having a few relationships, that’s all!”
Joel: “…”
Pete: “…”
A speechless Joel reminded him, “You were the one who just told me not to offend Mr. Hunt.”
The subtext: “Shouldn’t you also remind Nora about it?”
But unexpectedly, the moment he said that, Ian nodded and said, “Yeah, so you have to maintain a good relationship with him. This way, when the truth comes to light in the future, you could at least ask him for a favor when you lose to him in a fight.”
Joel: “???”
Was Ian telling him to build a connection with Justin just so he could make use of it in the future?
–
In the private room, neither Nora nor Justin knew of the sensation that their various secret identities had caused at the Smiths’, let alone that Nora’s image as a philandering scumbag was gradually establishing among the Smiths.
When the two separated from each other, Nora was still in a daze.
She could see Justin’s chest heaving up and down as if he was trying very hard to suppress something…
There was actually an aesthetically-pleasing sense of abstinence to the way he looked, which made Nora swallow hard. She picked up the bowl of soup next to her and drank a spoonful of it in an attempt to calm the sudden stirrings in her heart.
“Nora, let’s get engaged,”
Justin suddenly said, his gaze as scorching as before.
Nora stirred the soup in the bowl with a spoon. A while later, she finally smiled and said, “Okay.”
Hearing her reply, Justin smiled and said, “I suddenly feel a little regretful.”
Nora: “?”
“If I knew you were going to agree so easily, I would have said, ‘Let’s get married’ instead.”
Nora rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t push your luck.”
Her eye roll didn’t bother Justin in the least. He merely made another roast duck wrap for her and held it up to her mouth. “Here, have a bit more as replenishment.”
Nora: “…”
What kind of replenishment was he talking about?!
She bit the roast duck wrap viciously, deliberately biting his fingers too so that she could see him begging for mercy. But in the end, the man merely stared at her.
In fact, the man even straightened his fingers and wriggled them in her mouth.
Nora: “…”
Nora bit down a little harder. The man’s brows drew together slightly, making her heart soften. She could only let go of his hand. When she let go, she heard a low chuckle from the man.
Suddenly, something occurred to Nora and she asked out of the blue, “… Did you wash your hands before dinner?”
Justin: “???”
There was no doubt about it—the woman was definitely an expert at ruining the atmosphere! The woman’s words had completely extinguished all the desire that had just lit up in him.
He took a deep breath, rolled up another roast duck wrap, and held it up in front of her mouth. He said fiercely, “Eat!” A beaming Nora ate another mouthful.
With someone serving her so nicely, it seemed that even such a troublesome way of eating had become less of a waste of time. After the meal, she picked up her cell phone and took a look-two hours had passed.
This was pretty much the longest meal she had ever had.
She stood up, stretched, and said, “Let’s go home.”
Justin nodded and got up as well. When the two were about to leave the private room, Justin asked, “Are you full?”
“Yeah.”
Was there any way she wouldn’t be?
Justin had been feeding her the whole time, offering her one wrap after another, which had made her all too content.
In a polite move, Nora also asked, “Are you full?”
“No.”
The man opened his mouth aggrievedly, which took Nora aback. She looked at the unfinished food on the table. Just as she was about to tell him to eat a little more, the man murmured in her ear, “I didn’t manage to eat at all. All I had was a little taste.”
Nora: “?”
She suspected that the man was playing with words!
She went out of the room with a red face. The moment she stepped out, she saw a woman with straight black hair walking over from the opposite end. She had a smile on her round face, and there were two dimples on her cheeks when she smiled. The woman, who was a little surprised to see Nora, said, “Ms. Smith?”
It was Ruth!
Nora frowned. The next moment, however, she noticed the woman’s gaze landing on Justin, who was behind her. Then, her eyes lit up. Nora: “?”
She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
In an almost subconscious move, she took a step forward and stood in between Ruth and Justin, as if to isolate Ruth’s blatant stare. However, it was to no avail because Ruth suddenly went around her, stepped forward, and looked at Justin excitedly. “Justin, long time no see!” Then, in the midst of Nora’s astonishment, she asked, “D-do you still remember me?!” Nora: “???” So, Justin really did know Ruth?? No, wait… What was going on?
